Faerie Queen for Life

by: Lilith Langtree

Shay Lefae, faced with a deadly illness, is thrown into a world of magic, murder, and intrigue.

"Mr. Lefae, you have AML - Acute Myelogenous Leukemia."

My eyelids drooped and I wheezed a soft chuckle. "Thank you doctor. And may I say that shirt brings out the blue in your eyes."

It was a mouthful for my current state of health. Over the last two months I've been running on fumes. I thought the shortness of breath was due to my smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. I cut down to two. I've been doing good, but my breathing only got worse. After banging my knee on the coffee table the other day, and the resulting massive bruise, I realized that something else was at play.

He gave me a grim smile at my joke, but didn't acknowledge it further. When he saw me take him more seriously he continued. "I'll be frank, Mr. Lefae…"

"Please, Doctor, when you tell me I'm gonna die you can at least call me by my first name."

I had a feeling he wasn't used to dealing with people like me. I was sure there were all types of reactions to hearing the C-word. What can I say. I like the straight poop, but I also like my sarcasm. I bet you ten bucks he doesn't know my first name.

He tried to look nonchalant by leaning forward and moving his pencil cup. With a quick flick of his eyes he found the header tab of my file.

Told ya.

"Shay." Yeah, I'm Shay Lefae. Can you imagine the teasing I received while in school? "The AML has progressed to a point where we can deal with some of the symptoms, but the…"

I really didn't want to hear the rest. "Bottom line it for me Doc. How long?"

I also take it he didn't like being interrupted when he had his speech all planned out. Well, screw'em. It's my life, or rather it's my death. His lips thinned and then pursed.

"Six weeks, three months on the outside."

Shit. Just enough time to put my affairs in order and die neatly. With a nod of understanding I asked, "What can I expect?"

He closed my folder and interlaced his fingers. "With or without treatment, your immune system will ultimately fail and the first virus you contract will kill you. You'll experience further shortness of breath, effortless bruising much like your knee, loss of appetite, enlarged organs, leading to organ failure. It won't be pleasant, Shay."

Looking down at my slacks I flicked an imaginary piece of lint off my leg. "What about the pain?"

"I can provide a prescription for progressive pain management and for easier breathing. That's about it."

~O~

The freedom that comes with selling your whole life is sort of refreshing. I had a closing house come in and give me a lump sum for everything I owned. Granted, I got royally screwed. I knew I was worth about five million after everything was said and done, and their offer was a little less than a million. What the hell, it's not like I was going to be able to take it with me, and I seriously doubt that I'd be able to spend a million dollars in less than three months anyway.

Why didn't I give it to my family? None to speak of. I was a single child. Mom and dad died of natural causes a handful of years ago and I never married. So unless I had a few sprog from my college years, that I don't know about, then there was nobody to leave my small fortune to.

I planned to end it all in Europe. I was one of those people that always said, 'I'd like to tour Europe sometime.' Problem was that I never did. I was so caught up building my company that my attitude developed into a 'vacations are for wimps' attitude. So, at forty-two years of age I had still never even stepped a single foot out of the good ole U.S. of A.

My plan was to start it all off in Ireland and work my way down to Greece. I had some Irish roots. Yeah, the last name is Lefae, it's French supposedly, but I've never been able to find a single relative that ever came from that far south, past Great Britain.

I digress.

I purchased a gigantic travel trunk from the Gucci store in the swank Galleria Mall and filled it up with a week's worth of clothes. I figured I could buy more instead of wasting anymore of my life doing laundry. A few odds and ends later and it was loaded up in my minivan Taxi and at the airport.

It really is amazing what you can get accomplished if you wave enough cash around. Whenever anyone moved to complain about anything, poof, cash, poof compliance.

The automated ticket seller was kind enough to burp out a first class ticket to Dublin. Ready for the weird part? When I went to drop off my trunk, the nice lady behind the counter noticed my name.

"Mr. Shay Lefae?" she asked with a pleased smile afterward.

I nodded and took out my passport to show my ID. She looked over to her left and gave a come hither nod to a FedEx driver who was waiting in seating. With an inquiring look given to the lady behind the counter I asked, "What's up?"

"There's an envelope waiting for you sir."

"You, Shay Lefae?" the FedEx guy asked.

I took one last look at the lady and then back to the guy. "Uh, yeah."

He flipped one of those Instacapture signature thingies they all carry in front of me. "Special delivery to you, sir."

"At the airport?" I answered incredulously.

The FedEx guy shrugged. "I was paid big money to make sure you got this, right here…" he looked at his watch. "Right now."

Who the hell knew I'd be here. 'I' didn't even know I'd be here right now. With a quick look at the sealed cardboard envelope I grabbed the fake pen and signed on the display.

"Thanks, Dude." He grinned. "Easiest five hundred dollars I ever made."

I blinked at that. Someone paid him… I turned to the girl and she nodded at me. Okay, someone paid them both five hundred dollars each to make sure I got this envelope.

"There's a bar right across the concourse for your convenience, sir."

I looked at the envelope and back to the lady. "Um, thanks."

I was planning on getting drunk anyway and my flight didn't leave for another two hours. What the heck.

Luckily the trunk moved like it was on greased wheels, which by the way, it had. Well, I don't know if they were greased or not. I really didn't care as long as it moved when I moved. After procuring a double Crown and Coke I sat myself down at one of those really small tables. You know the ones, you were lucky if it was big enough to hold your drink.

I took a long swig and set it down, then pulled on the labeled tab to retrieve a single sheet of parchment. No, it wasn't paper, and I was pretty sure it wasn't paper vellum. For those of you not in the know, that means it was likely made of dried animal skin. Sorry PETA, it wasn't my fault. I just signed for it.

The script was creepy looking and somewhat old fashioned. Maybe like it was written in a calligraphy pen, or more likely, judging from the blotted ink, a quill.

Greetings Shay Le Fay,

Before you begin your flight to Dublin I would be in your debt if you would visit my office downtown. I've seen you have received disheartening news from your physician, and I may have an alternative treatment available for you. It will cost you nothing, and I ask no favor from you in return.

After reviewing my offer, if you choose to decline, I will reimburse you for the cost of your ticket and will provide you with the use of the corporate jet for the duration of your travels, for no cost.

If you choose to accept the meeting, you will find my batman waiting for you at the airport entrance.

At your service,

Morgan

Free corporate jet ride? I'm there!

Truth is, I probably could have chartered a jet, but those puppies are expensive and won't get me there that much more quickly.

I tossed back the rest of the C&C and grabbed the trunk. The lady at the counter waved at me crowning it off with a big smile. Hell, I'd probably be happy too if someone just gave me five hundred dollars to wave a FedEx guy my way.

Whoever this Morgan guy was, he had money to burn, literally. I rolled my way up to the entrance and saw a couple of chauffeur types standing there holding signs and looking for their riders. Standing beside them was a athletic late twenty-something girl dressed in slacks and a black knee-coat holding a sign with my name on it.

Shay Le Fay.

You noticed it too, huh? The letter and the sign, both had my name spelled wrong. I really didn't give a crap. Morgan, whoever he was, probably had some freaky cancer treatment that he wanted to test on me. It probably wasn't FDA approved or something like that. I'd go, hear him out, give him the thumbs down and take a nice jet ride to Dublin.

Her eyes were on me well before I came to a stop a few feet away. "You're Batman?" Sorry, couldn't resist.

Her face didn't move even a micron. I shrugged in semi-apology. "It was too easy, I know."

The granite that was her face finally broke. "Please follow me, Mr. Le Fay."

I didn't need anymore encouragement than seeing her very well formed butt leading the way. We walked out to the limousines waiting at the curb and to the front of the line where a giant SUV limo sat. Batman, sorry, the batman opened the back. I was about to help her lift the trunk when she bent at the hip and grabbed it herself dropping it inside the vehicle like it was full of Styrofoam. Whoa. That thing had to weigh about a hundred pounds. Okay, no more Batman jokes. She could probably kick my ass.

After picking my jaw up off the sidewalk I followed her to the side door which she held open for me. I gave her a single nod. "Thanks."

The batman bowed her head. "Please make yourself comfortable. Refreshments are to your left. We will be at our destination in twenty-seven minutes."

And the weirdness just keeps on getting weirder. Want to know why? I'll tell you.

The airport to the outskirts of downtown takes a minimum of forty to forty-five minutes to drive. I know, I used to do it almost weekly. Keep in mind, that doesn't take into account accidents, lunch hour traffic, some grandma doing the minimum speed limit on the freeway while she's looking through the steering wheel and seated on a phonebook or two. I'd be surprised if we made it to where we were going in less than an hour.

Glancing at my watch I noted the time, then I noted the Bushmills Millennium Malt. For you uneducated peons out there that's twenty-five year old single malt Irish whisky. Retails about two hundred and fifty bucks a bottle. Needless to say, shit's good. I grabbed a rocks glass and filled it about half way — no need to be gauche. I can always come back for fourths later.

Okay, ready for the really weird stuff? No, seriously, it gets really weird from here on out.

Right when I was about to sip on something I'd only read about in magazines, out from under the adjacent seat pops a fairy. I shit you not.

Man, the drugs they prescribe these days are really good. She stood, maybe six inches tall if that, barefoot, long chestnut hair, wearing a bronze colored skin and dress that pushed up some fairly impressive breasts. I closed my eyes and shook the image from my head.

Upon their opening the fairy was sitting on the rim of my glass holding a really tiny finger to her lips in a shushing gesture. She looked behind her and I followed to see the partition between me and the batman closed.

"We have to whisper," she said.

"Oookay." I was obviously hallucinating.

"You're Shay Le Fay."

I really couldn't believe I was having a conversation with a tiny girl. Did I mention the wings?

At my lack of verbal skills she continued without me. "I'm Collice. You can't drink this." She pointed downward at the whiskey. "It's poisoned."

"Uh-huh." You try talking to a six inch tall winged girl. I dare ya.

"It's a trap set up by Morgan. If you drink that then you lose your will for the next hour. She will control you."

She?

Obviously I had too much to drink, on top of the pain killers. Perfectly natural to see things. I once saw the walls of my dorm room melt in college. Granted I was tripping on acid at the time, but that's beside the point.

The fairy scrunched up her face in frustration and flew up to my face. She reached in and ripped a hair out of my nose "Snap out of it!"

"Oww!" That stung! Freaky Tinkerbelle bitch!

I took a swipe at her but the thing was faster than she looked.

"Ready to listen now?"

I checked to see if I was bleeding, but everything seemed to be okay.

"Morgan is going to steal your life force to feed her for the next thousand years. You're the only living relative she has left."

I set the drink to the side in one of the fancy cup holders. "Are you a fairy?"

Now she looked kind of ticked off. Her hands flew to her hips and she stopped to hover in mid air. "Fae, not fairy."

"And Morgan wants to steal my soul."

She shook her head. "Your life force, not your soul. Even she's not that crazy."

"Uh-huh."

Collice looked back at the batman again. "We don't have much time."

"Look, I can handle one girl. I'll just walk away when we get to the building, right?"

"She's not a girl. She's wearing a glamour. It's an ogre."

I was about to come back with a Shrek joke, but she cut me off. "We don't have time for more questions. We're almost there."

I checked my watch and saw that was had seven more minutes left, according to the batman… ogre… whatever. Collice just started rambling.

"When she stops the car you have to act like you're stoned. She'll take you up the elevator and to Morgan's lair. This is the important part, Shay. Pay close attention! When Morgan begins reciting the spell you must fight with every ounce of will you possess. She must have your cooperation to make the transference. Do you understand?"

"Fight, right. Got it."

Collice flew up and whacked me in the forehead. "No, you idiot. When she BEGINS to recite the spell, that's when you fight. Otherwise you go along with everything she says. Drink, eat, wear a tutu, whatever. Just make sure you mentally resist her when she begins chanting the spell."

I swept my hand out for her again and missed. "And I'm supposed to trust you why?"

Inches away from my face I could see the detail of hers a lot better. "Mortal, the Fae have been under Morgan's thumb for far too long. One thousand years ago she murdered Queen Mab in her sleep and stole her scepter. Whoever claims that scepter is the rightful ruler of all Faerie. That's when she took the first life force of your ancestors and it has fed her for a millennium."

Then it finally came to me. A thousand years, my ancestors, the misspelling of my name. "Are you saying that Morgan Le Fay is real? King Arthur, her son Mordred, Half-sister, Witch?"

The Fairy, sorry, the Fae nodded. "Arthur yes, Half-sister yes, Mordred was her nephew not her son, and Sorceress not Witch. You believe me now mortal?"

"She's my ancestor," I said, more than asked.

"Yes, the same Fae blood that runs through her, runs through you. That's why she wants you. Only someone with your blood can keep her for the next thousand years. You dying made her speed up her plans. She had a vision or something. I don't know."

A sliver of panic ran through me. For some reason, deep down, I knew the little Fae was telling the truth. Beyond all rational reasoning I was believing her. "What happens to me if I resist her. I mean won't she be pissed or something? I'll still be trapped."

Collice shook her head. "She has to take off her necklace to perform the spell. That makes her vulnerable to your will. You'll take her place and rob her of her will instead. That's why you must be made compliant with the poison. She couldn't take the chance that you'd turn the tables on her."

Take her place? "You mean I'll live for a thousand years. I'll be healthy again?"

The Fae smiled. "You'll steal a portion of her power as well."

I felt the SUV come to a stop and I glanced at my watch. Twenty-seven minutes on the dot. Collice looked nervous.

"Will you help us, mortal?"

I looked over at the rocks glass, took it and tossed the drink under the seat. It made a mess and wasted some good hooch, but it made it look like I had drank the entire thing. Collice flipped in the air and laughed.

"Remember, you have to act stoned."

With that she zipped under the seat and out of sight right as the door opened. I looked over at the batman who was holding her hand out to me. With a blink I looked at the hand and gave her a goofy smile.

"Fanks," I slurred. Dammit, stoned, not drunk.

She took my arm and led me through the front doors of the skyscraper. I tried to look as spaced out as possible as we made our way into the elevator and she leaned me up against the wall. I watched as she took out a keycard and slipped it into the slot above the floor buttons then pushed the twelve and fourteenth floor buttons at the same time.

"I feel funny," I said to emphasize the amount of euphoria I was supposed to be feeling. "You have an excellent ass, by the way."

The batman grunted and took my arm again. The amount of pressure she used made me flinch a little. There'd be a really big bruise there, but not for long. Once I turned the tables on Morgan I'd be cured. The thought of that made me chuckle a little. Morgan Le Fay. Who would of thought? Who would have believed it was possible.

With a ding the elevator stopped and the doors opened to a relatively normal floor of a normal office building, but when I was almost dragged through the doors of one of those offices it was like I was thrown into the past.

Gothic style windows surrounded the two visible outer walls and even though it was bright and sunshiny outside, the interior of the room looked dark and gloomy in comparison.

The only occupant of the room stood next to a table full of myriad beakers, full of multicolored liquids straight out of a movie set. She was dressed in black, of course. She was evil after all. But her clothing consisted of a ankle length skirt, a corset, and lacy gloves that covered her forearms. Her really high heels clicked on the solid wood floors as she approached.

God she was hot. Her breasts, which while not overly large, were pushed up and together, halfway out of the corset, and on her forehead she wore a circlet of tiny gems, making her look like royalty.

She gave the batman a questioning look, and I noticed out of the corner of my eye a confirming nod. "A quarter of the bottle." Morgan smiled and it wasn't really pleasant.

"Lay him in the chair."

Something akin to a barber's chair sat waiting for me, and the batman led beside. "Sit and relax, Shay Le Fay."

I followed orders, sighing dramatically when my head rested against the back. Nervous energy ran through me and it took most of my will not to let my hands shake. I sat in wonder at what the lady was doing. My eyes tracked her lazily as she picked up a small dish and walked over to me. After setting it on a table next to the chair she reached to her neck and slid a necklace off that I hadn't noticed before. The pendant that hung from it was in the form of a circled inverted pentagram.

Setting it on the table she picked up the dish and held it in both hands. "Shay Le Fay, the last person alive that carries my blood, do you give yourself willingly to me? For the spirit to be willing, your body must first grow weak; just long enough for your will in flight to pass from cheek to cheek."

I paused for a second after and then nodded while inside my head I was yelling, 'No! You psycho hose beast!'

At my reaction she took a pinch of multicolored sand from within and sprinkled it over my head. "Then let us begin."

Archaic Latin came from her lips next. Why do I know it was Latin? I was raised old school Catholic. I understood every word she said.

The chanting started and I closed my eyes, straining against the pressure that was building in the forefront of my head and spreading inward. 'Fuck you! I'm not going without a fight,' I screamed internally.

I felt one of her hands on mine and the other lay across my forehead. The pressure increased ten-fold. My mind felt crushed under her onslaught to the point where everything started going black. A void of endless emptiness filled me, and I was slowly losing my sense of the world around me, all but Morgan's face looming over mine.

Her cheek brushed against mine and then again on the other side. Then I knew I'd lost. Everything that made me what I was, all my experiences, all my will to live drained from me. Lowering my eyes to her mouth I watched as she inhaled my essence, a blue mist from my mouth to hers. That's all it was, she was breathing me in.

With every last bit of energy I had left I ripped my white knuckled hands away from the arm rests and grabbed her head tightly. She wouldn't escape with everything. I pulled her down to me, my lips smashed against hers, and I inhaled.

Her eyes slammed open in fear. I drank her in. I breathed her into me and then blew with everything else I had. The only thought that lived inside me screamed, 'DIE!'

The last sensation I had was my hands being torn away.

~O~

I stumbled back grasping at anything that would hold me upright. Vertigo flooded me. A table turned. Glass broke. A roar. Warm liquid splashed across my body.

~O~

"Princess…"

"Back off, you lummox."

"Maybe if we move her off…"

"Touch her and I will pix your penis."

Sounds were making it through my head. I still wasn't able to move, but the feeling was coming back to my limbs.

"Collice, you seemed to be under the impression that I somehow fear you."

"Okay, let me put it this way. Touch the Princess and I'll tell your wife that you've been experimenting with that body of yours. I'm sure she'll be pleased that you've been cavorting with mortals — male mortals at that."

A sound of frustration followed. I was finally able to figure out who was talking to my Fae friend. It was the batman.

"I've already told you, I was under a compulsion. I could not disobey Morgan in the slightest."

A cool towel lay on my forehead. I just noticed it because it was taken away and refreshed only to be used again to mop at my face.

"Look, maybe you can do something other than bothering me. Perhaps cleaning up the mess that you made of … that. I highly doubt the Princess will want to see her mortal body ripped asunder."

I heard footfalls back away. "She'll destroy me either way, Collice."

"I've been watching her for over a year now. It's not in her nature to be cruel. Clean up the mess, Ogre."

The levator palpebrae, arguably one of the weakest muscles of the human body, is paramount in the operation of a task that most of you take for granted. It was what I was trying to will into motion for the last minute or so, and at last I accomplished the seemingly Herculean task of opening my eyes.

"Princess — at last — how do you feel?"

Princess? During Collice and the Ogre's conversation I had a sinking feeling that they were talking about me. The thing here is that wasn't my first thought upon seeing the Fae hovering above me. It was her size. She was enormous! Well, for being only six inches tall at our previous meeting it was pretty big. She was a full sized girl now. My eyes tracked to her left hand which was holding a smoldering cigar that was smelling up the place.

"Oh, is this bothering you?" She flipped her hand over and the cigar disappeared in a burst of sparkling dust. "Sorry, it's been so long since Morgan forbade us simple pleasures. My apologies."

More of my body seemed to have rebooted as I was able to move my finger a little and my mouth opened. "Whaa…"

Collice nodded. "Try not to overexert yourself, Princess. Your body has been through a serious shock. You should be back to normal soon enough."

I struggled anyway. I'm stubborn that way. "Whaa… hapnn?"

"What happened?"

I managed a very weak nod.

Collice smiled. "You didn't pay attention to my instructions is what happened. I distinctly remembered saying to 'mentally' resist Morgan when she began the spell. I said nothing about physical resistance."

She refreshed the wet towel once more, slightly wringing it out over a small bowl of water and began dabbing away again. "You must always remember to pay attention to what a Fae says. We are very literal with what we say."

With a shrug she continued. "I watched you grab the witch and suck out her soul." She shook her head in disbelief. "And then blow yours right into her body while stealing her life force in the same breath."

Collice set her elbow on her knee and leaned forward. "Stealing someone's life force is tricky business. You have to separate the essence from the soul and then take only the essence. Otherwise you take the chance of absorbing the soul along with it, and that, my Princess, will literally drive you insane. You are very lucky indeed."

I blinked in confusion. "Wh… Prinss?"

Collice raised her head at that and gave me a big tooth-filled grin. "Why am I calling you Princess?"

I nodded, dreading what I was going to hear next, but already knowing the answer.

"Because, you are no longer Shay Lefae the mortal man. You have abducted the body of the most powerful Sorceress in the known world and left her in your old body, however a brief of stay it was. She's most likely sucking Lucifer's cock right about now."

"Dead?" I cringed a little. I felt a little elation at being able to complete an entire word and manipulate my facial muscles. I was getting better, faster!

Collice nodded. "The Ogre was under a compulsion charm to protect Morgan. He went a little nutso when you grabbed Morgan's face, so he ripped off your arms." She gave me a appreciative grin. "Good thing you had already transferred into this body. Morgan was dead in less than a minute after."

"I'm Morgan now?" Cool, a complete sentence!

With a shake of her head Collice answered. "No, you're you. Shay, or I suppose we should feminize your name. You're Shaylee Le Fay." She took an accounting look at me. "Feel like sitting up?"

I simply nodded. She backed away a little and held out her hands to assist. When I reached up to grab a hold I noticed Morgan's necklace hanging by its thong from my left hand.

"You might want to put that on first. It's the only reason you are still alive right now."

I looked at it in wonderment and then frowned. "It's inverted. The sign of the devil."

Collice giggled a little. "It's a pentagram, Princess. Sideways, upside down, or right side up, it's a symbol of protection, and has been, long before it was known as demonic."

I took her word for it and slipped it over my head. She reached back and pulled my hair out of the way until it sat secure around my neck. Afterward she pulled me into a sitting position and I took in the scene before me.

The batman was settling the remnants of my old body into a lined wooden crate. Blood was pooled around the table and splatters coated the surrounding area. I eyed Collice. "We're safe now?"

She returned a nod to me. "The compulsion charm ended when Morgan died. The Ogre was confused for a few minutes, that's where that amulet came in handy. He went into a little tiff before he was in his right mind again, but no Fae can physically harm you while you wear that necklace.

The Ogre, still looked like the female batman that picked me up at the airport, and I was confused as to why Collice kept calling her a 'him'. But that all pretty much went out of my head when I took into account my new body. It's kind of odd looking down and seeing breasts. Well, not the breasts themselves, but the fact that I was the new owner of said breasts.

I was covered in blood splatters. I guess that was why she had the wet towel. Ick. "I need a shower."

"Lir!" Collice called out.

The door I arrived through, opened and in stepped a very tall, aqua skinned, lithe bodied man, dressed in dark blue leathers and armed with a sword that hung by his belt. With a military air, he strode over and knelt to one knee, bowing his head.

"Your Highness."

"Princess," said Collice. "May I introduce you to your Captain of the Guard, Lir."

What exactly do you say to that? Hi? Pleased to meetcha? "Why do you keep calling me Princess?" As an afterthought I realized I was being rude. "Sorry, um, pleasure meeting you, Captain."

Collice provided me with an answer as Lir covertly looked me over. "Remember the scepter I told you about earlier, Princess? The one that Morgan took from Queen Mab? When you destroyed Morgan, the result was leaving the scepter in somewhat of a limbo. Until it is claimed we have no Queen."

I absorbed that. It made sense. Dead Queen. Who's the Queen?

"Since you are Morgan's only living relative and victor of battle, the title, by blood and spoils, falls to you. The only thing you have to do is claim the scepter. Until that time you are considered of royal blood."

Uh huh. "How 'bout I just claim the shower instead?"

Lir's eyebrows shot up. "Highness?"

Collice smiled smartly. "Lir, would you be good enough to help me escort the Princess to her bedchambers."

Lir helped me to my feet and I took his arm leaning a lot of my weight, however little it was, on him, as my legs were still shaky. Collice took my other hand and they led me out of the main door along the modern business like corridor to the Elevators.

When we got inside Lir produced a keycard and pressed the bottom two buttons together. I looked down at the blood slowly drying on -- my corset. Gheeze, there's something I normally don't think to myself every day. I looked warily back up to the doors and Collice caught my nervousness.

"Not to worry, Princess. Express elevator."

Must be what the card is for, I deduced. We waited for what seemed double the amount of time it took us to ascend to the 'twelve-fourteen' floor. I was assuming that we were pretty far underground when we came to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a small room carved out of the earth with a single heavy door across from the elevator.

"Princess, if you would grasp the handle and say 'bedchamber' I would be most grateful."

Feeling somewhat like an idiot I did as she asked. While I was still grasping the handle Collice joined it with hers and pulled the door open. Standing at the entrance to a really large bedroom I gaped at all of the royal glory that apparently was my bedchamber. The bed itself could probably hold about a half dozen people comfortably.

"Morgan loved her black lace." And there was plenty evidence of it draped everywhere: armchairs, couches, bed. It was kind of creepy. "We can change it if you desire, Princess."

"Later."

With a nod to Lir they led me to an equally opulent bathroom where a dozen little Fae were flying around in what could best be described as organized chaos. A sunken bath waited for me. Steam rose out of the water which was full of bubbles. I made a quick look around for a shower stall. Of course, if you had servants for your every whim, you didn't have to worry about cleaning your own bathtub. Morgan, I decided, was a royal ass, pun pretty much intended.

Lir made his exit as seven of the flying Fae attended me, quickly stripping me of my clothes with practiced ease while they giggled away. Some gave me polite instructions, as they seemed to be used to doing things Morgan's way.

I really didn't even have time to inspect my new body before I was hurried to the bath and became somewhat brain-dead soon thereafter. Yep, they knew exactly how hot to make the bath. After a short soak, four of them washed my hair, arms and back. At the first instance of one of them about to dive underwater I told them to skedaddle.

Collice lounged on the couch… who puts a couch in a bathroom. Not that there wasn't enough room for one, but seriously, who does that? Anyway, she lounged on the couch looking very pleased with herself.

"Palace revolt go just like you planned?" I asked with mild sarcasm.

Collice grinned wide and nodded eagerly. "Oh, much better than planned actually." She stood and walked to the door. "Some refreshment Princess?"

I really hadn't thought how dry my mouth was. "Please."

Opening the door to the bedroom a crack she whispered something and then returned to the couch. "Morgan is dead, so there is no chance of her returning to avenge herself. Bravo." She golf clapped for me. "You have taken over her body which means that you have access to all of her power. With proper training you will be able to use it quite effectively against your enemies."

With a slosh of water I interjected, "I have enemies?"

"Princess, all people of power have enemies."

Oh, the generic sort. I continued using the bath sponge I was left, which by the way feels really weird. My new body is really soft and smooth. My feet are tiny and the whole business between the legs. Let's just say that I cleaned up and moved on to other areas, before I got distracted. Morgan liked a bald kitty. Nuff said.

"Look, I wasn't really signing up for the whole Queen thing. I'd really just like to get back to my old…" I sighed. There wasn't any going back to my old life, was there? I was still pretty well off. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to hard to start over. I mean I look twenty years younger than my old body.

Collice sat up and leaned forward. The door to the bath opened and a another Fae entered. She was normal height. By that I mean she looked human, except for her hair which was every shade of brown imaginable. She carried a carafe of what I'm assuming was wine and set it on a small table behind me. With a gesture from Collice she poured two glasses and handed me the first.

"Princess, this is Brigit, your Lady's Maid. She will attend to your clothing, make up, jewelry, hair, shoes and wardrobe care, and all related shopping."

Brigit curtsied. "Your Highness."

I nodded to her and she went over to stand by the wine in case we wanted more, I suppose. Collice shooed her away. "I'll serve the Princess. Prepare her clothes. Something for the mortal world. I must tour her Highness around."

With a nod Brigit retreated to the bedroom. When the door closed Collice turned to me. I sipped at the wine. Oh my freaking god. It was good, and I'm not a big wine fan.

"I think a little bit of background might enlighten you, Princess."

I saluted her with the glass and swallowed. "Okay."

"Soon after Morgan took rule over a thousand years ago there was a revolt amongst the Fae. In return for their trouble, Morgan killed everyone of royal blood. Even if you ceded the scepter to a Fae, which you can't by the way, there is nobody to give it to."

This made no sense. "Why not create a new noble class?"

Collice nodded and then took a sip of her wine. "The only person that can grant nobility is the Queen."

I groaned inwardly. "So, I can't even do that unless I accept."

"Princess…"

I cut her off before she could say anymore. "Could you please call me by my name. I was a guy less than an hour ago. Princess is really starting to grate on my nerves."

Collice smiled with a little evil put behind it. "I could, but by royal decree I can only call you Highness or Princess, you could change that…"

"…if I were Queen," I finished. I knocked back the last of the wine. "Great, fine."

The bronzed colored Fae stood and retrieved the decanter to fill my glass again. I could get really lazy being treated like this. I resumed my washing and mulled over the pros and cons of the job, which by the way I had no idea what a Queen did other than wave at her subjects and say, 'We are not amused.' Well, we aren't.

I tossed the sponge and flipped my hand in the air to lose the four pounds of soap suds that were sticking on it.

"What's the up side to this job."

Collice shrugged and thought for a moment. "Nearly limitless wealth, you've seen some of the perks already. Power. A real chance to make your mark on this world and the mortal world. I'm not talking about being famous, but making a change for the good of things instead of for the gratification of your own ego. Your word will be law."

That was fairly obvious. "And the downside?"

"You'll have to protect it as well."

I took the wineglass and a healthy drink from it before setting it back down. "What do you get out of all of this, Collice?"

Her face took on a darker shade of bronze and she ducked her head. "By your will, Princess, if you desire a Lady Chamberlain, or if I may be so bold, a Justiciar, I would gladly fill the position."

I knew that a Lord Chamberlain was a high muckity-muck in the Royal Household everything that went on in the Queens life ran through him before it went to the Queen. "What's a Justiciar?"

She set her empty glass on the end table beside the couch and clasped her hands together. "I suppose the mortal equivalent would be Prime Minister, or the Sheriff's of old. In your absence my voice would be as yours."

"My Vice-President," I offered.

She didn't look all that convinced of the comparison. "In essence, but remember, Princess, that you would be a Monarch. I cannot make law under any circumstances."

Something edged out in the corner of my mind about high offices and noble rankings. "What are the noble blood requirements of the office?"

Collice blushed even further turning her face into almost a copper color. "No less than an Earl, nor more than a Duke, your Highness."

"Insuring your chance at the throne, Collice?"

Hey, I could play backstabbing politics with the best of them. I was CEO of my own business. Nobody backstabs like me.

"Princess?" She was confused. I really didn't know whether to buy it or not.

"You just got through plotting to kill your Queen to put in a Queen of your choosing. How do I know that you won't do the same to me after I make you a noble? Then you'd have someone to pass the scepter to that was Fae."

She looked at me like I was nuts and couldn't figure out what the heck I was talking about. "Princess, you 'are' Fae. You had Fae blood in your veins when you were a mortal, and now that you have taken Morgan's body, you have even more."

She stood and went over to the decanter to refill her glass. Tossed it back and filled it again before turning back. "Princess, I observed you for over a year before deciding to do what I did. It was for the good of Faerie that I took the chance that I would be killed, that my family would be killed for my actions.

"You are a good person, and I think you would make a formidable Queen. I do not want the responsibility for all of Faerie on my shoulders, but I do want to help you bear that burden and that honor. That is why I requested the position of Justiciar. If you like, you may proclaim the position be filled with someone not of noble blood. I would still want to help you."

I almost stood up to stress my point, but … naked. "Collice, I don't want to be Queen."

Her face warmed to me. The passion was gone and replaced with compassion instead. "And that is one of the reasons you will be a good and fair Queen, your Highness. Besides, once you bear your first child and he or she comes of age then you may abdicate your throne. It doesn't have to be forever."

I think I'm gonna be sick. I'm a woman, female, girl, with all the girlie parts.

"Princess? You don't look so well."

Babies, means being with a guy, which in turn means being pregnant, and giving birth. I grabbed the glass and emptied it, then I held it out for more. Sex with a guy…

Suddenly being Queen didn't look all that formidable.

~O~

The parade of Fae that stripped me came back to finish the job. I got rinsed, dried, and pampered amidst incessant giggling. It felt like a sugar overload. Apparently Morgan didn't let them giggle enough. Now it's like someone opened the floodgates.

Lir made a retreat to the elevator cove when I entered the bedroom and saw Collice nodding with approval at the outfit my Lady's Maid had chosen. The giggling Fae were back to help me into my — lace panties and bra. Oh joy. The dress was black, of course. I'm thinking Morgan had little to no fashion sense. I mean I was a guy and I knew enough not to overdo it on the monochromatic thing.

The dress was like a dress/jacket combo thing. I'd say it looked like a skirt with a little tiny jacket up top. It was kind of businesslike, but not really.

"Sorry," Collice began. "I'm sure you'd like something a little less female at the moment, but Morgan doesn't own a single pantsuit. I'm sure Brigit would be more than happy to purchase you a new wardrobe."

The Fae in question chose to pop in for a question. "Your Highness what color would you like to choose for your official reign?"

Okay, out of my depth here. I like flannel, is that a color? I'm kidding. "Um … blue?"

Collice held a laugh, but not very well. Brigit apparently wanted me to narrow it down a little. "Any particular shade of blue, your Highness?"

"Ahhh, tell you what, you pick. But not all one blue. Get some life into this place. But whatever you do, stay away from teal. I hate teal."

Ha! I knew that color. Hated it from the moment Miami Vice came on the air in the Eighties. "Maybe some purples and reds, go crazy, alright?"

Collice broke into a snicker. "Princess, I think she's concerned with the official color of state. She'll need to know for formal occasions."

I sighed. "Okay, I'm not that great with colors. How about a Dark Blue, but not too dark, so people won't get it confused with black okay. I trust your judgment." I don't have a clue who you are other than your name is 'Brih-Jet' but I trust you.

I was then sat down where I was made up, my hair was styled, and I was accessorized. I have pierced ears and Brigit knows how to use them. Thank god that Morgan didn't go through a nose ring stage. I don't think I could handle that.

By the time I was done I figured it was time to go to sleep. Hey, it was only one o'clock in the afternoon. I woke up this morning, killed a Queen and semi-immortal Fae Sorceress, took over her body and became a magical princess all in one morning. What the hell have you done today?

I teetered for a moment in the massively high heels, and Collice semi-scolded me. "Quit thinking about it, Princess. You did fine on our walk down here and those heels are the same height."

Bracing against the wall beside the door I gave her a scowl. "Easy for you to say. I feel like I'm going to break an ankle."

She took my hand. "Highness, look at me." I pulled my head up from my constant attention to my pointy heels. "Your body knows what it wants, needs, and how to react to your surroundings. Being diminutive in height, Morgan has walked in heels or lifts for most of her very long life. Trust in that experience." She paused for a moment. "Try putting your attention to other matters. It will help distract you."

I could see her reasoning, and tried to follow her advice. She hadn't really led me astray yet. I closed my eyes and focused on the 'being Queen' problem and then nodded.

Upon opening the door to the tiny elevator room, Lir turned to us and bowed his head.

"We're going public, Lir," Collice informed the Captain. "Glamour will be needed."

He nodded once. "I'll inform the Guard."

I kept my thoughts on what I was going to do about the decision before me and then willed myself to pace the room. It was shaky going at first, but the more I worried about the consequences of my actions, the more confident I became in my stride. It's a trade off, I suppose.

"Princess." Collice interrupted my thoughts. "I am terribly sorry to have to ask this from you, but we need a decision." She strode to me, clasping her hands in front of herself. "The things we will be doing today… if you want to make changes, you will have to have the power to do so. As a Princess of Faerie you will have protection, and will not want for anything, but to make or change policy, you have little power."

More pressure. The one point that led me to my choice was something that Collice hadn't brought up. I don't know if it was on purpose or not. Maybe she was sparing my feelings. I don't really know. The final issue to me was honor.

I had it instilled in me from birth by my parents. Your word was your bond. Actions speak more of you than words. The end results must define your actions. Platitudes, for sure, but wise words to live by in a world full of people that often see themselves the center of their own universe.

From what I had seen, Morgan was evil. I mean it doesn't take a lot of intelligence to see that stealing someone's life is an evil act. I couldn't really imagine it was a daily occurrence in the way she managed her life. The family name was tarnished, and it would take someone of a diametrically opposed viewpoint to make up for that blemish.

"I'll do it."

A firm knock sounded at the door. Collice was almost glowing with excitement, and Brigit answered the door. It was Lir, followed buy four other multi-colored men dressed in more modern garb with very large bulges at their hip and under their arms. Heavily armed guards.

Lir was out of his leathers and sported a dark suit. I had the impression of the President's Secret Service. It worried me a little that I would need so much protection, but I set it aside for the moment.

Collice stepped forward and took both my hands. "Are you sure, Princess? Once you choose, you cannot go back."

I nodded.

With a tooth filled smile she bowed her head.

"So, where is this scepter thing I have to claim."

"It is within you, Princess," was her answer. "Morgan's body never died, so it never appeared." At the look on my face at hearing that I had some sort of royal magical scepter floating somewhere inside me she giggled. "Princess, it is not whole, but it is inside you nevertheless. Are you ready?"

With a nervous nod Collice turned to Lir. "Captain, will you and your guard bear witness to this acceptance."

"We will," he said with slight confusion, but waved the guard forward into a semicircle behind Collice.

She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. I could see them well slightly making them sparkle in response. "Princess, will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of Faerie, and the dominions thereto belonging, and the laws and customs of the same?"

Not knowing what to say I just went with the flow. "I promise."

"Will you with your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?"

"I will."

"Place your hand to your heart, Princess." Following her directions I did so. "Repeat after me: The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep."

I repeated the words and felt a tingling run through my body followed by a feeling on my forehead. I reached up and felt the circlet on my head as I remembered the same being on Morgan's forehead before. I hadn't noticed it missing, but now felt certain of its slight weight on my brow.

Tears dropped off of Collice's face as she turned to Lir. "Captain of the Guard. It is my pleasure to present Her Royal Majesty, Queen of Faerie, Shaylee Le Fay."

The Guard took to one knee and bowed their heads followed soon thereafter by Collice.

I took a step forward and held my hand out to my advisor. "Collice, stand up, please. All of you, please."

She was the first to her feet. "Your Majesty."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "First thing is we put an end to that. From now on you will call me," I cringed slightly at the feminization to my given name. "Shaylee."

A little giggle forced its way out of her throat. "When we are in private, it shall be as you wish. It would not be proper when we are among your people — Shaylee."

I acceded to the compromise with a smile. "Fair enough." I licked my lips and bore my eyes into hers. "Now, what say we put right our kingdom."

End... for now.

Author's note: This story is a stand alone, for now. Just something that I wanted to get out of my head after reading Maggie Finson's latest Fae story on BC:TS. Check it out, very cute! I may, at a later date take it up again to fill in the numerous plot holes and hanging plot lines. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you'd like to see it more after I finish one of my current two stories then let me know in a comment. Else I'll leave it as is. Now I have to get to work on "Do it Right" before the threats start coming.

~Lili

Faerie Queen: The Consequences of Earth Magic

by:

Lilith Langtree

"You need not fear that we will not be compatible."

I almost choked at that one. "Compatibility is not the problem, Sean. I'm sure you are a great guy and all, but a little over a week ago, so was I."

Author's Note: Due to the enormous response to Faerie Queen for Life here is the sequel. You don't absolutely have to have read FQFL but it would probably help with the details about whats happened to this point.

Story:
A week, that's how long it's been, and I'm about to pull my hair out. Considering my hair now reaches down to my butt, that's saying a lot. How do women do it? I mean I have a dozen or so little flying wanna-dos, in other words Fae, that take care of every little thing for me, from bathing me, drying my hair, paining my nails, plucking my eyebrows. I think you get the picture. Even with all of these annoying little — breathe Shay — even with all of my helpers I still can't get out of my damn bedroom in under an hour! It really makes me wonder what normal human women do to make it through one measly day.

Granted, I'm the Queen. Me, Shay LeFae. Or I should probably use my new name Shaylee Le Fay, umpteen-number-of-Greats Grandson of the evil Sorceress Morgan Le Fay. Except now that I've destroyed her in her bid to kill me, I get to take over her very female body and become Queen of the Faeries — excuse me, Fae. They get picky if you call them Fairy, Faeries, etc.

I even have a Lady's Maid. Yep, straight out of Medieval times. Her name's Brigit, but make sure you pronounce it 'Brih-Jet' or she'll insure you're wearing an annoying lace thong for the day. Lace I tell you! I think I had a rash by the end of that day.

Anyway, Brigit was putting the finishing touches to my make up while her mass of wanna-dos were doing my nails. Apparently I was finally visiting Faerie today. The word had to be put out all across the world that the new 'nice' Queen looked exactly like the old 'evil' Queen before I visited. Even though the inverted pentagram necklace I was wearing protected me from physical and magical attack, from any Fae, it didn't protect me from… oh, let's say a tree falling on me… 'accidentally'.

Morgan had pissed off a serious amount of Fae in her thousand years as Queen, and now I'm wearing her body. See my problem?

I did have the advantage that Morgan hadn't set foot into Faerie in over seven hundred years. She spent all of her time developing her magical skills on Earth. Hold on a sec. I'm making it seem like Faerie is in outer space or something.

Okay, here's the world of Faerie in a nutshell: Umpteen gazillion years ago when God gave Lucifer and his minions a swift kick in the butt down to hell, he shut the doors to Heaven. Everyone who was caught in the middle, on Earth, they became Fae. It doesn't mean we're ex-angels or something, I don't know, I didn't get the full story. Anyway. When the world of man, regular humans, started taking over the place, the Fae created an alternate world, dimension, whatever you want to call it, called Faerie. It looks exactly like the Earth used to look like back in the Medieval Age. Lots of green with the occasional village, castle, whatever. You can access it through thousands of points across the world, places that normal humans can't see because the entrances are covered by magical camouflage called, Glamour.

There, got it?

Now that we're all caught up I'll continue. Morgan was busy being all 'evil sorceress' on Earth and ignored her kingdom. This is a bad thing. Fae are pretty much immortal. They do age. Let me put it this way. The body I'm in right now? Well over a thousand years old. I look twenty-five, tops, on a bad day.

So why did Morgan have to steal my will in order to live another thousand years? Easy. She never visited Faerie. That, my friends, is where the magic is, or was as is the case. It's been dying recently. In Fae years 'recently' is about half a millennium. All because her Queen never visited. It's a symbiotic relationship. When the Queen and the Land are as one then each will flourish. At least that's what I'm told. That's why there was a plot to kill Morgan. It was so a new Queen, or King, as the case may be, could be chosen, return to Faerie and thus return the life to Faerie along with its magic and glory.

Apparently Faerie is in bad shape at the moment. About five hundred years ago things started to happen. The Fae noticed they weren't able to perform their magic as they should, at least not at the strength they should. At this point the most Fae could do was minor magic. The land was withering away, turning to barren desert in a lot of places and it was very hard to even provide food for the populace. Thus a plot was born to kill Morgan and here I am.

What have I been doing with myself for the last week? I've been learning exactly how screwed up Morgan actually was on Earth. She founded a well known company, I'm not going to say the name, that would be telling. Anyway, she built up the company as a true to life evil empire. We have our fingers into every thing from simple things as farming, up to and including political manipulation across the globe. The problem is that you can't simply say, 'okay, no more evilness'. I have some good people on the problem. They'll come to me with the big issues, because it's going to take literally years to pull our thumbs out of this pie without sending the world's economy into a never ending downward spiral. Maybe you've seen some of the results as of late?

So, now I deal with Faerie.

~O~

I'm dressed in Powdered-Blue leathers. Can I get a groooooaaan? I put the full stop to wearing dresses and skirts all the time. I conceded to wear them for a purpose, not for everyday wear. I mean, if I'm meeting a head of state or something then yeah, I can do the flowing chiffon and petticoats, but for traipsing around in the grass or on horseback, jeans will do fine. Except I can't really wear jeans in Faerie. The Fae have a problem with some metals and non-organic materials. It's a rash thing, and I've had more than enough lace-induced rash to last me for a while, thank you. The next best thing is either a skirt, dress, or leathers. And of course, silly me told Brigit to make the royal colors blue; every shade there is. I forgot about Powder-Blue. I'm feeling exceedingly female today.

Brigit has this thing for corsets. I guess she doesn't think my waist is small enough and my breasts large enough or something. Yes, I have breasts. I used to be a male and now I have breasts. The novelty wore off on the third day. What can I say? There's only so much squeezing, kneading, tweaking and fondling a guy can do to himself before it just gets silly. Never let it be said that I was a prude.

So, she's got me squeezed into this tight-assed corset, a very… pretty tavern wench's top and some leather trousers. Actually it's more of a suede. Very soft. I have to go barefoot for the day. Apparently it's all the rage in Faerie. I'm joking. It's to let the Land know I'm back. Direct connection and all. Frankly I couldn't be happier. I've worn enough high heels to last me a lifetime.

I've got on about forty pounds of jewelry. Rings, bracelets, earrings, my dainty circlet of jewels that is supposed to be my daily wear crown, all made metal free. It's not that Fae can't touch metals, they can, well everything except for pure iron or what they call Cold Iron. That's a no no. But things being as they are in Faerie we thought it safest for me to go metal free for now. There was no telling what would happen, or how much magic would actually be flowing through me when I get there. Why cause problems with a metal zipper right over my crotch?

"All done, your Majesty."

I felt my fingers and toes get really warm for a second and knew that the nail fairies were done too. Nail Fae, whatever.

I nodded appreciatively. "Please tell Collice that I'm ready."

Brigit curtsied. "By your leave, Majesty."

I kept at a constant eye roll throughout the day. I just can't get them to stop with the bowing and kissing up. What can I say? They're happy that Morgan's gone and Faerie will be back to normal soon. One of the wanna-do's actually kissed my toe the other day. That was weird, and it took all of my will not to drop-kick her across the room. Not that I could have. Those little Pixies are quick.

Collice is my right hand. Or I should say Countess Collice of Evershire, Justiciar to the Realm, is my right hand. Hey, you should hear all of my titles. It's nauseating, not to mention tedious to listen to.

Anyway, she's old school, fifties style gorgeous. And she smokes cigars. That last one I can't understand. Whatever floats her boat I suppose. She's been my mentor in all things Fae related, and it's a lot, let me tell you. That little nugget I gave you at the beginning of this tale is nothing like what I received this week. My brain is about to explode at the info dump I got on my second day here.

A little knock sounded at the bedchamber door before my friend entered. Her bronze colored gown was gone only to be replaced with this little one piece boob-lifter and leg displayer thing she was wearing that would make Tinkerbelle proud.

"Ready to go Majesty?"

I gave her a sour face at my title and she grinned. "You're going out in public Shaylee. I have to keep in character."

"Uh-huh," I returned with serious doubt in my voice. Sometimes I think she loves calling me these hoity-toity names just to see my reaction. "Where are we off to today?"

"Ireland." Her eyes were glittering in response. Collice looked very excited.

I blinked in response. "Shouldn't we be on a plane or something right about now?" I really wasn't looking forward to a ten hour plane ride to Europe.

"Just your hand on the door, Shaylee." At my inquiring look she explained. "You have homes, businesses, lairs, Faerie Circles, and sometimes just plain old caves across the world that are connected to your bedchamber door. One of Morgan's more ingenious inventions."

"So I just put my hand on the doorknob and say where I'm going, then poof?"

Collice nodded. "Just name your destination and the door will find the closest portal for you to enter. The more detailed you are, the closer you'll be."

"Huh. Convenient." As an afterthought I asked, "What stops people from using that as a backdoor to get to me?"

"Only you can use the doorways, Shaylee. Others can pass through, but once the door is closed only you may open it again."

"Oh, okay. Cool enough." I patted my butt to ensure my wallet was there, only to find smooth leather. I shook my head in annoyance. I still hadn't broken that little manly gesture of repetition from my human life. So I sighed. At least I didn't have to carry a purse. That's one of the little perks of being Queen. Other people held my crap.

A knock sounded at the door and Collice answered. My personal guard entered, led by my Captain of the Guard, Lir. He was dressed in his familiar dark blue leathers which complimented his lighter blue skin color, and his shoulder length navy blue hair. He was armed with weapons of several type, including a long sword, knife and pistol. My guard were armed Robin Hood style including sword, longbow, and arrows.

"We expecting a problem, Lir?"

He bowed formally. "Not at all your Majesty. I believe in being prepared."

Which explained the additional four guards. Normally there were six of the guard, but since we were going to be cut off from the human world I would be alone and we would most likely be outnumbered. It was then that I noticed one additional member in the background.

"What's she doing here?"

Collice leaned in and lowered her voice. "Morgan's batman was under a compulsion at the time of your meeting, Majesty." Collice looked like she was annoyed at what she was thinking to herself. "However, he did perform his job very well, and he's an Ogre. His strength might come in handy."

I looked sideways at her. "Why do you keep calling her a 'he'?"

With a smirk she continued. "Because she is in actuality a he. Morgan wouldn't stand to have men in her presence except for one reason. So she cast a Glamour over him to correct that problem."

"Shouldn't that have faded by now?"

Okay, something I've forgotten to mention before. Morgan's magic pretty much disappeared when she died, but there were enchantments that stayed behind. Major works of hers that were tied to objects, like the traveling door thing, the amulet of protection that I always wore, and others were powered by her sorceress magic which lived on in me. So minor magic like the Glamour on the Ogre should have been dispelled when Morgan died.

"We really have no idea, Majesty. That's another reason the Ogre wishes to serve you willingly and well. He can't be reverted back to his old body without you ending the magic. His wife is really annoyed at being married to a human looking girl."

The Ogre was standing in the background doing his or rather her best to look unobtrusive yet unaffected by us talking about her. Whisper all you want around the Fae. We hear everything. It's a Fae thing.

I stepped forward and my guard cleared a path for me. The Ogre stood tall, for a human girl, almost six feet in height in flat booted feet. I barely stood above five feet tall in my bare feet. When I approached, her back went ridged, and she stared straight ahead at attention. "What's your name?"

Her eyes flickered down to me and she bowed. "Gnack, your Majesty."

I gave her a soft nod in acknowledgement. "Serve me well and you have my promise that I will do my best to return you to your previous body once I figure out how."

Gnack almost sighed, but smiled in relief. "Thank you, your Majesty. I am at your call."

"Good. But we're losing the batman title. It's annoyingly really old fashioned. You'll be my personal assistant. Generally the same duties, but I want you handling other things of a personal nature that I'll explain as we go along. I don't want to take up Collice's time with things that shouldn't fall under her purview as Justiciar."

Gnack bowed again. "As you wish, Majesty."

~O~

On the hill of Tara, in County Meath, on the Isle of Ireland they stood looking around. Rich green grass covered a tall hill that overlooked the flatlands of East-Central Ireland. They stood in the middle of the Forradh or what was otherwise once known as the Royal Seat, the circular fort of the High King of Ireland. There, of course, wasn't any noticeable remains of the ancient fort; only a large semi-spiral impression in the ground noted where the High King made his rule. It now doubled as a Faerie Circle. A dozen or so tourists roamed the area looking at a solitary grave marker and the areas where once stood a thriving kingdom.

"Are you sure they can't see us, Collice?"

Her smile and nod was conformation enough. "Humans see what they expect to see, Majesty. The Glamour that Lir and I cast reveal us to be nothing more than tourists like themselves. We'll cast another when we leave. None will be the wiser."

Gnack walked behind us carrying a largish leather bag that Collice had told her to bring along on the trip. It contained gifts to the town elders that would be passed out during our tour. The guard spread out encircling us, their eyes were cast all around in constant watch for threat.

Lir took the lead, directing us to a large mound of earth standing around sixty feet wide and ten feet tall. There was an open entrance to the mound that he passed through and I followed.

"Prepare yourself, Majesty. It will be like nothing you've experienced before," he said.

That was an understatement. When I moved through the entrance I felt an electric tingling course through me, along with every color in the rainbow flash across my eyes. My equilibrium was suddenly shot to hell and I nearly dropped to my knees if it weren't for Gnack's quick response. Her hands slipped under my arms and steadied me against the sensory assault.

The first thing I noticed when I was able to focus was the air. It was unbelievably clean and fresh, but dry. My toes sank into the dirt at my feet.

"Let her down, Ogre. She needs to acquaint herself with the Land."

I took a breath and nodded to Gnack. "It's okay. Let me down slowly."

Collice had briefed me about what to expect. However, even she didn't know what would happen after so long an absence by Faerie's Queen.

I still wasn't able to focus my eyes. It was like a brown cloud of smog covered my vision, that was until my hands touched the earth beneath me.

I jerked as I felt myself being pulled. Not my physical body, but something inside me, down into the soil. It's like I was a bowl of honey being spread out over the world. Thick and sweet, the Land of Faerie tasted of me relishing in the flavor of magic and life. As much as I spread across the world Faerie spread inside me, returning what it took, like some supernatural dialysis machine. It was like I was the filter. Old life and magic coursed through me and then left just as quickly, new and reborn.

The sensation of life being birthed in the earth was astonishing. I could feel trees budding new leaves, grass forming lush and green, flowers bursting with mounds of pollen exploding in the air.

I could also feel my subjects, my people, gasp with vitality anew as the magic soared through them. Little Pixies giggled, Sprites flourished, Pooka roared. All the creatures of Faerie relished in the energy and knew as one that I had arrived home.

"Majesty?"

Collice knelt beside me, her face dripping with happy tears. I lurched forward and threw my arms around her.

"It's so beautiful, Collice!" I gasped. "I never knew what I wasn't missing."

I realized then that my vision had returned. I loosened my grip on my friend and stared at Faerie. Lush green hills, every shade you could imagine, full trees, a fresh stream of crystal clear water. It was like nature on steroids.

A little twister of water shot up like a geyser extending large and powerful arms spinning round and round. A loud gurgle of laughter sounded and the water splashed back down in the creek.

My eyes widened and Collice laughed. "Water Elemental. It's best we leave them alone for now."

"I think I'll need a encyclopedia or something to keep up with the different kind of Fae there are."

She smiled at me. "There's not that many, maybe twenty or so."

"Uh-huh," I remarked. "Then you gotta list off all their powers, their lot in life, how much they hate me…"

"They don't hate you, Majesty. You just gave them back their power. If anything they'll revere you."

Gnack held out her hand for me and I set mine in hers. That's when I noticed the color of my skin. It was as blue as my clothing. "Oh no," I groaned. "Not powder-blue skin."

"It's could be worse, Majesty," Collice noted. "It could be a sickly yellow color. No offense, Ogre."

That led me to believe that the normal color of Ogre's skin was just that, sickly yellow.

"Majesty, you truly are Fae now."

I quickly looked around at my back and let a breath out in relief. No wings.

"You'll need practice to receive your wings and acquire your Pixie form, Majesty."

I looked back to Collice. "I'm fine without them. Believe me."

Turning into a women, not to mention a blue women, was more than enough for me at the moment. I don't think I could take anymore without needing serious therapy.

"Not just that, Majesty. Your Fae magic has invoked itself."

Now Collice had my full attention. "Magic?"

She nodded. "Every creature of Faerie has magic of some type. Normally several different kinds of magic, but they always specialize in at least one." She looked around the area we were standing. "Your specialty seems to be Earth Magic."

"Earth Magic."

A return nod later and she explained. "We expected Faerie to be renewed but nothing like this. It's takes time for plants to grow even with loving care. But you have restored the area to its previous glory. Made flowers bloom, trees flourish, grass to turn lush and green in the course of mere minutes."

Collice bent down to run her hand over the top of the soft dewy grass. "With Earth Magic as strong as yours you could call upon the very nature of the element itself. Create rocks, metals, dirt seemingly out of nothing. With practice you could grow crops to feed millions, alter the paths of mountains, turn a paradise into desert lands." At a final glance at me she looked thoughtful. "With practice."

"Majesty," Lir interrupted. "We have company."

I followed my Captain's eyes along the creek bed and saw dozens of butterflies heading toward us. Lir was ahead of me by several steps when a hand motion brought forth four other guards to his side. Their hands were on their swords and pistols, but Lir held a single hand high.

The butterflies came to a stop about twenty feet from him and landed on the ground. The next moment they were replaced with Fae of varied shape, size, and age. From the wizened of old to the curious of young.

One of the middle-aged looking ladies stepped forward trying to look around the Guard. "Is it she? The new Queen?"

One of the young ones, barely tall enough to pass the knees of the guards struggled to get by. "Momma!"

Collice's smile turned sun bright. "Lir, let the little ones through." She dropped to her knees as the tiniest Fae took advantage of the guard's turning to dash forward into her mother's arms.

I grinned as I saw three children, two girls and one preteen looking boy hugging their mother. The littlest one was so incredibly excited she didn't care who else saw. "Momma. I gots my wings!"

Collice mirrored her child's excitement. "Let me see, Danu!"

With a step back she squinched her face in concentration, shrunk to a little two inch girl and sprouted big beautiful green butterfly wings. She bounced up off the grass and flew in a very erratic pattern that showed she still hadn't quite gotten used to using her new appendages.

The Little Danu butterfly flittered through the air and seemingly lost control landing, to my shock, dead on my nose.

"Danu!" Collice snapped with embarrassment. "You are molesting the Queen!"

I blew a sharp gust of air out of my mouth that jarred the little Fae off of her perch with a giggle. "That tickles!"

Bringing my hand up to my nose I scooped Danu up in my palm. "You have beautiful wings, little one."

She took off from my hand and circled my head once. "Thank you!"

Collice didn't know whether to be embarrassed or join in the fun, but decided to reign her child in. "Danu, come here."

It took her a second but the little Fae made her way to her mother and shifted back into her big girl form.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty. She's still a handful."

I shook my head. "She's a child, Collice. No harm done."

The bronze color in Collice's cheeks darkened a little, which I know from previous experience meant that she was blushing.

"Your Majesty, I would like to introduce you to my children. You've already met Danu." The littlest girl curtsied very awkwardly, but cutely. Collice set her hand on the back of maybe an eight year old girl. "This one is Epona."

She stepped forward and curtsied with much more practiced grace. "A pleasure to meet you, your Majesty."

I grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Epona."

She had taken her mother's coloring and blushed a deep bronze in reaction to my attention.

"And lastly, my son, Dagda."

Dagda was colored a dark green like his littlest sister and stepped forward with confidence and an air of nobility about him. He swept a deep bow to me and looked up, not quite meeting my eyes. "It is an honor, your Majesty."

I made an impressed gesture toward Collice. "A very well mannered young Fae, Collice. Dagda, I am pleased to meet you at last."

He stepped back and then stood in noble form again.

"Captain Lir, You might want to keep an eye on this one. He'll be charming all the girls at court."

Dagda's eyes widened and he flushed a shade of forest green, especially when Lir nodded in his direction. "It shall be done, Majesty."

~O~

It was later that I met Seamus, Collice's husband. A tall… well, against me everyone is tall. But he was a tall, older version of Dagda. He was just as regal and well mannered as his son and obviously only had eyes for his wife.

I was toured around the large village, meeting with the townspeople and welcomed like I didn't think I would be. We eventually found our way to Collice's home where the girls scampered off to play and Dagda sat beside his father trying his best to seem older than his appearance. I dismissed the guard to roam town at their leisure. Lir made sure they were within yelling distance and stayed behind even after my insistence he relax. I was in no danger here.

It was then that I heard the back door through the kitchen open and close. Like I said, Fae have excellent hearing. At first I assumed that it was one of the girls, but a male voice sounded in the background.

"Seamus, you lazy bastard. Did you hear the Queen finally got off her butt and graced us with her uppity royal presence."

Seamus and Collice's eyes widened. "Sean," Seamus called back. "Shut your stupid gob!"

Hearty laughter was heard from the kitchen. Seamus was up and halfway to the kitchen when the door in between opened in mid-sentence. "Everyone's all agog . I mean it's just…"

Sean stood at the doorway surveying the sitting room. Lir stood by my armchair with his sword halfway out of its sheath, Collice's face firmly planted in her hands, a gigantic grin on Dagda's face, and a infuriated Seamus bearing down on him. Me? I had a somewhat amused smile working its way into curiosity.

"…the Queen," he ended meekly.

"Shall I decapitate him now or later, my Queen," Lir asked in a very menacing voice.

Seamus reached his brother and grabbed him by the upper arm whispering harshly. "I would beg and I would beg quickly."

Sean's eyes didn't leave me, but I saw his jaw tense, set in private defiance. He shrugged off his brother's hand and approached me as if he'd said nothing wrong.

"Far enough, Sean Evershire," Lir warned.

Sean's eyes flicked to Lir's and he knelt, bowing his head. "My sincere apologies, your Majesty. Sometimes I let my mouth get the best of me."

I could see why. Sean was blessed, or I could say cursed with warm pink skin. I don't mean pink like Caucasian skin I mean pink like a warm pastel color, the opposite of manliness. That alone would probably suck the testosterone out by the gallon and into a normal man's system. Either that or he'd be a really happy gay guy. I'm guessing in this instance he wasn't gay.

I pushed myself up and approached the kneeling figure. His arms were bare, full and firm, like he worked for a living. His hair was a darker almost salmon color. It was short in the back and wispy in the front. Messy, but in a good way. Why am I giving you this much detail? He intrigued me.

No matter what people say, the people that disagree with you, that don't like you, are the ones that actually challenge you to do your best. If for no other reason than just to put them in their place, they serve a purpose.

"Stand up, Sean."

I saw the muscles on the back of his neck tense. He really didn't like me. Perhaps it was the whole idea of being ordered around that he didn't like. I'd have to see.

"Come with me. I want to talk to you."

I led the way out of the back of the house when I saw Lir in pursuit I held him off. "Stay back there. If you have to keep me in sight, fine. But I want this to be a private conversation."

His eyes scanned the area and he nodded. "As you wish, Majesty."

A fuchsia faced Sean appeared at the door, being led out by his brother. "Try your best to not be an idiot, brother."

Collice looked a little worried, but she knew me well enough to know I wasn't going to be overly mean. I gave her a wink and turned around. We walked for about fifty yards until we were under the shade of a tree that looked like a cross between an elm and palm. Weird, I know.

"Your Majesty, this isn't necessary. I know I've…"

"Call me Shaylee."

He jarred to a halt. "Excuse me, Majesty?"

"Shaylee, it's a name. My name in fact. Can you use it?"

A small smile rose on his face. "Contrary to my brother's opinion of my intelligence I can say words larger than two syllables."

Oh, a little bite out of this one. "Excellent." I looked up in the tree. "Give me a boost."

"Excuse me?"

I gave him an irritated look. "Am I going to have to repeat myself every time I talk to you Sean? I want to sit in the tree. Give me a boost."

He looked at me curiously so I huffed. "Come behind me, put your hands on my hips and lift me up. I don't weigh that much, trust me."

If I was a hundred pounds even I'd be surprised.

"I know how to give a boost… Shaylee. I was wondering why you don't shift to your Pixie form and fly up there."

Sean moved around behind me and set his hands on my hips, thumbs right under my butt cheeks, and lifted me with no effort whatsoever up to the bottom branch. I grabbed hold of the one above it and started to haul myself up when the branch moved of its on volition and raised me to safety.

I laughed a little. Earth Magic. Sean stood below and gawked a little. I guess it had been a while since magic had been so malleable. He grinned and jumped to the bottom branch flipping himself over with impressive gymnastic skill until he was resting comfortably on the bottom branch.

"Come on," I said eagerly as I waved him up. "It's been forever since I've climbed a tree."

I paused a second as my hands ran over the trunk and I felt the tree shiver in reaction. But then I reached up and climbed as high as I dared. When I came to a halt about forty feet in the air, I looked down to see Sean only about half way up. I think the tree may have helped me a little during the climb. I really didn't even think about doing it like I normally would. I just moved my hands and feet and they instinctively knew where to go to get me up the tree with as little fuss as possible.

Sean seemed to be struggling, not with the climb, but navigating the branches. So I thought I'd try something with my conscience mind. I placed my hand on the trunk and whispered. "Help him."

"Whoa!"

Branches bent like they were made of rubber and set themselves under his feet, making a natural stairway next to me.

He looked up at me grinning at him. "Well, now you just took all the fun out of it."

I tried to look bored, but it came off looking really fake. "You're taking too long. I'd think growing up around here that you might have climbed this tree before."

Sean scrambled up the last of the branches and stopped for a second to look at my bare feet swinging back and forth. I noticed that my dark nails contrasted with my new skin color, prettily.

God I think I'm turning into a girl. Well, more into a girl. Like I actually cared whether or not my nails were a good color in the past.

Wiggling his way across from me, Sean found a lower branch that made us somewhat eye to eye.

I looked down and across the glade to see Lir looking up at me with a frown on his face. "Think they can hear us up here?"

"Doubtful."

"Good," I acknowledged. "I want this to be private."

He was looking decidedly nervous, but in a 'I'm really trying to hide it' kind of way. "Relax, Sean. I don't care about what you said back there."

He nodded once. "Hence my head still being attached to my shoulders."

I giggled… just a little. It was more of a laugh, a chuckle. Really. Okay, a feminine chuckle. Crap, it was a giggle. "I'm not a 'off with his head' kind of Queen."

He looked down at the ground and then back up to me. "Off hand I think you aren't any kind of Queen that I've ever heard of, Shaylee." He paused but before I could respond he added, "A lot of us thought with you being Morgan's relation…well."

"That I was going to be an evil bitch too?"

He gave me a embarrassed shrug in return.

"Sean, are you anything like your grandfather?"

He saw where I was going with that question and reluctantly shook his head.

"Then what makes you think, me the great grand child… like two hundred greats at the beginning of that would be anything like Morgan?"

"You're right of course. My most sincere apologies."

"Accepted." We sat quietly for a couple of minutes enjoying the cool spring-like breeze before I brought up my next subject. "What do you do for a living, Sean?"

"Blacksmith is my trade."

My eyebrows jogged in interest. "Really? I'd think that would be a dangerous profession being a Fae."

"Not so much. I stay away from iron as much as I can, but even then all I need to do is wear protective clothing and I'm safe enough."

"So… weapons?" I guessed at what he produced.

He shrugged a little. "If commissioned. But I'm more of an artisan. I specialize in detail work."

"Really?" I said with interest. "I'd love to see some of your work."

He pointed off in a direction to the left of Collice's land. "My place is right over there. My workshop is in the back. You're welcome any time."

Something in me wanted to see what someone of his nature produced, so I pushed up on the branch I was sitting at and for the life of me can't remember if I slipped or the tree pushed me.

I fell forward with a yelp of surprise escaping from my mouth. Sean caught me.

"God, I'm sorry," I muttered in embarrassment. I looked up and into his dark pink eyes. "I must have sli…" That's when everything went sideways.

A very strong vision of a furnace entered my mind along with the clanging of metal against metal. I was flushed with heat. The air around me was dry. I stood at the doorway to a smithy shop watching a man pounding away at something on an anvil. The only thing he was wearing was dark leather pants and a protective work apron, his back was bare and sweat trickled across his rippling muscles.

Another clang of metal sounded as I approached and set my lips on his back, sliding my hands around his middle caressing his muscled abdomen.

"You do realize, little bluebonnet, that I am making our rings." He said.

"I don't care. I want you." I untied his apron and he slipped it off from around his head.

"Here?"

"I don't care. I want you anywhere."

He turned around and took me in his arms, bending down to kiss me, rubbing his sweat-soaked body against mine. I don't remember how, but we were suddenly unclothed and I was climbing atop him lowering myself onto his shaft. His lips devoured me, trailing down from mine and onto my neck, biting me, claiming me as I claimed him.

Minutes, hours, days passed until I was just as wet and slippery as he was. The heat was unbearable but added to our lovemaking. He made me feel whole, complete, as if I had found the other half of my soul and now could finally be happy after all the lonely years.

Then we peaked. I screamed his name in pleasured ecstasy, knowing that I had a lifetime of this in the future.

~O~

"Majesty!"

A familiar voice called me from the distance.

"Shaylee! Answer me!"

I felt fingers sifting through my hair. "Bluebonnet, it's time to wake up."

I shifted a little, complaining with a slight groan of the still sleepy. That was until I realized I was naked and curled up against a decidedly male person.

My eyes snapped open and I looked up at Sean. "Oh my god."

"No, just Sean Evershire."

I looked down at his nakedness and my nakedness. We were both naked and I was in possession of a very satisfied feeling between my legs.

I groaned in disbelief. "What happened?"

His smile was one of relief, satisfaction, devil-may-care attitude. "We've bonded, Shaylee. Got to tell you, I wasn't expecting that."

I rose up, realizing I was still naked and covered my breasts, as much as I could with my arm while I looked for my clothes.

"Majesty!" the voice came again. It was Lir.

"Shaylee! Sean!" And that was Collice and Seamus respectively.

"Go away!" I responded. "We'll be down in a minute!"

"Majesty are you alright? The tree has closed up and I heard your scream."

I looked around and sure enough the branches were cocooning us with barely any light sifting through. We were laying on a gathering of very smooth limbs cushioned with a mound of leaves. A limb shot forward holding all of my clothing.

"We're fine, go away! Far away. Um, Back to the house away! Piss off!"

I scrambled up and slid on my silk thong. "Apparently you can't wear regular panties with thin leather pants. It'll leave panty lines. Whatever! I wanted to be covered in the worst way. Sean sensed my discomfort and slid in front of me, pressing his lips against my navel. A jolt of pleasure shot through me, but not enough to sway me from my whole clothing goal.

"Quit that." I smacked him and reached for my blouse. Of all the days to go without a bra! "Get dressed."

He looked up at me and I dodged those fuchsia eyes that got me into trouble in the first place. "By your command, Majesty."

He was teasing me. Oh, I knew he was teasing me. I used to tease girls like that in college… when I was a guy!

I hurriedly put my leathers on afterward and clipped my corset up. I looked like a mess. It was very clear that I had my clothes off and of course Sean looked exactly the same as before except he had a really goofy smile on his face.

He reached over to touch me and I jerked back. "What?"

Sean raised his hands in a placating gesture. "I was going to help you straighten your clothes, Shaylee. You are obviously in some distress over the bonding."

"Oh… um, okay."

He tugged at my blouse here and there and tucked a little in one place. After stepping back he looked at my hair and started pulling leaves out. Great.

When he finished I reluctantly thanked him. "Is this bonding thing what I think it is?"

He paused at unfurling one of my curls. "Shaylee, you act as if you don't know…"

"I haven't been Fae for more than a week. I'm brand new to this. I wasn't even blue until a hour before we met."

He looked surprised. "Truly?"

I nodded and looked away nervously. "Again, you have my apologies, my love."

I jerked, as if slapped, at that pronouncement. "We barely know each other. Don't call me that."

He sighed a little. "You have just experienced the first mating ritual of the Fae, Shaylee. It is not by choice, but by destiny that we have found each other. You need not fear that we will not be compatible."

I almost choked at that one. "Compatibility is not the problem, Sean. I'm sure you are a great guy and all, but a little over a week ago, so was I."

Confusion crossed his face. "The past does not matter. You are here and we have begun to mate. There can be no other for either you or me."

I cringed at that. "I need to get out of here. I need some air." Smacking my hand against the tree I said, "Let me down."

The tree unfolded and a branch stairway led in a spiral pattern downward. When I got there Sean was just returning from his Pixie form. I really have to learn how to do that. I didn't even look back and all but stomped my way back to the house.

"Shaylee, if you doubt then look at your trail," I heard him say from behind.

Coming to a halt, I turned around and my gaze fell to the ground. You could tell exactly where I had been because there were little pink and blue flowers sprouting up from the ground winding back to the tree we were in. That isn't the telling part. It was the tree bursting forth, completely covered in the same blue and pink flowers.

A lump caught in my throat. "Stop that!" I snapped at the ground. I took a couple of steps backward, but the flowers didn't listen. "Stop it!" No use. So I ran.

~O~

It wasn't until I got back to my bedchambers, in the human world, that I was able to breath properly. I ordered everyone out of the room, stripped off my clothes, and crawled underneath the sheets.

Emotions clawed at my stomach until I released them into my pillow in louder and louder sobs. I was a guy dammit!
I couldn't be 'bonded' of all things to another guy! What the hell is it with that stupid thing anyway. Just, *plop* you fall into someone's arms and *poof* you're married, mated, whatever. What kind of screwed up Fairy thing was that. And yes, I meant Fairy, not Faerie. I'm officially a Fairy. A chest licking, guy craving, Fairy of the first order.

My body yearned for him. How screwed up was that? I felt so alone and knew exactly how to solve that feeling. I just needed to accept that I'm a baby making machine and…

"Oh, hell…"

"COLLICE!"

~O~

Brigit was wringing her hands and the wanna-dos were cowering in the corner. I was an emotional mess, and Collice was taking her own sweet time like nothing was wrong. The freaking world was ending and she's probably sipping tea with Lir laughing at how silly their new Queen is handling her de-virgining.

I didn't even know how Fae had babies. Did they lay eggs? I mean with the whole butterfly thing, who knew? Was I going to blow up, blimp size, and waddle around bitching about my back hurting?

I’m gonna kill him. Sean's dead with a capital D. Lir wanted to chop off his head… well I've got something better to chop off. Oh yeah.

I groaned and threw myself back into my pillows. Crap, I can't kill him. What if I am pregnant? My children would grow up without a father.

"COLLICE!"

~O~

I was pacing now. Silk robe was on. The wanna-dos were gone and Brigit was hiding out in the elevator alcove still doing the hand wringing thing.

I bet Fae had like a litter of children. Five or six at once. All shooting out and flying around while I'm screaming to push another one out. So there I am, laying there in the hospital bed like a package of Skittles shooting out one after another multicolored baby Fae. Whoop there's a purple one, hey how about green, nope that one's definitely red. Sean's standing over me yelling 'Push! Push! Go for the gold!' *pop* hey there's a gold one! 'Good job my little bluebonnet.'

"I'll give him a bluebonnet! Right upside his pink head!"

Brigit 'eeeped' outside the door. Whoops, said that one out loud.

I heard the ding of an elevator arriving and I stopped pacing. Collice dashed into the room and saw my red eyes and tear stained face.

"Shaylee! What happened?"

My eyes tracked to the door and I glared at Brigit who shut it and made tracks somewhere else.

"Your brother-in-law knocked me up! That’s what happened!" I yelled. "Now I'm gonna have like fifty little M&M's running around here driving me crazy!"

She came over to me and hugged me tight while I bawled my eyes out. God, being a girl is tiring.

When I finally got control of myself Collice stepped away and led me to the bed where we sat.

"Tell me what happened."

I grabbed a tissue out of the box on the nightstand and blew my nose. "We just went up there to talk. I wanted to figure him out, ya know?"

She nodded like a good girlfriend.

"Then when I get up to climb back down, I slip… THE TREE! It pushed me!" That devious little … thing, plant, whatever. "The tree pushed me into him. Can we cut it down? It caused all of this."

"What else happen, Shaylee. Focus."

I shook my head and launched into the episode. Looking into his eyes and then losing myself into the vision. I didn't go into the nitty-gritty, but gave her the highlights. Her eyes widened a the end of each sentence until she was covering her mouth.

"You bonded."

I took a deep breath and then let it out as I dropped back onto the mattress. "I'm doomed."

"Shaylee, do you know how wonderful this is?" she squeaked. "Some Fae go their whole life without bonding and you get it in your first week! It took me four hundred and twenty nine years to meet Seamus!"

She caught her breath suddenly and I figured that she finally realized that I was a guy.

"We're going to be sisters!"

Oh brother. "Hello? Is there anyone in there?" I sat up and grabbed at Collice. "I'm a guy, you ditzy girl! I like women! And I just had sex with a guy. And you know the worst part? I liked it! Saw stars, exploded in all the right places. That was the screaming you heard."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

Collice looked at me for a moment and then pursed her lips with dissatisfaction. She stood up, reached behind her little Tinkerbelle outfit and started unbuttoning. I gave her a puzzled look. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Proving a point, Shaylee."

With an arched eyebrow I looked at her and the outfit after it hit the floor. Okay, I had no doubt whatsoever that Collice was beautiful. She had a serious hourglass figure, full in the bust and hips with that ultra-trim waist that made grown men cry.

"Go ahead. Take me."

Now I was doubtful. "Don't be stupid. You're married."

She shook her head. "We have an open marriage. It's okay. Take me to bed and ravish me."

I wanted to. I really did. I mean how often does a guy actually get the perfect girl. Except deep down I knew that I appreciated her beauty, not desired it in a sexual way. Oh god. I really am gay now.

Instead of proving my manliness I collapsed back to the bed and covered my face with a pillow.

"See?" I heard her muffled voice. "You've taken Morgan's sexuality along with her body. Morgan wasn't a lesbian. In fact she like men a whole lot. Not for company mind you, but for what they had in between their legs."

I'm doomed.

She stood and walked over to the door. After opening it for a moment she shut it again and returned to the bed to pull the pillow off of my face. Bah, the self-suffocating thing wasn't working anyway.

"I've sent for a healer to bring you a calming draught." She smiled down at me. "You'll get through this, sister of mine."

I cringed at that.

"I'll send for Sean as well. He looked quite distraught when I left. Now I know why."

At the look on my face she frowned. "It is not Sean's fault that you were bonded, Shaylee. It is the way in Faerie. If the tree, as you say, nudged you into his arms, then it is the Land that brought you two together. There cannot be a more honored blessing."

Stupid Land.

A knocking at the door brought forth an elderly looking Fae holding a crystal chalice. They really overdo things here. A coffee mug would have been perfectly fine. I took it and after wrinkling my nose at the smell forced it down my throat. Amazingly enough after I finished the glass I felt much better. Serine as a matter of fact.

I knew I still had troubles, but I was calm about it and didn't think my head was about to explode like it was mere minutes before.

"You're the healer?"

The elderly Fae nodded. "Yes, your Majesty."

She curtsied and I rolled my eyes as usual.

"Can you tell if I'm pregnant?"

Collice bit her bottom lip and nodded at the Healer who motioned me to lay back on the bed. She undid my robe and bared my midsection. Reaching into a satchel she had hanging at her side she pulled out a small vial of clear liquid and put two drops on my belly. After replacing the vial she took one hand and made small counter-clockwise motions against my skin in widening circles until I felt a tingling. I looked downward and her hand was glowing in alternate colors.

Collice was looking at my face, not even bothering to watch the Healer work.

The Healer frowned and then rubbed her hands together and started in on my belly again, this time with both hands. After a moment the tingling started again and I looked down at her hands this time. One was glowing blue and the other pink. Now the healer smiled.

"Your Majesty. You have twins! A boy and a girl."

I know I should be panicking right now. I should be calling for Sean's head on a platter, but I just didn't have the strength. Or maybe it was the calming draught.

"I think you better make sure I have about fifty of those drinks handy for tomorrow."

~O~

I remember jostling awake sometime last night in a slight panic, but something made me calm again. A warmth, a rock in the storm that was my life, something. Then the next morning I found out what it was.

My nose itched a little. I hate waking up to an itchy nose. It's just annoying. So I rubbed away at it and then snuggled in a little tighter to the body I was currently laying half-way on. I opened my eyes and saw pink skin same as the day before, but this time I had my leg securely over and locked onto his and my hand was firmly on his hip trying to pull him closer to me. The problem with this little scenario was that if he was any closer, he'd be inside me and that's how this whole mess started to begin with.

I relaxed my hand slowly and tried to relax my body, but that was slow going. I tried. I really tried to just lay there. Then I remembered I needed to breathe. Letting loose the held breath I had stored up in my tension induced state I inhaled through my nose. It's a meditation technique. Inhale the good air through the nose, exhale the bad air through the mouth, if I remembered correctly.

The thing about inhaling air through the nose is that you smell things that way. Kind of like I smelled the intoxicating scent of the man next to me. A scent that told me that he was mine. I was a part of that scent, rubbed all over him from our love-making the day before. I had marked him as he did me. That's what I was smelling.

Something else that came to mind was fresh meadows, pink and blue flowers, and the barest scent of metal, probably from his forge. I remembered the taste of him. The way his tongue felt against mine and the way his mouth felt against my neck.

"If you keep rubbing me like that, then things are going to go some place."

Damn my hand! "Sorry," I mumbled.

A low rumbled sounded in his chest. I know, my ear was right up against it. His nipple a scant inch from my mouth.

"I didn't say I wanted you to stop, my love. Just giving fair warning."

There it was again. That declaration of his. "You're going to be a father."

His arm encircled me, pulling me tighter into his embrace. "It's part of the bonding, bluebonnet."

That's why Collice had that look on her face last night. She knew. The pregnancy test was worthless because she knew I was already pregnant like she was with her first child.

"What are we gonna do?" I wondered out loud, not really expecting an answer.

"That's the easiest question to answer, my love. One week from yesterday we will be married, and in four additional weeks we will see our first child. It's as simple as that."

FOUR WEEKS!

I shot up in the bed. I shook my head and stuck a finger in my ear to make sure there was no waxy build up. "Um, excuse me. Did you say four weeks… as in twenty-eight days?"

He nodded. "Well it's thirty-five days actually from start to finish, thirty-four if we take away yesterday." Then he realized what he was saying. "Oh, sorry. Do regular humans have longer gestation periods?"

I was starting to go into full panic mode again. "Well yeah! Nine months, hello!"

He looked at me with a face of terror. "Dear god, how do they do it?"

"Painfully."

I tossed off the covers and made a beeline for the bathroom. I had a days worth of sex to wash off. "Wanna-dos! Bath!"

The first thing I noticed when I entered the oversized bathroom was the new tub. The new, two person sized tub. Even the wanna-dos were in on the conspiracy. Little Pixie bitches. I glared while they giggled away. Nobody, and I mean nobody should be this happy on a morning like this.

I let them do their worst and scrub out the errant little pieces of tree branch still embedded in my hair. While I listened to someone else come into the bathroom. One guess who it was and there will be no prize. He slipped into the tub and sighed.

"Suds are a little frou-frou from my tastes, but it's nice."

I glared at him. "Don't let me twist your arm. You weren't invited anyway."

"Bluebonnet, in about three weeks we won't be able to make love because of the baby. Do you really want to waste this time being mad at me for something that's not my fault."

My glare intensified. Pretty soon I won't be able to see because my eyes were so narrowed. "Okay, one. The bluebonnet thing… really annoying. Two, there will be no more love making. I think you accomplished your job in this bonding thing. Three, it's not just one baby. They're twins. We're having two babies."

His eyes widened at the last announcement, and he moved over toward me.

"Hey, what are you doing? Get on your side. Wanna-dos, attack!"

They grouped enmasse and giggled their merry little butts out the door. TRAITORS!

I braced myself for a punch to the solar plexus guaranteed to incapacitate him long enough for me to make my escape. Then the pink bastard kissed me. Awww, that's just not fair.

There's got to be something chemical in male Fae spit or something. It's like female Fae Viagra. After the first taste I couldn't get enough of him. I wasn't as blind as I was yesterday. It wasn't magic pushing us together this time. It was just plain old fashioned chemistry.

I mentally kicked myself for not possessing any will whatsoever when it came to Sean. Well, what do you want me to do about it?

I'm not going to leave my children with out a father, so killing him is out. I'm a proponent of a whole family unit for the children's sake. So kicking his pink butt back to Faerie is out. The final choice that wasn't really a choice at all, was that I wasn't going to enter a loveless marriage. It just wasn't an option. So that meant that I seriously needed to give in to whatever is pushing us together and make it work.

On the plus side, he really knows what buttons to push on me to make me do that inhuman squeaky noise that I seem to make when we make love. Oh the floor's soaked; we were kind of exuberant. Wanna-dos are gonna be pissed. Serves them right.

The Poseidon Adventure

by: Lilith Langtree

**Winner of the 2009 May Day Writing Contest**

Meriel should have died from the tidal wave that destroyed her yacht.

"Mayday! Mayday! May…oh shit."

I checked the weather. I really did. Not a freaking cloud in the sky for hundreds of miles. That was a little over an hour ago. After making sure my breast forms were firmly attached I donned my new bikini and joined a few dolphins at play off of port.

Two and a half months out of every year I get to be who I want to be, Meriel. It's Irish — means shining sea. It's also the feminine of the name Merrill, my boy name. I thought I'd keep it to honor my mother, not so much my dad. Mom was a trendsetter in the '60's when she had me, alone, with no father to help. Of course that was the beginning of the whole 'woman power' thing. I guess I should count myself blessed that I missed certain events.

Confused yet? Yeah, I'm a guy nine and a half months out of the year. The remaining time, I board my yacht and sail around the oceans of the world as a woman. I'm not exactly what you would call passable. I try, I really do, but nature is a cruel bitch. When you are over six feet tall, with a strong, male, square-jaw, your options are kind of limited.

Back to the mysterious storm, you remember, the 'oh shit' part. My world was upside down and side ways right before I lost consciousness.

~O~

The strong smell of salt water, contained air, and fish woke me up. I hadn't even opened my eyes yet, but I immediately thought I was at Sea World. The sound of water lapping close by, the really high humidity, all the cues. Now this would be a neat trick since I was about a thousand miles from the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention nowhere near the North American Continent.

A low booming voice echoed in the enclosure as I opened my eyes. "How hard is it to find one man? I gave you the exact location. All you had to do was bring him to me."

I blinked away the stinging salt water from my eyes and I saw a tall man dressed in a beach bum outfit, complete with a really loud Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, and green flip flops, scolding a teenage looking girl half out of a pool of water.

"She was all that was there, Sire," the girl whined.

"Bah!" He spun around and his sea green eyes fell upon me. "Awake are you?" A handful of steps brought him within mere feet of me. "Where is he?"

I pushed away from the towering man, only to slip on the smooth wet rock. When I scrambled to my feet I received a decidedly weird look. The man noted my height and then his eyes trailed down my body. I tried to find a way out, but from the… cave, I was in a cave. The only way out seemed to be through the pool. The look on the man's face was a familiar one. It was the penetrating gaze of the purely over-heterosexual male when confronted with a transgendered person for the first time: confusion, realization, disappointment, and then disgust.

"Uranus' balls, you're him!"

I ran my hand through my shoulder length brown hair, pulling it out of my eyes. "I'm transgendered. Don't be rude." I really hate my low-pitched voice.

He cocked his head and looked at me in astonishment. "You're worthless, I can't have you representing me looking like that. I'd be laughed out of the pantheon."

Now, contrary to popular belief, not all trans-girls are wimps. In fact I take very good care of my body. I'm not all with the bulky muscles, but I am definitely fit and I know how to defend myself. "Um, fuck you?" See? Straight to the point, with just a hint of sarcasm.

The man looked surprised that I insulted him. Apparently he doesn't get talked back to that often. He eyed me for a second, turned around and walked to the other side of the cave. My attention was drawn to the girl, half in and half out of the water. She smiled innocently at me and waved before a really large fish tail flopped out of the water behind her. I raised my hand halfheartedly, and then side stepped to the edge of the natural pool. The water was crystal clear, so there was no mistaking what I was seeing, a girl, half human and half fish. I blinked in disbelief for a second and wiped at my eyes.

I'm dreaming, or dead. That's it, I'm dead. This is some electrical cascade thing that my brain is going through right before death. I read about it in a magazine a couple of years back. Residual electrical impulses left over in the brain produce hallucinations. That's why so many people think they see long tunnels or glowing lights when they die on the operating table in hospitals. They get brought back to life and claim they were in heaven or something like that. This was obviously my hallucination: a mermaid and a beach bum to insult me. Makes perfect sense. Did I tell you that I'm somewhat insane? No? Apparently I am if I'm dreaming this shit up.

"I read about mortals like you," the man said over his shoulder, as he seemed to be digging through an old beat up trunk full of junk. He tossed out a bent license plate followed by a toy sea horse. He pitched his voice in an annoying falsetto. "I'm a girl inside. Lalala. Everyone feel bad about me and treat me like a girl even though I look like a man." He spat to the side and resumed with his normal voice. "Pathetic."

Okay, I'd had about enough of the insults. "Well, if you want to point the way out, I'll be more than happy to get back to dying, fuckyouverymuch."

"AHA! Here it is!" The man stood erect and held out a… trident?

It was green and very tarnished. He looked at it with mild disappointment and brushed off the cobwebs at the tines. After giving it a cleansing blow he seemed satisfied enough and looked back up at me. "Stand still now. My aim isn't want it used to be."

What the hell? He was going to skewer me! "Whoa!" I held up my hands and prepared to jump in the pool if he even looked like he was going to rear back with the thing. Instead he pointed it toward me and a crackle of green energy lanced at me. Being that it was moving at the speed of light I probably didn't have enough time to move. I could be wrong. I'm sure there are lots of people that can dodge blasts of energy. Haven't you seen any sci-fi movie out there? Happens all the time. Of course I am not the lead in a sci-fi flick. It just so happens I appear to be a Red Shirt from the old Star Trek show. You know, the one that always dies?

It felt like my body was on fire and the only way to put out fire was… to jump in the pool of water, but seeing as I had lost all bodily control I just decided to fall right where I was. It was a plan. A poorly conceived plan, but a plan nonetheless.

~O~

"Huh." The booming voice came back. I really didn't care all that much, seeing as I was a big pile of goo laying on solid rock. Then a little thought came to me. If I was a big pile of goo laying on solid rock then how was I able to hear anything? Didn't being goo preclude hearing, since goo doesn't really have any ears?

My eyelids flickered open and I saw the trident wielding beach bum stand over me holding his said trident.

"Bffrpht," I muttered with as much dignity as I could muster.

The bum looked totally dumbfounded. "Who woulda thought?" He scowled at me and then tapped the base of his big pointy stick right in front of my face. Now, what are the odds that the exact place he tapped would spout a little geyser of salt water at me, or more to the point, right up my nose? I gagged and sputtered as I rolled away scrambling to my hands and knees. Ah, human form. I was gooless!

Well, electrified pointy spear or not, I was going to kick this guy's ass. His back was to me so I had a good chance for a nice cheap shot. Maybe a firm kick in the balls if I catch the angle just right. I got to my feet, rather shakily, and took my first step. I almost fell straight on my ass, because my balance of completely off. I caught myself and then concentrated. Maybe the shock he gave me hadn't worn off yet. I withheld the ass-kicking for a moment. I really didn't want to jump this guy and not be able to follow through. That would be a bad thing.

Instead, I took inventory of my body, just to make sure I didn't have any cuts or bruises that would prevent me from delivering the aforementioned ass-kicking. Arms, slim and trim. A little too trim from what I remembered. Legs, smooth and shapely, and my bulky calves were gone. Huh. Hips, a little wider, and apparently that diet I've been on had been working pretty well. My waist is very…

Okay, I'm blaming the shock of being dead, hallucinating, being zapped with a three-pronged cattle prod, and being turned, however briefly, into a big pile of goo. The thing I'm getting at here is that there was something missing between the trim waist and the wider hips. I tentatively slid my hand between my legs and felt around where I distinctly remembered tucking a certain male appendage away earlier. Uh huh. That's when I also made the connection to my breast forms… or lack thereof. I'm drifting aren't I? I should say that the forms weren't there, glued to my chest like before, but there was something else in their place.

"Through playing around with yourself, missy?"

I jumped… up, back, to the side… who cares? Oh, also included in the jump was a really girlie squeak of surprise coming from me. I don't mean a guy-girlie squeak. It was very female sounding.

Okay, I know I'm dead now. I'm a girl. Finally. There is a god and he, she, or it has given me my just reward for worshipping them when I was a kid. I'm a lapsed Catholic. After I figured out how much life really sucks I kind of gave up my faith. But I guess I worshipped just enough to earn a few brownie points for a little present.

I looked up at the beach bum for a second. Oh god… tell me this isn't… and I was going to kick him in the balls… and he's omniscient, so he knows exactly what I'm thinking right at this moment. Oh Christ. Whoops, sorry. Stop thinking insulting thoughts! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Have you ever tried 'not' thinking about something really hard? It helps if you think about something innocent… like puppies, or Anne Hathaway, before that movie where she takes drugs and gets naked. Oh crap, now I'm thinking about Anne Hathaway naked and taking drugs!

I could tell he was getting a little impatient, as his tongue was working overtime in the cheek of his mouth.

A prayer! Um… Yea, though I walk though the shadow of the valley of the dead I will fear no resident evil. Fuck! Oop, sorry. Oh, give it up already. I'm going straight to hell now.

I closed my eyes and ran my hand through my hair, took a deep breath and waited for my doom.

"Okay, you really were a girl inside."

I snapped my eyes opened and gave him my 'wut?' look. I know it's spelled 'what', but sometimes all I can get out is 'wut?'

"Huh?"

He shook his trident at me. "I gave you one of my 'reveal true self' shocks. Works real good for those Faerie things that like to magically disguise themselves. What can I say? I'm a big enough god to admit when I was wrong. Not like Zeus with his thunderbolts and 'I'm never wrong' attitude." He waved his hands and wiggled his fingers to show me exactly how much he thought of the guy.

Zeus? Oh crap. This wasn't God. "Neptune?"

He pursed his lips in mild annoyance. "I prefer, Poseidon. Much more of a presence if you ask me."

Seeing movement out of the corner of my eye I noticed the girl from earlier, nodding and giving me a sympathetic look. Another little shock. She's a real mermaid. No hallucination.

"Anyway, enough of that nonsense. We have better things to talk about."

"We do?"

I shuffled along as the Greek god of myth turned and went to sit down. He looked tired and pale. Well, if you're going to live underwater, and in a cave, being pale is part of the package. After he made himself comfortable in beat up chaise lounge he set his trident aside and sighed.

"As you can probably tell, things haven't been so good lately."

I gave him a noncommittal shrug, not really wanting to say anything that might get me changed back into a guy. A little jolt of happiness shot through me. I'm a girl now! Boing Boing!

"Worshipping has been down another three percent this year and pretty soon I'll be off to the forgotten gods home." He leaned forward and gave me a scowl followed by a disgusted grunt. "Imagine me! Relegated to playing Parcheesi with Kronos, or Nix."

I know he was bigoted, hateful, bitter old man, but I kind of felt sorry for him. Poseidon was like my Uncle Charles. My uncle grew up in 'the old days' so he was still stuck thinking it was 1950 or something. By his thinking, if you felt like a girl inside then you should ignore it, go out, get drunk, and beat the shit out of someone. Apparently that was supposed to work. He was ignorant, but he was still family. All he really got out of me was my pity.

"Are you listening to me?" Poseidon snapped.

"Uh, yeah… Kronos, Nix."

The old god leaned back in the lounge and jutted forth a single nod. "Right. So here's the deal. I need more worshippers."

I ducked my head and gave him a look as if to say, 'and what do you want from me?'

"You're going to be my High Priest… er, Priestess, whatever." He ran a hand over his face. "This would have been so much easier if you were a man."

I crossed my arms underneath my breasts, my real breasts mind you, and looked offended. "I'll have you know that women can do anything a man can do."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Fine, turn around and piss in that water from where you are standing."

The mermaid squeaked in alarm and I heard a splash.

I didn't need to turn around to know that the water was at least five feet behind me now. "Okay, women can do anything 'worthwhile', that a man can do. Everyone's got to be a comedian."

Poseidon looked somewhat amused. "Right, I seriously doubt you could round up more than a handful of faithful worshipers."

"Pfft, it's all a matter of talent. A woman, with the right tools, could do anything."

"What kind of tools?"

I pondered for a second. "Well I can tell you that the major reason that people lack faith in any god is because there is no proof of their existence. They never show themselves."

"Bah," he snarled. "The Christian and Muslim gods won't let us interfere directly anymore. They have the most power right now."

I shrugged. "How about if you picked someone, a human, and gave them some power, like in Greek Mythology. Hercules, Achilles, those guys had some power."

He stared at me with a calculating eye. "They were demi-gods. So I should choose a demi-god and gift that person with some of my power. Maybe let them go forth and do my will on the plane of man.

"And woman," I interjected.

He nodded once. "Right!" He grabbed his trident and hefted himself up. "You're hired."

I blinked and almost reeled backward. "What? I…I'm not a demi-god."

"You're my son… er, daughter. Close enough for you?"

My knees suddenly became very weak. "Wut?" There it was again. The 'wut' thing. "But…but… I thought…"

"Oh, he's your father too. We both are. Don't you know how demi-gods are made?"

I shook my head slowly in disbelief. I still hadn't gotten past the whole Poseidon is my father thing.

"Your mother was in heat and your father boinked her. He went downstairs and fell asleep on the couch watching television. I came in after, assumed your father's shape and rocked your mother's world."

I think I'm going to be sick. My mother never had sex. It just wasn't done. The thought of it… A cold chill ran down my spine. Eeeeeewwwwwwwww.

Poseidon buffed his nails on his Hawaiian shirt. "I still got it after all these years. Made her whinny like a mare with her first stud. Ahh, good times."

Bile rose in my throat. Oh god, say it isn't so.

"Mortals provided the egg and seeded it, and I came along and gave it that UMPH!" He thrust his hips forward. "That's how demi-gods are born."

I dropped to my knees, which hurt. It wasn't carpet that I lost my equilibrium on.

"Now that's more like it!" Poseidon looked excited for the first time since I'd awoken in his presence. "My first new convert in a decade." He waved me on. "Go ahead. Hit me with your best prayer." He leaned back like he was trying to soak in the rays of the sun, basking, for lack of a better word.

I couldn't hold it any longer and emptied the contents of my stomach right there.

~O~

Another geyser of salt water in my face and I was sputtering awake.

Poseidon's face hovered above mine. "Last time I checked, vomiting on your god's sandals wasn't considered worshiping." He harrumphed. "But whatever gets the job done I suppose."

Poseidon walked over toward the mermaid waiting on the other side of the pool. "Maybe a nice ritualistic slaughter, a goat, maybe a nice cow. Temples! That's where the big worship is at. Try a temple next time. You, Ssreeetcheesch! Make sure my… daughter gets back to shore properly."

I flopped over on my back feeling drained. I sure didn't feel like a demi-goddess. Shouldn't I be all… powery and stuff? I even voiced as much.

Poseidon crossed over to me once more. "Here, grab my staff."

I arched an eyebrow at him.

"Not that staff." He looked me over, judging me. "Not that I wouldn't mind."

The bile came back. "Aren't you my father? That's incest."

"You're part of the pantheon now, sweet cheeks. It's all part of the gig. Hell, Zeus married his sister. Can't keep it in the family anymore than that."

"I think I'm gonna throw up again.

He held out the staff of his trident to me. "Grab on. I'll give you the magic touch."

I reluctantly reached my hand out to grasp the thick shaft… of the trident. That's when I passed out.

~O~

I blinked awake, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Well, good morning young lady."

I turned my head and saw someone come into my hospital room. Yeah, it didn't take a genius to figure out where I was. The smell of antiseptic alone was proof of that. The nurse that came in the room walked over to the bed and flicked on the overhead light.

"You are the center of attention in this sleepy little town." The nurse was a little too bright and cheery for my tastes, but what the heck. I was alive and back in civilization. It was all just a dream.

I looked down at my breasts, my real breasts, and my breath caught.

"Something wrong, sugar?"

A weird little smile crossed my face. "No, I think everything is just perfect, actually."

I heard the unmistakable sound of Velcro being ripped open and saw the nurse held a blood pressure cuff for me. "I need to take your vitals then we'll see about getting you some breakfast, okay?"

I nodded and then took a better look at the nurse. There were tell-tale signs that I knew by heart that outted her to me. Maybe a girl in transition or through with transition, but she definitely didn't start off life in her current gender. She slipped the cuff over my arm and pumped away with the little bulb, while I stared.

A flicker from her eye and she frowned. "It's rude to stare, sweetie."

I was suddenly horrified at what I was doing. "I'm so sorry. I just…" I thought about it for half a second before continuing. "I just went through transition recently."

Now it was the nurse who was staring. Her eyes dropped to my hands, my throat, my hairline, and face. "Damn! I want the number to your doctor."

Something niggled inside my head. "Are you sure?"

The nurse laughed. "Honey, I've been in this business for decades and I can spot a sister at fifty yards. You are perfect. So give it up."

I smiled knowingly. "Give me your hand."

Yeah, Poseidon gave me the magic touch all right. You'll get your worshipers, you beach bum, and I have just the idea to bring them in droves. Thanks Dad.

Pic Credit: Michelle Ryan from "The Bionic Woman". All Rights reserved to the owners.

What's a guy to do when his mother shows up after being gone for thirteen years and tells him she's the last of the mythical Amazon race?

Author's note: This story is part of my Faerie Queen Universe. You do not have to know anything about the universe to understand what is going on. This story will be told in three parts.

Part One

"She's here again," I said to my best friend and teammate, Marcus Latrelle.

He looked over in the stands and saw the statuesque brunette in the third row, not fifty feet away. "Maybe she has a thing for younger guys."

"Dude, she's been coming to my games for five years -- that I know of. Unless she's got the hots for twelve year olds…" My thought trailed off when I saw her eyes connect with mine. The lightest of smiles traced her lips, almost Mona Lisa like. I just knew that there was something behind that thoughtful visage.

"Well, it's your birthday. After we kick Klein High's ass this inning you can cash in on your stalker." Marcus' smile broadened. "I mean it's legal and everything. Just make sure you use a condom. Wouldn't do to have a pregnant stalker when you move on up to the Majors."

The thought of having sex with the woman was the furthest thing from my mind. For some reason I just wasn't turned on by her, which made no sense whatsoever. She was stunningly beautiful, couldn't be more than twenty-five, and was obviously in fantastic shape. Maybe it was because I was more into blondes.

I shook my head. That's the stupidest excuse. She was hot, but she did absolutely nothing for me. Jesus, maybe I'm turning gay or something. I covertly looked at Marcus and down at his ass. I was secure enough in my manhood to recognize that he was the female ideal. Nope, I'm not gay. Thank god.

"Jennings, quit looking at Latrelle's ass and get your head in the game. You're on deck."

I rolled my eyes and cringed at being busted eyeing my best friend's butt. Marcus laughed and playfully slapped his left cheek. "Not in your wildest fantasies, T.J. It's an exit only orifice."

"Fuck you," I said under my breath. I knew he was joking and he knew I was joking.

I grabbed my helmet and put it on before finding my thirty-four-inch Louisville Slugger and making my way to the warm up circle. I slipped on a weight down the neck of the bat and pinwheeled my right arm a few times before switching to my left. She watched me the entire time. How do I know? Well, I was watching her as well.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle as her gaze dug into me.

I heard the crack of a bat and ball meeting, and my attention was diverted to the runner zooming by me to fill the bases. I already knew the situation, but I let my attention fall on the scoreboard. Can it be anymore cliché? Bottom of the ninth, two outs; the score was ten to seven, and we weren't on the winning side. I cracked my neck and took a deep breath as I approached the plate.

I bat right-handed, so she caught my attention once more as I knocked off the dirt from the bottom of my cleats. The lady was on her feet now and had moved down to the front of the bleachers. After balancing my bat against my thigh I went through my routine and tightened the Velcro strips on my gloves, adjusted my helmet and spit to the side. It's stupid, but I'm going to need every bit of luck I could get if I was going to pull this off, and that was my good luck routine.

The lady leaned on the guardrail and smiled at me. I don't know why, but I felt encouraged, at ease. It was like I was relaxed, even though I knew the game came down to me making the perfect play.

I grabbed my bat and set my grip as I stepped in the batter's box.

A single breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, set my resolve. I took one look in the pitcher's eyes and watched him wave three signals away before settling on the fourth. He didn't know it, but he had a tell for each of his pitches. The one I was most concerned with was the muscle twitch in his jaw that screamed fastball.

I let all of my concentration focus on his hidden hand after knowing that little tidbit. He went through his wind up and the second he released the ball everything in the stadium slowed to a crawl. I absolutely knew, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that the ball was high and outside, as it crept into the catcher's glove a second later, or five seconds later, by my perception.

My eyes bugged and I stepped back from the plate. What the hell was that?

"BAAAWWWLL," the Umpire yelled.

"Good eye, T.J.!" Coach hollered from the dugout.

I looked up at the lady again and she had her hands clasped together at her chin in anticipation. Shaking off the weird experience I stepped back into the batter's box and took my position. There was that same jaw twitch. Fastball again.

I focused once more on his hand and when he released the ball it happened again. Everything slowed down and I knew again where the ball was going, straight into the dirt.

"BAAAAWWWLLLLLLL TWOOOO!"

My hands faltered on the bat for a moment, and my eyes flickered to the lady again. Her knuckles were pale. I could see that she was squeezing the hell out of her hands. My mouth had gone dry.

Once more we all went through our routines. Jaw twitch, fastball, and the world slowed down. One thing that was different this time is that I knew the pitch was in the zone. A little low and on the outside, but well within my optimum hitting range. I lifted my left foot up and then planted it, shifting my weight, and swinging away with everything I had.

CRACK!

It's gone. I knew it the moment I connected with it. A high and away ball, right down the middle of the field; the deepest portion of the stadium, four hundred yards. I dropped the bat and started trotting to first base as I watched the ball do something I had never seen before. It gained height and cleared the inner wall, up into the bleachers and beyond, until it disappeared out of the stadium.

Screams deafened me from all around. Whoa!

Right before I tagged first base I saw the lady for the last time as she gave me a very proud smile and turned away to leave the game.

~O~

Due to nervous excitement, I almost wasn't able to drive home. The scouts were there. Four of them wanted to talk to me. I took their cards and told them talk to my dad. I may be eighteen today and legally able to make my own decisions, but I was also humble enough to know that I didn't know what the heck I was talking about when dealing with try outs, contracts, and deals with the major league teams.

I knew I was good enough. I was rated number one in the USA Today's Baseball tracking poll for High School level. My stats were off the charts. Baseball was in my blood. My career was a foregone conclusion. It was just a matter of how many zeroes were behind the first number and for what team I was going to start off with. My life was virtually perfect. Except for one area.

My hands were still shaking on the steering wheel when I pulled into the driveway and into the garage. I hit the remote to close the door and exited the garage into the back yard to the backdoor. Except there was someone waiting for me, and it wasn't Marcus.

I jerked to a stop when I saw her. She was just a little shorter than I was, putting her about five-ten or eleven. I wasn't afraid for my safety. I knew I'd be able to defend myself. It was just creepy to have my stalker for the last five years suddenly reveal herself to me personally.

She stood before me, hands clasped together behind her body. Her head held high, and her shoulders, broad and strong, were square at attention. She wore tight, form-fitting jeans and a white scoop necked tee, feet clad in simple white running shoes.

"Hello Thales."

That immediately put me on guard. Few people knew my actual name, and even fewer knew how to pronounce it. Most people say it like 'Whales' except for a TH at the beginning, or maybe 'Thall-ess', but only my father and grandparents on his side pronounce it properly as 'They-luss'.

"Um… hi," I returned. Contrary to what Marcus said, I have no interest in having sex with the lady, and that is the only reason that I know of as to why she's standing at my back door. Believe me, I'm not being cocky. I've had cheerleaders, drill team girls, you name it and she's probably been at my house for sex, or at the very least as girlfriend potential. Plus, I already have a girlfriend, and I don't cheat. I lost my virginity when I was fifteen and made the starting line up for the varsity team. I'm no stranger to the 'look' in girl's eyes.

Except for one thing… the lady didn't have the look. So what the heck did she want with me?

Her bright cerulean blue eyes bore into me with an intensity I'd never seen before. It almost made me want to look away. It was commanding and powerful.

"Look, um…" I was tongue-tied and nervous for some reason. "If you have a card or something I can give it to my dad."

Her smile widened displaying a perfectly white and even set of teeth. "I'm not an agent, Thales. Perhaps, you should call your father and tell him I am here."

I looked to the side, for a moment, trying to figure out why she'd want me to call my dad. Did she know him?

I reached into my front pocket and pulled out my cell. Hitting the number two on speed-dial I waited for a moment until Dad answered.

"Hey hot shot. I heard on the radio that you won. Congratulations."

"Um, thanks Dad." I cut him off before he could continue. "Hey, there's a lady here in the back yard. She wanted me to call you."

Dad's voice took a serious tone. "Who is she?"

Not letting the lady out of my sight I asked, "What's your name?"

"Tell him Tris says hello."

"Dad, she said…"

"I heard her, T.J." After a slight pause he continued. "Put her on."

I held out the cell to Tris and she took it with a knowing smile. "Hello Dominic."

I couldn't quite make out what Dad was saying, but it was somewhat loud and seemingly angry.

"He's eighteen today, and I have agreed to your demands for thirteen years, Dominic. Today he will know of his heritage."

She flipped the phone closed and handed it back. "Your father will be returning home shortly. Perhaps we should go inside and I will explain. He will confirm my story upon his arrival."

At this point I was starting to feel a touch exasperated. "Who are you?"

She eyed me critically for a moment before answering. "I'm your mother."

Okay, of all the things she could have said that was probably near the bottom of the list. The one topic I didn't put up with was discussion about my mother, who left when I was five years old. It was a very sore spot where I was concerned.

My equipment bag dropped to the ground by my side. "I think you need to leave."

"Thales, it was not my choice to leave you with your father."

I dropped the cell phone on top of the equipment bag. "Lady, you're like twenty-five -- that would make you what… seven years old and also make my father a child molester when I was conceived. Now, what part of 'leave' do you not understand?" My fists clinched. I'd never hit a girl before, but this lady was really starting to piss me off. "Get out or I will throw you out."

Her eyebrows rose slightly as she took in my aggressive posture. "You can try, but I will not leave until I tell my…"

I was going to be good. I wasn't going to hit her, but I sure as hell wasn't going to listen to her bull any longer. I stepped forward and made a grab for her arm so that I could drag her out if need be. She grabbed my wrist and stopped me dead in my tracks. Her grip was like steel and for the life of me I couldn't budge my arm.

Now from the look of her I would say that she was well muscled for a girl. Definitely toned and defined, but she wasn't in the weightlifter category. I however was. I've been tested for steroids so many times that I should really invest in the company that makes those little plastic cups to pee in. I never touch drugs. I had a career to think of. So you can see my confusion.

I struggled for a moment and then decided the only way to break free was to throw her off balance. I twisted into her, spinning around and pulled on her arm to throw her over my shoulder. There was grass to the side. She shouldn't be hurt, but it would knock the wind out of her for sure. What I didn't expect was for nothing to happen. She didn't budge and I was putting my weight into it.

I'm not a light guy. At six-two in height I weigh about two-ten, and most of that is muscle.

Her grip shifted and she pushed at my back, twisting my arm back and behind me, trapping it between my shoulder blades. Well hell.

"Thales, I have no wish to harm you. I will say my piece, have your father confirm my story, and if you still wish my absence then I will leave."

How embarrassing is it to be held like this by a girl. I'm so glad Marcus isn't here to see this; I'd never hear the end of it. "Let go of my arm."

"Are you going to behave?"

I sighed in frustration and replied through gritted teeth. "Yes."

As soon as I surrendered she released my wrist. Shame ran its way straight to my face. It was burning with embarrassment from submitting to a girl so easily. Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those guys that think men are better than women. I'm not. But I do realize the physical superiority we possess, for the most part. Of course all the strength in the world can be turned by proper leverage.

I grabbed my bag and phone before turning to the door and unlocking it leading the way into the kitchen. I really didn't want the lady… Tris, to see my face until I cooled down. It's bad enough being handled like she handled me, but I sure as heck didn't have to like it, or even acknowledge it. After dropping my bag by the breakfast table I made my way into the living room and found a solitary armchair to ensconce myself in while I waited for Dad to get home and kick the lady out.

"I see you've inherited my temper."

I glanced up at her as she hovered for a moment. "I agreed to listen to your story, not any snide commentary."

She nodded once to me, almost formally. "So you did." She looked around the room and chose the twin to my chair. After making herself comfortable she began. "What has your father told you about me?"

I gave her my most disbelieving look. "Lady, you can't be my mother. You're too young, so get over yourself."

She sighed with a somewhat familiar gesture. "Very well. Tell me what you know about Amazons."

That kind of threw me off guard, but I shrugged my shoulders slightly. "WNBA team out of…"

"Not the basketball team," she almost snapped. "The real Amazons."

I looked from side to side for the hidden camera. "You mean like Wonder Woman, Themiscrya, invisible jets? Yeah I saw the TV show."

"Hades, child! Has your father taught you nothing?"

I leaned forward and laced my fingers together with a stoic look on my face. "Yeah, he sure has. Dad taught me that family was everything. That you never abandon your kid to go off and live the good life traveling around the world like my mother did to me."

Not that she was my mother, but if she thought she was then that should put a nice dig into her craw. I noticed it actually did. It was like she deflated before me. I felt almost proud of myself. Granted it wasn't an arm lock like she had me under only minutes ago, but it was nearly as satisfying.

"It wasn't my choice."

I leaned back in the chair, lifting one of my legs to hang over the arm. "And now we're back to the whole, 'you're too young to be my mom' thing. Seriously, you should seek professional help."

"Do you believe in magic, Thales?"

I shifted my eyes to her. "You mean that Faerie stuff that was on TV in February? Let me guess, you're actually a Faerie? There's a problem there, lady. You're white. Faeries aren't any human colors."

That took the world off guard. The appearance of some hot little blue Faerie Queen on TV. She said that that magic was real, and she proved it. Now people across the state were turning colors over night, growing wings, you name it. It was a really interesting time to live in, at the moment anyway.

She shook her head dismissively. "There are other kinds of magic."

I tied all the pieces together from the information she had provided. "So, you're a magical Amazon from Greek history." My mind wandered into silliness. "You're probably cursed to be immortal and I'm your love-child from a drunken night with Dad."

She didn't laugh or even get mad. She just simply said, "I'm not able to become drunk."

My eyes hooded over in a leer of disbelief. "Uh… right. Is story time done, 'cause I'm getting kind of hungry." With that announcement I heard the squeal of tires on the driveway and knew Dad was home. "Times up. Dad's here."

She didn't move, didn't twitch in the slightest, but instead sat there until the backdoor slammed open and the sound of my father's quick footfalls entered the room.

I was already to my feet and watching Dad when he saw me. His attention moved to the psycho lady and his face fell the second he laid eyes upon her.

She gracefully stood and faced Dad. That Mona Lisa smile was back from earlier before she broke the silence. "Hello Dominic."

I wouldn't say Dad looked like he was afraid, but it wouldn't be far from the truth. He was twitchy. I could see small beads of sweat forming on his upper brow and the way he gripped his keys in his right hand let me know that they might be cutting into his palm and fingers. That left me with a strong feeling of unease in my stomach. His eyes darted back to me, and I could tell he was trying to figure out exactly how much she had already told me. He might as well have it written on his forehead. What I couldn't figure out was, why would he care? She was obviously off her rocker.

"Dad? You know this lady?"

He didn't answer right away; instead, he looked back at her.

"I've already told him about me, Dominic. However, for some reason he doesn't believe a word of what I have to say." Her eyes narrowed in anger. "The agreement was that you would inform Thales of my whereabouts and not leave him totally clueless."

That uneasiness in my stomach? It was starting to turn into a knot.

Dad broke his silence, but only with a whisper. "Tris."

"Dad?"

He looked at me once more.

"Would you like to join us, Dominic?"

My attention jumped to the Tris woman. Then I knew -- she was telling the truth.

All the strength dropped out of my legs, and I abruptly sat down. Dad moved to the couch and set his keys on the coffee table before sitting. His elbow moved to the arm and his hand to his mouth as if in silent contemplation.

"As I said before, Thales, I am your mother." I hadn't noticed Tris had resumed her seat until my eyes found hers again. There was sympathy in her face and features. "Contrary to what my appearance may show, I am much older than you realize."

"You're immortal?" It slipped from my mouth.

She smiled at me. "No, far from it. I was born in 1929. Due to my unique condition I only appear not to age. In truth, I probably have about twenty more years to live. I'll have this same body, hold this same appearance until my last year of life. Then I will slowly age over the course of a single year until I die."

My eyes darted between my father and Tris. "Why are you telling me this? Why are you even here?"

"For the simple fact that you are my sole heir, and I do not plan to have another child." She paused for a moment, in thought, before continuing. "I am the last of the Amazon race, Thales. Each woman bares almost entirely female children to pass on to future generations. Over the last thousand years we have slowly but surely been killed off without having a child."

My rational mind was taking this in… this unbelievable amount of bullshit, but my heart was still telling me this was the truth, to believe her.

"When your father and I met about nineteen years ago he knew what I was. He had witnessed a fight and saw the truth. He was the first male I had come across, in all my years that I felt comfortable with. We married and shortly thereafter I was pregnant with you."

I felt I had to interject the obvious. "But I'm not a girl."

That brought a smile to her face. "Very true." She leaned back in the armchair and crossed her legs. "The reason I am here today is not to force myself back into your life, Thales. It is because of your potential offspring." She paused dramatically. "If you were to have a female child in the future, she too would carry the potential to become an Amazon. I came so that you would be prepared for that possibility and be able to guide her to her destiny."

She must have seen something in my face at that announcement because she amended her statement. "I'd also like to have the chance to get to know you, if you are willing."

I ducked my head and looked out of the corner of my eye at my father who hadn't moved a muscle during the entire conversation. He was staring, almost comatose out the front window.

"Why did you leave?"

At the end of my question my father closed his eyes. I could see that it pained him.

"When you turned five," she paused. "The very day, our family came under attack."

I looked back up at her. "You mentioned people dying and now we were attacked? Can't the cops do anything?"

Tris' lips firmed in a grim smile. "The police, or for that matter any law enforcement, would not be able to handle the Scourge."

At my questioning look she continued. "The Scourge are a race of creatures whose sole purpose is to wipe out the Amazon nation and instill a male dominated society. Think about women living as they did in the Middle Ages or even the nineteenth century. They were little more than slaves to men, Thales. It was their doing."

I gave her a look of disbelief, so she pushed on with her point. "The Greek god Ares is their leader and ironically enough the father of the Amazons. It is the way he gains power, through aggression. The more aggression on Earth, the more powerful he becomes. Having males solely in power creates aggression."

I was caught off guard again. It just wasn't my day. "You mean the Greek gods…"

Tris nodded. "They are alive and well, Thales. They are nowhere near as powerful as they were but they are every bit as cunning, jealous, incestuous, and determined."

Sitting there trying to contemplate what she was telling me, Tris continued with her tale. "Our family came under attack and I destroyed them, but while doing so you were almost killed."

This was the first time that I had seen her falter. Her voice dropped in tone and she appeared distraught. "Dominic thought it best for me to separate myself, to leave our family until such time as I could guarantee your safety. In good faith, I couldn't disagree." She looked up at me and I could see tears pooling in her eyes. "You were the center of the world to me, my son. I couldn't bear to see you injured or put in jeopardy, so I left."

With a deep breath she pushed on. "I went on a one woman crusade to annihilate every last Scourge left on the planet, so that I could have my family back. I hunted for years: killing, burning, destroying… all of them."

"Did you?" I asked almost eagerly.

Tris shook her head in defeat. "The vermin breed like rabbits, and I am but one Amazon alone. I did thin out the power structure, destroyed their idols of worship so that Ares is all but lost to them. But still the sides are too unbalanced."

"You need more Amazons," I said plainly.

She smiled at me softly. "It is one of the reasons I married your father. I had hoped to bear a daughter, so that she would take up the mantle of warrior and leave me to have more children, to build our numbers back up again in my remaining years."

It was then that I realized how much of a disappointment that I must have been. Tris immediately saw my expression and put an end to that thought.

"Thales, It is true when you were born that I foresaw the end, at least for a time of the Amazons, but I was just as happy seeing you. It didn't matter to me that you were… are, male. I loved you just as much. You are my son," she said with much pride in her voice. "I have watched you grow into a man, and I could not be more proud of you than I already am."

She rose from her chair and knelt in front of me. "There is still time. You can father many healthy daughters and they can carry on. I am not worried about that." Her tongue darted out and licked her lips before she continued. "What I am worried about is whether or not you can forgive me for leaving you without a mother. I tried my best, Thales, but I could not return without putting you and your father at risk."

I saw the pain in her eyes, the fear of rejection, and I couldn't let my resentment, nursed over thirteen years, live any longer. Wrapping my arms around her, I drew her face beside mine and forgave her.

~O~

The following week was probably the best of my life. Dad finally came out of his funk and was very happy to hear about the try out offers from the Majors. I, of course being a life long Missiles fan, chose to stay with the home team, if they'd have me. Being a hometown boy, born and bred, worked in my favor and I'd have a try out in less than a week.

Mom, or Mother as she wanted me to call her, showed me her own training facility about twenty miles outside of town, in the country. Her base of operations, chosen for its location because of its nearness to me, was state of the art. Apparently being the sole remaining Amazon in existence was profitable. Looking around the estate I was astounded at the amount of ancient artwork that had been collected over the years.

Initially she had sold off a few pieces and then invested the money so that she wouldn't have to deplete the collection in the future.

The Training facility itself was a very large workout room, shooting range equipped for bow and arrow, lance, javelin, and firearms, but it look like they had been used in a while. It did have an armory of sorts. It was more of a museum of forgotten bladed weapons.

"These are the weapons of our fallen warriors… those that could be recovered, that is."

Hundreds of swords lined the wall of all shapes, sizes, and designs. It was humbling to see that there were so many weapons of warriors that once were living breathing, loving, people, all united under one cause. The scariest part was that I saw room for just one more.

I turned to my mother and her grim look had returned. With a single nod she reached over her shoulder and withdrew her own sword. At first I was stunned, because I knew for a fact that she wasn't wearing it a minute before. She held it out to me with it laying flat across her palms.

"You may look, but you cannot touch, Thales. No male may handle an Amazon's weapon lest it turn against him."

"It's beautiful," was all I could say. I didn't know jack about swords, but the one thing that I did generally know was that they came in at least two parts: the blade and the hilt. But this one didn't. It was a single piece, all metal, and it didn't have a single blemish on the blade.

I looked up to her and smiled in appreciation.

"If you would…" she paused, letting me know that this was a serious subject for her. "When I fall in battle or when I die of age, have this placed on the empty pegs."

I resolutely nodded. "I promise."

She graced me with a smile of thanks. "Remember that you can't touch it yourself. You will need a female along with you."

My brow crinkled in wonder. "What would happen?"

She sheathed the weapon and shrugged. "I have seen many men fall victim to its magic. The Scourge would die instantly. But for humans, a transformation would occur, and from what I have seen of your life I know you have no desire to become a woman."

I almost stepped backward, away from my mother, and then I realized that I was stepping into the collection of weapons displayed on the wall. I caught myself at the last second and laughed at my twitchiness.

"Have no fear, Thales," she almost giggled. You have to take up the weapon knowingly. It has to be of your own free will." Holding her hand out in a gesture toward the exit she continued. "I could hold you down and place the hilt in your hand and nothing would happen to you if you didn't accept the sword."

A thought inserted itself into my mind. "Did the guys that picked it up turn into Amazons? Because that would be a way to repopulate the ranks. Just get willing guys. I know there are tons of guys that want to be girls out there."

She shook her head in the negative. "They would have to be of Amazon heritage. You for instance would become female and an Amazon, for you are of my blood."

I stopped short of the door and looked at her. There wasn't an expectant look on her face. I knew she didn't tell me that in hopes that I would take her up on her offer. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for, Thales?"

"For not being a girl, or for at least not being gay or something. Then I could help you."

She was amused in a proud sort of manner. Leaning into me she took me in her arms and pulled my head to her shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for, my beloved son. I am so very proud of you and what you have made of your life. You are kind and thoughtful. Everything that I wanted from a child of mine."

After the hug she drew back and held me at arms length. "I tell you all of this so that you may pass it on to your children in hopes of reawakening my legacy. When you have a daughter. You will bring her here and allow her the choice of taking up my sword. That is all I ask."

With a whimsical smile she led me out of the armory to other portions of the estate. "Now come. I have much to show you."

~O~

Even at the tender age of eighteen I had made a promise to myself. I had no trouble believing that I would want many children. Not for the sole reason of having a girl and hoping she would choose to take up the family business, so to speak, but to pass on the love of my family. To let them know that they are as loved as I was. My father gave up his own happiness so that I would be safe, as did my mother. She took on the world to be by my side. I could do no less for my own children.

Mature for a teenager, you may think. Well, I challenge you to not feel this way when you have lived my life.

At my age, I have everything a man could want in life. Wealthy enough to do as I please, prospects for a career most men dream about, a loving family, and a pretty girlfriend. Now that I have my mother back, I have the perfect life. I love my life.

~O~

"Dude, what is up with you?" Marcus said as we walked out of Calculus together.

I gave him a wondering look. "Huh?"

"You look like you just got laid."

I grinned. "I'm happy, man. Jessica and me are hittin' the theater tonight. I think she's the one."

"The one?" he mocked in astonishment. "What the fuck? Have you been watching Sisterhood of the Traveling Ovaries again?"

I shook my head. "Just growing up, man. There's more to life than getting laid."

He grabbed me by the arm. "Okay, that's it. I'm taking you to the nurse's office. I heard they had a new shot for pod people."

Shaking him off, I laughed. "I'm not saying I don't like getting laid. I just recognize that my life doesn't revolve around being on the hunt for the next piece of ass."

Marcus held his hand out in front of him. " I need to stop off and wash my hand, 'cause I definitely don't want whatever it is that you have."

I jerked my chin at him. "See you in Film, perv boy."

His teeth gleamed at me. "And don't you forget it."

Television and Film was my only elective for my senior year. I don't count Baseball, because Baseball isn't an elective. It's a way of life. For the couple of days we've been covering news broadcasts. Not just watching the news, but also learning what goes on behind the scenes, how news is made, the technical aspects and so forth. So whenever we come in, the TV is going at the head of the class. Today was no different.

The talking heads were yapping about the latest political blunder in Washington DC, and I cringed at having to listen to it for three days running. I threw myself in my desk and wished something would happen that was actually newsworthy for once. I got my wish and God only knows that I wished I hadn't.

"Breaking news, a FOX News Exclusive we take you to our affiliate at KTVV at the scene."

I sat up and my eyes widened at the reporter. I recognized her from the local news. Whatever it was, it was going down in our city, and from the looks of things not too far away.

"Minutes ago, the store you see behind me was the scene for a 911 call made to local police."

That was all she was able to get out because the store window exploded, showering the area with glass. The camera jarred and all we could see was blue sky. A few seconds later it righted itself and centered on something laying in the street.

"What the hell?" I wasn't the only one saying it.

Ever seen the Creature From the Black Lagoon? Well this wasn't it, but it wasn't too far off either. It was definitely human…oid, but it had two horns jutting out from its head and brown fur. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was a bad Bigfoot rip-off. A guy in a gorilla suit was almost as scary, but thin I saw something that freaked me out even worse: my mother jumping from the window with her sword out for the world to see.

"Oh Jesus, Mom."

A couple of the people standing next to me dropped their mouths open, but I didn't stay there to explain. I made for the door and Marcus was walking in.

"What?"

I pushed past. "My mom's in trouble. I gotta go."

The hallway was just empting at the sound of the last bell, but I heard running steps behind me. I glanced back and Marcus was right on my tail.

He motioned for me to open it up. "Go man, I got your back."

We busted out of the front doors and made fast tracks to my '69 Camaro. After gunning the engine I slid it into first and slammed on the gas, peeling out of the parking lot like the hounds of hell were after me. Marcus grabbed on to the dash and then quickly for his seatbelt.

I had recognized the store. It was Cafferty's on Huffington and Senate, minutes away… a minute away in my Camaro. I quickly ran through the gears until I was topping the speedometer out and redlining the tachometer.

"Grab the bats outta the back!"

I knew Marcus was scared shitless at my driving, and he'd do it to distract himself from the terror of watching the world move by in a blur. To me it was like I was out on a Sunday stroll through the park. It was the baseball game all over again. The world had slowed down for me once more, and it couldn't have come at a better time, because I was about to miss my turn.

"Hold on!"

I slammed on the brakes and fought the steering wheel not to lose control. I won in the end and fishtailed around onto Senate. Downshifting into second I punched the gas and popped the clutch, peeling out down the road. A crowd had gathered in the distance and I laid on my horn the entire way, trying my best to clear the street. People noticed and pulled others back.

I heard sirens in the distance, but they were too far away. I saw a fire truck already off the road, but ignored it. There were enough people out of the way now that I focused on what they were staring at and what I was driving into. There were two of them and Mom was fighting them both in the middle of the street.

"T.J.?" Marcus sounded wary.

"We're goin' in. Hold on!"

I laid on my horn again and increased on the gas once more. I saw Mom glance to the side and it cost her. Whatever those things were took a swipe at her midsection. Blood and flesh flew.

"MOM!"

I slammed on the brakes and barreled into both of the creatures. I ran clean over one of them and the other was tossed at least twenty feet away. I didn't bother killing the engine; it died on its own when I jumped out of the car and ran to my mother who was lying on the ground dying.

My knees screamed in pain as I slid to a stop beside her, and ripped off my t-shirt to stanch the bleeding. Her intestines were pushing through and her stomach was ripped open.

"Oh Jesus, Mom. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." I looked up at the crowd of gawkers. "Get a fucking ambulance!"

One of them yelled back. "On the way!"

Then I felt the steel grip of my mother's hand on my arm. "Thales!" she choked. Blood spat out of her mouth. "Scourge… not dead." Her face grimaced in pain I couldn't imagine."

Those creatures; they were the Scourge. I looked back at them and saw them twitching. "Marcus! Beat the shit out of those things! They're not dead!"

Turning back to my mom I saw her trying to fight the inevitable. "Ambulance is on its way, Mom. Just hold on."

She coughed and sprayed blood all over me, but still kept trying to tell me something. Her mouth was working but nothing was coming out. She was repeating the same thing over and over. I leaned in closer and heard, "Head… head…"

"Chop off their head?"

Her eyes closed in acknowledgement.

"T.J.!"

I whipped around and saw Markus whaling on the Scourge to virtually no effect. It was getting to its knees and making odd swipes at Marcus all the while. I turned back and saw my mother's eyes drop to her sword and then back up at me. I thoughtlessly reached for it and then jerked my hand back when I realized what I was about to do.

Mom just looked at me. She didn't judge me for my fear. There was only acceptance in her eyes. The next words out of her mouth I didn't need to hear. I just remembered her voice from when we said goodbye only that morning as I went to school. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." With a deep breath I reached out and grabbed the sword hilt. I kept my eyes locked on hers as I felt the magic course through me. It wasn't a decision I made lightly. I knew what I was throwing away. My perfect life. My one chance at happiness. But was it worth it to save my life and the lives of others in the crowd, my best friend. Was it really even a choice? Not in my eyes. My father raised me better than that, and my mother was a shining example of what was noble in women, or humankind for that matter. No it wasn't a choice. It was a duty. It was my destiny.

Lightening ran in my veins and I still stared into the eyes of my dying mother throughout it all. Fire burned me and I felt my skin and bones shift, but I wouldn't, for all the morphine in the world, let my mother die alone.

Then it was through.

Her eyes ran over my body and the slightest of smiles crossed her face before her body went slack and her eyes glazed over. She'd left me.

I set the sword down and wadded up my shirt to stick under her head. I knew she was dead, but I'll be damned twice over if I'd leave her there with her head lying on hot concrete. Reaching down for the sword again I rose to my feet and turned around with fire coming from my eyes. I wanted blood.

Marcus kept the creature at bay, still on one knee as it was trying desperately to get up. The crowd had backed away giving us plenty of room. I looked over at the one I ran over and it was on all fours using my car to pull itself up.

"Marcus, get back." My new feminine voice startled me. I sounded just like my mother.

Marcus was sweating bullets and I could tell he was on his last legs already. He must have been giving it every bit of strength he had, but he had held back enough to gaze wide-eyed at me.

"It's me."

"T.J.?"

The Scourge pulled back slightly and shot out his arm at my friend. That's when I jumped forward and swung my sword down across its arm, slicing through like it wasn't even there. It screamed, but not for long because I reared back and took its head with the next swipe.

"Look out!" yelled Marcus.

I didn't even know what I was doing when I spun to my right and slammed my fist into the second Scourge. My arm vibrated like I had punched a bag of meat, and for all intents and purposes I had. The second Scourge lifted up off its feet and flew through the air straight through the windshield of the Camaro.

I ran to the front of the car and jumped on the hood to grab its leg and pull it out. It was unconscious, but I didn't let that stop me from dropping my sword's blade through its neck and separating its head from its shoulders.

~O~

Marcus was waiting for me by the front of the car when I turned around. His eyes were still bugged out, but he stopped for a minute to pull his shirt off and hand it to me. Maybe I was still in a blood haze or something because I couldn't figure out why he was giving me his shirt until he pointed at my chest and I followed his finger to my very large, and very bare breasts.

"Oh."

I tried to find somewhere to put my sword, because I didn’t want anyone else to touch it. Marcus offered to hold it for me, but I nixed that idea. "Not unless you want to look like me."

He almost jumped back like he was burned. "No thanks."

In the end I slid it through my belt and watched as it disappeared. I still felt the weight of it there, but couldn't see it any longer. So that's how she did it.

The reminder of my mom brought my eyes back over to her body lying in the street. I quickly slid the t-shirt over my head, jumped off the car and winced at the jarring of my breasts as they bounced heavily on my chest. The ambulance had arrived, finally.

~O~

I sat there at the police station, Marcus by my side, as the Chief of Police watched the video for the fifth time.

"It's like those Faerie things," he remarked for the fifth time. It was like a broken record.

I knew I could probably escape, but there was the whole no identity thing working against me. The only proof I was who I said I was, was the tape of me changing, and Marcus' word. I glanced at my best friend and what he did for me. Knowing that I could inspire that kind of loyalty was scary. I knew that I would do the same thing for him if the roles were reversed, but still.

"I'm sorry about your mom."

I nodded, accepting his token of pity, then leaned forward resting my elbows on my knees, and my head in my heads. Black hair curtained my face, hanging down well past my knees. Growling in annoyance, I whipped it to the side and spat out a strand that got caught in my mouth.

"Jesus, how do girls deal with this?"

"Pony tail," came a feminine voice form the side.

I looked up and saw a mid-thirties detective sitting behind her desk about five feet away. She opened her drawer and pulled out what I immediately recognized as an elastic tie. I'd seen then often enough on my girlfriends. I'm not a Neanderthal. She tossed it to me and I gratefully nodded back. "Thanks."

I sat up and gathered up a handful of hair, trying my best to pull it back and secure it, but I wound up making an even bigger mess getting the elastic caught in the middle. The detective took pity on me and pulled a brush out of her purse.

"Let me help you." She motioned to me to the chair beside her desk. "Come on."

Looking over at Marcus, I watched him shrug, so I took the offered help. She turned the chair around so that the back was facing her and I sat.

"I'm Detective Bryant… Jennifer." She began managing my hair, brushing it out.

"T.J.," I returned in subtle greeting.

"Do you have a girlfriend, T.J.?"

I shrugged. "Sorta." As an afterthought I added. "Probably not anymore." Gesturing at my chest.

Feeling her tugging at my hair I heard movement at the base of my neck and felt the hair at my scalp being pulled tight. "Well maybe she can help you with your change."

I thought about it for a few seconds. "You guys are taking this… I dunno. You believe what happened way too easy."

A soft chuckle was returned. "We've seen weirder, believe me. Ever since those Faeries came out of hiding it's been one weird thing after another. You may not see it now, but the up side of this is that there is physical evidence and a number of witnesses to what happened to you."

"Yeah, lucky me," I sighed.

"Okay, now turn around here."

I spun the chair around, and she looked at the front of my hair. Opening a drawer she pulled out a pump bottle and held her hand over my eyes, spritzed a couple of times and smoothed out the errant hairs that were still hanging free.

"We've had a few Faeries pop up around town claiming to be changed from what that Queen Faerie did. Except they have no proof. So it's really difficult for them to go back to their normal lives." She tossed the hairspray back into the drawer and closed it before seriously looking at me eye to eye. "You changed in the middle of the street and you're pretty well known from playing baseball. You won't have any trouble getting new I.D. or proving who you are. They don't have that luxury."

"Did they have their mom disemboweled in front of national television?" I saw the expression on her face, mild frustration. "Yeah, I'm glad I have that luxury."

She grabbed my hand and held it between two of her own. "T.J. you have every right to be bitter. I lost my both my parents two years ago in a freak car accident. I know about bitter, believe me."

I glanced downward and then back up. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She gave me an understanding smile. "The way that I got through it was to say to myself, 'would Mom and Dad be proud of me acting this way?'"

There's that word again, 'proud'. I briefly castigated my self. "You're right." I tried to change the subject because I made a promise to myself not to cry and for some reason I'm having a really rough time of it. My eyes kept burning. However I choked it back. I spotted the phone on her desk and gestured. "Can I call my dad?"

Handing me the receiver she asked, "What's the number?"

~O~

Now I was worried. There wasn't an answer at home, his office, or his cell. Considering what happened you'd think that he'd be at one of the three. He always answered his cell. It wasn't like Dad to ignore me for any reason.

That's when I saw another detective standing beside me. I hung up the phone and he had pitying look on his face. "Could you come with me, please?"

I grabbed the arm of the chair and squeezed. "What happened? Is it my dad?"

"Maybe you'd like some privacy for this?" he offered.

I slowly blinked. "Just tell me."

The male detective took a small breath. "It's about your father. He was with your mother inside the store when the attack took place."

I stopped breathing and thought unthinkable thoughts. "Is he okay? Where is he?"

"One of the sales people recognized him as the first person to be attacked. I'm sorry."

The arm of the chair snapped off in my hand and I couldn't do anything but stare at it. I was on the brink of losing it entirely. Mom was dead. Dad was dead. "Do I need to…" I took a quick breath. "Do I need to…" Another breath.

"Shit," Jennifer said. "She's hyperventilating."

I felt someone put their hand on my shoulders and urge my head down between my legs. The world sort of looked gray, fading around the edges for a few moments. I don't know how long I was out of it, but I do remember hearing Marcus insisting that they could get my statement later, that he was taking me home.

~O~

When I woke up I'd like to think that the whole thing was some really screwed up nightmare, but I knew, without opening my eyes, that my life, as I knew it, was over. It was nighttime judging by the lack of sunlight coming from behind the curtains. I was in an unfamiliar room, but it was familiar all the same. Flicking on the bedside lamp I noticed a picture of me on the table. I was in my baseball uniform and in mid-swing. Staring at it led my thoughts and my eyes around the room I was occupying.

It seemed a bit effeminate for my tastes, but it was nice all the same. My toes clinched in the plush carpet when I sat up. Looking down at them the first thing I noticed was that they were smaller than normal, shorter and thinner than before. I don’t know what it struck me as odd. My second toe, which before was longer than any of my others was now uniform, shrunk.

As an afterthought I looked at my hands. Gone were the callused palms and oversized knuckles. My fingers were longer and my hand smaller than before. My nails needed cutting, but thankfully not any longer than before, as if I really cared at the moment. Why were all of these stupid thoughts running through my head? Maybe I was still in shock.

Without really thinking, I sought out the adjoining bathroom. Shrugging off my jeans, I sat on the toilet to relieve myself. After wiping up afterward I moved to the shower stall and mindlessly soaped off the dried blood still on my chest from yesterday, today -- I didn't even know how long I'd been here. Inside the stall was a small shower chair hanging on the wall, which I used to make it easier to shave the hair off of my legs. Apparently the change didn't include ridding me of some of my male attributes. A check under my arms confirmed they needed attention as well.

It wasn't until I left the shower that I realized what the hell I was doing. It was like my body was on automatic. I didn't give a crap that I had hairy legs or pits. I was a guy, or I was up until recently. It's not like I was out to score another guy or something.

Toweling off I finally saw a mirror above the sink, and I wanted, or rather I needed, to see what I looked like. With a gnawing presence in my stomach I closed my eyes before opening them again in front of the mirror. My lips parted a little. It was the change. I no longer looked like my father. The square jaw was gone, replaced with a smoother, streamlined face that came to almost a point at my chin. With the way my hairline was now shaped my face looked heart-shaped. The eyes were exactly the same as before, the same as my mother's, cerulean blue. In fact I saw a number of features that looked exactly like hers but not quite with others. There was no doubt as to who my mother was.

My eyes tracked down to the large mounds on my chest. I raised my hand to touch the left one, but held off, with a slight of self-consciousness. Turning to the side I finally saw my hair. Midnight black if there was ever a color, straight, full and long, down to my butt. It was still pulled back and tied with the elastic. I left it there not knowing what else to do.

"I need some clothes."

Turning out the light to the bathroom I searched through the drawers to one of the dressers and found some underwear. This had to be my mother's room, I decided. She had practical taste in panties and bras. There were different colors, but nothing fancy or frilly, and for that I was thankful. While I could see the need to wear a bra I didn't think I could deal with some of the lacy crap that some of my girlfriends prefer. I did notice the tag near the clasp of the bra. 40DD. Christ, I would have almost paid money to be with a girl like that. Now I'm the one people would pay money for.

Totally ignoring the lack of equipment, or rather the replacement equipment between my legs I slid up a pair of white bikini panties and a matching bra. I was already well acquainted with how they work. I'd taken more than a few off of previous girlfriends and had watched them put them on just as many times, so that wasn't an issue.

Further searching led me to a pair of jean shorts and blue tank top, which I decided was dressed down enough for my tastes. There was no hiding my body, so I didn't even try. All of the clothes that hung in the closet and in the drawers were to my mother's taste and from what I had seen of her I don't think she ever wore anything frumpy and old ladyish.

I found some crew socks and a pair of running shoes that fit me perfectly. Apparently, like mother like daughter.

At that thought I smiled and then frowned. I was a daughter now. My life was irrevocably changed. My parents were gone. I had barely gotten to know my mother and she was taken from me. My career was a memory. Even if they'd let me play as a girl, it wouldn't be long before I was banned because of my magically enhanced strength. My girlfriend was all but officially history. She wasn't a lesbian or even bisexual, and I didn't know what the hell I was at the moment. Sex didn't even play a single part in my thoughts.

From what Detective Jennifer said, I'd at least have my identity. I suppose I could still be T.J. or even Thales. It was gender neutral enough. However I wouldn't really have my identity where it actually counted. I was a brand-new person with no clue as to how I was supposed to live my life.

Stupid thoughts ran through my head. Insignificant thoughts, in relation to the death of my parents. I'd have to use the girls bathroom, sit down to pee. Jesus, I already had! I didn't even think of it at the time, but it was like I was already indoctrinated to being female.

A snapshot of my nude body and face in the mirror flashed in my mind. Guys would be hitting on me. Looking down at my now smooth legs I noted how long they were. Oh yeah. Guys would be all over me. The thought made me nauseous.

I grabbed at my stomach and felt it cramp, and then cringed at the next thought. No. Nononononono. God, please no.

My breathing quickened and I felt light-headed again. I fell back on the bed and waited it out, slowing my breathing until it passed. The thought of the wall of my uterus, MY uterus for god sake, disintegrating once a month was too much. I had to put it out of my head. It was just too female for me to consider at this point. Later. Much later; maybe next year or something.

I had to get my mind on something else.

~O~

Marcus was snug in a recliner with a green afghan covering him when I came downstairs. The TV was tuned to ESPN and the volume almost muted. Leaving him there I went down the hallway to where I knew my mother kept her computer. She had told me only three days prior that if anything were to happen to her that she had left me a message. It was almost like she knew what was going to happen. Like she saw the end was near and made preparations. However, looking at the life she had led, as a whole, it seemed the appropriate thing to do.

I opened up her laptop and hit the power button. Seating myself in the chair, I noticed that I had subconsciously crossed my legs, feminine-like. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and released it before opening them again.

Finding the folder on the desktop was easy enough. It was titled with my name. Clicking on it opened a sub-folder that contained a number of documents with various, ominous titles as well, which I'll go into later. The one I was concerned with for now was the one listed as 'In the Event of My Death.'

It was also a folder that split apart to two choices: Male or Female. I blinked at that and almost chose Male, but moved the cursor to Female instead. I could always choose the other later to see what differed. The screen blanked and then reset itself. I almost thought I did something wrong until I saw that I was left with the opened 'Female' file.

The word processor opened automatically and a letter appeared before me.

Dearest Thales,

I write this letter to you in anticipation that you have taken up my sword for one reason or another. You now know that I spoke true about its effects on your body. I wish I could see you, my daughter. It was my dearest wish to behold my successor before my death. If I did receive a chance to see you then you will know I died a happy and contented mother, no matter the cause of my death, age or battle.

You must have several questions and I hope to have anticipated most of them. Within this computer I have set a series of documents on everything I could think of to ensure a smooth transition to womanhood. When I wasn't actively doing my best to destroy the Scourge I was sitting here trying to make sure you did not regret your choice. Partake of my knowledge, my daughter.

Know that I have always loved you and wanted the best for you. I wanted you to be happy, but as the last of the Amazons you have a duty to fulfill, as did I. It is not a bad life, my daughter. You will be forever young for a hundred years, never aging until the last is upon you, and your children and their children hopefully surround you.

I am so very proud of you for the decision you have made.

With unending love,

Thalestris

I blinked away the tears that were washing down my cheeks and noticed how she signed her name. Thalestris. She called herself Tris, and the beginning of her name was obviously my name. How foretelling.

There was a link underneath the signature labeled Artemis, which I clicked on. Another document appeared, replacing the letter she left me.

As you have seen my Amazon name I shall give you a very brief history about how it was obtained. Thalestris was the last known queen of the Amazons before we were decimated as a race. Artemis, our patron goddess bestowed it upon my entry into adulthood as she will bestow you with a similar name when you contact her. Every Amazon must go forth to her altar and summon the Lady on their eighteenth birthday. At that time she will receive her weapon or if, as in your case, you have my sword then it will be blessed upon you.

Do not, under any circumstances, dishonor the goddess. If you know anything about Greek Mythology then you will know that Artemis is a very fickle Olympian. Be truthful to her and do not let any remnants of your male ego enter her temple. If you please her then she will give you a name of her choosing and bless your sword for battle. This is very important, my daughter. Within a week, the sword you hold will lose its magical properties and will become a simple sword. To do battle with the Scourge you must have the proper weapons for they are difficult to kill if you do not.

Proceed to the instructions below and perform the ritual.

My blessings to you, my daughter.

I looked over the entry and it seemed simple enough. The problem was that I didn't know if I wanted to see it through. Believe it or not, I really don't think of myself as an Amazon. I'm a guy, shaved legs or no shaved legs. This morning I was thinking of nothing else a little fantasy about dating Jessica Whitworth, fathering a dozen kids, and writing my speech for my Cy Young award after my rookie season in the Major League. Does that sound like something a girl does? No, it doesn't.

Now I have breasts, no dick, and I'm strong as the Terminator. Additionally, my parents are now dead. Killed by some stupid misogynistic race of creatures hell bent on killing me as well.

So given that last little tidbit it really only leaves me one decision: Die or become a mythic female warrior. I guess the choice wasn't so hard to make after all.

"Dude?"

I spun my chair around and saw Marcus at the door. "Hey."

"How you feeling?" he asked.

I shrugged a little. "Fine, I guess."

His eyes roamed the computer room before falling back to me. He was dressed in different clothes than before, which really made me wonder how long I had been out of it.

"How long's it been since…"

Picking up on my question he answered. "Yesterday. You gave me directions here. I made sure you were set up and passed out in bed. I went home to shower and change. Been in the living room ever since."

I kind of gaped at him when he told me I'd been lucid enough to direct him to my mother's house. I didn't remember anything after the police station. "Thanks Marcus. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come along to help."

One thing I did notice about my best friend was his complete lack of joking around. We had exactly the same set of personalities. That's why we got along so well. It's why we'd been best friends since we were ten years old. I couldn't get why he hadn't so much as leered in my direction, or made a joke about me having tits. Something to lighten the mood was normal around him. Maybe he had some clue as to the seriousness of the situation.

He just nodded at my thanks, not really saying anything else. He had to have questions. I motioned to an empty chair and he pulled it out before spinning it around and straddling the seat.

"Is this where you tell me that you've been a girl all this time and you wanted my body for years?"

I laughed. There was my best friend.

"No, I'm a guy, or rather I was a guy until yesterday."

He cocked his head slightly in question.

"My mom was an Amazon."

Now he looked surprised. "No shit? Like Wonder Woman?"

See how much we think alike?

I nodded. "She was the last one. When those things jumped her and …" I closed my eyes for a second and pictured the swipe of claws that sealed her fate I continued. "She told me that the only way to kill them was to cut off their heads. Her sword was the only thing available, so it was either see those things kill you, me, and everyone else around or pick up her sword and do it myself."

"And the sword turns dudes into Amazons," he extrapolated.

I shook my head. "It turned 'me' into an Amazon. It would just turn you into a normal girl. It only works for me because I was her son. You can't ever touch my sword unless…"

He took the hint. "Nooo problem."

I looked behind him to the steel door along the wall. From the instructions on the computer, that was where I would find my mother's temple to Artemis. "And now I get to go meet with my goddess."

"Excuse me?"

He was my friend and I had virtually no secrets from him, except for that time when I had sex with his older sister, and wild horses would never drag that tale from between my lips. His sister and I flirted all the time, until one day when I called her on it. Either put up or shut up. I was really tired of walking around with a hard on every time I went over to their house. Enough said. But the problem was that her parents are hardcore 'Black Power' people. Reverse racists in my opinion. No white boy would ever be good enough for their Nubian princess. Whatever.

So that little secret was between us, not even for Marcus. I promised her. Oh, by the way. I rocked her freakin' world. Just thought I'd let you know that.

"What do you know about Greek Mythology?"

He looked aside momentarily while he pulled up his English class literature out of the cobwebs of his mind. "Um, Zeus, Olympus, that shit?"

I nodded. "You remember Artemis?"

"War goddess?"

I shook my head. "Goddess of the hunt, twin sister to Apollo. There's other things too, but where it concerns me is that she's the patron goddess of Amazons. I have to go meet her now."

Marcus' jaw unhinged. "You're shittin' me. That stuff's for real?"

"Yep." I stood and gave him a look. "Would you come with me?"

After a moment of hesitation he answered. "Like I said before, I got your back, man… uh, you know what I mean."

I felt my eyes well up and start to burn. Dammit. I gave myself a cleansing breath and quashed the crying bit for another time. My hands went to my hips and I felt the sword hilt. Yeah, I know that it should be on the floor with my jeans, upstairs, but it was still by my side for some really magical, illogical reason. With a single pull I made it appear and dropped the blade to my side so as not to make Marcus nervous. It didn't work. After all the freaky things he has seen in the last twenty-four hours, a magical blade appearing out of thin air still freaked him out.

Three steps and I was at the door, pushing down on the big metal latch and pulling with a good portion of my strength. It'd take more than a few guys throwing their entire weight on the thing to budge it so it was relatively secure.

In the middle of the circular room stood a white marble statue of a woman holding her hands out, palms up. She wore a short toga, of sorts, and I saw a bow slung around her back with a quiver of arrows over her left shoulder. In front of the statue was a small padded mat, big enough for someone to sit or kneel on. I'm guessing for this ritual, at some point, it'll be kneeling.

Looking over my shoulder I gave Marcus a warning. "Stand by the door, just in case." He nodded and watched as I found a box of matches and lit bowls of oil set in five equidistant places around the room. Next was the part I wasn't so happy about.

I stood in front of the statue and turned the back of my arm upward. Bringing up my sword, I barely laid the blade on my skin, enough to draw blood, and then performed the same action to the other. After laying the sword at the statue's feet I stretched out my arms and placed the wounded portion in either hand of the statue.

"Goddess Artemis. It is time."

At first I thought that I looked ridiculous. Nothing happened. Then the statue's hand grasped my wrists, and I saw her eyes open. Not the unseeing eyes of the white marble, but human eyes and much more. Whereas humans have single colored, she had three. Gold, violet, and green swirled, intermixed among the others. It was mesmerizing.

"Thales, daughter of Thalestris. I did not think I would be seeing you at this altar."

I goggled in shock. Her lips did not move. I only heard her voice in my heard and it was the most beautiful thing I could imagine. I opened my mouth to respond, but was rebuffed.

"Silence, Thales. There is a man-child in my presence. Speak only with your thoughts."

"He is my friend, Goddess."

One of her eyebrows arched. "Indeed?" She looked Marcus over like a horse at market. "Shall I turn him into a daughter as well."

"Please no, Goddess. He helped me yesterday. He stalled the Scourge long enough for me to obtain my mother's sword. He put his life on the line to save me."

Her tri-colored eyes returned to mine. "Yes, I'd heard the last of my Amazons had finally passed."

Releasing my arms I dropped to my knees in front of her. Not really to worship her, but from the sudden fatigue I felt. I heard Marcus' footsteps behind me. I wanted to turn and warn him away, but I couldn't even gather up enough strength to do that. My friend was beside me in an instant glaring angrily at Artemis.

"What did you do to her!" he snapped.

"He has a fire in him to protect you, Thales. Regrettably, he is a man-child."

Marcus started to scoop me up into his arms when some of my strength returned, at least enough to speak properly. "Marcus, wait."

He looked at me with concern on his face. "Are you sure, T.J.?"

I nodded and he helped me to my feet.

"Has he taken your maidenhead Thales?" Her eyes tracked down to my abdomen and a bit lower. "No, I see he has not. But then you have only been my daughter for less than a day."

She turned and stepped off the pedestal, looking as if she were pondering. "I have a question for you Thales, daughter of Thalestris." Without waiting for my acknowledgement she asked. "Why do you want to be an Amazon? Why would you give up your male body for this life, willingly?"

My head cleared and I felt somewhat normal again. I looked up at her and kept my lips firmly closed. "My mother gave up everything for me, because she hoped to destroy the Scourge and come home to be with me. Then when she admitted being unable to do so she came back anyway. She loved me, and I loved her. I have virtually nothing left of my old life. It's my duty to avenge her death, to end the Scourge one and for all, with your aid and my friends I will do so. I will bring victory back to the Amazons or die trying."

She turned back to me, clasping her arms behind her. "Brave words, daughter. Can you truly devote yourself to this task? Your mother could not."

Heat rose to my face. "She tried for her entire life! There's only so much one unaided person can do."

"Her attention was on you, daughter. Her only thoughts were for you. Yes, she accomplished much. She hurt the Scourge. Ares rages that one woman destroyed so many of his sons, but she had other things on her mind."

Her eyes moved to Marcus. "He hates me you know. His love for you is already blossoming."

My eyes widened at this.

"Oh, he doesn't know it yet, but he will. Today he wants to protect you, tomorrow he will want between your legs, to make you laden with his child, to warm his bed on cold winter nights. What will you do then, vengeance seeker? What will you do when you are bound to him with several children and the Scourge comes to your home to take you from his bed, lover of victory?"

I was still stunned, forgetting to think my answer and vocally said, "No man will take me."

Her eyes snapped to me and I could feel them boring into my soul. "Really, daughter? A vow of celibacy?"

It was then that I actually heard her voice with my ears. From Marcus' hand at my waist I knew he had heard her as well.

"Do you hear that, Protector? Do you bear witness that until the Scourge are defeated, until every last one of them are beheaded, you will not enter my daughter?"

Now Marcus was boggled. "Uh yeah, sure."

"Intriguing." She looked down at the floor in contemplation once again. "Very well, you will have my aid, daughter. Come, kneel before the altar and receive my gifts."

Marcus let me go but stayed near. I knelt on the mat and Artemis sat down on the altar, crossing her legs. "Your wrists, daughter."

I held them up to her and she grasped them. A burning sensation drove deep, almost into the bone. I wanted to pull back, but knew if I did then I would be rejected, so I endured. A moment later and I was gazing at two pieces of metal, one encasing each of my forearms, from wrist to elbow.

"This is to remind you of your servitude to me." She looked down at my mother's sword. "Your weapon."

I lifted it up into her waiting hands. She grasped the hilt and brought the blade to her lips, kissing it lightly. "The strength of your weapon has been renewed, to remind you of your duty to me."

A naughty smile graced her lips. "Stand daughter." When I did, she took my head in her hands, turning it from side to side kissing my ears, my eyes, my nose and finally my lips. She seemed to take a little longer on the mouth than anyplace else. She inched away from me slightly, enough to where I could actually focus on her eyes. "Is it vengeance or victory you seek most, daughter? Hmm?"

I truly didn't know. I wanted both equally as much.

"Delicious, you cannot choose. Then you shall be known as an Amazon as you were known as a man: Veronica, she who brings victory. And you shall be known to Ares and the Scourge as the namesake of the goddess of Vengeful Fate, the Remorseless, Nemesis." Her eyes hardened. "You will go and slaughter their ranks. You will show no mercy, as they have shown none to my Amazons. And as a gift to aid you in your quest, for every ten Scourge you destroy I will grant you a new awakening, the power to bestow upon a person of your choosing the gift of sisterhood."

I felt a surge of triumph with the last offering. The Amazons will live again! "How will I find them Goddess?"

Her eyes drifted to Marcus. "Marcus Latrelle, my daughter honors you with the titles Protector and Friend. Are you such?"

Marcus seemed to almost puff out his chest a little. "Yes."

"Will you be so in the future?"

I turned to Marcus and gave him a warning look. He looked back at me. Regardless whether we were born of two races, two different families, and now two different sexes he was still my best friend, my brother, and now I was his sister.

"I said I got your back and I meant it." He looked at Artemis. "Yes."

She still took a measure of him. "A weapon, daughter. Go -- fetch it for me. An axe I believe."

An uneasy feeling came over me while I looked between Marcus and the Goddess, but I left, running as fast as my feet could take me. Down the stairs I ran, three at a time with perfect clarity and agility until I ran into the armory and let my eyes run, instead, over the weapons until I found a double bladed axe amongst the plethora of blades. Lifting it from its pegs on the wall I ran just as fast back to the small temple as I feared the worst. I silently prayed she didn't turn my best friend into a woman as well; not after everything he did for me.

Back up the stairs I ran and then down the hall until I slammed open the door to the computer room and saw them both standing there as before, unchanged. My eyes darted back and forth between the two, knowing they were sparring mentally as Artemis and I did at the start.

Without any fanfare Artemis took the proffered battle-axe and brought it to her lips. "Marcus Latrelle, do your swear fealty, your allegiance, to Veronica, to protect her from harm with your dying breath."

"What -- no!" I protested.

Marcus looked at me. "It's not your choice. It's mine, and it's the right thing to do." He looked back to Artemis. "I do."

"Do you accept the terms that we discussed?'

I felt powerless as I looked back and forth between them.

"I do."

She handed him the axe and his hand stuttered a second in remembrance of what happened to me before taking it. I waited for the change to take effect, but it never did.

"Veronica," Artemis called to me as she ascended her altar. "Do not make me regret my decision. You have a promise to fulfill. I give you six moons to prepare and then you begin your mission. If you complete your mission you will receive your reward." Her eyes moved to Marcus. "Remember your oath, Protector."

With that her body turned to white marble once more.

"What did you do?"

Marcus smirked at me. "I know not what you mean, Lady Veronica."

I gasped. "What the hell did she do to you?"

Apparently he couldn't keep up the act and broke up laughing. "I'm just jerkin' your chain, T.J." He swung his axe over his head and then down in an arc. "Is this thing cool or what?"

"I hate you. Seriously, what did you promise?"

He shrugged. "That I'd be your friend and protector. I already do that. What could it hurt to have an awesome axe to actually do it with?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was hiding something. "What else?" When he didn't answer right away I leaned in somewhat threateningly. "Marcus…"

"I said I wouldn't bone you, okay?" He barked out a laugh. "Like I'd have sex with my best friend anyway. I mean you were a dude yesterday! Easy promises to keep, my sister."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and led me out of the room. "Now you gotta hook me up with that invisible thing you got goin' on, hiding your blade."

~O~

Six moons, a little under six months, and then we leave.

Marcus doesn't sleep anymore… ever. He's always close by. I don't need his protection, and I can still kick his ass, but he wants to be there for me.

Friends till the end.

(to be continued)

Photo Credit: Found at the following link:
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t279/Aiko-one-of-the-seve...

What's a guy to do when his mother shows up after being gone for thirteen years and tells him she's the last of the mythical Amazon race?

Part 2

Detective Jennifer was kind enough to contact my school and let them know the situation. Not that everyone in town, much less the nation, hadn't seen the video about a billion times already. It was all over the major news stations for the entire weekend. I'd seen enough panelists talk about the Magical Threat taking over the United States to last me a lifetime, and I was only eighteen.

My cell phone had so many text and voice messages that I had to contact the phone company and have them turn it off. Marcus and I had to go down and get a new account set up under his name so that I could even have some form of communication.

That was yesterday.

Today is Monday, the third day after the incident. Marcus' sister was kind enough to braid my hair for me, but that was about all. My best friend was on the outs with his parents. Apparently 'shacking up' with the crazy white chick on TV was against their religion or something. So she was trying to stay in their good graces for the time being. I could call her on her cell if I had any female questions. So that was nice.

He hadn't voluntarily been more than a hundred feet away from me at any one time. Sunday morning I went out to the back yard while he was in the shower. The next thing I knew, he was beside me in only a towel, dripping wet, holding his axe. That's one of the things Artemis did to him. He instinctively knows exactly where I am at all times, and it makes him crazy if I go off on my own. Not literally, of course, but he gets really antsy if I'm not close by.

Saturday night, after the thing with Artemis, I had a nightmare about the incident. I woke up dripping with sweat, my mother's name on my lips, and panicked. He was already there, sitting on my bed, wide awake, calming me down.

That's when I found out he hadn't any sleep whatsoever. The same thing happened last night -- Marcus' lack of sleep, not my nightmare. After I had to almost pull his teeth to get the information, he finally admitted to Artemis' extra gift to him. He would be my protector in every way, twenty-four hours a day. That's the price my friend paid for wanting to help me. I still hadn't decided whether or not it was a gift or a curse.

What was a curse were the clothing choices I had for school. Absolutely everything my mother owned accentuated her body. Luckily she had few dresses, and the skirts she had were practical. Everything else below the waist was skin tight, mostly made of leather or stretch denim. Leather gave better protection for fighting, and I guess the denim was for days that she didn't feel like sweating to death. Leather may be nice to look at, but it's hot as hell.

Her shirts were form fitting and there was a lot of form to fit in my chest area. I need to get out and get something less revealing. There was only so much reminding I needed of my new breasts; I didn't need to see the top half of them sticking out everywhere.

For an Amazon, my mother wasn't very liberated.

A light knock at my door announced Marcus' presence. "You about ready to go, Veronica?"

I sighed. I told him to stop calling me T.J. It was just one more reminder that I wasn't the guy I was two days ago. "Yeah. Be right there."

You may be asking yourself, why am I going to school? It's a good question. I mean I just lost my parents and I was changed into a girl overnight. Why not take a week or so and ease into it. Nobody would blame me for needing some time to myself. So why should I go back to the grind?

Maybe it's my male ego. I'm not going to give up and throw myself down on the floor to cry. I never did it as a guy, so why should I do it as a girl? I'm sure all the people at school are gossiping about me. I imagined the guys leering or the girls giggling all day yesterday. If I waited until next week to go in then it would just be that much worse. Speculation would run rampant. By the end of the week I could either be a sex-crazed porn star or psychotic murderer depending on whom you asked. That's what the teenage grapevine is like. It's better just to nip it off at the bud. Show them I'm still sane, I just have tits.

I chose the skintight stretch jeans, a white scoop-necked t-shirt, and a dark green cotton blouse to kind of mask the gigantic globes that announce my presence before I turn corners. I let the blouse hang loose. It may not cover the amount of cleavage showing, but it helps on the sides. The choice of loafers was just to match the outfit. Running shoes would work, but it just didn't look right.

No, I'm not magically a clotheshorse. However, I did have a good sense of style and color coordination before the change. It didn't go away afterward. A model, I'm not, but I'm not going to look like I'm ashamed about the choice I made on Friday either. Pride before the fall.

I opened the door to see Marcus leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed. He gave me a quick once over, in a non-leering fashion, and then turned and led the way down the stairs. My backpack was waiting by the front door.

"I made sure your temporary I.D. and wallet are in the front pocket. Phone is in the side, and I put three cans of mace in the grab pocket."

I raised my eyebrows in question at that last little thing.

He shrugged. "It's probably safer than pulling your sword. Less likely to be a lawsuit that way."

See, a protector in every way. "Thanks, Marcus."

The Camaro was still in police impound along with my mother and father's car. That left Marcus' Harley. A 2008 Heritage Softail Classic. His parents didn't skimp on his ride. Black… of course.

He grabbed my backpack and hefted his up as well.

"Marcus, I can carry my own pack."

He smiled at me, showing his white even teeth before holding the door for me. "Get used to it, Veronica. It's one of the perks of being a chick."

I let the 'chick' comment go with only a purse of my cupid's bow lips. Yeah, when I purse them they turn up into two little cute peaks making them very attractive to guys. Not that I've been hit on… yet. I was a guy just three days ago. Now I'm a damn wet dream. Maybe I should stay home after all.

"We stayin' or goin'?"

With a frown I pushed myself out the door. Marcus set the alarm and locked up. Then joined me by the bike as I was putting my helmet on. Yes, it was black. At least it wasn't pink. The braid at the back of my hair wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it gave way. I really had to go get it cut. I just can't deal with three feet of hair on a daily basis. Kicking out the pegs, I tossed my leg over and shimmied up the pillion seat while Marcus secured the backpacks in the leatherish saddlebags. When he was done he climbed on and started up the bike. I refuse to call it a hog; let the Harley guys rage away the day. When he settled, I slid into him and locked my thighs in place.

There's a trick to riding when you aren't in control. If you are afraid to touch the person in front of you then it makes it more difficult to steer the bike into turns. The balance gets thrown off slightly and if you need to make a quick correction mid turn, well then you're pretty much screwed. My hands slid to his ribs. I'd be damned if I was going to hug him. It wasn't that long of a ride. But I wasn't going to sacrifice safety for my temporary insecurity with pressing my breasts against his back. It didn't matter anyway. The bastard leaned back against me when we took off.

He got a smack in the helmet for that one.

~O~

Here's a hint if you decide to go motorcycle shopping: you can't make a quiet entrance anywhere on a Harley. They can hear you coming from a mile down the road. That was one of the selling points for Marcus. For right now, I didn't need the added attention. It was like I was saying to the world, "HEY, IT'S ME! THE GUY THAT GOT CHANGED INTO A GIRL! LOOK AT ME WHILE I HAVE MY LEGS WRAPPED AROUND THE GUY IN FRONT OF ME!"

The school parking lot was already half full by the time we arrived. We weren't being stared at too much at first. That was until I took my helmet off. Unlucky for me that we were up front in a special area designated for motorcycles. That's when the whispering started for the day. I made busy work getting my backpack out of the saddlebag and tossing it over one arm while Marcus secured the helmets, then we made our way inside to the front office.

I received a double-take from the receptionist before he closed his gaping mouth.

"I guess you need to see Ms. Little," he mumbled.

I nodded without saying anything. Ms. Little was the school counselor for my grade level. Any changes in schedule, classes, and oddly enough gender, had to go through her. I guess they added that last part over the weekend.

He picked up his phone and dialed her extension. A half second wait later and she answered. "Ms. Little, T.J. Jennings is here to see you."

I got use to that by middle school. T.J. is short for Thales Jennings. J is not short for my middle name, since I don't have a middle name. People just assumed I did and it started with the letter J.

He hung up and nodded his head to the side. "Go on back. You remember where her office is?"

I gave him a looked that asked if he was retarded. "Dave, I turned into a chick. I didn't lose my mind."

The pressure of Marcus' hand on the small of my back pulled me away. "Dudette, you need to chill if you are gonna make it through the whole day without ripping someone's throat out."

He was right. I knew he was right, but that didn't make things any easier. Whatever hormone they put into girls that make them cry like little babies at sad movies, well it makes them pissed off just as easy. I needed to get control of myself.

A big squared off 'U' was the shape of the hallway that led back to Ms. Little's office. After the turn, it was the second door on the right. It was opened when we arrived and she was behind her desk looking up away from her computer with a smile on her face until she saw me. It faltered for a second, but she plastered it right back up there. Can anyone be more fake?

"T.J. come in. Have a seat." Her eyes moved to Marcus. "Marcus, I can take it from here. You can go ahead to class."

"You'll need to see me too, Ms. Little."

She looked back and forth between us for a moment and then thought better of trying to make a big deal out of the situation. Hey, point for her. "Very well."

Without waiting for her to ask for it I opened my backpack and retrieved my wallet, or what I thought was my wallet. With a glance at Marcus he shrugged and looked away. It wasn't my tri-fold wallet anymore, but one of those purse wallets girls have with twenty compartments, plastic picture holders, and a cutsie little change purse at the front. I was beginning to wonder if Marcus was laughing it up in his head or if he was just trying to make it easier on me. It really was a toss up.

With a mild scowl I hunted for my temporary I.D. and found it with my old driver's license which I immediately handed over. Ms. Little took it and made some changes in the computer.

"You're going by Veronica now?"

I wanted to snap back, "Can you read?" but checked myself. "I thought it would be better to take a girl's name."

While the school counselor takes care of mostly paperwork, I had momentarily forgotten that they were actual counselors as well. "That's very positive thinking… Veronica." She was all fake smiles and chirpy attitude. I might actually have to vomit in a moment. Instead I just raised one of my newly plucked and arched eyebrows at her. Marcus' sister didn't argue with me about not wearing make up. Apparently the natural look is still in for the time being, but she wouldn't give way on the eyebrows.

See, when I changed genders I didn't automatically look finished. I still had my guy hair on my legs, underarms, and eyebrows. It was thinner, but it was not polished. Now I'm polished, for the most part, anyway.

Returning to her computer and clacking away at the keyboard she seemed to have tuned us out for the time being. I looked over at Marcus and gave him the international signal for jerking off. I guess it looked kind if weird coming from a girl, because he leaned back and put his hand over his mouth to hide his smile. After a few more seconds she handed my I.D. back and I stowed my girlie wallet away.

"I'll send an email out to your teachers informing them of your status." Like they didn't know. "I also need to inform you to make sure to use the gender neutral restrooms just outside the office to the right."

"Excuse me?" I said, before she moved on.

Uh oh, I'm sure she realized, confrontation. Eeek!

"Well, considering your status…"

Now my voice acquired a certain edge. "Exactly what status are you talking about?"

She interlocked her fingers in front of her. I could tell by the shape of her lips she almost called me T.J., but at the last second she corrected herself. "Veronica, you were a male on Friday. We can't just let you go into the girls restroom or the boys. It wouldn't be prudent."

I narrowed my eyes before taking a slow intake of breath and letting it out. "So when I come out of Calculus and need to use the restroom I have to trek all the way across the school and then back for TV and Film? All of this, through the push of people in the already overcrowded halls, before the tardy bell rings."

She didn't even bat an eye. "I would suggest you use the facilities before Calculus."

A groan of metal broke the silence of the room after that last statement.

"Uh, Veronica?"

With a glance at Marcus he pointed to the arm of the chair. I looked down and saw that the steel arm was crushed downward making a mess of the chair. Ms. Little openly gaped.

"I…I…" she stammered. "I'm sure arrangements can be made."

I wasn't in the mood to make 'arrangements'. "Ms. Little, do you have doubts about my gender?" I stood up and pulled the green blouse open baring the scooped neck tee and the tops of my breasts to her. "If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to drop my pants and show you that I'm a girl. I have a uterus, ovaries, and in less than a month I plan on bleeding and cramping just like girls that have been female all their lives."

She tried her best to get control of the situation. "Veronica sit down and calm yourself."

I wouldn't have any of it, not after what I had been through. "Am — I — a — girl?"

"That's not for me to say," she shot back.

I stripped off my blouse. "Marcus, watch the door."

He was up and closing the door before I had my fingers under my t-shirt.

"What are you doing?" Ms. Little said somewhat shakily. "You open that door this second."

~O~

"I wish I could frame that memory."

After pursing my lips I hitched my backpack up my arm. "Oh shut up."

"Baby's got some serious back."

"I have a sword now," I warned.

~O~

Against my wishes, Marcus dropped from baseball. He swears that he was only in it so we could have fun and without me there he didn't want to be there either. I think he's a big fat liar. So with that we both dropped from all the extra courses that we didn't need. What's that mean? I have four classes now instead of the usual seven, and we leave before third lunch, at 12:30. It rearranged both of our schedules a little, but we would still have enough credits to graduate. That was the main reason for staying in school. After four years of putting up with the thing, I wasn't going to walk away with only a month and a half left to go. And Ms. Little would have given me her first born child just to get out of her office and never look at her again. Needless to say, I get to use the girls bathroom.

Homeroom was over with and the first period bell rang when we walked into Senior English. It was like someone ran a needle across an old analog album. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared, even the teacher.

Marcus went and sat down while I stood there and let everyone get a good look.

"Yes, it's me. Yes, as you can see, I have breasts. Questions?"

I saw Steve Jameson in the second row start to raise his hand.

"Anyone who isn't sexually repressed have any questions?" I reiterated.

Steve lowered his hand and a girl in the back raised hers. I couldn't remember her name. Mary something.

"Are you really a girl now?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head in mild annoyance. I swear that the world must be blind or something. "Okay, last chance. Any intelligent questions?"

Three hands went up at that. I frowned and turned a little to look at the teacher… who was eyeing my ass. He saw my movement a little too late and shifted in his seat to make it look like he wasn't picturing what I looked like naked. "Go ahead. I doubt will get anything accomplished today anyway."

One of the girls that had her hand up jumped at the chance. "Christie Defoor said that before you ran out of Film and TV that you said the lady with the sword was your mom."

I nodded.

She got an uncomfortable look on her face. "Sorry." I guessed she realized what she sounded like.

Before the next question was asked I raised my hands up. "Let me just give you the Cliff's Notes version. My mom was an Amazon. Yes, like Wonder Woman. Those creatures she was fighting are called the Scourge. They attacked my dad inside the store and my mom killed four of them before they wound up in the middle of the street and on TV.

"They killed her and when I took up her sword to kill them it changed me."

I hadn't told them anything that they didn't already know, except for the Amazon part. And frankly I wanted people to know what she was. As far as I was concerned, it was stupid to hide.

"Does that mean that you're an Amazon too?" I looked over in the back corner and saw a guy that I used to hang with in Middle School.

"Yeah. I am."

Class got stupid after that announcement.

~O~

By third period people were asking me where my magic lasso and invisible jet were. They thought I lived on an island in the Aegean Sea where thousands of naked women were running around in some lesbian love fest. Every class I was in was a wash; nothing was learned and I was the topic of conversation. It got old real fast. Marcus and I decided to ditch fourth period and just leave. Maybe school was a bad idea for now, at least until the administration could get things under control.

I accomplished what I needed to do. The official word about me was out and I showed up to confirm or deny the rumors. Now it was up to the school officials to get things back to normal.

On the way out, Marcus and I had to cut through the commons area where first lunch is held. That's when we were accosted by the nerd herd, or I should say the unofficial comic book club. I say unofficial because they weren’t school sponsored they just read comic during lunch. They consisted of mostly freshmen and sophomores as it was even more nerdish to be caught reading comics in the later years. That is if you ever stood a chance of getting laid. Strangely enough there were even three girls in their midst. One of which wasn't shy in the least bit.

"Is it true that you're Wonder Woman?"

I stopped making my way to the exit. "What?"

"Mark's brother," she pointed her thumb to the guy standing next to her, "is in your English class and he said that you said that you're Wonder Woman."

I shook away the annoyance of being taken out of context. "I said that my mother was an Amazon and that I am too. I said we were 'like' Wonder Woman."

"Oh." She frowned in disappointment.

One of the herd grabbed my blouse covered arm very briefly and his eyes bugged out. I pulled away and gave him a scowl. "What the hell?"

He took a step back and pointed at my arm. "She's got the bracelets!"

The 'not shy' girl scowled at him. "They're called vambraces, idiot." Then she turned to me with a bright smile. "Can I see?"

I looked at Marcus and he shrugged. "You're the one that started this with the whole Wonder Woman thing."

With a sigh I pulled in my cuff, but it really didn't move up much. My only other choice was to take my blouse off. My shoulders dropped a little. Oh brother. There was a growing crowd as interest started spreading. I decided to just metaphorically rip the bandage off and I took off my blouse.

"Whoa." The girl looked on in wonder. "They're to remind her that women should never be subservient to men and the times that the Amazons were slaves to men."

I had to correct her. "That may be true in the comics, but these… vambraces are to remind me of my service to Artemis."

"The goddess?" she asked.

I nodded. "The very same."

"She's real."

I nodded. Then I saw the grabby boy again. Except he wasn't looking at the vambraces so much as he was ogling my breasts. I reached out and thumped him on the forehead with my middle finger. His hand shot up to his head and he flinched away. After glowering at him I turned my attention to everyone else in the growing crowd. A good three-quarters of them were starting at my new equipment, and I don't mean the vambraces.

"Everyone getting a good look?" I almost shouted. "Do I need to wear a bikini tomorrow?" I felt the heat rising to my face and I didn't know if it was embarrassment or anger pushing me on. "Get a good look. Go home and jerk off to your heart's content, and get it out of your system, because if it happens again I'm kicking your ass."

I felt a hand on my upper arm and spun around with clinched fists to see Marcus and the really concerned look on his face. "We need to go."

"Wonder Woman's not supposed to act that way," I heard the comic book girl say. I almost walked away, but that comment just shook me down to the core. Spinning around I grabbed her shoulders and got in her face. "I'm not a super hero you stupid bitch!"

Marcus pulled on my arm, but I didn't budge an inch. "My fucking mother was eviscerated, and there would have been a lot of other people that way if I didn't do what I did." I pushed her away and looked up to the crowd. "Think about that the next time you freaks decide you want to check out my tits!"

I shook away my friend's hand. "Get off me Marcus!"

"Jennings," a deep voice carried from behind me. I spun around and saw Coach standing there. My fists were clinched and I realized I wanted to pound something. I needed to sink my hands into battle. The rage had reached its apex and I felt like I was about a second from giving it its head. "My office, now."

His tone brooked no argument, but I'd had enough. "Fuck you, and fuck this school too. I'm outta here."

I was halfway to the parking lot, coming around the corner of the building when I lashed out at the brick wall. A foot wide section exploded under my fist and it felt good. That was when something hit me back.

Being airborne surprised the hell out of me and landing on my ass wasn't that much better. My jaw ached and I tasted blood in my mouth. That's what set me off. It was like I took a backseat to my sane mind, everything else, my body went on automatic after that. Furry creatures appeared from behind the massive azalea bushes that stood guardian in front of the school. The Scourge had returned.

Pushing off the ground I rose to my feet in a second, wiping the blood off my lip with the back of left my hand, and drawing my sword with my right. I didn't wait for them to come to me. Instead, I charged them, the sword an extension of my arm waving left and right. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't poetry in motion as I stormed into their midst. It was brutal. I didn't care what I was hitting, just so long as it was Scourge and it bled and screamed when my blade carved its way to the center of the furred mass.

I heard my name screamed in the background, but I didn't care.

Fire tore at my ribs and shoulder and I responded in kind, swift bloody death for those to my right and agony for those to the left as I drove my fist into their chests. I heard my yells of rage at them, shrieks of anger for the race that made me choose this life. For taking away everything that I loved, everybody that I loved. For leaving me alone to face the world in an alien body. For turning me into a freak of nature cursed to do nothing but hunt them down. I didn't want this.

I wanted to rage at the world and the so-called Gods of Olympus for making my family a pawn in their little territorial war of power. I cursed Ares for creating the Scourge, and Artemis for subjecting Marcus to look over me effectively destroying his life as well.

It fueled the anger, making me stronger than before, making me rage until it burst through my breast and overflowed into world.

Their claws felt like little stings against my skin, their fists like an infant's again my body, but I still pushed on until there was none left and my temporary insanity stilled for a moment. My sword arced around my body as I turned to survey the bloody scene. Then I broke.

"ARES!" My ears had gone numb somewhere along the line for I could only hear my words echoed in my head. "ARES! I'M COMING FOR YOU. YOUR HUBRIS WILL BE YOUR DOWNFALL, OLYMPIAN! VENGEFUL FATE WILL HAVE ITS DAY. SO SAYS, NEMESIS!"

Adrenaline induced energy left my body and I dropped to my knees, driving my sword into the ground to support me so I wouldn't fall flat on my face amidst the carnage I left in my wake. My ears popped and I could hear once more. Sirens were sounding in the background and from the red and blue flashes of light I perceived, more than actually saw, I knew that some law enforcement was already on the scene.

"Veronica."

I couldn't see properly and then realized that it was due to the blood that coated my face. I wiped at my eyes until they cleared somewhat. Marcus was bloodied as well, his chest heaving, out of breath as he stood there with his double bladed axe in a two-handed grip.

The smell of cordite was in the air, along with other unmentionable scents. I cocked my head to the side and saw two police officers with their guns drawn and still pointing at the mass of bodies. The front doors of the school were open and I could hear students filing out to witness what I had done. Teachers voices were calling for them to return under penalty of detention, like that would stop them. People -- teenagers en masse were fearless creatures. The chatty girl from the comic book club caught my eye and I gave a heartless laugh.

"What do you think of your super hero now?"

Her face looked dried with tear stains as she took in the scene. To my surprise she moved into the mass of severed limbs, not really flinching from the blood or internal organs spilled on the grass, but strategically placing her feet in a way so that she wouldn't fall down. It took her a minute to reach me while I subconsciously stayed kneeled in judgment from my peer.

When she finally got to me she opened her purse and pulled out a small pack of tissues, undoing the wrapping and spreading them out as she did so. I looked up at her and she blotted my face, wiping away the worst of the mess. Tears burned at my eyes and eventually fell, but she kept on working anyway.

"What do you call someone that is a hero and has super powers?" she asked me with almost no emotion, like it was a quiz.

I shook my head. "I'm no hero."

Her face took on an expression that I would called quizzical. She was looking for something or trying to reason a puzzle out before she spoke again. "I know you think I'm an idiot, that I just read comics, but I read them for a reason."

I was willing to go along with that for the time being. "Why?"

The corners of her lips tightened up making little crescents on either side. "Because I want to see the good in people. I don't believe in the gray, just in black and white, good and evil. I read them because I want to root for the good guys. I want to see them win. I want to be them."

She dropped the soaked tissues on the ground and reached for more in her free hand before working on my ears.

"No, you don't," I responded.

"Yeah I do. I know it's not all fun and games. With great power comes great responsibility and all that. It's not just a Spider-Man line, you know."

I almost chuckled but knew it would come out as a giggle, so I held myself back. Instead, the slightest of grins reaches my lips.

"Just like all super heroes you've been given a gift and its come with a great cost." She paused as she turned my head and worked on my other ear. "I knew about your parents. It was on the news. I didn't mean to be insensitive. We just got… stupid. I mean, here you were, everything that I wanted to be. It was real. I just forgot how real."

She dropped the tissue again and reached into her purse with a frown on her face. "I'm all out."

"Thank you."

I didn't notice Marcus beside me until he held out his hand and helped me to my feet. Pulling my sword out of the ground I noticed that it was still in pristine condition, not even marred with the blood of the Scourge.

The girl was in awe of the weapon, and I could tell that she wanted nothing more than to feel the hilt in her hand, hoping that it would change her into an Amazon as well. I smiled slightly at that.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked.

She looked up at me and nodded.

"You can't tell anyone."

She shook her head. "I promise."

"Number thirty Wilcrest Boulevard. Seven o'clock tonight. Can you be there?"

Her eyes widened. "Uh-huh."

"Alone."

"Veronica," Marcus interjected. "Are you sure you want to show her our secret lair? They call it a secret lair for a reason."

I didn't need to look at him to know he was playing up the scene. "I think she's earned it."

~O~

By the time we dealt with the police and a med tech covered my minor injuries we made it back home about three o'clock. I had to actually stand under the shower for fifteen minutes just to peel off my clothes. Everything was a total loss and after soaking through two baths I was finally clean and smelling of something else other than the inside of the Scourge. Marcus had cranked up the air conditioner, I assume to get rid of the smell we left behind on our trek through the house. Candles were lit in my room and I assume throughout every room we occupied for more than thirty seconds.

The chill in the air justified the leather pants I put on. The thong was justified by the leather pants and visible panty lines. No, I didn't care if people could see the shape of my underwear. As stupid as it may seem, I didn't want people to know I was wearing panties. The matching sleeveless silk top was there because it just felt good against my skin. I needed a reason to feel good so I grasped at any and everything that I could. The one thing I might grumble about was that the only thing that went with the outfit were boots, and my mother didn't own anything with less than two inch heels and pointy toes. It wasn't that I couldn't walk in them. They were only two inches; I'd owned cowboy boots that were about the same size. As long as I didn't try to enter any footraces I'd be fine. It was just overly feminine for me at the moment.

Yeah, I already know — silk, leather, thong -- I was already girled up about as much as was possible, but nothing screams sexy girl like high heels.

My stomach tightened for the hundredth time that afternoon and I wanted to get something to eat and maybe do something normal to make me feel good about myself for once since the incident on Friday. By the time I had made it downstairs, Marcus was waiting for me with a smoothie in his hand. I swear the guy can almost read my mind.

"There's a cab waiting outside. I thought maybe you'd want to get your hair cut, feel a little more normal."

If I didn't fear the extreme gay feeling that it would imply, I would have hugged him right then. "You're the best friend a guy…" I winced a little.

He nodded. "You too."

The ride was made in silence, except for the bad Indian music that was playing on the radio, or CD player, take your pick. It really wouldn't surprise me that we had an "All Indian All The Time!" station in town. I mean there was a Bollywood theater in the city. Don't ask. We rolled up to a stand alone Beauty Parlor. No, I don't mean salon. It was painted pink and pastel blue and the sign over the door read, 'Miss Molly's Beauty Parlor.'

"This is where Lakisha gets her hair done. She was able to arrange a last minute appointment for you."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank her for me." There, see, no overt anger on my part, and appreciation for someone doing something for me.

We entered the shop and I noticed one other customer there besides us.

"Good Lordie look at that hair!" A lady, looking to be about fifty years old came from around the counter and bustled up behind me to grab a hold of my still damp hair. "Smooth as a baby's. Lakisha told me you'd be by and were lookin' to chop most of it off. That true?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied. "Can you help me?"

With a big smile she came back around in front of me. "Sugar, there are some ladies around here that would pay a pretty penny for a wig made outta that hair. You're getting the full treatment for this." Her eyes only left my hair for a second and I could see dollar signs replacing her pupils.

At Miss Molly's, yes she was the owner, insistence I received the full treatment. Hair cut and style, manicure and pedicure. It would have included leg waxing as well, but luckily I was still smooth from the day before. I don't think I'd be able to be pampered as she said every lady deserves. Having one's hair violently removed by the roots isn't something that I would consider in the realm of being pampered.

In the end she showed me a few ways to style my new shoulder length arrangement and then set about curling it. I just closed my eyes and let her have her way. I could always wash it out later if I looked like an idiot. When she was finally done I was kind of shell-shocked at the new style. I looked really good. I mean reeeeealy good… and really feminine. I was definitely washing it out at my first opportunity. My heels clicked on the floor when I appeared in front and saw Marcus sitting there with his eyes closed, almost like he was asleep. When I came around the counter they snapped open and he blinked at me. Then he looked decidedly uncomfortable for a moment before standing and walking up to the counter.

His hand was in his back pocket, but before he could pull his a wallet out, Miss Molly stopped him with a wave. "No need this time, Marcus. Tell your sister if she has anymore friends with hair like your young woman here then bring them on down."

I was about to protest me being called "Marcus' young woman" but he smiled and thanked her graciously.

~O~

I stared at my nails most of the way home. They were painted a color I would described solely as Harlot Red. The desire to pick up a whip and a dominatrix suit was strong, but I held myself back.

When we arrived, it was a quarter to seven and the girl from school was already there. I hadn't even gotten her name. That made me feel a little guilty. However, I thought it best to keep it that way. There was no need to form any attachments with only six months until we leave. She looked overly relieved when she saw us get out of the taxi. Probably thought we were either standing her up or playing a prank on her by getting her out here in the first place. The funny part, if it were any other person other than me, was her initial reaction to seeing me.

"Oh my god! Your hair!" She ran up and interlaced her fingers, I assume so that she wouldn't be all grabby. "It's gorgeous!"

My eyebrows rose and I looked at Marcus out of the corner of my eye. He took the bait. "Yeah well, destroy the Scourge, get a new do. All in a day's work for Veronica."

I just flipped him off. My new number one fan eyed my vambraces for a moment and then turned around. "This is it? It's beautiful."

"The good stuff is underground," I commented.

"You gotta cave?"

At that I giggled. That thought brought an end to the girlie laughter. Oh god, I giggled. "Think of it like a few rooms underground. I think they're called basements. I could be wrong."

She reddened a little. "Sorry. I'm really excited."

"Really," I replied in almost mock astonishment. With a smile I put my arm around her shoulders. "Come in and see my Batcave."

"Cool."

Even though there wasn't much to see other than the workout room and the computer room she was still excited. When we reached the Armory was when something odd happened. She looked up at the various blades hanging on the wall and shifted to a very pensive persona.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She turned her head slightly to me and then back to the blades. "It's awful." Before I could say anything else she corrected herself. "I don't mean the display. I mean what it represents."

I shifted my gaze to the weapons representing generations of fallen Amazons and nodded. "You're right."

We stood in silence for another minute before she started in on the questions. I motioned over to a couple of chairs and a tea table placed in between so that we could be more comfortable.

"What was that thing Marcus said about the Scourge?"

I felt my face darken for a moment at remembering what happened this afternoon. "That's what those things were at school." At the look of recognition and a slight wince of disgust she acknowledged the memory. After a brief explanation about Ares role and what my mother had done for the last thirteen years in trying to annihilate the creatures, the girl seemed almost angry.

"She's been alone?"

I nodded.

"Why hasn't Artemis done anything? Why aren't there more Amazons? She's a goddess, surely she can make more… or… I don't know, give you more power, or something."

She looked exasperated so I tried to explain. "The gods aren't supposed to interfere. They set the stage and we play our parts. But because I made a certain promise, she is giving me the power to search for more to join our cause."

She almost jumped out of her seat. "I'll do it!" She saw my reaction and I could tell she regretted her outburst. "Veronica, you don't know how much I've wanted to do something like this. I've already had arguments with my parents about not wanting to go to college. I wanted to do something more with my life than sit behind a desk selling insurance like my parents." Her face bunched up in revulsion. "Since I started high school all they talk about is how they're going to pass on the family business to me after I graduate college so they can retire and go traveling."

I shook my head slightly. "You don't know what you'd be giving up. And anyway, you're too young. You have to be eighteen to receive Artemis' blessing."

Her heart almost visibly broke in front of me. It was like I dangled her fondest desire in front of her face and then snatched it away just as quick, and in a way I guess I did.

I leaned forward to try and lessen the blow, but at that moment the wispy hairs on the back of my neck rose. The feeling of static in the air metaphorically crackled. Something caught my eye and I looked to the wall of Amazonian blades to see one of them shining above the rest. Normally they all almost sparkle from the lights above. They were just like mine in construction, all unblemished, so it wasn't odd that they gleamed at certain angles, but this was unnatural, or I guess I should say supernatural.

"Ohhh crap," I groaned.

The girl followed to where my attention was diverted. "What?"

I looked back at her. "You can't see that?"

"See what?" Her eyes were dancing all over to find what I was looking for. "What's wrong?"

It took me only a few moments to move to the wall and look up at the still shining blade. A standard, no nonsense cruciform sword, I found out later. I had to move a rolling ladder in place to be able to reach, but I was able to retrieve the blade a minute later. I almost broke my leg on the way back down. If you haven't ever climbed a ladder in high heeled boots then it probably isn't a good idea to try it on the day you first wear them.

Showing her the overly shiny blade I asked, "You sure you don't see a difference between this one and the rest?"

She shook her head but never broke eye contact with the weapon. I had to pull it out of her reach when she inched her hand out to touch it. "It's not really a good idea to handle magical weapons." Pointing at my breasts I remarked. "Things tend to happen."

Her eyes widened and then she nodded with understanding.

"Come on. I think you might be wanted."

She scurried behind me. "Wanted for what?"

With a grimace I answered. "You'll see."

~O~

Marcus was in his recliner with a beer in one hand and the remote control to the TV in the other. I sighed at SportCenter, and a pang of melancholy ran through me. He looked back at me and the weapon in my hand. "What's up?"

"Artemis is calling."

He stared at me and then upended his bottle of beer to finish it off before taking to his feet and looking more intently at the weapon held at my side. "What's with the light?"

"That's what I want to know." I pursed my lips and thumbed at the girl.

She tried to look innocent, but I wasn't buying it for a second. She knew something was up and that it might concern her.

When we got to the computer room I grabbed a hold of the handle to the big gigantic heavy door that led to the small temple of Artemis. I really didn't know what to expect when I opened the door, but the room remained as Marcus and I had left it on Saturday. Before we entered I turned to our guest. She looked like she was going to pee herself with excitement. I was going to warn her away one last time, but I could see that it would be a fruitless endeavor. Instead I turned back and entered the temple.

Marcus took his place at the door while I watched the girl take in her surroundings. "It's beautiful."

I never really thought about it. I mean if you've seen one temple to a Greek goddess you've seen them all; white marble, statue, oil sconces, it's all very… temple-y.

"Does she appear in person? Does the statue animate? Is it a metaphysical journey or is it all mental?"

Raising my hands in defeat I ended her rapid fire questions by picking up the box of matches. "Here, light the sconces, and find out for yourself."

Her eyes sparkle in anticipation as she makes her rounds. I take advantage of the silence to lay the sword at Artemis' feet and then back away. When she finishes I accept the box and dispose of the burnt match.

"This is your last chance to leave. I have a guess about what's going to happen, and if it's right then your life is never going to be the same. You won't be able to go back for a long, long time."

I thought she was going to jump right in with both feet regardless of the consequences, but her brows furrowed.

"But you went back to school."

I nodded knowingly. "And you saw what happened on my first day back. I can't endanger my friends by trying to lead my life as I always have. It's over." I let that sink in for a few seconds before compounding more of the downside. "No friends, no family, only death lays ahead."

Now she looked worried. "I can't ever see my mom again?"

"You can. I won't stop you. However, every time you go to see them you put them at risk. My mother was only back in town for a week when my father was killed and I got changed." The reality of what I've done and what she's about to do was finally settling on her shoulders. "This isn't a choice to be made lightly. This isn't a comic book."

At that she looked up into my eyes and her face hardened somewhat. "Will you go with me so that I can say goodbye? So that they'll be protected while we're there?"

I nodded. It was the only thing I could do.

Her eyes reddened a little and started to get glassy. She sniffed once and then tried her best to smile. "Okay, I'm ready."
I led her to the altar and had her lift her arms up. I told her the words to recite and then unsheathed my sword. She looked a little nervous when I cut the back of her wrists. A muffled whine of pain escaped from her lips and I gave her a gesture of apology before backing away. After she placed her wrists in the statue's hands I closed my eyes.

"Goddess Artemis, it is time."

At a sharp intake of breath I reopened my eyes and saw my goddess standing once again on the altar, as real and unreal as anything I have seen before. Her head moved to face me. "So soon, my daughter?" She smiled wide. "You do not waste any time. I am pleased."

I dropped my head in mild supplication. "Thank you Artemis."

The goddess released the girl and stepped down from the altar. I sheathed my sword and waited for what I knew was coming. Her hands went behind her back and clasped each other. "Already your name is being passed around on high. They call you Nemesis Aresbane." The goddess laughed and it almost hurt my ears. "The one from whence your name was given was especially pleased at your words this day."

She spun on her newest potential. "Did you witness the event, woman-child? Yes, of course you did. Why else would you be here?"

If I didn't know better I would think Artemis was about to jump up and down, but instead she leaned into the girl and I knew her tri-colored eyes were penetrating into her newest supplicant. "One of my Amazons, the last of her kind, a man-child at birth, is the first to personally challenge Ares." She spun back to me with preternatural speed making me flinch slightly. "The audacity! To challenge the god of savage warfare. HA!"

Her movements became erratic; one moment she was taking a step and the next she was across the room finishing that same step. It was dizzying.

"Utterly stupid, of course. You have no chance against a god, my daughter. You would be a smear of blood on the temple floor if he wished it so, but then again his power is held in check as is mine, so your challenge cannot be met at this time."

The next moment she was inches from my face. The swirling colors of her tri-colored eyes hypnotizing me.

"Is this the first of your new children, Nemesis Aresbane? Do you wish me to gift her with the honors due a sister Amazon?"

I blinked and broke away from her spell. It was then that I noticed I had stopped breathing. "No, Goddess, but she wants the gift."

From the way her eyebrows rose I could tell her interest was peaked. "Ares worshipers have dwindled by seven and twenty this day due to your berserker rage and that of your protector, and mine have risen by twelve."

What?

"You seem vexed, Nemesis Aresbane. Was that not your intent when your told the children of my true presence in this world?"

The comic book club.

"Yes, you see the results of your casual words." She turned and began pacing one more, this time with a bit more restraint. "Even now they are praying to me. One is even burning an offering. It has been a long while since a goat was sacrificed in my name." She flexed her hands. "Quite invigorating if I do say so."

Something didn't sit right with me. "There were twenty-seven Scourge there today?"

Artemis' smile brightened. "Yes."

"And they worship Ares?"

"Are you finally making the connection, daughter. Do you finally see the true face of your enemy?"

I think I was. "The Scourge."

"Yes?"

I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. "I thought that only humans could worship the gods."

The delight on her face was almost maniacal. "Very true."

Marcus interrupted in realization. "The Scourge are men. Human men."

In a blink Artemis was atop the altar. "Thus endeth today's lesson." Her eyes settled on the girl who I had almost forgotten about. "The sword, woman-child. If you would be Amazon then give it to me."

Without a second thought she bend down to lay her hand upon the hilt and then fell to her knees in pain. I lunged to her side, but Artemis held her hand up preventing me from touching the girl. It was then that I saw her change. Her legs lengthened and her arms filled, full and defined. A scream rent the air. She was in agony that I was well familiar with, as I went through the same thing on Friday.

Her hair nearly doubled in length then lightened in color until it was bleached through. The t-shirt on her torso stretched as the seams started to tear under the stress. Then it was over.

Artemis reached down and took the offered sword kissing it, filling it full of her magic. "Stand Amazon."

The girl was panting as if she had run a marathon, but followed the command of her new goddess. The shorts she wore were pulled tight but not destroyed as her shirt was soon to be, and she was now easily as tall as me, gaining almost a foot in height. That must have seriously hurt.

While I was taking in the changes to her body, Artemis had bound her forearms in vambraces similar to mine and was kissing her lips. When she pulled back, Artemis smiled knowingly. "Do you know the story of the Judgment of Paris, woman-child?"

She shook her head in the negative.

"A great wedding feast was celebrated on Mount Olympus. All were invited except for Eris, the goddess of discord, for she is a spiteful bitch and generally unliked by all. In revenge she cast a golden apple upon the table at the feast, whereupon was inscribed, 'for the fairest of them all'.

"Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite argued that they were the fairest and bowed to Zeus' choice. Now Zeus, being a somewhat intelligent male, was smart enough to defer judgment to a mortal known for his fairness in previous roles as judge. His name was Paris.

"All three goddess wooed him, and bribed him with his fondest dreams. He finally chose Aphrodite for she offered him the most beautiful woman of his time as a wife and lover. He sold his honor and acquired a wife that was soon to cause his downfall and the death of his nation. You may know her as Helen."

At the shake of the girl's head Artemis explained. "Helen was already married and Paris stole her, bringing her back to Troy. Have you ever heard of the Trojan war young Amazon?"

A nod was returned.

"Then you know the price given from the gods for poor judgment. You will be known as Paris to remember your place and be true to your judgment for I see the soul of a justice seeker within you. Take care that you remember your namesake's, lesson."

Artemis seemed more reserved than she did when she first arrived. "The sword you carry was once known as Durindana. It is the sword of Paris' brother Hector. It is a noble weapon. Kill many Scourge daughter."

Artemis stood and resumed her original place at the altar, but before she changed back into the white marble statue she eyed Marcus. "Regretting that vow yet, Protector?" She didn't wait for his answer before her features hardened and she was gone once more."

I did hear Marcus whisper, "Never." I don't think he meant for me to overhear.

~O~

"Is it me or did she seem like she needed to cut back on the caffeine a little?" Marcus asked as we exited the temple.

"Uh, guys?"

Marcus and I turned around and saw Paris standing there holding her sword with one hand and trying to cover up her extraordinarily developed body with the other. Artemis — or was it the sword's doing — really did a number on her. Gone was the waif-like five foot nothing, thin as a board comic geek and in her place stood a true Amazon. She was my height now, standing a little under six feet tall, and her muscle definition was just this side of a professional body builder. I could see she had muscles to spare, but it wasn't done in the 'I have no body fat and look at all the gross veins that are showing' way.

Her thighs could probably crack walnuts with no problem, but her now, existent, breasts were probably hurting with as much strain she was putting on her once snug shirt.

"Come on, Paris. I think I might have something that will fit until we can get you something of your own."

Marcus was gentleman enough to avert his eyes as we retreated to my bedroom and Paris struggled to get her clothes off. I finally had to retrieve a pair of scissors from the bathroom and cut them off. While she stood there stunned, in front of the mirror, I searched through my drawers to find something she could wear. Her thighs alone ruled out any of my jeans or leather pants. They were almost twice the size of mine. So I wound up giving her a pair of stretchy workout Capri's and a matching sports bra. It was tight, but it didn't look ridiculous. In fact it looked planned, like she was showing off her body on purpose.

Then something occurred to me as I stared at her. I wasn't turned on, not in the least bit. Only a few days ago I would have jumped to go out with her. I would have probably been awestruck to see her nude like I did only a minute before. She had the perfect butt and with that muscle tone she could probably fuck for hours. But I just didn't care.

A pain in my chest made me sit down. It wasn't a heart attack or anything like that. It was the sudden realization that I'd been walking around for the last few hours not really thinking about being a girl. I mean, hell, I'm wearing tight leather pants and high heels for gods sake. I'm a guy! I know I am. If I had a choice to turn back and be a guy, I'd take it in a second.

It may sound stupid, but I miss my penis. It was a great penis, not too long, not too short. The girls really liked it. We'd been through some great times together, and now it's gone, forever.

"Are you okay?"

I shook myself from my thoughts and looked up at Paris and her worried face. "Can you give me a minute." On second thought, "Can you give me several minutes. I need some time to myself."

She nodded and made for the door. I followed. "Get Marcus to show you the kitchen and stuff. I'll be down in a little while."

"Okay," she said sounding subdued.

When I heard the latch to the door click closed I felt the first tear slip down my face. I'll never have sex as a man ever again. That may not sound like it’s a big thing since I could still, technically have sex, but it's nowhere near the same. Even though I may not be a control freak like some guys I know, it was the control that I really loved. To know that every sound my lover made was because of something I did for her. It was a rush. To hear their utterance of pleasure when I entered them for the first time, it was all worth the time I spent working them up with foreplay.

I loved the response of a girl when I took her from behind, animal-like. The savagery of it was enough to make me lose it and want to start all over again minutes later. Don't get me wrong; I wasn't an inconsiderate lover. We both had fun and it was all consensual. I just loved everything I could do as a guy and now it was gone.

If a time came when I had destroyed the last of the Scourge and was released from my vow of chastity then I would be the one who would be on her hands and knees getting pounded from behind. I would be the one whose wrists would be held down while a man was having his way with me. Would I like it? Would I crave it like I did when I was a guy? Was I even attracted to guys, or was my sex drive taken away with everything that I was before as well?

I sat down on the bed and grasped one of the four posts of the canopy.

It was probably gone. I haven't been able to feel anything other than anger and apathy since Friday. Is that normal. At that I laughed bitterly. Like there was a 'normal' for guys like me. It's not like this is a commonly occurring thing: magical sex changes.

On the other hand I had pretty much avoided my body. Out of sight, out of mine, so to speak. Granted I couldn't not see my own body, but even in the shower or bath I took only as much time touching myself as it took to, practically, wash myself. I treated it like working on a car engine. Maybe if I took my time and tried to enjoy myself I could accept the changes easier. But the thought of masturbating in a woman's body was… a turnoff. My body had betrayed me. It had changed to something foreign and unfamiliar.

How many other things had changed?

(To be continued)

Author's note: This story has expanded to 4 chapters because this chapter was already 15,000 words long and was getting unwieldy. So, I'll release the second half of this chapter (part 3) when I finally finish it.

On a side note, don't forget to check out The Poseidon Adventure to see what Poseidon is up to if you haven't read it already. It's entered into the May Day contest so if you like it don't forget to vote for it. (Wink) Lili

What's a guy to do when his mother shows up after being gone for thirteen years and tells him she's the last of the mythical Amazon race?

Author's note: You might want to read the last chapter to remind yourself what is going on. It's been a while since this was updated.

Part 3

I really took the time to stare at myself. That may sound narcissistic, it wasn't. I mean, yeah I know I'm hot, but this was something a little more profound than ogling. I was still a virtual stranger to my reflection. Call it denial if you want. The thought of stripping and standing in front of a mirror just gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. So I started small: my face.

My nose was tiny. Well, I didn't have a big honker or anything before, but still. The new one was just, was just cute. I used to have a mole just above the jaw line of my right cheek. It was gone. In fact, my complexion was perfect. My pores were tiny, the dark circles under my eyes that I inherited from my dad were gone, the acne scar on my left temple disappeared. It seemed like I was reborn, fresh, anew.

My earlobes were gone. You know how some people's lobes hang a little? Mine connected directly. Even my ears were cute. A brief question ran through my head about how I would look with earrings. I quashed that bugger real quick.

Miss Molly really did a good job with my hair, but I knew I would never keep up with styling it. Right now that was just not a thought that was worth considering. Straight down or up in a ponytail were my practical choices. At least it was out of my face.

Enough. I'd deal with another body part later.

A glance at my watch told me that it was getting late and I needed to take Paris back home. That ought to be fun. Mister and Missus Whateveryournameis, I'm kidnapping your daughter so that she can fight an ancient Greek god and his minions. Why no, I'm completely sane; why do you ask? Yes, she's been transformed into this girl right here that could probably pass for her early twenties. Don't mind the sword she's carrying. Artemis gave it to her, so decapitating the Scourge would be easier.

Yeah. It's gonna be a party.

When I left my room I noticed Marcus and Paris in one of the guest bedrooms stripping the comforter and putting fresh sheets on in its place. Without even turning around Marcus explained. "Paris is staying the night. She told her parents that she was going over to a friends."

Paris looked a little guilty, which was kind of weird. I mean she looked like a body builder in her mid-twenties and here she was acting shy with the 'please forgive me' look on her face. The actions didn't match the body at all. This didn't bode well for some reason.

"I do this all the time," she explained. "Since I get straight A's Mom and Dad don't complain."

I sighed just a little. "We need to talk to your parents tonight, Paris." At the pouty look on her face I added, "Putting it off will only make things worse, trust me."

Riding around in a cab was quickly getting on my nerves. I was told the police would be finished with what they needed to do with Mom and Dad's cars by midweek. Although what they needed their cars for in the first place was somewhat of a question, but I'd have a reliable ride come the morning.

"What was your name, Paris, before…"

"Tiffany," she replied somewhat subdued with thoughts of the oncoming discussion with her parents. "Tiffany Freeman."

The taxi minivan dropped us off in front of a colonial style home and we made our way to the front door. Paris was at the height of her twitchiness and I advised her to wait out front with Marcus until I broke the news to her parents. When they were out of sight I rang the door bell. Only seconds later the door flew open and a forty-something, brunette lady stood there clutching her blouse with a frantic look on her face. Upon seeing me her demeanor eased and grew curious.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Mrs. Freeman," I started, trying to be on my best mature behavior. "My name is Veronica. I'm here in regards to your daughter, Tiffany."

Confusion took over her features. "Tiffany? Is she alright?"

I cringed a little at how I must have appeared. "I'm sorry, yes, she's perfectly fine. It was me she was visiting this evening." I briefly looked to the side to make sure Paris and Marcus were out of sight. "May I come in? I was hoping to have a talk with you and your husband."

Her hand twitched a little bit. "Matt's indisposed at the moment."

My frown was evident on my face. "It's kind of important."

She looked a little put out but stepped aside and showed me to the living room. "I'll go get Matt. He was injured at work today, so please keep what you have to say short and to the point."

I hoped the compassion in my voice conveyed my apologies. "I'm sorry. I'd put it off, but we need to talk tonight." As I was making myself comfortable she left the room and disappeared down the hallway. Five minutes passed before I heard movement. Paris' mother appeared from the hallway and Matt Freeman was right behind her.

His hand was pressed to his ribs and his gate was slow and awkward, that was until he saw me. He looked a little startled. His eyes widened slightly and he stopped at the entrance to the living room. I stood and tried to look respectful. "Mr. Freeman, Mrs. Freeman," I indicated with a nod. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Matt come in and sit down." Mrs. Freeman made herself busy fluffing up a couple of pillows on the couch. "Dr. Baird said to stay off your feet as much as possible."

Matt's eyes flitted between me and his wife for a moment before he slowly circled the living room and sat down. "Get me a drink, Rosie." He wasn't rude in placing his order; it was more like expected behavior between the two of them. Odd, but not unheard of I suppose.

Rosie moved, without so much of an eye roll to the bar in the corner of the room and upended a decanter of brown liquor into a rocks glass along with two small cubes of ice. I had a brief flash of life in the 1950's. Maybe the Beaver would be dashing in from outside with a look of innocence on his face next. Weird.

Matt held his face on guard and seemed to choose his words carefully. "Rosie said you had something important to talk about. Is Tiffany in trouble?"

What a question to ask, but probably a good one. Now, how to answer without blurting out the obvious? "You know who I am from the TV, Mr. Freeman." It wasn't so much of a question as it was an assumed statement, since he seemed to have recognized me.

"You're the new Amazon."

A sinking feeling surged in the pit of my stomach. It was only a spilt second of silence between us, but we both suddenly knew that our cards were all out on the table. Matt Freeman wasn't injured at work. He was injured at my high school. He was one of the Scourge.

"That's right," I replied.

Mrs. Freeman came back over and set her husband's drink on the side table beside him. "Not too much dear. It won't mix well with the pain medication."

He cupped the glass without even looking and then sipped a decent mouthful before returning it to the coaster. "Rosie, the girl and I need to talk." It wasn't even a request; it was a dismissal. Rosie nodded and left the room without so much as a backward glance. "She doesn't know. Neither does Tiffany, so if you want to wait until tomorrow we can take it away from the house."

He was asking me to wait until later so we could fight. It was surreal. "I'm not here about you."

It was him that was caught off guard this round. It was about time I wasn't everyone's butt monkey for a change. Now the monkey was on his butt… or something like that.

"You've told Tiffany about me." A slightly uncomfortable look dropped on his face.

I shook my head. "No, but she knows about the Scourge; your little display at school today. She was front and center. She wiped the blood from my face."

With a nod he looked to the side at the curtained window. "You're not like your mother." The muscles in my back tensed up at his casual mention. "She was a powerful warrior. You… I haven't ever seen anything like you."

I was through talking about that topic. "Tiffany is no longer your daughter."

His eyes snapped back to me. The only emotion I could see was from his jaw setting. "What do you plan on doing?"

Pushing against the arms of the chair I stood with as much grace as I could muster. "She's mine now. She gave herself to Artemis."

I didn't notice that he was still holding his hand over his glass of liquor until it shattered under his grip.

"You will allow her to enter your house, gather her things, and say goodbye. If you try anything, if you try to talk her out of it, if you give her anything but understanding, then I will return here and kill you, tonight." For emphasis I pulled on my sword, enough to make it visible. "Do we have an understanding?"

He was seething in anger. His face became blotchy and I could almost see him shaking. "And what am I going to tell my wife?"

Letting the sword slip back into invisibility I pursed my lips and gave him a shrug of my shoulders. "Not my problem. You're the misogynistic murdering creature of Ares. Call it karma."

I moved to the front window and opened the drapes before exiting the living room. "I'll give you a few minutes to explain to your wife about Tiffany's change then she's coming in."

With that, I made my exit. Paris and Marcus were waiting in the driveway. She looked as pensive and nervous as she did when we arrived.

"What did they say?"

I beckoned them over in front of the window so I could keep an eye on Matt Freeman. "Your father knows. He's explaining it to your mom."

There must have been something in my voice, because Paris pressed me. "He knows? He's not mad?"

I couldn't tell her that her father most likely kills Amazons as a secret pastime. "I need you to go to your room, get your things. Leave your clothes; they won't fit anyway. Marcus can help you."

I looked to my friend and he nodded. "Keep it light for now. We can return tomorrow with my dad's Avalanche and pick up the bigger things."

Paris looked at me uncertainly, but I stayed as stoic as I could. "Go." Before Marcus could accompany her I grabbed his arm and pulled him close. "He's Scourge. Be careful."

"Great," he replied with a note of sarcasm in his voice before quickly catching up.

I watched from the yard as Paris revealed herself to her parents. The inevitable shriek from her mother was loud enough that I could hear it outside. Her father sat there unmoving before he snapped at Rosie to shut up and sit down. The conversation was a little more subdued from then on out. I took the opportunity to call the cab to pick us up after I saw Paris and Marcus disappear in the back.

Matt Freeman scowled as he looked outside. It was dark enough that I knew he couldn't see me well, if at all. My hand itched to withdraw my sword and be done with it, but it was Paris' father. It was the only thing holding me back. My vow to Artemis was, no mercy for the Scourge. I'm still keeping that vow. I planned on returning and fulfilling that vow, but Paris didn't have to know. It was to my Amazon sister that I gave mercy.

"Don't worry so much. She's devoted to you."

Spinning around, I reached for my sword, but there was only a blonde girl there, wearing jeans and a black tank with a big gold bird or something across her breasts. She had both of her hands held up a little, I guessed to show me that she was unarmed.

"Who are you?" I pretty much demanded.

"Cassandra."

My eyes scanned the area to make sure nobody else snuck up without me hearing. I was kind of freaked out that she had managed the feat. Granted, I'm not a superhero or anything, but I thought my senses had improved enough to maybe hear a car or something drive up.

"What do you want?"

She shrugged. "Thought you might want a lift back to your place. Taxi's can get expensive, and we can move all of Paris' stuff in one shot. That way she doesn't have to know that you're going to kill her father tomorrow morning."

My breath slowly released from my lungs. I just made that decision. Nobody knew that.

"I do."

I shook my head. "Are you reading my mind?"

She nodded. "Don't worry, I'm on your side. Ares isn't on the top of… well, pretty much anybodies list to cheer for."

Okay, I'd had enough of her babbling. Drawing my sword, I held it out in front of me. She looked at it and smiled. "Sweet. All I've got is this." She reached to her hip and grasped at something. A small sword or maybe a knife was pulled. It was thick on the blade end and bent forward, reminding me of a long-bladed axe. There was something similar hanging on the weapons wall back home. That brought up more questions. I didn't know anyone that could do the disappearing weapons trick but Marcus and one of my sisters.

"I thought I was the last Amazon."

She grinned. "You mean you and Paris."

I ignored the deflection.

"I'm not an Amazon."

"And you're on my side?" I asked to confirm her intensions, or maybe to get her to offer up some information.

"Well, not on anyone's side, per se. I'm on my sister's side."

"Who's your sister?"

"Artemis."

The tension in my arm relaxed, but I kept my guard up. "And you're Cassandra?" At her nod, I pressed on. "Can't say that I've heard of you."

After sheathing her short axe-sword she shrugged. "I'm new. Only been a goddess for a few weeks."

"I'm suppose to believe you, why?"

She sighed. I watched as she shook out her hand and curled her index, middle, and ring fingers in toward her palm, probably making some archaic symbol for destructive magic. Raising my sword defensively, I waited. Instead of pointing her thumb and fingers at me she put them up to her ear and mouth, like she was holding a phone.

"Hello? Artemis? Yeah, it's Cassandra. Can you come down and chill out your girl?" She mimed hanging up a phone. "She'll be here in a second. Union issues with her Hunters or something."

A bright flash of light nearly blinded me beside the girl who claimed godhood. "Veronica, daughter. You are threatening my sister with your weapon."

She was here. I knew her power, felt it wash over me like a cleansing rain. Artemis turned to the Cassandra. "Are you annoying my chosen?"

The blonde girl held up her hands in surrender. "Hey, she's under my prevue too. The curse on that sword of hers has my power all over it."

Artemis' eyebrows raised as she turned and examined my mother's blade. "So it does. Very well. I'll ask you not to interfere with her mission, Cassandra. You know how much this means to me."

The blonde girl smiled. "I know. I promise. But she's got issues that need dealing with."

My goddess sighed and nodded. "You do that so well, sister. Heed her advice, daughter. You are more alike than you know."

My sword was lowered and I nodded to Artemis. "I will."

Another blinding flash of light and my goddess was gone.

"We cool now?"

Another nod later and I sheathed my sword. "Marcus, Paris, lower your arms."

Cassandra didn't show the least bit of surprise to find out that my friends had flanked her from behind. "Now, how about I help you out?"

All of Paris' belongings were transferred to the estate in the blink of an eye, along with us soon thereafter. Cassandra kept an unnerving watchful eye on me as I moved around, helping Paris get settled. I had a serious feeling that she spent all of that time routing around in my head, which was annoying, but she was a goddess, like Artemis, and I really didn't need anymore enemies on that front.

When we were through, I told Paris to get some sleep. Marcus, I knew wouldn't leave my side, so I didn't bother telling him to. We reconvened in the living room where Marcus brought me some tea and he had a Coke.

"Do you want him here for this conversation?" she asked me.

"I don't have any secrets from him."

She shrugged and sipped from a golden goblet that she'd conjured from out of nowhere. "I have a couple of different areas that I claim as mine. Artemis recognized this and thought that I might be able to help."

I glanced at Marcus and he gave me his clueless face.

"With what?" I asked.

"Your being transgender."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "What?"

She didn't tease me. Her face was calm and matter-of-fact. "I witnessed your transition in the street the other day. Are you not a man in a woman's body?"

Gripping the arms of my chair, I squeezed. "That's none of your business and if you don't mind, I'd like to move on to more important things."

This time she did smile, but it was filled with pity. "I'm sorry about what happened to your mother. The same thing happened to mine. In fact she was killed by the Scourge as well, so I can understand exactly what you are feeling right now. The thing is that you have enough to deal with at the moment without having to hate the body you are in."

"I don't hate myself." I said through gritted teeth.

"I didn't say that. I said you hated your body. All the work you put into making it into the perfect male specimen, gone because of a cursed sword that you willingly took up."

"You need to back off now," Marcus warned.

Cassandra ignored him. "So now you are pretty much every guy's wet dream. Big tits, tiny waist, glorious ass, and a face that will break hearts everywhere you go."

All during her little speech, I seethed. My face burned and I could feel my heart thumping against my chest.

"You can't even look at yourself in the mirror without flinching."

I tried deflecting. "I don't need to look at myself to kill the Scourge."

She nodded. "True. However, it's distracting, and a person on a mission like this can't be distracted."

Ignoring her seemed to be my best bet. If I didn't say anything else then maybe she'd take a hint.

Almost as if she read my mind once again, she stood and her goblet disappeared. "Nemesis Aresbane, I will offer you a gift, no strings attached, since you are my sister's champion. I will offer this to you three times. You'll refuse the first two times, but I warn you not to refuse the third."

I just looked at her, not saying a thing.

"My gift is acceptance of your new body. A small adjustment that will allow you to be proud of your new form. Your male thoughts of bruised ego and shame will be banished and you will be at peace… well, as much peace as a warrior can be in any case. Do you accept this gift from me?"

It didn't take me a half-second to come to a decision, the decision she knew I'd turn down. "No."

With a nod, she hooked her thumbs in her pockets. "I'll return tomorrow."

A blinding flash later and my heart started to slow. Marcus just stared at me. "Why'd you say no?"

I stood and rounded the chair. I needed to burn some energy and a workout suited me. "Because my pain is just that -- mine."

The door to the stair way slammed open at my touch and I ran down the steps two at a time with perfect balance. The silk blouse was off before I'd made it to the weightlifting room. The boots and leathers off right after. I stopped at a set of closed cabinets and retrieved a set of workout sweats and slipped them on. Not bothering with shoes, I bounded over to the weights and set them near my maximum. With the anger I had to get rid of, I probably need to increase it beyond my maximum.

I pushed and pushed: arms, legs, chest -- as if that area needed a workout -- back, abs, you name it and it was done. Then I started all over again. Marcus came in after my second hour, holding a sports bottle and a towel.

"That's enough."

I settled the last of the leg extenders back down with a trembling thigh and grabbed the towel to mop my sweat-drenched face. The water was next.

"Thanks."

He nodded. "Shower, bed."

I thought I'd be sore the next morning, but I felt fine and the minor injuries I'd received from my battle were pale pink lines, fading quickly away. It was still dark in my part of the world when I slipped out of bed and donned the black leather pants and dark shirt. I had to settle for black high-tops for now. I wasn't comfortable moving around with the heeled boots, and until I had a chance to go out and purchase decent low-heeled boots then I'd just have to be a fashion disaster.

Marcus was waiting for me by the door when I exited. It was scary how well he knew me. "I left a note for Paris if she wakes up before we get back."

I nodded.

Riding pillion on the Harley in the dark was a little more intimidating. That was the only reason my arms were firmly around Marcus for the trip over to the Freeman's. I still didn't feel any different toward him being a man than I did the day previous, which I was thankful for. I had enough problems without being sexually attracted to guys added to the mix. Maybe Artemis did do me a favor and sucked out my sex drive. I could only pray that it stayed gone.

Mr. Freeman was standing by the door when we arrived. A cup of coffee was in one hand and the morning paper in the other. I could see the resigned look on his face when I stepped off the bike and removed my helmet.

"This shouldn't take long. Keep my seat warm."

Marcus nodded and watched as I strode up to the front porch.

"Can I finish my coffee," Freeman asked.

"No."

"Fucking Amazons."

The mug and the paper dropped as he leaped toward me, changing form and ripping out of his clothes in a split second. My sword was in my hand just as quick as I slice an upward arc, cleaving a good portion of his body in two from stomach to neck, before spinning to the side and letting him hit the walkway with a wet thud, like a side of beef. He twitched and then settled.

When I returned to the bike, Marcus held out my helmet. "Twenty-eight," I said.

He nodded and smiled. "Two more and you get a free set of steak knives, just pay for postage and handling."

Cassandra paid me a visit when we pulled into the driveway. I didn't even bother with a greeting. I just said no. She flashed away just as fast with only a nod in return.

"I think you ought to reconsider her offer, Veronica." He pulled his key from the lock and punched in the security code.

"Not you too."

Instead of opening the door, he turned around. "Whatever you want to do, I got your back. You want to say screw the offer, then fine. But you've been off your game. I haven't ever seen you so mad as I've seen you this last week."

I started to protest, but he held me off.

"I get why. Hell, I'd be pissed too, but lives are on the line now. You want to start training Paris with that in the back of your head, or do you want to make sure you got your bases covered."

Baseball analogies.

"It's all I've got left, Marcus. Nothing else makes me TJ anymore. If I give it up then I'm gone."

He raised his hand and started to put it on my shoulder, but stopped. "You still got me."

The urge to hug him returned, so I backed up a step and looked out in front of the estate to give the impulse time to settle. "I know."

"You need to be focused, just like on the game. If you want anything like a normal life anytime soon then we've got to get moving. Get some hot chicks all decked out in weapons and armor and out there kicking some serious ass."

A slight grin found its way to my face. "It's going to kill you to be around us, isn't it?"

He snorted and leaned against the door. "Artemis said I couldn't bang you. She didn't say anything about the rest of them. Way I'm looking at it, I'm seriously hooked up."

Throwing a look to the side at him I shook my head. "We're talking about Amazons here, Marcus. These girls are going to have massive energy. They'll probably break you, that is if you can keep it up for that long."

He swiped at me. "Aww, that's not right. A girl can't judge something she never tasted. And you, my friend have been denied the sweet chocolate goodness that is Marcus Latrelle."

I pointed my finger at him. "Just remember how old Paris really is. Wait for someone else."

He twisted the doorknob and stepped backward, inside the house. "Now you're just being mean. Insulting my honor like that."

"Hey guys," said Paris. "That was quick."

I wasn't exactly sure what kind of message Marcus left her, but he caught on pretty quick and covered for me. "Yeah, I get her all the way out to McDonalds and she decides she wanted to cook breakfast herself."

I debated whether or not to jump on his back and rub Amazonian noogies into his head for volunteering me for kitchen duty, but seeing as I just killed Paris' father, I didn't say anything negative.

"Yeah, come on we'll whip up something good. I thought I saw some pancake makings in the pantry."

About twenty minutes later I was putting the last of Marcus' stack on his plate and we all sat down to eat. Paris was ripping into hers like she hadn't eaten in a couple of days. I didn't remember being that hungry after the change, but considering how much she grew, it stood to reason that she might have used a bit more of her body's resources than I did. I wound up actually shrinking.

"What are we doing today?" asked Paris after she drank the last of her milk.

"Training. Then we need to figure out a way to hunt down the Scourge. Artemis never answered that question."

Marcus nodded. "I guess if they don't attack then it's kind of hard to tell them from a regular misogynist, and we can't exactly kill regular guys for that."

Paris looked down at her syrupy plate. "Yeah, like my dad."

Marcus looked at me while he slowed in mid-chew, then he focused his attention back on the meal.

"You're out of that situation, Paris. You're not the same person," I said.

"I know, but my mom still is." She seemed reluctant to say something but I urged her on anyway.

"You can tell me anything now, we're sisters."

She shrugged and then stood from the table to go rinse her plate and stick it in the dishwasher. "My dad wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world."

I followed behind her and watched as she leaned against the counter. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

I understood that emotion. No matter what the doctors said, it was my opinion that some things were better left unsaid. She let us know that her home life wasn't exactly rosy. That was obvious from the first moment that I found out her father was one of the Scourge. I knew eventually that I would tell her. That's just not something meant to be withheld, and she'd ultimately find out if or when she went to visit her mother.

The impression we left her house with the previous night was one of finality. I had doubts she'd be returning anytime in the near future unless she could guarantee her mother's safety. That would mean a few months at the earliest, when we'd both trained with our weapons. Like it our not, I was lucky in my first real battle. The bloodlust rage I was in made up for lacking skills, but it also increased the danger. I could have easily died from an unlucky swipe from any one of those claws, like my mother did.

"Come on. Lets get downstairs and get to work. Once the stores open we'll go do some shopping and buy you some new clothes."

I figured since she was a natural girl that would cheer her up. I mean shopping, right? Girls like that sort of thing. But I was wrong. She just shrugged.

My sweats were tight on her, but she liked the look. Don't worry, the cabinet in the gym had several pairs. We worked on what we could, our bodies. I'd have to hire a real trainer, someone skilled in swordsmanship. I was more than likely going to wind up cutting my own leg off if I kept waving my blade around like I was already doing. Instead, for three hours we worked on stretching, muscle tone, and dexterity workouts. These I already knew from baseball training.

A quick shower afterward and we were ready when Marcus returned with the Avalanche from police impound. He looked like a nervous wreck when he jumped out of the truck. The geas Artemis had on him wasn't very helpful. Being out of my immediate vicinity for any length of time was hard on him.

At the mall, we spent most of our time at Academy. Paris had the body she'd always wanted and she vowed to show it off at every opportunity. There wasn't anything that didn't accentuate every square inch of her muscled frame, so lots of spandex, lycra, and muscle shirts were involved. For some reason she picked up a pair of black fingerless weightlifting gloves which she immediately put on. I swear, by the time she was finished, she looked like my bodyguard more then Marcus. While I was firm and toned, leaning more toward bombshell than warrior, Paris was strong, bulky, and intimidating.

We stopped off at Penny's to grab her a few regular clothes, but she wasn't as enthused about looking normal. I picked up a pair of real boots to go with my black leathers, and Marcus just browsed. He wasn't much of a shopper, never was.

While Paris put away her purchases I jumped on the computer and did a search for trainers: female, sword, experienced, military. That should have covered all the bases. Well, that and the city name.

After filtering out the porn, I came up with three Google hits and the accompanying websites. One was easily deleted as it was obvious they were using a really hot girl to sell karate lessons. If she was a trainer then I was an Amazon Queen.

Nevermind.

The other two looked promising. Both were ex-military. One had her own gym where she specialized in training young girls to be self-reliant. The other was more into competing. She had a dojo in the city which was run my her assistants while she spent most of the year in competition. Neither were ideal, in my opinion, but I remembered the old saying in my head about beggars and choosers.

The second person was out of town and would be for the next two weeks. So that left the first lady. She had a bio-page which I scanned. It really didn't have much detail, just skirting around her experience in the Army and her involvement in the community, most of which revolved around lectures at schools and community centers. She was forty-three years old and looked like she could kick all of our butts with no trouble. Lady-like she was not. But I wasn't looking for little Mary Sunshine.

Taking a chance on whether or not she'd be in at her gym, we all piled up in the Avalanche and drove into town. Her gym was in the older part of town. It wasn't necessarily the bad portion, just old. I could picture the building and set up pulled from some fifties or sixties movie where the neighborhood golden gloves teens would train. The equipment was mostly free-weights, punching bags, wooden dummies, and the like. The one thing that was noticeable above any other was the complete lack of students or people training.

"Can I help you?"

Marcus was looking over the punching bags giving them a couple of strikes, and Paris was looking around. The lady that came out of the office looked kind of weathered, much like the surrounding area. From the look of the picture on her website, it appeared that she didn't age too well, not to mention the cane that she was using to support an obviously stiff or injured leg.

"Yeah, are you Carrie Dell?"

She came to a stop about eight or nine feet away from me. "I am."

"My name is Veronica." I thumbed to my left. "That's Marcus over there, and Paris is checking out your training weapons. I wanted to know if you wanted some new students… possibly a lot of new students."

Carrie looked me over, but her eyes really fell on Paris. "What kind of training are you looking for?"

"Sword combat mostly, but anything hand to hand would be good too."

"Sword?"

I nodded. "I've kind of come into…" I stopped talking when I saw her eyes widen a little more than normal.

"You're that girl on the news."

"Yeah."

Once her surprised reaction was over I received a curious eye. "You looked like you knew what you were doing. What do you need with me?"

Hooking my thumbs in my front pockets I tried to relax. "Those furry things that I killed?"

She nodded in remembrance.

"There's a lot more of them."

"Yeah, I saw the news; the attack on the school."

I shook my head. "That was an attack on me, not the school. Look, this is going to sound really weird…"

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Weirder than watching a guy change into a girl in the middle of the street, then killing Bigfoot's cousins?"

I rolled my eyes up, thinking about that description. "Well, yeah."

"Try me."

Okay, she's a shoot from the hip kind of person. I could respect that. "I'm an Amazon, so is Paris."

Her eyes ticked to my sister. "Her I could believe, you not so much."

Letting my hand settle on my sword, I withdrew it from the middle of nowhere. Carrie's weight shifted, her left leg sliding behind her right. It was a subtle movement, but I recognized it for what it was, defensive.

"Don't believe everything that you see," I said. Sliding the sword back down into its invisible sheath or a little pocket dimension, or wherever it hid itself, I let it go. "We're building an army to hunt those creatures down."

Her lips firmed and I could see the tension in her shoulders. "I'm done with my fighting days, unless you missed the cane and my bum knee."

That's when I finally smiled. "What would you say if I told you I could help with that?"

"This is the middle of nowhere," Carrie said as she looked out over the hundreds of acres that my estate sat on.

"That's the point. We have the money and the mission. I just need a trainer and more sisters."

We made it inside easy enough, but she had trouble navigating the stairs. I didn't bother asking if she needed my help. She gave me the impression that she was pretty self-reliant and would bite my hand off if I offered it.

The tale of Ares and his devoted misogynistic followers rang a bell for her in some way. Finding out that they were actual human males made her look off in the distance like she was recalling something. The sight of all the weapons hanging on the wall sealed the deal. After she inspected what facilities I had, we found our way to some chairs. The pained look on her face as she took her weight off of her bad leg let me know that she'd probably do this just get her mind off of things.

"So, you're saying that this goddess will heal me?"

I nodded. "Probably a whole new body. Paris, the girl that was with us," who was upstairs at the time, "she was about five feet tall and looked like a decent wind would blow her over. That was last night. Artemis did the mojo and now she could take out Schwarzenegger without breaking a sweat."

She leaned back and laughed. "So what? I sell my soul?"

Shaking my head, I gave her the deal. "If Artemis is consistent with her rituals, one of those weapons on the wall will be yours, she'll ask you to swear allegiance, bless your weapon, and you'll change. It's probably the most painful thing I could imagine, like having your body dipped in liquid fire, but afterward, a minute later everything's fine."

Reluctance came to her face. "I don't swear allegiance to people anymore."

"I don't want that, but I do expect devotion to the cause to your future sisters. Plus, I'll be the one that's in charge, and you'd be the power behind the throne so to speak."

"How so?"

I shrugged. "I'll need someone that knows what they're doing when going into battle. The run, hack, and slash thing will probably work for only so long before people needlessly die. I'll risk my life for my sisters by doing that, but I won't risk their's."

Carrie nodded. "That's a good attitude to take. I'll think about it."

With a small sigh I nodded. I'd hoped to have her decision right then and there, but it wasn't practical. I was asking someone to give up their mundane life for that which would put theirs at risk for the foreseeable future. "Good enough."

She stood unaided and solemnly looked up at the wall of weapons once more. That's when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise again. One of the weapons on the bottom set of pegs started shining brighter than the others like it did before Paris' transformation.

"You've already made your decision, Carrie."

Her head turned to me, quietly set in stone and total blank of emotion. "How do you know?"

I nodded toward the wall. "Because Artemis has already chosen your weapon, and she wants your presence in the temple."

I hint of surprise showed on her face. "Which one?"

She followed me over to the sword. It was about five feet in length and looked like it was really heavy.

"It's a Claymore. Not the easiest of swords to handle. Heavy."

She started to reach for it, but I held up a hand. "I don't know what it will do to you down here. Why don't we take it to the temple and I'll show you what to do."

Her hand twitched like it itched to take hold of the grip right then, but she held back. "Okay."

Before I took it off the pegs, I looked at her. "Once we do this, there's no going back."

Her jaw ticked. "I said, okay."

Lifting the sword off the pegs like it was nothing, I nodded. "Fine, come on."

At the top of the stairs, I called out. "All hands on deck." Carrie was struggling to climb the stairs and I waited at the end of the hall. Sweat was beading her forehead and her face was red with excursion at the effort. She was stubborn, that was obvious enough. That's also what I needed.

After a few breaths at in the hallway, we proceeded to the private office and through the vault door with Marcus and Paris taking up the rear. They waited by the door. Producing the box of matches, I showed her what to do. Laying the Claymore at the feet of Artemis I stepped back and watched as Carrie lit the candles, one by one. It took her three matches to make the rounds, slowed by her knee.

I motioned for her to stand in front of the statue. "Your cane."

Shifting her weight, she handed it to me and I passed it off to Paris to hold.

"Artemis will tell you to give her your sword at some point. Will that be a problem?"

She shook her head. "I can handle it."

Withdrawing my sword, I held it in front of her parallel to the floor. "Cut the back of your forearms, put the bloodied parts in her hands and say 'Goddess Artemis, it is time.'"

Carrie nodded, suddenly looking unsure, but pushing through what was needed anyway. She barely laid her arm on the blade and from the twitch in her eye, I knew that it was done. I stepped back to watch the byplay.

The statue's eyes opened and grasped Carrie's forearms tightly. I heard a startled gasp come from her. Artemis raked her eyes downward and she smiled with knowledge. "Experience." Looking up at me she released Carrie's arms. "You show wisdom, daughter, seeking out those that are more skilled than you."

"Thank you, Artemis. I thought she might be able to train your warriors and provide insight into battle."

"I agree." She looked down at the Claymore and then back up to me. "Your counsel with Cassandra did not grow fruit?"

Looking away wasn't an option. I couldn't hide anything from her. "She offered to wipe away my male ego."

"Yet you chose to keep it."

"Yes."

She stared at me with an unreadable expression on her face. "That is your choice. However if it interferes with your mission then I will rip it out myself, and it will not be a pleasant experience."

I swallowed and nodded. "I understand."

The ritual continued and Artemis reformed into the marble statue. Before us stood a much younger Carrie Dell, now named Alexa, the last Sergeant at Arms for the Amazon nation. She bordered somewhere between Paris and myself in terms of physique, with brown hair down to her butt and a very strong face. If she was less muscled she would be pretty, but with low body fat she was rugged instead.

"How's the knee?" I asked.

She was still staring at the sword and vambraces, but I broke the attention she was devoting to them. Looking down, she flexed her leg. "It's like it never happened. I feel young again. Powerful."

I smiled. "You might want to check out a mirror. You look like you're in your late twenties maybe."

She started to move and had to grab at her jeans. "Uh, you got something I can wear for now? I think I lost about twenty pounds of fat and gained thirty in muscle, not good for the hips."

I nodded. "Paris, would you show our newest sister to the sweats down in the weight room?"

When they left, Marcus was still standing by the door. "Rip it out?"

"Yeah, you noticed that too?" The thought of Artemis tearing away what was left of me made my hands shake.

"Come on. Me and you need to have a talk."

"Marcus…"

He gave me a look that told me he was serious, which was a tactic that he didn't play too often. When he did use that particular face, I always gave in. Maybe it was because he never took advantage of it. It had already been a long day and night was starting to close in. He told me to meet him upstairs in his room since it didn't share a wall with Paris and we could have some privacy.

I took a few minutes to go to my room and shrug off the day's outfit and slip on some shorts and one of those shirts that didn't have any shoulders or sleeves, but had those really tiny bits of string over the shoulders. It was light and comfortable. For some reason I was feeling smothered at the moment and that outfit evened everything out.

"I told them they were on their own for the night," Marcus said as he came in and closed the door. "Alexa wanted to head home and start packing, Paris went with her."

"Bonding already?"

He grinned conspiratorially. "You haven't seen how Alexa's looking at her?"

I squinted at him unbelievably. "She's like thirty years older than her, and Paris is what, fourteen?"

"Fifteen, sixteen next month. I already gave Alexa the heads up. She said she'd wait."

Shaking my head in astonishment, I sighed. Rubbing my face afterward felt good. "Everything has gotten so weird, Marcus."

"I know."

Looking up at him, I painted on a sincere smile. "I don't know what I would do without you."

I received a sharp nod in return. "Good, I'm glad you see that. It makes things easier."

Knowing where this conversation was going, I flopped back on the bed, which in retrospect probably wasn't a good idea since it made my breasts feel like Jell-o molds wobbling around.

"You think I should let Cassandra do it." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

He didn't reply with a yes or no. That took me off guard.

"I think you shouldn't ignore the offer. I think you should considerer it, that's all."

I spared him a glance, and then stared up at the ceiling. "You don't know what its like."

"I can guess."

"Can you?" I wasn't so sure.

Without asking for an invitation he flicked the light off and opened the window shades before laying down on the other side of the queen-size mattress. I knew it wasn't sexual, because we used to do this when we were kids. That was the only reason I wasn't already out the door. Secrets, emotional secrets were better told in the relative darkness. This was true especially between guys. I don't know how many times we had sleepovers and would stay up late talking about girls, or puberty, or any number of embarrassing things. Just as long as we didn't have to see each other's faces then it was okay.

When he was settled, I moved up to the other pillow so I could hear him better. "I imagine it's a lot like fighting with yourself twenty-four hours a day. Knowing that you shouldn't be in that body, but trying your best to accept it and move on, since there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

I sighed. "You're not wrong." Though he wasn't entirely right, either. "It's knowing that I look like this. Last week I would have given my right nut to date a girl that looks like me."

She snorted softly. "Damn right."

We lay there enjoying the brief respite before I continued. "The thing is that I've looked to the future already."

"What are you seeing?"

I closed my eyes in an effort to try to make the room even darker, because the secret I was keeping within me need the extra layer of comfort. "We're going to kill them all, Marcus. It's not going to be decades from now. It will be a few years maybe. Once I know how to track them then I won't stop moving until its done. I think that's why Artemis hasn't told me how to do it yet."

"So you'll build up your resources and learn to fight properly," he offered. "I get that. So what's this have to do with anything?"

"What do I do after?"

A lengthy pause stretched between us. "You mean when there's nobody to fight? How are you going to live? Is that what you mean?"

"Yeah. I'm the last of the original Amazons. I'm pretty much expected to do the kid thing."

"Oh. Well then, don't you think the wipe that Cassandra wants to do would be a good thing?"

I turned on my side to see Marcus' profile. "Maybe. But if I do that, I won't be me anymore."

I saw his lips quirk up a little in the shadowy lights of the moon on the rise. "Hate to break this to you Veronica, but you already changed."

Reaching over I smacked my fist into his upper arm. "I'm not talking about my body."

He rubbed at his arm. I probably hit a lot harder than I used to. "That's not what I was talking about. And damn girl, you need to ease up on the beatings. That shit hurts now."

"Sorry… pansy."

"Asshole."

Another minute or two passed until he started up again where we left off. "You can't expect the crap that has gone on in your life over the last week not to change you, even if you were still a guy. You're different. So am I. We change. It's what lets us deal with all the crap."

"So you think I should this."

He shook his head. "I'm not making the decision for you, Veronica. That's your choice."

"What are the down sides to this?"

With a shrug he turned to face me. "You think that you might be giving up whatever made you male."

Waiting for something else, I nudged him. "That's it?"

"It's all I got."

The truth was, that was all I could come up with too. I was hoping that he might be able to help out on that front. "And the plus side?"

"You get to feel normal in your body. You won't be stressing over what happens after the war, because it will feel normal whether you choose to have kids or not. It won't be because you were a guy once. Maybe you'll lighten up a little, buy yourself a vibrator… Oww!"

Yeah, I hit him again.

"Seriously girl, you are in some desperate need to release some tension."

I arched an eyebrow at him even though he might not be able to see it. "I suppose you're offering."

"Nope. That's a Marcus free zone down there."

For some reason I felt… annoyed. "Why not?"

He shrugged, and I lifted my fist to hit him again, not too hard this time. He bruised easily.

"Marcus, spill."

He sighed. "It was part of the deal I made with Artemis. Even if I wanted to, I can't get it up with you in the room."

I jerked up. "What? You gave up…"

"No," he said, almost screeching that one out. "Just with you, I agreed. She didn't think I could keep it in my pants." He sighed and shrugged. "She's probably right. So I told her to make it where I can't get it up with you in the room. Everything works just fine and as long as you aren't right there then I could go all night long like I normally can."

Setting his male need to boast about his prowess in bed, I couldn't believe what he was saying. "You mean… nothing? I could give you a lap dance right now and nothing."

He smiled. "Go right ahead. I can always use the visual when I have some time to myself."

I laughed and dropped back down to the pillow, trying to picture doing that booty grind thing on him. No freaking way that was ever going to happen.

"So what's your decision?" he asked.

I closed my eyes and groaned. "What's the hurry?"

"Well, that Cassandra girl has been standing over in the corner for the last fifteen minutes. I think she's here for an answer."

I jerked up again. Sure enough there was the blonde girl with the golden bird on her breasts. "Third times a charm," she said.

Marcus got up. "I'll let you two talk."

Reaching out I grabbed his wrist without looking. "Stay. I need you here."

Before I knew it he was behind me, supporting me, his hands on my shoulders. I took a steadying breath. "Do it."

Cassandra walked up to me, leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Live your life Veronica," she said. "Complete your mission and live your life with those you love." Her eyes ticked up above me and she smiled, before flashing away.

"You okay?" asked Marcus with a whisper.

I didn't feel different. No magical lessening of the load on my back was apparent. "I guess."

Working his way around the bed, Marcus held his hands out for me. I took them and he walked me over to my room. Everything went into robot mode for me. I grabbed something from my dresser and changed in the bathroom. He was still there when I came back out. The bed was turned down.

I gave him a weak smile and slid under the covers. Once I was tucked in he started to walk out, hitting the light switch on his way.

"Marcus?"

He turned at the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind staying tonight?"

In the dark, couldn't see the reaction on his face, but he didn't say anything. Instead he closed the door and I heard him shedding his shirt and jeans. I scooted over to make room. It was a king bed so there was plenty to spare. When he climbed in, I felt calmer, less lost, more myself.

Not knowing if Cassandra had actually changed anything inside me was the worst feeling I could have at that moment. If she did change me then why did I still feel the same? After Marcus got settled, I moved in to lay my head on his chest and feel him wrap an arm securely around me.

Even if I was the Queen of the Amazons, I still liked to feel like someone was watching my back every once in a while. Hiking a leg up and over his, I sighed in contentment and closed my eyes.

"Thank you, Marcus."

His lips pressed once against my hair and I fell into a restful sleep.

Six months had passed since I'd taken up arms against Ares. A number of battles have been fought already. We were sixty-three strong and Artemis revealed my truest desire: a means to find every Scourge on Earth.

We left the estate that November, splitting off into six ten-woman groups. Alexa, Paris and Calypso, one of the latecomers, were chosen to stay and guard the home-front, until we met again in a month to reassess the situation.

Marcus was by my side the entire time.

I found out that fateful night when I'd accepted my lot in life, that I didn't think twice about putting on a feminine nightgown and falling asleep curled up against my best friend. It felt natural and we found out that he could actually sleep if he was in the same bed as me, safe with the knowledge he'd be there if anything happened. Maybe it was some sort of cosmic joke Artemis was playing. Maybe not. Either way, we never slept apart after that.

He was in love with me. That much was plain when he passed up several offers of warm beds and thrilling nights with some of my sisters. He stayed celibate for me. I couldn't imagine not having him by my side, at my back, in my bed. It pleased me to no end to find out that he'd turned yet another one of my sister's down. Ridding myself of my male ego wasn't that apparent. Yes, it meant that I didn't feel odd displaying my femininity. I could look in the mirror and appreciate that I was beautiful and I have even learn to revel in it sometimes.

But nothing could bring me to accept that what Cassandra did for me that night had anything to do with what I felt for my best friend. For what I felt for him was love as well.

End

Author's Note: The story is not quite through, but the final appearance of the Amazons will culminate in a multi-crossover event in the FQ Universe, thus a separate story. So you'll know what happens in the end. For those that are interested, Cassandra has her own story as well. It's nearly complete. Then maybe I can finish FQ3 and end this universe with the final story afterward. The Cassandra idea was recent and didn't originally have anything to do with FQ or Aresbane, but it solves so many problems I was having in bringing an end to the chaos in everyone's lives. Duex ex Machina, maybe. You be the judge when her story is told.

Photo Credit: Located in chapter one.

Have any of you out there ever encountered an indisputable fact? It's something that everyone knows is the truth. Well, everyone that isn't insane anyway. It's like looking at a pencil laying on a table. It's a pencil. It's not a feather. That's an indisputable fact.

The thing is, I spent my entire childhood in the same city, living in the same suburban neighborhood, attending the same elementary, junior high and high schools. I've been raised like most boys, just an average boy in an average life. These are all indisputable facts.

Here's another one of those facts. I'm changing.

I don't mean I'm going through puberty. I'm almost eighteen. Puberty is pretty much through with me. At five-eleven, the growing pains are over with. The hair sprouting in odd places has already come in. The voice lowering bit hit when I was thirteen, so that's way in the past. Those aren't the changes I'm talking about. It's the ones that make everything seem like they're going in reverse.

It all started with certain male type baggage disappearing.

I've played around with myself, exploring. What self-respecting boy hasn't? During those times I discovered that I can make my… baggage sort of disappear. Not really. I mean that I can push them up into me and the look like there's nothing in the suitcase, if you get my meaning. If you don't, then I'm not explaining any further.

Four days ago, I woke up and when I went to do my morning ablutions, they were gone. Since it was cold, I figured they were hiding. You've heard the thing about cold water making all men equal? That's how I reasoned it. They'd probably be back that afternoon when the day warmed.

Nope.

The length of my, ahem, also stayed the same as that morning, which was a little more than disconcerting. Why didn't I do anything about it at the time? Well, how do you approach your dad and tell him something like that? I just did what every guy does when put into an embarrassing situation -- I ignored it and hoped the problem went away on its own.

The second day was weirder. That's when I first noticed that I wasn't as tall as I normally was. At five-eleven I could easily reach the top shelf of the cabinet where the juice glasses were kept. On Friday, I could barely reach it, and that was standing on my tip-toes… uh, I meant the balls of my feet. Dad had already left for the morning, so I ran to the utility closet and pulled out the yardstick. After marking off my height against the wall, I measure it and came up with sixty-eight inches. That was five-eight.

I ignored it again.

Saturday came, and I was almost afraid to look.

I became hyper-aware of every little thing. My weight had dropped fifteen pounds, but I didn't look any different, just smaller. The only thing I could come up with was that I was shrinking. My weight was dropping in proportion to my height, so there wasn't any noticeable change unless I was really paying attention, and I was.

Sunday set in and I was near to panicking. My arms and legs were losing all the muscle definition that I'd worked so hard on over the previous two years. My arms were still firm, but not hard like before, and if felt like my thighs were fatter, cushier.

That's when I couldn't take anymore. I was losing myself.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, son?" He didn't even look up from the newspaper he was reading.

"I think I'm in trouble."

The paper crumpled; he didn't bother folding it. "Cassius?"

Yes, that's my name. Annoying isn't it? I usually just go by my middle name, Arthur. This time, I didn't even care. I just stood there in my shorts and tank top, not saying a word. He looked at me and then slightly cocked his head to the side.

"Are you… what's different about you?"

"I'm shrinking," I squeaked out.

"That's imposs…" His eyes widened. "Oh goddess. I remember."

The newspaper dropped to the floor when he stood. Within the brief span of a second of two he was hugging me. "Everything is going to be okay, Cass… Cassius. There's nothing wrong with you."

I tried to pull away, but he kept on holding me. "Dad, I shrunk like three inches already, dropped twenty pounds, and other stuff's, like gone."

He let me out of the hug, but didn't release my arms. "What stuff?"

My face heated and I kind of pointed down between my legs and whispered like it was a bad word. "My testicles."

If there was one thing I thought my dad would never do was to make fun of something, but there he was smiling like the Texans had won the Super Bowl. When he saw my reaction, I think he realized his error. "Son, son, it's not what it looks like. Here, sit down. I'll explain."

He led me over to the couch and sat pretty close, closer than he usually did. Most of the time he said it wasn't manly to sit close to other guys. Looking closer at me, he sighed, almost with contentment. "Where do I start? Goddess, it's been so long."

I just sat there, pressing my legs together and trying not to look more nervous than I already was. The empty space between my legs virtually mocked me. No, it wasn't all gone just yet, but it might as well have been with what was currently there.

"Nineteen years ago…" he stopped and shook his head. "No, that's too far."

I gave up trying to be patient. "Dad, what's wrong with me?"

Pressing his hand on my knee, he smiled. "Nothing. Actually everything is turning back to normal. Or it will be by…" he paused for a moment to think. "Wednesday's your eighteenth birthday. You'll wake up a new person, literally."

Before I had a chance to demand that he explain himself, he actually started to say something worthwhile. "We've been in hiding for the last eighteen years, Cassius. There is a very powerful man that was after you, but with the help of your, um, some relatives, we were able to disguise you."

That's it. My dad has gone insane.

I looked toward the door to see if I had enough of a lead to get out of the house and to a hospital where they could actually tell me what was going on. It was no good. He'd be able to cut me off. So, I tried to talk some sense into him. "This isn't makeup and a costume, Dad. I'm literally shrinking and I think I'm losing muscle mass too."

He just nodded. "That's to be expected. You'll be perfectly healthy, better than perfect, actually."

I frowned. "Do I need to call Aunt Missy?"

Dad chuckled and nodded. "That would be a good idea. Just tell her it's time."

Keeping an eye on my father, I leaned over and picked up the phone. Since I talked to Aunt Missy every other weekend, I already knew that she was five on the speed dial. While I waited to the call to connect, I pondered the likelihood of my father needing serious mental help and if I could still stay at the house while he got better. The line clicked and rang once. Aunt Missy has got to have her phone glued to her ear, because she always answers on the first ring.

"Hello Cassius, you're early today." Her voice was like warm honey poured down my neck, thick, slightly accented, and comforting all at the same time.

"Hi, Aunt Missy. Sorry about the timing."

"Nonsense. I always look forward to your calls. Never apologize for wanting to talk to family. That's what we're here for."

I gave a halfhearted grin to the phone. "Um, there is a reason I called early. See, Dad's acting weird." Dad flipped his hand and mouthed what I was supposed to convey to my aunt. "He says to tell you, it's time. Does that…"

"Time!" She snapped. "No, it's too early. Dammit."

Oh crap, it's family thing. Everyone's nuts.

"Cassius. I will be there momentarily. Stay in your home. Do not step one foot out of the house. Do you understand?"

"Uh, yeah."

The line went dead, and I looked at the phone before hanging up. "Was Aunt Missy supposed to be in town? She said she's coming over."

Dad leaned back and grinned. "Excellent. I can't wait to dress in something other than jeans for once. I can't tell you how much I missed… well I guess I didn't miss it at all, truth be told, but now that I know how long it's been."

This time it was me that collapsed into the couch. I crossed my legs and closed my eyes. Wishing for everything to just go away would be too much to expect. I tried my best to relax, but immediately gave up and crossed my arms.

"Oww!" My chest felt like it was on fire. Well, not exactly. It was more of a rubbed raw feeling and crossing my arms made it even worse.

"Sensitive nipples?" asked Dad.

"Yes," I replied in a pained voice. "Hold on, what? How did you know?"

He grinned to himself again. "No reason."

"Right."

He chose that moment to look down at something. I followed his eyes and noticed that my legs were crossed in a less than masculine fashion. I jerked my leg up and hung my foot off of my knee, like I normally did. Dad just raised his eyes and grinned again.

Asking him what he was so damn happy about was pointless. I wouldn't get a straight answer. It bothered me that he was acting so different. It was like he was another person altogether. Thank god the knock came.

We both jumped up, but I beat him to the door. I really didn't want to let him get away if I could help it. The men in the white coats that carried a special one around for those hard-to-tailor people with exceptionally long arms that tied in the back wouldn't appreciate having to track him down.

"Aunt Missy!"

She stood there, taking me in for a moment, then her lips turned to a beautiful smile. "Cassius. You do look a little different from the last time I saw you."

I had to make the same comment. "So do you."

Normally she wore an above the knee dress or loose skirt. In fact I didn't think I'd ever seen her in anything different. This time she was wearing a sheer white dress, sort of. It didn't have any sleeves and hung very loosely on her. Flat sandals with the strappy Greek look that was so popular recently adorned her feet and tiny straps wrapped around her calves, ending right under her knee. As always, she was gorgeous, but definitely dressed oddly. I'd say the whole outfit looked like she stepped out of an ancient Greek painting.

"Like it?" She spun around, making the skirt portion fly up a little, showing off her perfectly tan legs. I'm mentioning Greek a lot in her description because that's the blood flowing through her veins, and mine too for that matter.

"Very nice."

She held out her hand and cupped my face. "You are always so complementary to me, Cassius."

Her eyes, which seemed a different color for some reason, darted to my dad, who was standing behind me. "You may go."

"What about the Glamour?"

It must have been a trick of the light or something, because I could have sworn that Aunt Missy's eyes flashed. "You would do well to forget your familiarity with me. My father will see to your condition. Go now before I forget who is standing in front of me."

I turned back to look at my Dad and try to figure out why Aunt Missy was so pissed. He looked like he was about to lose control of his bodily functions. Before I knew it, he lowered his eyes and curtsied, then he almost left at a run, out the back way, through the kitchen.

My eyes tracked back to my aunt, who was now looking at me with what I could only call pride.

"Uh…"

She stepped inside. "Come Cassius, to the table and sit. I have quite a few revelations for you and I doubt you have eaten as of yet."

I let her lead me to the breakfast table, which also served as a dining room table. It wasn't that big of a house, but Dad and I never really needed much. She pulled out my chair and I dutifully sat down.

"Now, if you could have anything in the world for breakfast right now, what would it be?"

I started to stand again. "Aunt Missy. You don't need to make me breakfast. I can do it."

Without missing a beat, she looked down at me and wistfully smiled. "I asked you a question, Cassius."

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry. Um, a bacon and cheese omelet, toast with blackberry preserves, two strips of bacon, and orange juice."

She nodded once. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back." Then Aunt Missy disappeared into the kitchen for all of about three seconds before exiting. In her hand was a large plate that I didn't recognize and filling it was my order, to a tee, all steaming hot and perfect. The bacon was even perfectly flat, which in all of my years of cooking, I'd never been able to accomplish.

"There you go, eat up and I'll be the one who is talking. Save your questions until I am finished or I ask them of you."

"Yes ma'am."

She brushed her hand over my head. "Such good manners."

I started on the eggs first. Then I almost had a religious experience. Never in my life had I ever tasted anything like what was in my mouth. How in the world had she made everything so fast and so good. They were eggs for crying out loud.

When Aunt Missy took her seat she saw my enjoyment of her cooking. "I will begin with a few revelations and then ask you a few questions."

I paused with my meal but she made a gesture to me to continue eating.

"Cassius, I am not your aunt."

My eyebrows bunched and then I swallowed. A question formed on my lips, but I held back.

"I'm your sister. Your half-sister to be exact. You have a different mother, but our father is the same. It was easier to explain the age difference by my accepting the role of aunt at Father's request."

She paused to watch me strain from holding back the barrage of questions that were flooding my head, like 'Hold on. What the hell?'

"When you were born, my brother found out about you and basically wanted you dead. Half-brother really, and your half-brother as well." She looked disturbed. "All the same father."

Thank god I didn't shove a fork full of eggs in my mouth at that moment. I probably would have choked. Why on earth would anyone want me dead?

"So, we had to disguise you and put you into hiding, along with some reasonable protection, just in case."

Okay, I'm sorry, but there we were back to the crazy talk again. I was forced to interrupt. "Aunt Missy."

She raised her hand and gave me the naughty finger. No, not that one. The index finger waggling that tells a child that they're doing something they aren't supposed to. "Not yet. Finish your meal first."

Truth be told, I was almost full and I hadn't eaten half of my regular breakfast, but I forced myself to continue.

"On your eighteenth birthday, your disguise would fade and within the week you would be as you were meant to be from the beginning. Except something went wrong."

I played along with fairy-tale time and gave her an inquiring look.

"My brother found a way to erase the disguise before its time so that he could deal with you."

I swallowed the last bit of toast almost whole. That bit wasn't so nice sounding.

"You see, when you reach adulthood, something special is going to happen to you, but until that time, you are vulnerable."

She looked at my plate and then at me, to see I was bulging at the seams. "Finished?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry. This is my usual breakfast, but I'm full already."

"No need to be sorry, Cassius. Your stomach is smaller to match your body."

A wince played at my face.

Aunt Missy stood and whisked away the plate and the empty juice glass to the kitchen. Again, three seconds later she had returned, gesturing for me to join her in the living room. On the way, she started up with the questions.

"What do you know of the Greek Pantheon?"

I wasn't really expecting to be quizzed about ancient mythology at the moment. "Uh, you mean like the gods and stuff?"

"Yes." She sat in my father's armchair and crossed her legs. No matter how much I love my aunt… or my sister, I guess, watching her move was distracting as hell.

I took a breath and tried to recall some of the stuff they taught us in school, which wasn't much -- lots of jealousy, incest, smiting of mortals. "Zeus was the father of the gods and the one in charge after he beat the Titan Kronos. His wife was Hera. Zeus wasn't exactly faithful, or they had different standards of morality back then. A lot of the other gods and goddesses were his children through other women."

Aunt Missy nodded. "Go on."

I shrugged. "Um, the twelve Olympians, the strongest of the gods were, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, uh… Aphrodite, Hermes, Heph -- Hepha…"

"Hephaestus," she corrected me.

"Right. That one always trips me up." I stopped and counted on my fingers. "One more, um… oh, Dionysus."

"Very good. I'm pleased that you remember their names."

I felt a sense of accomplishment like I always did when she complimented me. It was like I passed an important exam and her simply noticing was my reward, which seemed like it was all I ever wanted, as intangible and unlikely as that sounds. I always wanted to please her when I was growing up.

Dad wasn't mean or anything like that, but he always seemed distracted, if that makes sense.

There I was basking in her praise, all but forgetting the dire topic of our brother wanting me dead.

"Tell me of Zeus."

I shrugged. "Well, Father of the Gods, I said that. Every god is supposed to have their own specialty or region of command. His was the sky and thunder. That's about all I remember about his duties. Then there was the sleeping around thing. He had a lot of kids. Heracles, and Perseus were a couple."

She nodded. "And Artemis?"

I smiled. The goddesses were my specialty. They were hot after all. I went into detail about Artemis, and her alternate names, her various domains, exactly how she was related to the other gods, and even a short story about her turning this guy into a deer for perving on her while she was taking a bath.

"It was a stag he was turned into. It wouldn't do to have him unable to defend himself as a simple deer. How else would he have learned his lesson?"

The absurdity of the situation started to hit me. "Aunt Missy?"

She raised her eyebrows at me. "Call me Missy, Cassius. I'm your sister."

"Yes, ma'am."

She smiled at me with mirth present on her lips. "What is it you wanted to ask me?"

My head cleared a little and I remembered the situation I was in. I thought it was odd that I hadn't felt the desire to ask her the most pertinent question since she started her story, but now that I had the chance I'd take advantage of it. "You said that we have the same father, but you told Dad that your father would take care of something. Does that mean…?" I let it trail off, not really knowing if I wanted the answer to that specific question or not.

"Yes, that means the person who has been in charge of your care while I am not present is not your actual father."

I looked down at the coffee table and thought about that little fact for a moment. The odd thing was that I wasn't all that upset for some reason. "Why am I not mad?"

Just as matter-of-fact as she'd been during the entire conversation, she told me straight forward. "Because I'm currently erasing your emotional attachment to him. You'll still remember everything, but it isn't proper that you view at one of my Hunters as a father figure."

"Hunters?"

"Have you not solved the riddle of your life as of yet, Cassius?"

I shook my head. "Actually, my brain is kind of fuzzy at the moment."

"Hmm." She looked disappointed, but understanding. "I suppose that is my fault. It's a common side-effect of interfering with your memory."

Missy uncrossed her legs, which really distracted me. How messed up was it that I was severely attracted to my sister? Then she leaned forward. "A month after you were born, your mother was killed by agents of our brother called The Scourge. Their victim was supposed to be you, however my Hunters arrived in time to save you and kill those that would have sought you harm."

"Oh." I blinked. My head was clearing up, but I still wasn't a hundred percent and oddly enough I just treated that information as fact instead of putting too much feeling behind it.

"Our father charged me personally with your protection. One of my Hunters volunteered and she was Glamoured to appear as a blood relative, the person that you thought of as your father."

Now I was starting to catch up. "My dad was a girl?"

Missy nodded. "She had a Geas set upon her to forget her past as a Hunter and to treat you as she would her own child. There was a minor fault there that I hadn't taken into account. My Hunters are very young maidens and have never actually taken care of children before." She looked thoughtful for a moment before waving her hand. "Eh, what's done is done."

Something, again, didn't sound right. "Hold on. They were your Hunters, they are young maidens, Galmours, Geas'… you're not saying…"

Missy's eyebrows raised again with interest. "You've finally seen the truth?"

I was suddenly extremely uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. Everyone's freaking nuts. You and my dad, both."

A scowl dropped over her face. "Tell me then, young Cassius. Why is your body changing?"

I looked down at myself and noticed that I was again crossing my legs in a feminine fashion. After uncrossing them, I shrugged. "Virus', bacteria, weird DNA, nanobots, um… lots of different things could…"

"No, it is my Glamour fading due to Ares' interference."

"Ares?" Yeah, I heard that that right. Making a few deductions I realized number of things. "Your saying that you're Artemis?"

Missy nodded. "Yes, and I must also say that I am quite honored that you know so much about me."

I almost swooned again at the effect of her praise. "Then that means I'm a god?"

She shook her head. "Your mother was mortal. You are referred to in the mortal world as a demi-god or in Olympus as a Godling. However that is not all."

I swallowed. "Right."

She waved her hand at me. "Try to move, Cassius."

What was she playing at? Of course I could move. I went to raise my hand and wave it at her, but was unable. In fact, I couldn't even so much as blink. With another wave of her hand I was free from my temporary paralysis.

I jerked and stood from the couch, scrambling away, like it was going to do any good. "You're real?"

A hurt looked dropped over Missy's face. "I would never harm you, Cassius. You are the child I never bore."

Keeping the other armchair in the room firmly between us, I wasn't so sure.

"At first I protected you out of duty to our father, however it did not take so very long before I thought of you as my own. Which was quite an accomplishment considering your Glamoured appearance."

It was then I remembered Artemis' fabled dislike of males. She was a virgin goddess and never had children of her own. The tension in my shoulders eased a little when I saw her loving face. "I'm a guy. You still liked me even though I'm a guy."

She shook her head. "I loved you because of your heart, Cassius. However you are mistaken on one point."

I was clueless as to what that could have been, but I didn't let it get to me because I had been lost for the entire morning anyway.

"You are not male. You never were."

Oh hell.

I left Missy to pace in the kitchen in peace. Not only was my father not really my father, but my aunt was my sister and she was a goddess, I was a Godling, whatever that meant, and by her own admission, we had the same father. The father of the goddess Artemis was also the Father of the Gods, Zeus.

I didn't know whether to be seriously pissed at being abandoned or happy that I was different, special, not just one of the crowd. What I was definitely not happy about was being lied to all of these years about something as important and simple as my gender. I'd spent all of eighteen years as a guy and I kind of liked being one.

I liked girls. I liked being able to go shirtless when I mowed the lawn. I liked being tall and strong. I liked having sex as a guy. It wasn't an all the time thing. Since I'd lost my virginity two days before my sixteenth birthday with Sally Perkinson -- it was my birthday gift from her -- I'd had sex a grand total of fourteen times. Each time was commemorated in code on my Facebook page with coded details of each encounter. It wasn't so much of a score card as it was a memorial of how much I enjoyed each time. I wanted to remember it forever, not taking any girl for granted. Not that there were a lot of girls, three actually.

I am so far off topic that it's pathetic. I'm a girl. Giving up on my isolation, I tried to storm back into the living room, but my heart wasn't into being mean to Missy. No matter what, I still loved her. She was still the one I could always go to that would never put me off for something more important. Whether I wanted to be mad or not, she'd protected me from a psychotic god of a half-brother for eighteen years.

Receiving her compassionate gaze drained all that was remaining of my ire. "How are you holding up?"

I shrugged and stuffed my hands in my overly loose pants that I had to cinch tighter with my belt only a few minutes previously. I'd run out of holes which meant I'd either had to find some more clothes or break out the sewing punch to make new holes.

Missy stood and moved up behind me. Her hands slid around my thinning waist and she set her head on my shoulder. It was a move of hers that I was familiar with. Whenever I was sad, she would do the exact same thing and then she'd make me feel better some how. Now that I knew she was a goddess, the cat was out of the bag as to how it was accomplished.

"You were a very beautiful baby, and with your mother's beauty and our father's strength, you will be a formidable young woman, Cassius."

I sighed and looked at an old picture of my mom on the shelf below the LCD television hanging on the wall. "Is that even my name?" I asked in a hushed tone. "Cassius is a guy's name."

Missy's lips were very close to my ear, so close I could feel the heat and humidity of her breath which sent shivers down my spine. "The name your mother gave you was Cassandra. Father chose Artemis as your second name and you took your mother's maiden name of Sandsmark since they were never married.

My hands covered hers and I squeezed. "I'm glad I was named after you, Missy."

"Me too, sweetheart." I heard a slight laugh from her. "Father thought if he named you after me that I would bond with you better. I took it as an affront. But when I first saw your beautiful blue eyes staring up at me from your crib all innocent and carefree, I fell in love with you. Then you tried to pee on me. I let your mother take you after that."

I sighed. Being in her arms had always felt right. I imagined it was just like what having a mother would feel like. Even if she was my half-sister, Missy would probably have taken that place in my heart for a long time to come.

"Can we just get this over with?"

With a final squeeze she released me. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. Being in some halfway state was driving me nuts. If it was inevitable then I wanted it over so I could start dealing with who I was meant to be all along. Wallowing in self-pity was never my strong suit. "I just want it finished."

She nodded once, solemnly. "Very well. The change I laid upon you is called a Transmogrification Glamour. Unlike simple disguises, which are illusion, this actually changes your body. It's usually used to punish those that offend us such as the tale of the mortal that spied on me while I bathed."

I looked at her uncertainly, wondering why she was telling me. "Do I need to remember this?"

Missy grinned knowingly. "I am not privy to what powers you will acquire upon your ascension three days hence. Even if you possess no ability to perform such feats, it is always best to understand what weapons your opponents have in their arsenal."

"You're right, of course." Never question someone that's lived for thousands of years. You'll always look stupid in the end.

"As I was saying, it is a simple feat to change mortals from one form to another, however there is wisdom and knowledge that one must have in order to flawlessly coexist with others of the same species."

I think I understood. "You mean since I've been a guy all my life, I'd have no clue how to be a turtle."

"Exactly."

"What do you have to do differently?"

"Pass on the needed knowledge, of course."

"Of course," I agreed.

"Except those that possess a mind that is self-aware, something more is needed. You must trust me, Cassandra."

I blinked at her use of my birth name, but I nodded afterward. Get used to it Cassandra Artemis Sandsmark. It's your name, I told myself.

"I do."

Her arms opened. "Then come to me and embrace your true self."

I stepped into her arms and she hugged me. My body tingled, not unpleasantly. From the feeling of my clothes shifting slightly, I knew I was changing. Gone forever more was my old life as Cassius Sandsmark, a guy that was destined to follow in his father's footsteps to become a fast food restaurant manager, and in his place was a sister of one of the most compassionate persons he had ever known.

When the tingling came to a stop, Missy eased up and I pulled away, not completely out of her arms. Then she kissed me. Don't worry it wasn't anything gross. Just her lips pressed to mine. It was an act that opened my mind to new experiences, not the least of which being my first girl-girl kiss. The act planted things in my head. Things I would have to know to operate my body properly, to not give notice to others that I was anything but an young adult girl, and that I had been for my entire life.

Missy drew back and I was lightheaded for a moment, swaying in place, letting whatever it was she did have a chance to settle. When I opened my eyes, I looked up at her. I was even shorter. A lot shorter. It used to be that I was a little taller than Missy was. That day I was just a tad bit shorter. At that particular moment, I topped off at her chin.

At first I was afraid to look down and see what else had changed. Missy saw my trepidation and took the chance to distract me. "Cassandra, you are even more beautiful than your mother." It was nice to hear her compliment even if she was just trying to make me feel better. She looked toward the rear of the house and to the side. A sweep of her arm and I felt something change.

"What was that?" I asked and then froze at the sound of my much higher pitched voice. "Oh wow. That's sounds a lot different."

Missy nodded. "Did you sense what I did?"

"Sort of. I felt something happen, just not what, exactly."

"This is good. It's your father's blood coming out in you. You'll have a sense for things, but that will change on your birthday. Now, go to your room and explore your new body. I have altered your possessions, your clothes, and the furniture in your room. You'll have need for nothing at this time."

My mouth opened a little at the thought of actually having clothes that fit. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure, Cassandra. I shall work on the rest of the house in your absence."

I grinned and it felt odd, like my lips were different, which I guess they probably were. "Don't go too girlie on me."

"Scoot."

Missy hadn't gone overboard with my room. The music posters that adorned my walls were the same, but a fresh coat of paint had been applied and my bed linens were different. Instead of the solid dark blue comforter that I had hanging half on and half off the bed, it was perfectly made with yellow color I somehow knew was cornsilk, and my pillow count had increased from one to seven. That was something that I didn't get. Two pillows in the back were covered with the same material that the comforter was made of. In front of them were two regular pillows with little decorative waves of cornsilk on the open end. A single, smaller square pillow was on the left, a single square white in the middle, and a canister looking pillow to the right. I had to admit, it looked good. It may not be practical for a double bed, but it was pretty.

The carpet was the same color but it was new and soft on my bare feet. My dresser now had a large mirror on the back and there was a full length oval stand-alone mirror in the corner.

In a way it felt like someone else's room, but in a way I knew it was still mine. I looked back at the door and closed it before letting go of the legs on my jeans that I had to hold up the entire way there. Luckily my belt was tight enough that they didn't fall off altogether.

Up to that time, I resisted the urge to look down, but I'd reached the moment of truth. After undoing my belt buckle, I popped the button on my jeans and this time they did fall off of me.

"Well, there I am."

The guy's underwear looked baggy and ridiculous, so they were next. Lo and behold, apparently I haven't started puberty yet. I was as bald below as a newborn babe. It wasn't bad looking but it just felt odd. I sighed and then pulled off my tee-shirt. At least I was in good shape.

I could see muscle definition in my abdomen, but my thighs were a lot more shapely, not to mention my calves, sleek and smooth. The breasts weren't gargantuan, thank god… literally, a god anyway. Not being an aficionado of breast size, I noticed they were more athletic looking, if that made sense. They were okay for breasts, I guess.

A look in the mirror and I saw that my old self was totally gone. Missy was right. I looked like my mom, but prettier, blonde instead of my old brown, and blue eyes instead of my hazel green. My skin was flawless, not a mole or birthmark in sight. Then I turned around. That was a mistake. Yeah, my butt was pretty nice, for a girl's butt. However I had a stupid tramp stamp. What the hell? It looked like a messed up number four. After I looked at it for a second. I realized it was a Z where the lower part is longer and curly-cued, and there was an additional vertical line going through that. That's what made it look like a four. It looked like Zeus marked me.

I wasn't digging the absentee father branding me as his.

Not being able to take it any longer, I opened up the drawer that used to have my underwear inside to find a large selection of panties. Picking a generic style that kind of looked like a bikini I slid those on and moved to the next drawer. Bras. I was officially a thirty-four and a B-cup. I guess that answered that.

I accomplished the whole bra-putting-on thing without even thinking about it, on my way to the closet. From the looks of the jeans that were available, I was a size two, for the most part. I saw a couple of size zeroes which I didn't know what to think about. Taking the most comfortable looking pair, I slid them on and buttoned them up. Of course they were form fitting with several little silver rivets adorning the pockets. A black tank top joined the montage. At least I could tuck it in. I wasn't in the mood to show off my belly and tramp stamp.

Sliding on the first pair of black sandals I could find was the last thing I did before leaving the room. They were flats. I may have been short, but I wasn't going to make it worse by trying to act taller.

The whole house was changed. Where before it was definitely male oriented, it now looked like Martha Stewart and the Queer Eye crew got in a big cat fight. Rachel Ray had obviously been thought of when the kitchen was remodeled.

"What do you think?"

I almost laughed, but tried to hold it in. It was the thought that counted, and it was all new stuff. "Thank you, Missy."

She took in what I was wearing. "Decided to stay close to your former clothing, I see."

I looked down at my jeans and tank. "Uh yeah. I don't really see me being a dress and high heels kind of girl. Not to mention make up."

Missy shook her head. "All gods and godlings possess the minor ability of self-glamour. You can alter your appearance as you wish, though usually in minor cosmetic ways: color changes, blurring, and so forth."

"Blurring?"

"If someone happens upon you in the forest while you are bathing. You'll be about to blur portions of your anatomy from their view."

"Oh." I wouldn't be doing that anytime soon, since I had a perfectly good bathtub at my house. But it was a nice power to have anyway. "Kind of like an automatic PG rating that follows you around."

She nodded. "If you desire. The Blurring Glamour is used mostly for our interactions with mortals, so they won't be able to properly recall exactly what we look like."

My face brightened. "That's neat. So, I won't have to disguise myself if I accidentally do something that's out of the ordinary."

"Correct."

I thought on that for a moment while Missy led me back to the breakfast table. We sat adjacent to each other and she took one of my hands in hers.

"Will it work on cameras too?"

"In a sense," she explained. "While your face will be clear and identifiable to the gods or another godling, those that look upon the picture or video will see you as they imagine you to be and not as you actually are. Some might see you with a different color hair and a smaller nose, with almond shaped eyes, while others will see these traits in their own way."

Missy touched one of my fingernails and I watched as it lengthened slightly, rounded, and turned a very glossy blue color. She frowned and touched it again, changing it to black, then again to red. "Yes, red would be your color. I see you in primary colors mostly. Then gold or silver accents. Don't intermix the two." Leaning back she examined me once more. "No, that isn't right. How about gold instead of yellow. Yes, I think that will work."

I was clueless, for the most part. While I understood the concepts of color coordination, I didn't understand exactly what she was looking for. "What are you doing"

When her eyes focused on mine, she answered. "You'll need to present symbols of your rank and status. Colors are something that people focus on and associate with you. I would suggest that when you are seen in public that you Glamour yourself in specific clothing. Like this."

She held her hands out and showed me what she was wearing. "White and gold are the colors of Olympus. Every god looks thusly while they are there. However, when I leave my home and present in public, I am dressed in earth tones: green, brown, tan. Your colors should be blue, red, and gold… black if you must."

Taking my hand back up she touched the rest of my nails and they followed suit. I'd been manicured in less than thirty seconds. The nails weren't long at all, but longer than I normally had them, and much neater.

"You will always be in perfect health, Cassandra, and though you are not immortal, you will live and grow old at a much slower rate than mortals."

She motioned for my feet. I slid off my sandals she performed the same touching, shaping, and polishing on each of the nails. "This will last until you change them, so you have no need to concern yourself with upkeep."

There was something very intimate about having someone else touch my feet. They were clean, don't get me wrong. But Missy was a goddess and I was me. "You don't have to do this, Missy."

She flicked her eyes up at me. "You are my sister, Cassandra, and my daughter in a way. I will be your liaison to the immortal world. I will never have children of my own blood. Will you deny me the simple pleasures of caring for you?"

At that moment I felt ashamed for suggesting such. "No," I almost whispered. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Standing abruptly, she looked off at a point on the wall where I knew nothing was. It was almost like she was looking elsewhere. "We must go. I have duties to attend to and I cannot leave you to your own devices until your ascension."

"Why not?"

Her head swiveled to me. "While you are in my presence, Ares cannot sense you. While you are all but powerless, if I leave, you would be dead in mere minutes."

"I don't get it." I replied in frustration. "If Zeus is the king then how can Ares hurt me?"

Missy sighed and shook her head. "It is an archaic law among the gods. Mortals are subject to the gods' will without direct interference from the others unless a specific god has been insulted. While you are in-between worlds at the moment, you are still subject to this law. When you come into your own on your birthday, no god may challenge you unless you have done something to earn their ire." She looked at me with a slight amount of pity. "Even Zeus must hold to this. That is why he trusted your care to me."

Holding out her hand to me, she brought herself up into a regal stance. "Now come, Cassandra. There are places to go and things to do."

A burst of light robbed me of my vision for a moment. When it faded back in, I noticed that we were somewhere else and my legs were cold. Looking down I saw that I was wearing something very similar to what Missy had on. The clothing she said she everyone was supposed to wear when…

Snapping my head back up I saw marble columns and walls, and greenery growing out of the floor without any containers or pots. Artwork, statues of woodland creatures, paintings of Missy and people I didn't recognize. There was even one of me dressed as I was right then.

"Are we…?'

"Welcome to my home, Cassandra. This is your home as well, at Olympus. I'm sure your father also has additional quarters for you. However you are always welcome here."

"It's beautiful!"

She nodded sagely. "As befit a goddess." She spun on her heel and strode toward one of three doorways, not doors since there wasn't an actual door to close or open. "Do not go outside. In here you are safe. I shall return momentarily."

A warm breeze blew in from the window openings, again no actual windows, and blew the skirt portion of my toga or whatever it was around my legs. Right then I decided that I definitely didn't like dresses.

"Mistress Cassandra?"

I nearly jumped right out of my sandals, which would have been a feat since mine were just like Missy's and secured by some golden leather thongs that wrapped around my calves. There was a young girl at the doorway, dressed in tight brown leathers and her sun-drenched brown hair back in a ponytail.

"Um… yeah?"

"Lady Artemis assigned me to your service. If you require anything while you are at Olympus, my name is Aesara. I am yours to command."

I looked to the side, halfway expecting someone to pop out and tell me it was a joke. "Uh… okay. Thanks."

"Would you like a refreshment or libation, Mistress Cassandra?"

I shook my head. "Just Cassandra is fine, Aesara. Um, something to drink would be great."

She bowed slightly and turned away. There were several comfortable looking seats, I suppose they were called. They looked like a cross between those round wicker chairs and a gigantic pillow filled with down, but I didn't really want to sit at the moment. A glance outside the window showed nothing but a small open glade surrounded by a thick lush forest. I could see wildlife, small dear bounding behind one another, rabbits chewing on the grass, squirrels chasing each other through the trees. It was a wild kingdom in the sky, or the mountain or wherever we were.

"Your libation, Lady Cassandra. I also took the initiative to provide something to curb your hunger if you so desire."

There on a sparkling silver-colored serving platter was an equally sparkling silver goblet. "Thank you, Aesara. I've eaten recently."

She nodded and set the tray on a table beside the funky chairs. I didn't exactly know how to go about telling her not to bother with the title of Lady thing, seeing as how I just became one.

Sipping at the goblet, I almost swooned at the contents. It was like warm liquid honey schnapps or something similar. It definitely had a kick to it and judging how my throat was burning I knew it was alcoholic. I wasn't a babe in the woods when it came to sampling liquor. Only three week previous saw me at Brian Jacobson's eighteenth birthday party in his parent's basement, along with his parent's liquor cabinet… unsupervised. It was a good night.

Another couple of sips and I felt the heat radiating out from my stomach. Whatever the drink was, I wanted like seven bottles of it for my own.

"If I may, Lady Cassandra?"

Breaking my train of thought, I looked up at Aesara. "Yes?"

She looked embarrassed, but courageous at the same time. "Is it true, that you are the daughter of our Lord Zeus such as our Lady Artemis?"

I nodded, which made my head swim slightly. Whoa, strong drink. Nothing was that strong where on a few sips and a minute later you were tipsy. "Uh yeah. Zeus is my dad, Missy is my sister, Ares is my brother. The gang's all here."

She looked back at the serving platter. "Then I should bring you something more befitting to your station. I shall return momentarily."

I was sure I told her I wasn't hungry, or was I? Taking another drink or the honey schnapps, I shuffled over to the chair things and almost fell into the downy softness. I wondered if they washed the down covers in Downy so they were Downy soft. I snorted and tried to straighten out my dress that had gotten tangled between my legs and bunched under my butt.

Dresses suck.

Finishing off the drink I tried to set it on the table, but it fell sideways. I caught it before it tumbled off and stood it back up. Holding my hands in front of it for a moment, I made sure it wasn't going to leap off the table again. Weird glasses they had in Olympus. Then I fell back into the soft cushion.

I loved the drinks they had at Missy's place.

"Lady Cassandra?"

Opening my eyes, I saw a small serving platter being held in front me, holding what looked like a single light brown wafer. Wow, they were kind of chintzy with the snacks. Maybe Missy was on a diet or something.

"Thanks, Aesara. I'm going to take a nap now." I picked it up and popped it in my mouth. It dissolved on my tongue and within a few moments I was out like a light.

"Help me." Julie Harkness, 304 Remnant Place.

"Don't hurt me!" Kyle Reynolds, Alleyway 1700 block of Martin Street.

"You ripped me off. I hope you die!" Bertie Moss, Comic Emporium 5th street.

"Kill the geek!" "No!" Cary Underwood, San Diego Convention Center 111 West Harbor Drive.

"I'm a girl. God, somebody help me. Please." Stephen Downs, 2534 Houston Street.

"Cassandra! Wake up!" A familiar female voice yelled at me. "Aesara! What have you done?"

That didn't sound very nice. In fact Missy sounded really mad. It wasn't something that I'd heard since I'd been beaten up by Martin Dominguez for my Supergirl comics in the third grade. My eyes cracked open. "Missy?"

"Cassandra?" her voice sounded worried. "Open your eyes. Look at me," she nearly cooed in my ear.

I smacked and licked my lips. Considering the alcohol level of the honey schnapps I expect to be severally hung over, but surprisingly I wasn't. Though it tasted like something shit in my mouth. Open windows in the middle of some heavenly forest. Great, something actually shit in my mouth while I was asleep. Only me; this could only happen to me.

"Is there something to drink?" I mumbled.

"Dorcas, a goblet, water. Quickly."

I was finally able to open my eyes, and at that moment I regretted that motion. It wasn't because it was too bright or my eyes hurt, or anything so mundane, it was because I saw everything, all at once.

Every dust mote that hung in the air, every ray of sunlight shining through the window, the tiny pores on Aesara face as she stood in the corner, shaking in fear. And finally the look of astonishment and trepidation from Missy. It was too much.

A girl returned holding another goblet. "That's not the schnapps again is it?"

Missy sighed and grabbed the goblet, tilting it to my lips. "Drink, Cassandra. Drink and prepare yourself. It won't be long before our father arrives."

The water was gone in seconds and I felt a lot better. Really good as a matter of fact. "He's coming?"

That concerned look appeared on Missy's face again. "What happened? What's wrong?" I looked over to the girl that served me earlier. "Why is Aesara a statue?"

There she was, frozen in white marble, in the corner, with a look of intense pain on her face.

"It is her punishment for now, until father deals with her."

I shook my head, clearing the confusion in my mind, while still trying to deal with the new trick my eyes were doing. Missy had said that I might develop minor powers before I ascended. I guessed that was one of them. She helped me up and I straightened out my dress.

"She was really nice to me. What did she do?"

Missy's eyes tracked to the statue and then back to me. "There is only one answer to that question, however it will take the rest of your existence to truly explain. By the look of your eyes and the things you were saying in your sleep, you have consumed something that is only meant for those of a divine nature."

She sighed and palmed her face. "The ramifications…"

That's when the world exploded. Or maybe it was a lightning strike outside somewhere really close.

"Stand," Missy urged me. "The rest of you out and do not show your face unless I call, you if you value your very existence." She fingered my hair and smiled at me with pride and pity. It was all very confusing.

He was exceptionally tall and wide and not in a fat way. His curly hair was the whitest white I'd ever seen and his beard was close cropped across his strong jaw. What was almost funny about the situation was that he was wearing a dress just like mine. It had a different, wider belt but it was still a dress. I would have laughed or giggled, whatever I did now, but the look on his face wasn't pleasant.

It changed slightly when he saw me. I watched him blink and then the faintest grin appeared on his face. "Cassandra."

I looked at Missy and she smiled at me, giving me a slight nod. When peered back at the man before me I gave him a weak grin. "Dad?"

Great, Cassandra, call the Father of the Gods, not to mention a guy that could conceivably turn you into a bug, Dad, I thought.

He opened his arms and I took my cue to not be bug-like. A moment later I was wrapped up in possibly the largest and hardest arms I'd ever felt. Energy, power, divine omnipotence, whatever made up the immortal gods of Olympus radiated off of him in waves. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the strongest thing in existence.

"You are just as beautiful as your mother." It was like being in an echo chamber with a tuba player that could make his instrument speak in English. "Tell me, child. Has your sister been a good protector these last eighteen years?"

I nodded against his chest. "She's the best."

"Come then. We must speak of serious matters. Artemis, destroy the Hunter."

I tried to back out of his arms. "What? No! She didn't do anything wrong."

"Cassandra." The power of his voice brooked no argument, making me cringe.

"Cassandra," called Missy. "She fed you Ambrosia, the food of the gods. It is not meant for mortals for a reason. Do not argue with our father."

I looked back in my memory, and surprisingly enough, I had perfect recollection. "She gave me some honey schnapps and brought some sort of sponge cake."

My father looked over to Missy with an inquiring eye.

"It was pound cake. That's the only thing that matches your description that I have here."

I nodded. "That sounds right. Then she asked me if it was true that I was your daughter, Dad, like Missy was. It wasn't her fault. It was mine. I didn't understand. She must have thought I was one of you. She didn't poison me on purpose."

My father looked down at me and raised his eyebrow. "You think she poisoned you and you are defending her?"

Looking up at him, I stood my ground. "It was an accident. She shouldn't be punished because of an accident, and definitely not because of me. I'm not anyone special like you guys."

His lips pressed together firmly. "You are my daughter, Cassandra. The last of my formally mortal daughters. Because of the Ambrosia you consumed, you are now a goddess in your own right. So you see, you are someone special, just like us."

I blinked. Then I blinked again. "Oh. Okay. Can I sit down please?"

Missy led me back over to the chair thing where I collapsed and closed my eyes. The second they shut, I heard my dreams again.

"I don't know what I did, but I'll make it up. I promise. Just make these feelings go away." Christopher Evans, 5427 Moss Point Circle.

"Just five more dollars, that's all I need." Jamie Kadrey, 999 Lakeview Drive.

My eyes snapped open. "I think I'm going crazy."

My father stood there, hovering over me, with his arms crossed. "Voices? Addresses?"

I nodded.

"Those are the people that worship you, Cassandra."

"But…" He held up his hand, cutting me off.

"Even if they do not know it. They are praying to someone, something that is in your purview. Just as those that are close to childbirth pray to your sister and those that occupy the sky pray to me. These are your subjects. How you deal with them is up to you, for you are their goddess now." He turned and scowled at the statue of Aesara. "This was not meant to be, not this soon."

I looked to Missy seeing her concerned face. "Cassandra, a godling comes into their power. They learn how to use it for years. Trials, tests, battles, these are what strengthen us. It is how we learn. To become a god before you've even learned what it means is…" She sighed. "It has only occurred once before."

Watching my father pace wasn't making me any calmer. "What happened?"

"He was lost in his power and had to be destroyed."

I swallowed somewhat hard. Shaking my head, I looked over to Aesara. "It's still not her fault."

Missy rose. "Father, since it was your daughter that was subjected to my Hunter's thoughtlessness, shouldn't her punishment be dealt with by her?"

He stopped and looked at Missy then at me. Pressing his lips together he nodded once. "Cassandra come to me."

I rose from the chair thing and approached him. "Artemis will provide you with accouterments for your position. I will arrange for your temple. You will remember who you are and not fall into the trappings of power and worship. If you do, it will be I as your father that will deal with you."

Bending over, he placed a kiss on my forehead. "Go with my blessing, daughter. If you seek guidance or just an ear to talk to then come to me. I will always be available to you."

With that he was gone.

"Eighteen years of nothing and five minutes of lording around? That's my father?"

Missy's hands were on my shoulders from behind. "Zeus is many things, Cassandra, a good family man is not one of them."

I turned around and caught sight of Aesara again. "Can you unzap her or whatever you did?"

She shook her head. "You have the power now. Her life is in your hands, sister."

"I wasn't the one who zapped her," I complained and accused at the same time.

"No, however you were the one that she wronged. Because of her carelessness in not coming to me with her inquiries she has put your life in danger. It would be justice if permanent disfigurement or death is the end result."

I really didn't agree with that mode of thought, but I sat it aside in order to get her back to normal. "What do I have to do?"

Missy clasped her hands behind her back and explained. "A god's power is simple will. You have to want it to happen. Something slight like your nail color was nothing, a mere thought of the color red. Transmogrification needs much more willpower. You will have to concentrate on returning her back to her original form. See it in your mind, will it into existence. It's as simple and as difficult as that."

I nodded once. "Just will her back to her original form."

"Yes. Concentrate, Cassandra. A partial transformation would be quite painful. So make sure you include all of her body parts. If you wish to be successful."

Crap. "Right."

After taking a couple of breaths, I remembered what Aesara looked like when I first saw her. Her sun-kissed brown hair, her leathers, the lack of color on her nails, the smell of the forest, her nervousness at seeing a new face, all of it. My memory had improved exponentially to the point where I could almost experience the entire scene in my head again and again.

Holding my hand out, I pointed my fingers at her and threw that picture out at the statue. The color of the white marble changed, becoming darker, softening. Her brown hair returned and fell limp, much like Aesara did seconds after. She hit the floor and shuddered until I heard a ragged breath being taken in.

"I did it."

Missy looked proudly at me. "Yes you did. Aesara, to your feet."

The young Hunter scrambled stiffly to a standing position. She was pale from the ordeal and sweating profusely, but she looked healthy. Her eyes darted to me and cringed. "Lady Cassandra…"

"Silence, Aesara." Missy wasn't in the mood. I could tell she wanted the girl to hurt for inadvertently making me into a goddess, and was only holding back on my account. "You owe your life to my sister. She is under watch by Zeus himself because of your carelessness."

I lightly set my hand on Missy's forearm and she eased up. After a breath she continued. "Lady Cassandra pleaded for your life to be spared implying that it was an accident and nothing more. If I thought for a single moment that the act was premeditated I would erase you from existence entirely."

Aesara paled even more.

"You will serve my sister until such time as you can return the favor she presented you. Your life is hers. You are no longer my Hunter. Gather your things. Go."

After the ex-Hunter left Missy looked at me. "You are a goddess now, Cassandra. You must lead with a strong hand and brook no insolence no matter how inadvertent."

I stared her down, even from my lessened height. "I always thought gods were supposed to be compassionate."

She spun on her heels and exited the left most doorway. "A common misconception. Come Cassandra, I have gifts to bestow as per Father's orders."

Missy set a brisk pace through her home that I kept up with. I only caught glimpses of a larger room and a fairly big hall before we stopped in front of the first closed door I'd seen since we'd arrived. Her hand slid across the face and it opened inward.

Three shelves surrounded the small ten by ten room, and on each shelf were oddities of which I had never seen and some that I had. There were a few weapons, various pieces of armor, a golden rope that looked like a lasso, and jewelry. There were other trinkets that I hadn't a clue as to purpose or function.

"You will have a closed room in your temple such as this. In your travels during the coming millennia you will naturally acquire items that cannot belong in the realm of man. Store these in your room. No other god, even Zeus himself, can break the protections. They are your spoils, and their protection is your duty."

I watched as she perused the shelves for something that would catch her eye until she stopped and reached to the upper most shelf to withdraw a clear box. It almost look like it was made of glass, but when the contents shifted I knew it wasn't anything that I was familiar with: glass, plastic, or otherwise.

"Hold out your hands."

Two bracelets were withdrawn, barely bigger than a large wristwatch. She snapped one to each wrist. "Gold will be your accessory color since these need to stay on you until you master your powers. They are the Gauntlets of Atlas. When you have need, will them into being and they will encase your hands in a flexible metal, increasing your strength, and protecting your hands."

I could see her anger at Aesara had already ran its course and she was back to worrying about me.

"You will be nearly impossible to kill, except by another god and Zeus has forbidden us to do battle amongst ourselves. Wounds, if they occur, will heal almost instantly. Your strength will vary upon need. There is no end to your endurance. Reflexes will be unmatched except by another god. Speed is relative with the ability to teleport. Beyond that you are limited by your own imagination and will to accomplish something."

She turned. "You'll need a weapon. Every god has their own. Do you have a preference?"

"Uh… I've never really needed anything like that."

Missy turned her head and smiled at me. "Since you are my sister, Aesara will teach you the bow, and I think, considering your size, the falcata is a nice instrument." She brought down a large bent knife looking thing. It was somewhere between that and a sword. "Think of it like an axe."

When she handed it to me hilt first she said, "Grasp this with two hands. And then pull them apart."

I did so and as I pulled, the weapon separated into two identical blades.

"You'll have two if you need them, and pressing them back together will produce one for less cumbersome carrying."

With a wave of her hand a sturdier belt replaced my old one and this one had a sheath where I stored the blade.

"It will cut through virtually anything. I've only witnessed it held back by the metal used in Athena's aegis shield. Even then it scratched the surface, which is unheard of. She was pissed for decades until Hephaestus relented and made repairs just to stop her incessant whining. One of my Hunters made the kill and retrieved the weapon for me. She still hasn't forgiven me to this day."

With a prideful smile she added, "Use it well."

We spent hours going over little things. How to answer prayers and what payment to demand in return. Proper homage to the gods. What not to do under any circumstances and a whole host of other things.

Somewhere along the line I asked, "What about Ares?" Wasn't he supposed to want me dead?"

Missy shrugged. "You're safe now. Though he'll be angry, but when isn't he angry. Remember, he cannot harm you directly anymore, but that doesn't mean he can't use mortals to annoy you or thwart any plans you have for your followers. If he steps out of bounds, pushes things too far, then go to our father and let him deal with our brother. That's what he does.

"Just be wary of him until you are sure he's diverted his attention elsewhere. War usually keeps him busy."

"Uh-huh." I looked at her with curiosity. "Why does he want me dead in the first place." Yeah, I know. It was a little late in the game to be asking that particular question.

"One of his seers made a prophesy about you and Ares. There will be a conflict in the future that you will take part in, resulting in the diminishing of his powers. That is more than enough reason for him to kill you in a most horrific fashion."

"A prophesy?"

She shook her head. "He alone is privy to the contents, so it doesn't do for you to worry on its meaning."

When we left the room-of-many-spoils, Missy led me to the really large chamber I had spied before. There by the main doors leading out of the home was Aesara, looking like a kicked puppy. The girl didn't look more than thirteen years old out of her leathers, wearing a simple white dress with no frills, and no sleeves.

"She knows how to tend a house, however during your time in the mortal world she will have to be watched over or secluded in your home as with any young teenager."

I hadn't thought of that. Apparently if I brought her with me to my house, I'd have what amounted to a little sister for a servant. Lovely.

"Do you know where my home is here?"

Missy smiled with amusement. "Just will yourself there, Cassandra. You're a goddess now. You have that power. Father should be finished with it by now."

My ears heated with embarrassment. "Duh."

I was about to do just that, but then I remembered I had someone I was now responsible for. "Aesara."

The skinny brown-haired girl looked up at me, glanced at Artemis for a second and then acknowledged me. "Yes, Lady Cassandra?"

"Grab your stuff. Let's go."

Her belongings consisted of a single makeshift duffle that looked like it was once a bed sheet. She hitched it over he shoulder and hurried to my side.

"I'll see you soon, Missy."

My sister nodded. "Probably sooner than your think. I'm sure you'll have questions, so I'll be watching over you."

That didn't sound ominous. However, I really didn't expect anything less. It's not like I'd just let a child go running around with the power to set off a nuclear device in her grasp and not watch over her. "Okay."

Setting a hand on Aesara's shoulder I concentrated on transporting home. This time I did it without closing my eyes. What normally would have been a blinding flash went off all around us, and I found myself in the living room of my house. Whoops. Wrong home.

Aesara looked around with curiosity and a lot of disappointment. To cover my mistake, I made it look like I meant to do just that. "This is my house in the mortal world. We'll be here from time to time, okay?'

She looked up at me and nodded.

"Okay, lets go check out the new digs." This time I concentrated on the home that Zeus built me, or had built. I still didn't know how things went as far as construction goes at Olympus. A flash of light later and we were standing out in front of another white marble building. Oh crap, was this Missy's place?

I took a quick scan of the area and only saw trees in the back of the building and a couple for decorations sake. It wasn't the same place. The entrance was like Missy's place, wide open, no doors. I guessed that they didn't have much in the way of crime, which was good I suppose. There was a sigil or possibly just a symbol over the door. It kind of looked like a wide-stretched bird without a head. I'd figure it out later.

"It's nice," Aesara said to herself, since I could barely hear her voice.

"Seeing as it's just you and me. I guess that puts you in charge of the place for now. Find yourself a room and unpack, while I look around."

She took off at a brisk pace, stopped at the entrance to look around and then she disappeared into the home. When she didn't explode into flames or turn into a bug I figured it was safe enough for me.

The large hall in front was very reminiscent of Missy's, but it was decorated differently, more… normal, mortal, I suppose. Where Missy had paintings of landscapes and forests, gods and people she knew, I had had paintings of action scenes from comic books and of beautiful women and handsome men. I wasn't so sure about the paintings of the guys, but whatever. There were some cityscapes as well.

Neat.

Behind the throne-like seat at the head of the hall were sculptures of a nude man and a nude women relaxing against the throne and above it was that bird sigil again. All very weird. Not that I was against nude art, but it's wasn't like I was a big fan either.

The rest of the rooms were very similar to Missy's. Even the chair things were there. The private room with the only door in the place was empty, but it had the wall-lining shelves as well.

I was beginning to think all those places were like prefab homes, Olympus style. I wondered if the walls were actually cheap pressboard that would fall apart in a strong storm. But then again they probably didn't have strong storms around here with the weathing being controlled by Zeus and all.

"Lady Cassandra?"

I turned to see Aesara standing at the doorway, looking kind of sheepish. "Yes, Aesara?"

"When would you prefer to assign my duties?"

Uh… servant, right. "What did you do for Mi… Artemis?"

"I was her Hunter, Lady. I did whatever she told me."

Yeah, I didn't get that. "What does a Hunter do?"

"We protected the wild creatures of the forests around the mortal realm, and punished those that deface the hills and wildlife for the most part. When Lady Artemis was at her temple we busied ourselves with household duties."

"Uh-huh. Well, I'm supposed to go do… god-stuff. So, uh, I guess check out what's around here and tell me if you need anything to make the place run right: food, clothes, whatever."

He eyes lit at the mention of clothes. "Do you have a preference for my clothing, Lady?"

I shrugged. "What do you like to wear?"

Aesara's face shown with her desire. "I prefer the leathers I've worn for centuries, Lady."

"Centuries? Exactly how old are you?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I was born, by the mortal calendar, in the summer of three."

I blinked. "You mean like 1803, 1703?"

"No, Lady. Just three."

"Three. Huh." The little thirteen or fourteen year old girl standing in front of me was just over two thousand years old. "Wow, um, okay. Well I guess you can still wear leathers if you want. But they better be in different colors. I don't want Artemis to think that you're copying her outfits. Let's see." I did the thinking pose with a single finger tapping my lips. "My colors are supposed to be blue, red, gold, and black. Which one do you think?"

Aesara seemed to be surprised that she was given a choice. "Blue and red, Lady?"

I nodded. "Good enough." With that I concentrated on blue leather pants and a red top that matched the design she had before, and I waved my hand at her."

Excellent. I was thinking that I was getting used to this whole god thing. "Okay, well, you do your thing and I'll be back a little later. If you want to visit your Hunter friends go ahead if you don't have anything to do."

"As you wish, Lady."

Teleporting back to my house was easier the second time, now that I knew what to do. I switched back to my jeans and black tank. There was one thing that was different this time around. That sigil above my throne and on the front of my home at Olympus was emblazoned across my tank where my breasts were. It was like I couldn't get away from it.

Sigh. It was already like I'd accepted everything. Only that morning I was a guy… well, a guy that was changing into a girl. Okay, it was only three days ago that I was a guy, and here I am now, the daughter of Zeus, sister to Artemis, my name was Cassandra and I had breasts, not to mention a furniture change downstairs between my legs. To top it all off, I was a goddess now. A goddess of what, I had no idea. Missy said that it would be something that I was intimately familiar with, which wasn't much.

I was like every other teenager in the States. I went to high school and I studied general subjects. I hadn't even gone to college yet… could I still go to college? With the new and improved memory I could probably just buy the books and read them once. Poof, instant education. I'd probably save a lot of money. Oh! I could just poof the books into existence, but there might be copyright issues to deal with.

I could be the goddess of illegal downloads and not know it.

Truth be told, I was a geek. I liked comics, I liked reading science fiction and fantasy books. I liked playing with computers and drooling at the latest and greatest laptops just out on the market. I liked gaming, and role playing.

I snorted at those thoughts as I walked into the kitchen and set some water to boil for some tea. Role Playing. I was experiencing the ultimate in role playing at the moment. I was living it.

I hated waiting for water to boil. It always took forever. But if I went to the restroom, it would start boiling the second I'd left the kitchen.

"Boil dammit!"

The pot immediately started to whistle. Oh yeah. "You're a goddess, dumbass. Man, this is going to take some getting used to."

With tea in hand, I sat down on Dad's… I sighed again. I sat down in my chair and tried to sort through things. What I needed to do was figure out my purview, my sphere of influence where no other god was more powerful than I was. According to Missy, to do that I need to figure out who my supplicants were, and what they were praying for. It's really not as easy as it sounds. From my two previous experiences, there weren't a whole lot of clues.

Someone wanted money, a few people were getting their butts kicked and were probably praying for help -- been there, experienced that, knitted the shirt myself. Someone had self-esteem issues. Not really a lot of evidence to go on. What I needed was maybe some practical experience. I was a hands-on kind of guy -- girl -- goddess, whatever.

"Okay, I need some prayers to go off of, maybe talk to some people. That should do it." I finished off the tea and whisked it clean and back into the cupboard. Handy powers. "Now, what did I do before to tune in. Oh, I had my eyes closed and was trying to relax."

Leaning back in my chair, I closed my eyes and opened my mind to my subjects or whatever they were called.

"… and if I don't get it, I won't believe in you anymore." Sean McIntire, 713 East 23rd Street.

"Oh please, let Power Girl make it. I can't believe that they left it at a cliffhanger. God, I wish I knew what happens next." Silvia Connors, Bart's Comix, Willowstand Mall.

"Ah, perfect, a public setting." I snapped my eyes open and concentrated on the location. It probably wouldn't do to have people see me pop out of the middle of nowhere, so I did the Blur Glamour thing and made it where people would overlook where I was popping at. With focus on the address and the name of the store, I saw the flash of light and appeared in Generic Mall America, one of a thousand that looked almost exactly alike in every city. With a quick look around I saw that nobody noticed me teleporting into one of those little recesses where the employee only doors were.

I dropped the overlooking cloak and just left the Blur Glamour on my face. It wouldn't actually make it blurry, it would just make it confusing when people remembered. It wasn't that busy, but since it was summer, the comics store was semi-crowded with comic geeks like me, or like I was rather.

I sighed at the smell when I walked in. There's nothing like the smell of comics. There kind of is. Books are similar, but not exactly. And anyway, there are posters, and action figures, and arguing over who was going to kick who's butt, and postulating theories about whether or not Mr. Fantastic's penis could stretch like the rest of his body, or if Superman and Lois Lane could ever really have sex because he'd probably make her uterus explode with his super-orgasm.

Okay, I'm a major geek. Leave me alone.

Looking around the store, I spotted a handful of girls. which while not out of the question, was definitely odd. Any one of them could have been Silvia Connors. I frowned. Short of going around and asking them, I… "You're a goddess dumbass," I whispered to myself.

Focusing on possessing the ability to read minds I reached out to hunt her down.

"God, she's so fucking hot. Look at that tight ass. What's she doing here?"

"I'd bend her over those boxes of comics and Bam!"

"Ugh, they rule the stupid school. Barbies don't have to come into the one place that's mine."

It was then that I noticed a lot of people were looking straight at me. Oh god. They were thinking about me when they were thinking those things. The last thought was from the girl I was looking for and the face she was wearing at the moment wasn't endearing me to her. Hopefully, I would get everyone to go back to normal if I just browsed, which I promptly did.

"Oh look at her, I'd give anything to look like that. She has such a tight little body. So cute. I wouldn't waste it like she's doing. I'd be in a cute summer dress and high heels flirting with the boys."

I glanced up to see who was thinking that about me only to find an older teen boy looking at me wistfully. I shook my head. That had to be wrong.

"Can I help you find something?"

Turning to the guy that was asking me a question, I saw it was the cashier I spotted on the way in. He was in his mid-thirties, greasy hair, but otherwise unremarkable. A comic geek gone pro. "Uh, no thanks, just browsing." Yeah, I'd fallen back to my standard line when approached by any salesperson. Then I had a thought. "Oh, Power Girl. Where…?"

He pointed over toward Silvia Connors. Perfect. "I'll show you."

"Yeah, I'll show you where the back room is and close down the store for a couple of hours. I'd show you something, baby. And you'd like it."

Oh brother. Was all comic guys thought about? Sex? As an afterthought I shrugged. Well, yeah. Comics and sex, that pretty much covered it well enough. Sex after reading comics, reading comics after sex, reading comics concerning sex. The trifecta of every comic geek guy in existence was, having sex with a super hot girl dressed up in their favorite super-heroine costume while eating pizza and drinking beer. If you could accomplish that then you were pretty much a god among men and would go down in the annals of geekdom forever and ever.

"This box here. They're only on issue twelve at the moment, new writers, penciler…"

I cut him off. "Yeah, I know. Basri's good enough, but Winrick… please. Let's just say I'm not a fan. Anyway, thanks."

He shuffled off, but kept an eye on me the whole way to the counter.

"You read Power Girl?" Silvia asked. I could probably cut the annoyance with a knife.

"Yeah, well, I read a friend's copies. I wanted to start collecting myself, especially now while it's still at the beginning of her series." Which was true enough.

"Ultra-Humanite." Silvia was testing me. Any poser could come in and act like they follow comics, but only a true fan knows the storylines.

I eyed her and smiled. "Took Manhattan hostage, captured Power Girl so he could put his brain in her body, but forgot about her super-breath which shattered his containment device and she kicked his butt. Terra three helped with the clean up and became Peej's sidekick."

Silvia sniffed and looked reluctantly impressed.

"Damn, she knows her stuff, and she's hot. I hate her already."

Holding my hand out, I introduced myself. "Cassandra, I'm new in town."

"Silvia." The handshake was weak and kind of damp.

Pulling out all twelve issues, I cupped them protectively in my arms. "I spotted a Smoothie King out there. Want to get one with me? My treat."

She looked to the side.

"Damn, she's nice too!"

"I guess," she replied.

"Cool. Let me just pay for these and we can go."

"At least I'm taller than her."

I smiled at that when I got in line and my back was too her.

"Look at that; her freaking butt is perfect, and Jeffery Wilson is checking her out. If I looked like her he would have asked me out for junior prom. Asshole."

I think I was staring to understand Silvia's problems.

"That's one-oh-three-fifty-seven."

Whoops. I forgot my money. With a quick magical withdraw from my bank account, I reached into my pocket and took out a few folded bills.

"Okay, I'm ready," I said as I turned around and saw Silvia looking with longing at the aforementioned Jeffery Wilson.

We left Bart's Comix and headed to the Smoothie King at the end of the main corridor of stores. Banana and strawberry for me, banana and peach for Silvia. When we found a table I sat across from her to make sure she could see me well, and set the bag in-between.

"Do you really think that Jeffery would have asked you out if you looked like me?"

Silvia's eye's were on the verge of actually falling out of her sockets. That and she choked on her smoothie. I cleared the blockage with a wave of my hand.

"How?" she gasped.

"I'm a goddess."

Her jaw worked once and then her eyes narrowed. "Cheryl told you."

I concentrated on her mind to find out who Cheryl was. "No. I really am new to this town. You're my first supplicant."

She sighed, angrily.

"Who could have told her. It had to be Cheryl. She's the only one I talk to about my lack of a body."

I crossed my legs. "Cheryl didn't tell me. It's because I can read your mind. You prayed to me and here I am, answering your prayer."

Her face dropped into a smug façade. "Fine, if you can read my mind, what number am I thinking of right now."

"Six."

"Six."

"Thousand-five hundred and eighty-two point seven."

I grinned a little and repeated when she thought in her head. "And now you're really freaked out that I know you called me a Barbie, and that you hated me back at Bart's." Watching her go white as a ghost was pretty funny. "Don't worry, I don't hold it against you. There's a reason we think things and don't say them."

"This is a joke. This is a joke. Please God, let this be a joke," she rambled in her mind, on the verge of panicking.

"It's not a joke."

Her pale face started going green. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Focusing on calming her down, I watched as her panic eased a little. "Are you okay now?"

She looked around trying to find a clear avenue to run and then panicked again because she knew that I knew she wanted to run.

"Silvia, calm down. Up until this morning I was just like you… well, not exactly like you, but pretty close."

Her welled up eyes dropped a couple of tears down her face. "Really?"

I nodded. "I was just another comic geek, except it turns out that the person I thought was my dad wasn't really my dad. My real dad is a god."

She swallowed and blinked a few times. "So you're like a girl-Jesus?"

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "No. Not that kind of god. You're familiar with the Greek ones?"

She nodded.

"Good. He's Zeus."

"Oh."

I shrugged. "Yeah, that was my thought too."

"So now you answer comic geeks prayers?"

The word yes, was right on my lips then I paused. Cassandra, patron goddess of comic geeks. This could only happen to me. "I suppose so."

"That explains the unearthly beauty."

That brought a grin to my face. "Thank you." It was the first time I had been complimented from anyone other than a family member, and family usually just say those things to make you feel better about how homely you look. "So, your wish." She reminded me so much of me when I was twelve it was pathetic. But she was sixteen.

"I get a wish?"

I looked at her. "I'm not here to make you a millionaire or give you superpowers, Silvia. However, I believe you mentioned looking a certain way for a certain boy, or perhaps finding out what happened to Power Girl in issue thirteen. Your choice."

"Are you serious?"

"Well yeah. Issue thirteen is already printed. I could pop a copy right here on the table right now."

Silvia looked horrified. "No!" she screamed. Then she looked around, embarrassed at her outburst.

"Don't worry, nobody listening can hear what we're talking about. It just sounds like the inane rambling of two girls to them." I hoped.

"You can do the body thing?"

I stared at her with sorrowful compassion. "I can."

"Please?"

I reached out. "Give me your hand."

It was trembling when she held it out to me. "Silvia Connor. Do you pledge that if you receive the body you so desire that you will worship me with a sacrifice each new moon. A sacrifice of," I paused for a moment, "sports equipment burned in your back yard barbeque pit."

She looked at me like I was insane. "Sport's equipment?"

I shrugged. "Can you think of a better use for them? I don't want you to sacrifice anything of actual value, and I think the smell of a burning football would be kind of nice in a purely aesthetic sense. Practical too. Hopefully, there'll be one less jock in the world to annoy us when he doesn't get what he wants for Christmas. Maybe a nice jockstrap as well."

Her genuine laughter was well worth the silliness.

"I so pledge," she said very formal like.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on her body and the image she most desired of herself. It wasn't so far off from where she was already at. Larger breasts, firmer belly, curvier butt, longer legs, and straight white teeth. When I opened my eyes again, I smiled. "It's done."

She looked down at her breasts and then back up at me. "But…"

"Silvia, I can't change you over night. But I promise, by the end of the summer, you will look exactly how you want. So what… a couple of months is too long to wait?"

Her face dropped into a frown. "I guess not."

"Trust me, it's better this way. Every day, you will gradually change just a little, so it will look like you blossomed over the summer. How else would you explain that to your parents?"

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

I picked up my bag of comics. "Don't forget. Every new moon. I want to smell something safely burning. And make sure you always wear your necklace. If you see someone else with that symbol around their neck it means that I've touched them."

"What necklace? I…" She reached up and fingered the gold chain that was hanging around her neck with my sigil hanging as a token.

"Don't hurt Jeffery too much when he sees you at school in August. Bye Silvia."

"Bye."

If there was any doubt in her mind as to my legitimacy it was lost with a blinding flash of light.

Missy said it was okay. There were thousands of people that knew the gods existed. They worshiped us. It's how we got our powers. I was on what amounted to a probationary period. I had a certain amount of time to acquire a few thousand followers that would sustain my powers.

Silvia would tell her best friend about me and after the summer was over, she'd believe. That was two. I had a lot of work to do.

"It'll be better this way. I won't be a freak, God. Even if I go to Hell, it would have to be better than this," Christopher Evans, 5427 Moss Point Circle.

Night had fully fallen when I answered the overwhelming pain that had come from the name I remembered from before. It was the second time in a day that Christopher Evans unknowingly prayed to me.

When I appeared, he was in his bathtub. Both of his wrists were vertically cut down his arms and they were under water. I think the flash of light was what made him open his eyes, and when he did, he smiled. "An angel," he whispered before passing out.

I assessed the situation and knelt beside the tub. Reaching out my will, I halted the flow of blood and restored what was in his body. After sealing the wounds, I vanished the drain plug and the water that was in the tub.

"What am I supposed to do with a suicide?"

Reaching out with my senses, I knew the house was empty. I threw a towel over his luggage and lifted him from the tub with ease. What I saw in the mirror was comical. A little girl carrying a guy, twice her size out of the bathroom and into his bedroom.

After I dumped Christopher off in his bed and threw the covers over him, I looked around the room. This kid was seriously messed up. I've seen the goth scene. I can identify with it a little bit, but he had gone entirely over the edge and into stupidity. The walls of his room were black, and some seriously sick posters were plastered on almost every available space. I sensed something that was important to him coming from the closet which I regretfully entered.

Behind his hanging clothing, all black, and under a pile of blankets was a box. Inside was something that at first I didn't understand. I'd have to wake him to get the full story.

He wasn't dirty, he was just the opposite, yet clearly disturbed, so I sat on the bed and thumped him on the forehead. "Hey, stupid, wake up."

He jerked, saw me, and almost rolled off the other side of the bed trying to get away. "Gah!"

I rolled my eyes. "If I was going to hurt you I think I probably would have done it while you were asleep, or maybe I would have just let you die in your bathtub like an idiot."

That put him on the defensive immediately, which was basically what I wanted in the first place. I seriously can't stand whiney people.

"I'm not an idiot!"

I mimed his voice in a insulting way. "Even if I go you Hell, it would have to be better than this." Turning back to my regular voice, I looked annoyed at him. "Sound familiar? Well here's a heads up, monkey boy -- Hell's worse." Did I know that as a fact? No, but who really cares? "And since you're one of mine, I have to do something about it."

"Your's?"

I nodded and stood. "Your goddess has come a callin', Christopher Evans."

He sat there looking at me like I just farted in his room. "Nonbeliever, huh?"

I tapped my lips for a moment. "Ah, I know." With a swipe of my hand, all the posters covering the walls in the room disappeared, and the paint changed to white. "There, much better. No more doom and gloom."

He still hadn't moved, but he was much more pliant for this round. "Now, tell me your troubles." I looked down. "And what's up with girls undies in the box? Panty raids?"

Again, the pale and green look that I was coming to associate with major, earth-shattering, revelations. "Uh… yeah," he said.

I still hadn't turned off the mind-reading thing.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god. Don't let her find out I'm a crossdresser."

I was shocked at first, but who am I to judge. I was a guy for eighteen years and now I'm wearing panties myself. "Okay, first tip. You really don't want to think about god and crossdresser in the same thought. Being your goddess, it brings it immediately to my attention. Second, who cares?"

"But…"

"But what?"

"I thought…"

Looking at him inquiringly, I asked, "You thought what?"

"You don't care?"

I snorted and then sat down. "Christopher…"

"Just Chris."

"Okay. Hi, I'm Cassandra."

He tried to smile, but it came out kind of nauseated looking "I'll let you in on a little secret, Chris."

He raised a single eyebrow.

Leaning in I cupped my mouth and stage whispered. "I used to be a guy. Now I'm a hot goddess type chick."

All of the green and pale looked faded away in an instant. "I'm going to be a goddess?"

"What? No."

His shoulders slumped. "Oh."

I sighed. He wasn't just a crossdresser. "Believe me, it's not for everyone."

Sadness overwhelmed him again. "Look, I'll turn you into a girl. How about that?"

The smile came, but with it came something else. "Can you make it so that nobody ever thought I was a guy?"

I mulled it over in my head. That was a lot of reality warping: government agencies, schools, family, friends, teachers. "Probably not right now. I'm still kind of new at this."

Looking down at the box of panties, I tried to puzzle out the problem. "How about something temporary, so you can experience it whenever you want, but it's at your discretion."

He cocked his head at me. "What do you mean?"

I looked around the room. "Where's all your emo bracelets?"

"I'm goth not emo."

"Whatever."

He frowned. "On my dresser."

Holding out my hand I called them to me. Whoops! Apparently he had a lot of emo bracelets. I took the sturdiest looking metal one and poured a little power into it, strengthening the metal, and making the hinges sturdy so nothing would break for quite a while. When I was done, it was gold colored and my sigil was stamped on the outside.

"Okay, here's the deal. This bracelet when worn by you and only you will transform your body temporarily into the girl version of you. Nothing fancy. You'll have to buy your own clothes, so that means losing the piercings and getting a real job, making something of yourself, savvy?"

He reached out, but I held it back. "I'm not done. Nothing comes for free, Chris."

I was holding his truest desire in the palm of my hand. At that moment I knew exactly why the power I possessed could make someone go crazy. Christopher Evans' soul was mine if I wanted it. The bracelet was all he was focused on.

Snapping my fingers in front of his face, I broke the spell. "Chris."

He looked up to me. "Please. I'll do anything."

I also knew for a fact that I couldn't demand a thing from him. This one would have to be pro bono. "Give me your wrist." I closed the bracelet around his wrist and watched as my power went to work. His black hair lengthened until it was around his shoulders. Small breasts rose on his chest. His waist thinned, but not by much and I couldn't see the change below the waist as he was covered by the blanket. His arms thinned and his face softened. Christopher Evans was a girl version of himself.

He wasn't a bombshell by any sense of the imagination, but to feel the excitement and sheer joy that was now in his heart made me smile. Conjuring a mirror out of thin air, I held it out for her.

She took it and stared at herself, touching her face. "I still look like me."

"For the most part. I saw the change. Your eyes may be the same, but your jaw is smaller, and your nose is a little more pert. Don't waste this chance to be the real you Chris. What are you, fifteen?"

He nodded.

"Here's the deal. On your eighteenth birthday, if you wear that bracelet from dawn until dusk, your change will be permanent, and you are not permitted to have sex in that form until then. If you do then it will lose its power. Masturbate all you want, but you will not…"

"I won't. I promise."

"It was never about the sex."

In her mind she was like a totally different person. This girl was rational, and clear-headed, the total opposite of Christopher the male, so I didn't feel like I was taking advantage of her when I imposed my condition.

"I'm your goddess, Chris. From now on, you are mine. Harm no living creature, but worship me how you feel fit to do so. I prefer new moons for this."

She looked at me with curiosity on her face. "Why the new moon?"

I shrugged. "My sister's the goddess of the moon, plus the full moon is so cliché."

My necklace appeared around her neck. "Never take that off. Other's will know you are mine when they see it and you will know others when you see it on them."

I left her in to experience freedom for the first time since she'd realized that she was a girl in her soul and that it was being confined in an iron maiden-like container of a male body.

When I returned to my house, the lights were out. I didn't know whether to stay there or go to Olympus. Everything seemed so surreal then. Like my former life was a shadow, but still a strong part of who I was. Taking a final look in the female Christopher's mind before I left, I found out one important thing. He didn't read comics. He wasn't a geek in the traditional sense of the word.

This led me to the conclusion that my purview was possibly something else. Either I was the patron goddess of comic geeks and the transgendered, or I was the patron goddess of people with low self-esteem, which would really suck. I went with the first one. Hey, they need something to believe in too, you know?

Missy was waiting for me when I arrived at my home in Olympus. I was feeling a little drained. It wasn't like being tired in the traditional sense, more like I needed an energy drink. Guess what was sitting beside her, on the table?

The same things that got me in this mess to begin with.

"Sit, eat, drink. You'll feel better."

The chair thing was very comfortable, and Missy looked relaxed and somewhat eager to see what I was going to do next. Tentatively, I reached out and picked up one of the three wafers on the tray.

"This isn't going to do anything else to me, is it?"

She smiled softly. "No, while you can eat or drink anything, you must consume the ambrosia regularly. This is where you will find your nutrition. The nectar will keep you relaxed."

Since Missy said it was okay, I popped the wafer in my mouth and sighed at the feeling I received as it dissolved. The other two followed, one after the other, all washed down with a swallow of nectar, which was the honey schnapps from earlier.

"I've been watching you, Cassandra, as I said I would."

My looked over the rim of my goblet at her and then pulled it away. "And?"

"I really think you get too involved with these mortals' lives. My suggestion to you would be to grant or not grant their desires and then move on. If you waste too much time with every one of your supplicants then you will never have enough to sustain your power.

I nodded thoughtfully. "So, pop in zap them and pop out."

"Exactly."

Thoughts ran through my head that Missy only really cared about her family, nobody else. I was wondering why I never saw any clue of this while growing up.

"Then I suppose I'll be powerless. I can't just do that and feel good about myself."

It looked as if she was expecting that answer, because she barely reacted. "Really, Cassandra? You would walk through your immortality almost as weak as a mortal? Thousands of years, unable to travel to Olympus, hearing the pain of your supplicants and unable to do anything to help? That isn't the person I've come to know over your life."

Unsure about my decision, I looked at the darkened sky outside my window. "I can't just ignore them. Up until this morning I was one of them."

Missy set her goblet on the tray. "Then you'll have to find another way to gather more followers. Perhaps something will come to you." She stood and straightened the skirt of her dress. "I have duties to attend to. Be well, sister."

Looking up at her, I grunted in mock pain. "Don't you ever sleep? It's nighttime."

With a wry grin, she answered. "We are gods, Cassandra. There is no sleep as we are always needed. If you feel drained then return and refresh yourself with the ambrosia and nectar then return to your duties. Your supplicants have gone many years without representation among the gods. Don't you think they deserve a little hard work on your part?"

With a roll of my eyes I looked suspiciously at her. "If I didn't know any better I'd think that you set this whole situation up."

"Me? Arrange for my sister, whom I deeply love, to ascend to godhood so that Ares would have no chance to directly harm her? Would I arrange for her to have a domain directly adjacent to mine so I would see her daily." She looked somewhat contemplative and then shrugged it off. "Good plan, if I could pull it off without Zeus' knowledge since he is the one that chooses who will ascend to godhood. If any other god dared to give ambrosia to a mortal or godling then it would mean their death or worse. But accidents do happen, and you are his daughter."

I couldn't tell if she was serious or not. Had she arranged the whole thing?

"It's best not to talk about it, Cassandra. Safer. Buh-bye."

I groaned. "Oh god, it's going to be a really long life."

"Lady Cassandra?"

I looked over and Aesara was standing at the doorway. "Come on in, Aesara. Join the party." She was holding some parchment in her hands. "What's that?"

"A list, Lady, of your household requirements."

I looked it over. "Okay, uh, do we need to go shopping or something, because I don't know where I left my American Express God card."

She didn't laugh or even smile at my joke. Rough crowd.

"Lady Artemis usually conjured these items."

Focusing on the list, I waved a hand and hopefully everything appeared in its proper place. "There you go."

"Thank you, Lady."

She turned to exit, but I stopped her. "Aesara, did Artemis let you visit with your Hunter friends?"

"Yes, Lady. She's created a pathway through the forest to her domain where I may come and go at my leisure."

I nodded. "Good. And your friends are welcome here also."

Aesara smiled and curtsied. "Thank you, Lady Cassandra."

"Uh-huh."

The next few minute saw me finishing off the nectar and a serene feeling flowing through me, which was much better than the drunken stupor I was in earlier. "Back to work."

The majority of my transgender supplicants seemed to be in New York, San Francisco, Houston, London, Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Tokyo. The comic geeks were everywhere. Let's just say I got a good workout. By the next day, on Olympus, I was beginning to think about the pop in and pop out strategy that Missy suggested. I wasn't cut out to be a psychiatrist, and that's what the majority of my supplicants needed.

I had some more ambrosia and nectar while I watched Aesara playing around with her friends at the edge of the forest. They seemed so carefree for the longest time until all the Hunters stood abruptly and I heard one of them tell Aesara, "Artemis calls," before running off down the path to her domain.

Aesara looked crestfallen at their departure. She made her way back inside with her head hung. It wasn't until she saw me that her attitude changed and she seemed more like the girl I knew from the day previous.

"Lady Cassandra! Is there anything I can do for you?"

It was then that I'd realized that she was bored. "Um, I don't know. What did you do when you weren't tending house for Artemis?"

"I hunted."

Okay, it was a stupid question. "Well, I'm not really the hunting type." Racking my mind for something for her to keep busy with wasn't proving fruitful. Everything I thought of seemed like busy work.

"How about if I talk to her and see if you can go back and be with your friends. It's not like I need a servant."

Her eyes lit, but darkened soon after. "I owe you a debt, Lady Cassandra."

Shaking my head. "Which you'll never be able to repay. I know about the games gods play. I've read enough about their punishments and you'll wind up hating it here." Making a decision of my own I set my goblet down. "Stick around, I'll be right back."

In a flash, I was gone, teleporting to the entrance of Missy's temple. There were Hunters all around and Missy was on her throne handing out duties to the girls who were then gathering in groups and departing.

"Cassandra? Hunters give me a moment alone with my sister." The rest of them emptied from the room. "What's wrong?"

I got straight to the point. "Can Aesara come back and be one of your Hunters again?"

Missy raised an eyebrow at me. "Did she ask this of you?"

I shook my head. "No, she's miserable, and misses her friends."

"You require servants, Cassandra."

I almost laughed. "When I can wave my hand and make anything that I want appear? No. I'll gather my own people that can help me with my duties. I don't need a Hunter that can't hunt."

Her gaze measured me for a moment. "You could always return her to the mortal world."

"She's two thousand years old. It would kill her to be a simple mortal. Even I know that and I've only been here a day."

Missy stood and stepped down from her throne. "Zeus will be angry when he hears of this."

"Then I'll take the heat."

With a nod, Artemis waved her hand and Aesara appeared before us. "Go be with your sisters."

She was wearing her earth colors again and my heart felt better after seeing her smile brightly and scamper off at a full run.

"Your heart is too soft, Cassandra."

I grinned back at her. "True, but it's a good thing."

Two more weeks passed, and I was growing seriously bored. There was only so much of Psychiatrist Cassandra I could take. If immortality was all this amounted to then I didn't want it. While it felt great to help people, I wanted something more in my life than granting wishes. That was about the time that I was at Rick's Comic Shop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and saw the news on a little thirteen inch television behind the counter.

A guy was bending over a lady and she was bleeding to death. He picked up a sword and transformed into a girl on national TV. They had to blur out certain portions for modesty's sake, but there she was fighting these fury things.

"Is that for real?" the guy behind the counter said to himself.

A casual glance around and I saw that everyone's eyes were not on me, so I flashed out of there and appeared atop the store overseeing the street. Cloaking myself, so I would go unnoticed, I watched as the battle ended and the bodies were taken away.

There was something familiar about the power that radiated off of the girl who was once a boy.

Two days later all hell broke out on Olympus.

Missy was laughing her butt off when I appeared on her doorstep. When she saw me she ran over. "Have you heard?"

I looked at her eager for something exciting. "What?"

Her eyes sparkled. "My Amazons have risen again! Ares is pissed! His Scourge are falling in waves. I don't think you have anything more to worry about as far as he goes. All of his attention is focused on my Veronica as she decimates his stinky followers."

"She's a mortal?"

"Ha! She's an Amazon. More than a match for the Scourge. Even now she gathers more to her breast. Ares' time has come to an end and once again I will rise above him. This exposure is bringing in supplicants by the dozen as word circulates."

Missy seemed a little drunk on power at the moment. "Ookay."

She grabbed me by the shoulders. "Don't you see, Cassandra. We've been exposed again. That means we can go public, show ourselves to the mortal plane. Before, we could only show ourselves to a select few, but now…"

After releasing me she spun in place. "Go girl, show yourself to your public. Be what you truly want to be since you were twelve."

I blinked. "What?"

Missy's hand came up to her mouth. "Oops." She shrugged. "What's done is done. I regularly read your thoughts as a child, Cassandra. I know what's in your heart. Now go do some good. Solidify your power base while you have the chance."

My evening was spent at my mortal home. It was quickly becoming a place where I went to think and that was about it. Missy had suggested something that I really hadn't thought about for a few years, back when my fantasy life was ruled by comic books. What child hasn't thought of what it would be like to possess superpowers? Movies, books, television, the media was full of what-if's constantly being ingrained in the psyche of children and adults.

I didn't really have those kinds of powers. Mine were along the scale of super big leagues. There wasn't much that could give me a challenge except against another being like me.

However, considering what I'd been seeing over the last year, that might be coming to an end. Fairies had come out of hiding in California, some girl, another godling, was swapping the sexes of a number of people and I had heard a rumor that it was the daughter of Poseidon. That was starting to tick me off, since that was my purview. Now the Amazons were announcing themselves.

Perhaps there was room for a person like myself out there fighting against those that would take advantage of others. Perhaps…

End

Manipulation Credit: Catohnines