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Subject: Change of Power (lots of fiction, romance) [3/14]
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Change of Power (pt 3)

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 pt 3

Laurie was frantic.  The night before when she had lost track of her
daughter, every Sister in San Bernardino had been mobilized in a vain
effort to find Jacqui.  But a little while later, Laurie's sense of her
daughter had gone out almost entirely.  She could tell that Jacqui was
still alive and unharmed, but other than that, the distance her senses were
telling her Jacqui was at were impossibly huge.  At that point every sister
on the planet had been alerted to be on the lookout for the youngster.

At nearly five that afternoon, Bronwyn came running into the house.
Laurie, sitting at the kitchen table, asked, "Any news?"

Bronwyn sat beside her.  "Some.  One of the sisters who was watching the
college campus was in one of Jacqui's classes when the teacher called roll.
But then he got to a Jack Donovan, and a young man ran into the room,
yelling, 'Here.'  A young man that looked exactly like Jacqui before her
Transformation!"

Laurie thought about it for a second and said, "No.  It's not her."

"Laurie-"

"No.  Even if she had decided to go back, and had found a way, she... he'd
be a lot closer than my senses tell me he is."

"Are you sure?  I've gotten the impressions from our Sister.  She's been
watching him all day.  The impressions are exactly like those of Jacqui
before her Transformation."

Suddenly, a strange (yet familiar) voice said, "That's because I scanned
her mind to get all the information I could before doing this."

Both women bolted upright and turned to be confronted by the image of a man
who had not existed for over two years, Laurie's son, Jack.  Laurie was
suddenly besieged by guilt, the guilt of having transformed her son
unwillingly into her daughter; a guilt she thought she was over.  Bronwyn
said, "Who are you?  Where is Jacqui?"

"Who am I?"  He smiled.  "For the time being, I am Jack, her son.  Not
telling you my real name will keep you from using it by accident."

"But where is Jacqui?"

"Safe."

"Safe where?"

"In case you're not getting it, I don't intend to tell you."  Before either
lady could object, "Jack" continued, "Here's the scoop.  Your daughter,
sometime in the last half year I'd guess, underwent a massive spiritual
transformation.  It was something that pushed her to a whole new power
level.  A power level you couldn't hope to deal with, much less train.  So
she's someplace where she can now be trained."  Suddenly he switched
tracks, and yelled, "Incoming."

Bronwyn then felt a mental message.  It was Dana, the woman who had been
watching "Jack" at school.  "Bronwyn, I've lost the boy!  He went into the
locker room after practice and when he didn't come out, I cast an illusion
and went in after him.  But he's gone!  I have no idea how!"

Bronwyn sent back, "It's okay, Dana.  He's here with us."

"He's...  How?"

"I'll try to find out.  Check back later."  Closing the link, she said to
Jack, "Alright who are you?  One of the Brotherhood?"

Jack snorted in derision.  "Hardly.  Shape shifting, mind scans, and
teleportation under the direct observation of a Sister with her being none
the wiser are all beyond them."

Laurie, a plaintive tone to her voice, asked, "Why are you here?  As Jack?
Why not send a girl to be Jacqui?"

"This is not usual behavior.  Usually the erstwhile apprentice simply
disappears for a while, then returns later.  Your daughter implored me to
come here.  As for why I'm Jack and not Jacqui, the reasons are twofold.
One, I don't do the girl thing unless I have to.  Private reasons.  And
two, to make going back to Jack a real option."

Laurie desperately said, "But she decided to stay Jacqui!"

With a disgusted tone, he said, "Oh, big surprise.  You destroy HIS life,
Jacqui spends two years rebuilding it as a woman, then doesn't want to
rebuild her life as Jack all over again?  Yeah, big surprise."

Hearing the guilt inspired desperation in her friend and lover's voice and
becoming quite angry herself, Bronwyn said, "Look, you!  Why should we put
up with this?  Why should we help you?"

Jack looked at Bronwyn with apparent honest surprise.  "So I should just go
back and tell Jacqui that Jack never really mattered to either of you?  I'm
sure she'll be real happy about that."

Angrily, Bronwyn said, "How dare you?!"  But before she could go further,
Jack snapped his fingers.  Suddenly there was a very realistic image of
Laurie and Jacqui in the kitchen talking.  It was a replay of the events
shortly after Laurie had made the Transformation of her son.  After that,
he snapped his fingers again, and the first illusion was gone to be
replaced by one of Jacqui and Bronwyn.  In both cases, the illusion showed
both of the elder women apologizing for having taken Jack's life from him,
and pledging to do what they could to help him get back if he wanted.

After both were finished, Jack snapped his fingers, and the illusions were
gone.  "So what's it going to be?  If you want, I'll go back and tell
Jacqui that you meant those words only as long as you didn't think you'd
have to really follow through on them."

Both Bronwyn and Laurie stewed a bit before Bronwyn said, "We want to talk
to Jacqui directly.  Find out what she wants."

"And I want world peace.  I don't see either happening real soon."

Bronwyn was quickly growing enraged.  "Now look here!  Do we get to see
Jacqui or...?"

"Or what?"

"Or things get really ugly."

Jack sighed.  "I can see this is going nowhere until you get a
confrontation, so..."  Jack snapped his fingers and suddenly all three were
standing on top of a wind swept plateau.

Bronwyn asked, "Where are we?"

"On top of a mesa somewhere in the American southwest.  New Mexico, I
think, but that's not really relevant."

Laurie asked, "Why are we here?"

"Well, I figured if the High Priestess there was set and determined to
provoke a confrontation it would best be held far away from your home where
we wouldn't be risking your house or possessions."

Both women were shocked.  This was further than any woman in the Sisterhood
(except maybe Jacqui) could've teleported without being totally exhausted,
and this man did it without the slightest stress.  After a few seconds, he
said, "Well?"

Bronwyn pulled herself together and cast a "Stun blast," an attack directly
on the mind of a person designed to render them helpless.  The spell lashed
out, struck the Jack look-alike, and did absolutely nothing.  In fact,
judging by the look on his face, had he not been watching, he may not have
even noticed the spell being cast.  He looked at her in disbelief and
asked, "Is that the best you've got?"

Bronwyn then proceeded to cast a series of spells against him, each more
powerful than the last, but each doing absolutely nothing.  When she took a
brief break, Jack asked, "Are you finished yet?"

Bronwyn took a deep breath, and said, "Not quite."  She then used the
Transformation spell on herself.  She grew to about seven feet tall, with a
hard carapace, and claws for hands.

Jack looked at her and sighed.  He then back-flipped.  As soon as his hands
touched the ground, his body lengthened and grew.  His hands became huge
claws, and his head became a super-sized lizard's head.  When his feet
landed Bronwyn and Laurie found themselves looking at an oriental dragon.
His head alone was bigger than both of them combined.  He then put his head
right up to Bronwyn (his eye was as big as her head) and said, "Take your
best shot."

Bronwyn just stared at him for a few seconds before taking a couple steps
back, signifying her submission.  He said, "Good plan."  He then brought
his claw up and snapped it like fingers, and all three were back at
Laurie's in their normal forms.  "Now that we've had the obligatory 'See
how powerful this guy is' confrontation, we can get on with our lives."

Bronwyn could feel the pain and guilt in Laurie, and asked, "How could you
be so cruel and arrogant?"

"Cruel and arrogant?  If that doesn't fall under the category of 'Pot
calling the kettle black,' I don't know what does."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your Transformation of Jack into Jacqui.  It was unprovoked and done
without full consideration of the effects upon him."

"We did what we thought was right!"

"Really?  Let's put that to the test, shall we?  Three quick questions.
One, when you scanned Jack's mind to see what he'd be losing, how many
things did you find?"

Both women suddenly got a sheepish look on their faces.  Jack asked, "You
didn't bother scanning his mind before you transformed him, did you?  It's
real easy to convince yourself that the life he's got isn't worth letting
him keep when you don't actually take a good look at the life he's got.

"Second question.  When you gave Jack fair warning that asking for more
time after that first hour would mean staying a woman, how long did he have
to fight before finally giving in and losing total control?"

After a few seconds, he said, "That's right, you didn't actually give him
fair warning, did you?  It's real easy to convince yourself that it was her
decision when you make sure she's got only the data you want her to have.
When she has no idea the full ramifications of her decision.

"Third question.  Doing what I'm doing, living Jack's life for him so that
he'd have HIS life to come back to if he wanted to, would've been a lot
harder for you than for me, maybe even impossible, but how long did you
consider it before deciding it was impossible?"

After a few more seconds, he said, "It wasn't even a consideration, was it?
It kind of increases the likelihood that she won't go back to being Jack
when the life isn't really there to go back to, doesn't it?  Let's face
facts, ladies.  You were so interested in creating Jacqueline, that for a
brief while Jack ceased to matter."

Bronwyn felt stab after stab of guilt inspired depression roll off of
Laurie.  She growled, "Damn you."

She was about to try something, despite the consequences, when he said,
"Oh, go away," and waved his hand at her, teleporting her away.

Laurie sat there at the table, tears rolling down her cheeks, unable to
look up and face the image of her son.  But then she felt a hand on her
shoulder, placed there with a soft, tender touch.  She looked up into his
eyes to see a very concerned look.  "Damn," she thought, "did he have to
look SO much like her son?"

"Believe it or not," he said, "I'm not doing this to be cruel."

She looked down at the table.  "Could've fooled me."

He sat beside her in the chair recently vacated by Bronwyn.  He turned her
face to his.  "I'm doing this because you have never confronted the guilt
over what you did to your son.  You have never confronted the reasons why
you did it."

"I did it because the Sisterhood thought that Jacqui's power would be
necessary in the upcoming fight against the Brotherhood."

"No, that's the excuse you used."

When he said those words, he said them so matter of factly that it shocked
her out of her depression.  "What're you talking about?"

"Looking back, can you say, with absolute certainty, that you couldn't have
handled the Brotherhood without Jacqui?  Granted, her power made victory
almost totally certain, but can you look back and say that she was totally
necessary?  Again, with absolute certainty?"

Laurie thought about it.  "Not with absolute certainty."

He placed his hand on hers.  "You are too good a mother, too loving, to
have destroyed your son's life on a hunch.  At least not without having
undergone at least one of the precautions I mentioned earlier.  There is
another reason, a reason you must discover and deal with.  And, in so
doing, you will undo a serious wrong done ages ago."

Laurie was confused.  "What do you mean?  Do you know the reason?"

"Yeah."

"Can't you just tell me?"

He considered it for a while before saying, "Technically yes.  But the fact
of the matter is that it is so unbelievable and so... unkind a revelation,
that if I reveal it to you, you'll assume I'm just making it up and get
nasty and defensive, making both of our lives miserable for our time
together.  No, you have to discover this on your own.  I can give you
clues, and prod you along, but it has to be your discovery."

"Thinking along those lines, how long are you going to be here?"

"Until Jacqui finishes her apprenticeship."

"How long will that take?"

"Depends on whether or not she decides to join one of the sub-groups in our
coalition of Mages.  If she doesn't decide to join a formal group then she
can attend a variety of classes to get the training she needs.  Problem
with that route is that there are special trainings available only if you
officially pledge to a group.  Trainings that could theoretically speed her
training time."

"And if she joins one?"

"Then her training time could last anywhere from 6 months to 12 years,
depending on the group she joins."

"12 YEARS?!"

"Yeah, but I don't see her joining the Hermetic Guild.  They're a little
too... anal for her, I think."

"Then how long do you think?"

"Well, I checked the records.  Jacqui is not the first Sister to awaken to
the higher level.  Before this, most have joined the Verbena, a group of
Life and nature mages, and a few have joined the Celestial Chorus,
religious mages.  But I don't see her joining either of those.  Most likely
she'll join the Virtual Adepts, computer mages who hack the reality code."

Thinking of her daughter's skill with computers, Laurie said, "I don't know
about 'hacking the reality code', but computers make sense.  How long till
she comes back if she joins them?"

"Totally unpredictable.  They're one of the most freestyle learning forms.
Could take as little as 6 months, or as much as 5 years."

"But however long it takes her, she won't be here when she gives birth."

"Sorry, no.  But she will be safe.  There are more than enough Masters of
Life magicks to ensure a safe and healthy birth for mother and child."

"But a birth without me."  Jack said nothing, knowing that nothing he could
say would do anything to make it better.

Laurie sat for a while, contemplating the words of the man who had taken
her son's face.  Finally, she pulled herself together, and, looking around,
said, "Wait a second, where's Bronwyn?"

"She's fine.  I just sent her to-"  Suddenly Jack's eyes went wide, and he
said, "Oops."

"Oops?  What oops?  If you've done anything to her!"

"Oh, no, at least not anything she can't handle.  I just made a little
mistake."

"What mistake?!"

"I sent her to the bathroom of a casino in Vegas."

"And?"

"Well, I've never actually been to the women's room, and it was just kind
of an unconscious thing.  Wave my hand, send her away, and I sent her to
the one I was familiar with."

"Are you saying...?"

"I sent her to the men's room.  It was an accident and I didn't mean it.  I
am sorry for any embarrassment I caused her."

Laurie tried to keep from smiling, she really did, but, after the intense
emotion of the past day, this was just too funny.  Jack said, "Now that's
the smile I remember from Jacqui's memory."

Laurie asked, "Uhm, Jack, you scanned Jacqui's mind.  Do you really think
she'll go back to being Jack?"

"From what I scanned, probably not.  But who knows what she'll decide after
mastering her new level of power.  She could stay Jacqui, and decide to be
Jack for a few days out of the week.  Or vice versa."

"But if she goes back, won't she lose her power?"

"Nope.  All the old rules don't apply.  It all depends on how much skill
she gains during her training.  Although I doubt she'll be able to manage
full body transformations fresh out of apprenticeship, but I could be
wrong.  Stranger things have happened.  Now if you don't mind, I've got
some studying to do.  Your daughter had a pretty heavy class schedule.
Sheesh!"

Laurie smiled.  He sounded like Bronwyn had after she found out what her
school load would be following Jacqui around for her senior year.  "Wait a
second.  You said you'd give me a clue.  To help me confront why I did what
I did."

"That I did.  Okay, clue one.  Look for a common thread running through all
those of the Sisterhood who decided to make the return to manhood.  The
thread will be present in some who did not return, but all those who did
have at least one thing in common."  It was kind of vague, but at least it
was a starting spot.

Jack got up and went over to the fridge.  "Want a soda?"

"There's none in there.  I meant to go shopping today, but with Jacqui's
disappearance things have been too hectic."

Jack returned with a couple cans of soda, and set one in front of Laurie.
"Don't worry about it.  I handled the shopping.  One of the advantages of
having one of the world's most powerful mages living in your household.  As
long as we're together, as long as I'm here, I'll take care of the food."
As he walked towards the staircase, he said, "I've got to warn you, though,
some of my tastes can get pretty extravagant.  Expect to eat well for a
while."

After he left, Laurie opened the can of soda and sipped at it.  Then she
got up and checked her cabinets.  All of the ones with food were stocked,
mostly with expensive gourmet foods.  "Well," she thought, "it's not my
daughter, but it is something."

Then she heard Bronwyn mentally calling to her.  "Laurie, are you okay?
Is... whoever he is still there?"

"He's up in Jacqui's room doing her... his homework."

"Do you think it's safe to talk mentally?"

"I think so, but I also think if he wanted to eavesdrop, that no place that
we went to, no steps that we could take would prevent it."

"You think he's that powerful?"

"Yes, Bron, I do.  I have been sitting at this table all day, and have felt
no magic used in my house, but I, as we speak, am looking at cabinets
filled with expensive foods of all types."

"You sound impressed by him."

"Well, after you... left, we got a chance to talk.  He's not really a bad guy."

"That's another thing.  Do you have any idea where he sent me?"

"The men's room of a casino in Vegas.  He explained that.  He's never been
in the woman's room, and he just sent you to where he was familiar with.
He did apologize for any embarrassment."

"Well, even if I believe him, we still need to get together and see if we
can find a way to get rid of him and get Jacqui back."

"No."

"WHAT!?  Are you crazed, girl?  Don't you want your daughter back?"

"Of course I do!  But if this man's organization can train her where we
cannot then she deserves the best we can give her.  Besides, he was right."

"What are you talking about?  Jacqui accepted her womanhood and decided to
stay one of us."

"And he told me that, from what he scanned in her mind, that she would
probably not return to being Jack.  But if any part of her decision was
based upon the reason that Jack wasn't there to go back to, then we owe it
to her to let this man rebuild that life so that she has a decent choice."

"But-"

"No buts, Bron.  In our arrogance to determine what we thought was right,
we stole Jack's life from him, we both admit that.  And we both promised to
do what we could to help her get her life back if that was what she wanted.
If this man can do what we can't, can give Jack back the life he would've
had if we hadn't Transformed him, we have no right to interfere.  We owe it
to Jacqui."

Bronwyn was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I can't just sit back
and do nothing."

"Yes, Bronwyn, you can.  You must."

Bronwyn was silent for a little while longer before saying, "I'll be back
as soon as I can.  We can discuss it in person."

"Okay, love."

************
------------

He wandered through the empty building, questing with his magical senses.
The building was empty, thanks to those bitches in the Sisterhood.  Thanks
to them, one of the greatest strongholds of the Brotherhood was now an
abandoned husk of a building, some of their greatest members lost.

He expanded his senses, looking for the tool that would provide both
revenge and domination.  Finally, he found it.  He walked over to the
computer terminal, pressed a button and the ZIP disk ejected.  He felt the
disk with his senses, feeling the mating of magic and technology that was
the creation of Eric Lancaster, the previous head of the Brotherhood, his
brother, now an emasculated bitch brat.

He held the disk up.  "And so it begins anew.  The Dark One be praised."

------------
************

Excerpt from the journal of Miss Jacqui Donovan, Vol. II

Day 1

I know it seems strange to say Day 1, but it just seems right.  I'm trying
to think of something to put after it, like the A.T. (after Transformation)
in my original journal.  Maybe A.A. (after arrival) or I.T.O. (in the
otherworld).  I'll decide later.

After he got finished explaining my new status in the world, and
transforming himself into... Jack (I can't even say that it really is me
anymore), the Akashic Master brought me here to this... Otherworld.  I
can't think of another term for it.  We just stepped into a mirror, and we
were here.

>From the explanation they gave me, there's a world side by side with our
own.  A spirit world.  I guess the closest analogy I've got in my
experience is what human mystics call the Astral Plane.  Of course, when I
use this analogy, most of the people here just smile knowingly.
Patronizingly.  They make me feel like a five year old trying to figure out
nuclear physics.

Anyways, this spirit world outside our own has a boundary.  They call it
the Horizon.  And when I say boundary, I don't just mean a limit, I mean a
metaphysical protective field.  That's where we are.  In a man made
mini-universe placed on a gate between what's inside and what's outside the
Horizon.

They won't tell me what's outside the boundary, and when I ask, they just
say, "Pray you never find out."  I hate it when people keep me in the dark
"for my own good."

They plan on taking me on a tour of the base tomorrow.  There are, in their
words, nine and a half groups in the base.  Nine full blown groups of magi
on their Council, and one up and coming group of youngsters.  They plan on
introducing me to all of them.  They say I can join any group I want to, or
none at all.  But I get the feeling that they expect me to join a group,
regardless of whatever else they say.

The thing that strikes me most about these people is their total arrogance.
Maybe they deserve it.  Maybe their powers are greater than anyone in the
Sisterhood, and a few of them maybe have more power than all of the
Sisterhood combined.  But do they have to act like this makes them better
than all of humanity?

The thing I'm most surprised about is the Akashic Master.  I had no idea
that he was as powerful as he was.  It seems that he is the head of one of
those groups I was talking about earlier.  With a snap of his fingers he
could've had a half dozen of his men positioned around home within an hour.
That he would handle this personally flabbergasts me.

It flabbergasts everyone else, too.  But what really seems to shock them is
when they ask me what I had to do to get him to do it, and I tell them that
I just asked.  Apparently he's got something of a mercenary reputation
around here.

Well, tomorrow is another day, and I need to get some sleep.


----------

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



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