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Subject: Change of Power (Lots of fiction, romance) [1/14]
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This story is a sequel to the story combination Change of Pace/Change of
Direction recently reposted by Tigger.  For those of you who missed it the
two stories can be found here:

Change of Pace
http://205.240.15.4/nifty/transgender/by_authors/Caitlin_B./change-of-pace

Change of Direction (very long)
http://205.240.15.4/nifty/transgender/by_authors/Tigger/change-of-direction

This story is my first work based on someone else's story.

It's based on my own version of the World of Darknesss as portrayed in the
White Wolf role-playing games, most particularly Mage: The Ascension.  For
those of you who know nothing of the game, don't worry, much of this story
is background info.  For those of you familiar with the game, some house
rules have been included in the story.

For those of you familiar with my work, this story is far more fiction and
far less erotic than most of my work.

And for those of you waiting for the next WITCH CHRONICLES installment,
don't worry, it is coming.  I just had to take a break to keep from burning
out and botching the story

Now, onto the boring stuff

-------------------------

DISCLAIMERS

-------------------------

This story contains scenes of an erotic and/or controversial nature, and is
not intended for the perusal of minors.  Further if perusal of such
material is considered illegal in your area or immoral by your religion or
personal beliefs, you should likewise bypass this story.

This story remains the property of the author.  Permission is granted to
download, photocopy, copy and repost so long as any such action contains
these disclaimers, and no attempt is made to profit from this story.

All characters in this story are the creation of the author, and any
resemblance to real persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

This story may contain aspects of fantastic science or magic.  The
parameters of what this science/magic can accomplish are completely at the
discretion of me, the author, and, as such, I make no apologies for any
rules of "real" physics, chemistry, biology, or magic that may be broken
within the story.

-------------------------

Now onto the fun stuff

-------------------------

CHANGE OF POWER

IN A PLACE NOT QUITE IN THIS REALITY...

She glided through the realm, no one who watched being quite sure whether
she was walking with her feet or just moving through effort of will.
Either was possible.  She was one of the major Incarna, a pure force of
nature, the living essence of pure feminine power.  She was second only to
the major trinity whose interplay kept the universe moving, who were in
turn second only to the one who created all.

All who were in her way sensed her presence and intent long before she got
to where they were and moved out of her way.  She stepped up to the
receptionist and stated, "I am looking for the Akashic Master."  She could
have easily taken the knowledge she needed from the man's mind without any
harm to him, but this way was more polite.  A necessity for what she needed
to accomplish.

The man accessed the computer on his desk and quickly said, "He's in the
gym.  Private workout."

The woman smiled and went through the door into the rest of the Realm.  She
went through the long hallways which were the building that served as the
headquarters for the coalition of mages which had created this
mini-universe.  She went straight to the gym.  Standing in front of the gym
was a young lady in her mid-teens.

The youth blanched when she saw who approached.  It was her job to stand in
front of the gym, and politely refuse entrance to all who wished entry.  As
the Akashic Master's personal attache, she had the power to refuse entry to
even the other Grand Masters in a non-emergency situation.  But this?  A
major Incarna?  How could she refuse?

The Incarna stepped up to her and said, "I wish to speak to the Akashic
Master.  Announce me."

The woman paused, torn between her duty to the Master and her natural urge
to wish not to antagonize Her.  Finally she decided it would be best to err
on the side of caution.  The Master may be stern, but he was fair.  She had
no idea how the Incarna would react to refusal.  She exercised the small
amount of Forces it would take to open the door and preceded Her inside.

Inside, the Master was working out with his students.  The Master, a
Caucasian (rare for the Akashic Brotherhood, most were of oriental
descent), and three students were on the mat, surrounded by a ring of
lesser students.  The three students were all attempting to strike the
Master, using only Do, THE martial art.  No Magick was allowed, although
all the students were Awakened.

The students were striving valiantly, but no matter where they threw their
punches the Master was not there.  The young woman smiled.  These students
had yet to figure it out.  One on one, none of them could touch the Master.
Even when it was three one on one battles at once.  Only by working
together, two forcing the Master to move in such a way that the third could
strike him, would they ever succeed.

The youth looked up to Her face and saw Her waiting impatiently, clearly
not used to being kept waiting.  The youth cleared her throat loudly.
"Master?"

The Master held up his hand signaling stop.  Two of the students froze in
place, but the third kept his last swing going.  The Master caught his fist
in mid-flight, and gave him a withering stare.  The youth simply said, she
felt unnecessarily, "You have a visitor."

The Master stared at Her for a few seconds before saying, "Class, it
appears we will be adjourning early today."  The youth could feel the
relief run through the class.  Relief quickly dashed when the Master said,
"To make up for it, our next class will run fifteen minutes long."

The class voiced their disappointment with a collective "Awww."

The Master cut them off with a quick, "Class dismissed!" and a clapping of
his hands.  The class got up and quickly bowed and left.  When it was only
the three of them, the Master, contempt evident in his voice, asked, "What
do you want?"

The youth blanched.  How could anyone, even the Master, treat Her with such
disrespect?!  The Lady ignored the contempt and said, "I have a favor to
ask of you."

The Master continued his arrogance by turning his back on Her and walking
over to the makiwara, the padded striking board.  As he started a series of
blows to the board he said, "Ask."

The youth felt Her grow angry, but She contained it and said, "One of my
worshipers has recently Awakened.  I'd like you to retrieve her."

"Fine."  To the youth, he said, "Janice, arrange for a couple females of
the Brotherhood to make a trip to the consensual reality."

The Woman quickly said, "NO!" then in a more placatory tone said, "I'd like
you to handle this personally."

The Master stopped.  He turned his head and looked over his shoulder at
Her.  "Why?"

Janice blanched again.  The Master would dare to challenge Her?  She knew
he was powerful, but was he really that powerful?

The Lady said, "It seems that she is being followed by a Weaver construct.
She has yet to demonstrate any control over her new abilities in public, so
they're just watching her, but she could be in real danger."

The Master stared at her for a while.  Finally he returned to beating on
the board, and said, "Fine.  A while back, I did a favor for your husband.
The cost of me doing this for you is the same as for what I did for him."

She looked at him, and said, "That seems a rather steep price to pay.
Somewhat inappropriate."

The Master stopped.  Turning to face her, he said, "I am the premiere
Akashic mage on the planet Earth.  I am one of the most, if not the most,
powerful mages in any realm.  I am the head of the Akashic Brotherhood in
this Realm.  And you want me to interrupt my vital schedule to chase down
an Orphan?  You're right, it is inappropriate.  I think what I've asked for
plus an undisclosed favor to be granted later willingly and without
hesitation should be an appropriate payment.  Further, I want a promise
from you not to attempt to manipulate me in any way to call for that favor
before I want to."

Janice stared at Her.  The Woman was clearly angry, and Janice feared for
her very existence right then.  The Lady said, "I could make you do this
for me."

The Master replied, "No, you can't."

The Lady seemed to contemplate this and said, "I could make it very hard on
this Realm.  Collect the Major Incarna together and attack you."

The Master extended his hand and a towel flew across the room into his
grasp.  As he wiped his forehead, he said, "And I could resign my position
and return to the consensual reality.  Without the "offending mortal" being
present in the Realm, you couldn't get the Major Incarna to agree on what
color the sky is out there."

"You would do that?  Abandon your allies?"

"Great Lady, I am a Spur.  That alone scares most of the mages here.  The
nature of my Spur makes me immune to Paradox.  That terrifies them.  Were
it not for my mastery of the Soul Blade, most would assume me to be a
Marauder working on the "good guys'" side.  I took this job out of respect
for the wishes of its previous holder.  The other Akashics accept for the
same reason, and the other factions accept because they have no choice, but
most have made it clear that they would rather me not be here.  Hell, you
might be doing me a favor by driving me out."

"It still seems a steep price."

The Master slung the towel around his neck.  "You don't want to pay the
toll, don't try to get through the gate."  The Lady glared at the Master,
but before she could say anything, he said, "Of course, there is another
payment I would accept."

"What?"

"The truth.  The complete, unvarnished truth.  You can't convince me that a
newly Awakened Orphan, no matter how powerful, rates anything other than a
moderately powered H.I.T. mark.  Why do you want me?  What do you expect to
accomplish with this?"

The Lady and the Master stared at one another for awhile before She finally
said, "Alright.  I will pay your toll."

"Which one?"

"The favor."

"I thought so."

"When you get back-"

"In advance."

"That is not what you agreed to with my husband."

"It is not when I agreed to accept payment.  When and what are two
different things."

"But-"

"NO!  Lady, you have no credit in my bank, and you know why!"  Janice
trembled in fear, sure that She would strike both of them down any second
now.  "Now I have offered my terms.  Accept them or get out."

The Lady said, "Alright."  She stepped up to the Master, and placed Her
hands on his temples.  After a few seconds, she said, "It is done.  Now I
hold you to your end of the agreement."

The Master smiled.  "Hun, I may officially be the enemy of the Syndicate,
but, like them, I would die before I break a deal."

"Your mercenary attitude is unbecoming of an Akashic Master."

The Master considered that for a while, before saying, "Perhaps.  But as
the youths of my universe would say, 'Bite me.'"

The Lady glowered at the Master, before fading from view.  When she was
gone, Janice blurted out, "Are you mad?!" before remembering her place, and
saying, "Forgive me, sir, but are you crazy?"

The Master smiled broadly.  "Quite possibly."

"Sir, why would you treat Her in such a manner?"

"The Goddess and I have... a history.  Enough of that.  Has your mastery of
the Spheres of Prime, Matter and Forces progressed to the point where you
no longer need your Foci?"

"I have freed myself of the constraints on Matter and Prime, but I still
need to focus my Forces through the Do."

"Show me.  Shower me."  The Master snapped his fingers and his clothes
disappeared.  The snapping was nothing more than a dramatic affectation of
his.  By sheer force of Will, the Master could command any sphere but
Spirit.

Janice closed her eyes and concentrated.  A bubble of water appeared over
the Master's head.  She then struck a pose and went through a carefully
chosen kata.  As her hands moved, the water broke apart into a spray of
water and proceeded to rain down upon the Master.  When her hands changed
movement, the water flowed with them, quickly cleaning the Master.  When
she completed her motions, the water dropped to the ground.

The Master then snapped his fingers again and the water was gone, and he
was clothed in loose fitting slacks and a shirt.  He said, "Master Nakayama
will take my place, both in training apprentices and, if necessary, on the
council until my return."

"The students won't be happy about that."  Master Nakayama was perhaps one
of the best trainers in the Realm, in his own way, better even than The
Master.  But he was also a stern task master that everyone hated to train
under.

"Neither will you."

"Master?"

"You lost focus on the third and fifth movements of that kata.  Have master
Nakayama work with you on that."

"Yes, sir."

"And make sure to inform master Nakayama of the extra time the students
must go through in their next class.  And inform him of Jason's lapse."
Jason was the boy who had not stopped instantly when the Master called halt.

"Yes, sir."

The Master snapped his fingers and returned to his room.  There he picked
up the Soul Blade, before teleporting to the exit portal.  The portal
master asked, "Where to?"

"San Bernardino."

"Yes, sir."

The portal master used the crystals to re-align the portal to its exit
point in San Bernardino, and the Akashic Master stepped through into a
glade under the star filled sky.

************

Jacqui walked to her car, her brow furrowed.  In the 4 months since she had
ended the threat of Eric Lancaster, saved her mother's life and decided to
remain as Jacqui, her magic had been... erratic to say the least.  For some
reason, most of her magic was totally untrustworthy.  The Transformation
spell, shape shifting, even the simplest of illusions refused to work
properly.  She had discussed it with her mother and Bronwyn, and although
each assured her that it was probably just an after effect of the battle
with the Brotherhood, that intuitive sense which was so powerful in her
told her that they were as mystified by this as she was.

The only thing that still worked was her healing powers.  And, perhaps a
bit ironically, they had never been stronger.  With only the most minimal
links, she could dispel even the most intense pain, and even some minor
injuries.  There were even some times when her healer's senses told her
that the injuries she saw were bad enough that she wanted to make them
better, but when she formed the healer's link, they already were better.
Her mother told her that she was probably just imagining things, and that
the injuries weren't as bad as she thought.  Of course, that would've meant
her senses were all screwed up as well.

But today, the evidence was undeniable.  She had gone to watch the practice
of her friends on the team.  The school's women's team was one of the best
in the state, and she would've loved to play, but she had decided that, due
to her pregnancy, she wouldn't try out for the team.  But that didn't keep
her from watching.

Lisa, the team's star forward, had jumped to catch a pass gone wild, and
when she had come down, she slipped and sprawled headlong into the
bleachers.  The bleachers collapsed under her.  Jacqui, with her healer's
senses, felt the wood smash apart and shatter the back of Lisa's head.  She
felt Lisa's life force start to depart from her body, and part of Jacqui,
afraid she was already too late, determined that it shouldn't be, mustn't
be as bad as it was.

Then something happened and it wasn't as bad as she thought it was.  Lisa
pulled herself out of the rubble of the bleachers and staggered about a
bit, before she was helped to a chair, as someone went to get the nurse.

After the nurse checked her out, she thought she was only badly bruised,
but just to be sure, they took her to the hospital to get checked out.
Jacqui waited for the ambulance to leave and for everyone to clear out
before heading to her car.  She had to talk to mom and Bronwyn about this.

As she pulled the keys out of her purse, she heard a strange, almost
metallic voice say, "Reality deviant."

Since there was no one else around, she turned and saw a man, about 6'
tall, bald, and with a pale pallor to his skin that gave her the impression
of a corpse.  He was dressed in a black overcoat that covered all of his
body except for his head.  And for some reason, every sense Jacqui had
screamed, "RUN!"  It was such a powerful compulsion, that Jacqui took two
steps backwards away from... it (for that was how she was thinking of it),
bumping into the car.

The thing told her, "You will come with me."

Since the very concept of going somewhere with this thing filled her with a
sense of nameless dread, Jacqui replied, "I don't think so."

The thing strode towards her.  "You have no choice."

Jacqui was terrified.  She fell back on the only weapon she had, the
Transformation spell.  She summoned forth the energy and cast the spell.
Somehow she managed the spell for the first time in four months.  She
envisioned the man turning into a kitten, and released the spell.  The
energy lanced out towards the thing and struck him.  Jacqui expected him to
start changing into a small ball of feline fluff, but was surprised as the
spell unraveled like cheap cloth, leaving it untouched.

The thing moved up to her with a speed no human should have and backhanded
her, knocking her to the ground.  Jacqui looked up and saw the thing's
right arm, now out of the coat, was some kind of metal construct.  Some
kind of metal construct with a barrel!

Jacqui did the only thing she could think of.  She mentally screamed, "MOM!"

************

Bronwyn and Laurie sat at Laurie's table, discussing Jacqui's problem with
her magic.  "I don't know, Bron.  It's like everything she learned is gone.
She knows what to do, but when she tries to do it, it just doesn't work."

"I don't know what to say, love.  Maybe...  Maybe her training is gone."

"What do you mean?"

"When Jacqui cast the spell that we thought would give her back her life as
Jack, but instead gave you your life back, she had more power than anyone
in the history of the Sisterhood.  Maybe it destroyed what she already had."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"You're a healer.  To use a mundane analogy, if a person suffers a serious
blow to the head, after they've healed, they may have to relearn to walk,
talk, read, et cetera.  They know what they're supposed to be able to do,
but can't do it anymore.  When Jacqui had all that power within her, it may
have scrambled the controls she already had."

"So she may have to start over from scratch?"  With strong sarcasm in her
voice, Laurie said, "She's going to love that."

Bronwyn smiled.  She took a sip of her coffee and then looked up, intending
to continue her discussion, but, when she noticed that Laurie had grasped
the table, shaking visibly she asked, "Laurie, what's wrong?"

Then she felt it.  Jacqui's scream of terror and desperation.  Bronwyn
grabbed Laurie's arm and cast the spell that would take them to the
youngster's side.  This was farther than she had ever teleported before,
but she had no choice.  She HAD to make it.

She cast the spell, and... nothing.  Laurie looked at her, fear and
desperation in her eyes.  "What's wrong?  Why didn't we go anywhere?"

"The spell... was blocked."

The two women looked at one another, and Laurie grabbed her purse as they
ran to her car.

************

Jacqui lay on the ground, trembling in fear as this half-machine man
advanced on her.  Suddenly, she heard another voice say, "Excuse me!"  A
man leapt, seemingly from nowhere (of course, Jacqui was a bit preoccupied,
so he could've come from her own car and she wouldn't have noticed), and
landed three reverse kicks to the thing's torso, knocking it back on its
ass.  The man landed smoothly and spun so he was facing the thing.  "Didn't
your momma ever tell you not to hit a woman?"

As the thing got up, the man whispered back to Jacqui, "Don't try to run.
That thing might get around me, and I might not be able to protect you."
It was a needless warning.  Jacqui was so terrified that running had never
even entered her mind.

The thing said, "Depart now.  This is no concern of yours."

"I beg to differ.  A man always seeks to protect an endangered woman."

"I will give you one last chance.  Depart or die."

The man smiled.  The thing charged him.  The two then fought with dizzying
speed, moving so fast, Jacqui was barely able to follow their movements.
But despite the thing's claims, it was clear that the man was the superior
fighter.  He knocked the thing on its back three times.  Once with a
clothesline, once with an uppercut, and finally with a spinning back kick,
knocking it back a good twenty feet.

As the thing got to its feet the last time, the man said, "Damn.  You're
not even a good workout."

It stood and pointed its metal arm at him.  A rocket shot out of the end of
the barrel.  Jacqui expected the man to move out of its way, but instead he
reached out and caught it.  He tossed it over his shoulder and over
Jacqui's car, where it exploded.  The man then brought his hand up and
pointed his index finger and thumb out, like the way young boys did when
they wanted to pretend their hands were guns.  "My turn," he said.  He
pointed his "gun" at the thing at depressed his thumb, saying, "Bang!"

A beam of energy shot from the man's finger, striking the thing in the
chest.  It flew back into the wall, the continuous stream of energy
(looking like the energy stream from the proton guns from the movie
"Ghostbusters") playing upon its chest.  Finally, the energy stopped, and
the thing dropped to the ground, a big gaping hole where its chest used to
be.

The man then turned and walked back to Jacqui, extending his hand to help
her up.  Jacqui just looked at it, and with real fear in her eyes, said,
"You're a Brother, a worshiper of the Dark One."

The man smiled an honest, open smile.  "Not even close, hun.  You didn't
think your Sisterhood and the Brotherhood were the only two organizations
capable of working real magic, did you?"  Then, looking at her expression,
he said, "I guess you did."

Jacqui looked from his hand to his face and back again.  Finally deciding
to trust her feelings, she placed his hand in his.  He gently helped her to
her feet.  He then swept her into his arms.  She was about to protest, when
he nodded his head back to the thing's corpse, saying, "His backup will be
here any second, and we don't want to be here when they get here."

Jumping and bouncing off the hood of her car, Jacqui found them flying
through the air to the rooftop.  Jacqui then held on for dear life as he
ran across rooftop after rooftop, bridging the gap between them with a
single leap, no matter how great the distance between them.


----------

All comments, suggestions, etc. may be sent to me at jrdss@micronet.net



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