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Change of Power pt 13

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 13

Bronwyn, Laurie, and the other Sisters walked into the base where Jeremy
awaited.  In a large ballroom, Jeremy and ten other Brothers awaited.
Jeremy, with a boastful smile, said, "It's good to see you're on time."

Bronwyn looked around.  Only the twenty-two of them were here, which would
mean no innocent casualties, no matter which way the battle went.  Aside
from the people, the only thing in the room was a prominently placed
computer.  On the monitor was a prominently placed death's head, and the
computer itself reeked of the Dark Power.  Bronwyn guessed that the
computer was running the virus program in a ready to launch state.

Jeremy stepped forward.  "Come forward, Bronwyn Llewellyn, and accept your
proper place as my servant."

Bronwyn stepped forward and went to one knee before him.  "Jeremy
Lancaster," she started.

"Yes?"

"Bite me!" she yelled and then went to her feet and lashed out with an
uppercut.  It was barely enough to bloody his lip, but it was enough to
distract while the Sisterhood launched a collective attack.  The Brothers
collectively shielded (something that surprised the Sisters) and launched a
counter-attack.

Jeremy, from behind a shield of his own said, "What do you hope to gain by
this?  Our shields may not be as strong as yours, but neither are your
attacks equal to ours.  Combat is our bailiwick.  Eventually we will get
through your shields and destroy you."

"Not before I get finished," Bronwyn said as she ran towards the computer.

Jeremy smiled.  Just holding himself, he waited as Bronwyn got close to the
computer.  When she was about there, he extended his arm, and disappeared.
Suddenly his arm shot out from the computer screen and grabbed Bronwyn by
the throat.  The rest of his body followed.  He spun her around in his arm,
and snatched the computer disk from her hand.  All combat on both sides
stopped.  Jeremy whispered into her ear, "Very good, Bronwyn, but I was
expecting something like that."

"Now what?  Are you going to destroy the disk, our only weapon?"

"Do you take me for a fool?  That would release your power back to you, not
to mention burning me out in the process."  He tossed the disk to one of
his subordinates.  "Magnetize it!"

The subordinate pulled out a small box and ran it over the disk.  Bronwyn,
realizing what was happening, yelled, "NO!" but it was too late.

Jeremy said, "There.  With no more programs on it, the disk is nothing more
than a vessel for the Goddess's power."

Bronwyn tried to lash out with her power, but Jeremy closed his hand around
her throat, and interrupted any use she might've tried.  "Enough!" he said.
"You will all surrender now, or watch as I burn the flesh from her body."

Bronwyn croaked out, "Let him."

"Very brave, Bronwyn.  But your bravado cannot stop this."  He reached back
and hit the return key.  "Now, the entire city has just lost power.
Lights, police, fire department, it's all impotent.  Shall we see what your
arrogance has cost?"

He pointed a remote at a wall and pressed it.  The wall raised, revealing a
big screen T.V.  He pressed the remote again, and a scene appeared on the
set.  It was a scene of an intersection, but there was nothing wrong with
it.  The lights were functioning normally, and traffic was flowing as it
should.

Jeremy yelled, "What?!" and hit some keys on the keyboard.  Then he said,
"Doctor, check out this program!"

One of the Brothers ran over and started typing at the computer.  "It's
gone.  The virus is gone.  I can find no trace of it."

A female voice said, "Of course, doctor.  You didn't think that either the
Virtual Adepts or your bosses in the Technocracy would allow such a virus
to ever be used?"

Everybody turned and saw Jacqui leaning against the edge of the screen.
She was dressed in a black jumpsuit, and was wearing a pair of dark black,
wrap around sunglasses.  A cable extended from the sunglasses and ran down
to a box mounted on her forearm.  She tilted the glasses up and said, "Hi,
mom."  Laurie wanted to cry out for joy and run to her daughter, but knew
she couldn't do that right now.

One of the Brothers said, "So the whelp returns."

To which he was smacked on the side of the head.  "Watch it, bub.  That's
my fiance you're talking about."  Marcus then stepped out and placed
himself between the Brothers and Jacqui.

"So you've-" Jeremy started before Jacqui interrupted.

"Excuse me."  Jacqui tilted her glasses back over her eyes.  Jeremy grew
angry, and tried to say something, but she interrupted him with a halting
gesture.  After a few seconds, she said, "Oh, this is rich.  Mr. Lancaster,
I think you need to take a look at this."  She pointed her arm with the box
on it at the computer.  A light beam shot out, and the screen started
displaying lines of computer code.

Jeremy looked around before taking a look at the screen.  After a few
seconds, he asked, "What is this?"

Jacqui said, "Your computer virus.  Apparently it's been modified a little."

"But the only person who had access to it other than Eric and I was..."
Jeremy looked to the doctor.  "You!  I have no idea why you did this, but
you will suffer for it."

Laurie asked, "What did he change?  What does it do?"

"The new virus not only would've done everything the old did, but also
would've turned any Sister or Brother who touched an infected computer into
the opposite sex, eliminating all of you as a potential threat."

A collective murmur went up through both factions.  Jacqui continued,
saying, "Now look, Mr. Lancaster, why don't you do both of us a favor and
let Bronwyn go and we can sit down and discuss this."

"Never!  This only delays the inevitable.  It changes nothing!"

"You're making a big mistake."

"Hah!  Can even you stop me from killing this wench if I wanted?  Are you
that fast?"

"Truthfully, no."

Laurie was shocked.  Her daughter never should've admitted that, even if it
was true.  She wanted to try something, but Jacqui seemed strangely
unconcerned and Laurie knew that wouldn't be the case if Bronwyn were
really in trouble.

Jeremy said, "Then watch as the bitch dies!"  He raised his arm and brought
it down, glowing with Dark Power.

Bronwyn clenched her eyes shut, sure these was her last moments on Earth.
But when the blow never came, she slowly opened her eyes.  Jeremy's hand
was about a foot away from her, and it seemed like he was straining against
something.  His hand was slowly pulled away from her, him fighting it every
step of the way.  Suddenly there was a burst of fire traveling from
Jeremy's hand, around the form of a man.  When the fire dissipated, Jack
was standing there, dressed in his blue gi with sword on his back, holding
Jeremy's hand in place.  Jacqui said, "But he has more than enough speed to
do it."

Jeremy strained uselessly against the Akashic Master, as Jack said, "Let
the woman go."

"And if I don't?"

Jack then elbowed Jeremy in the face, struck some pressure points in his
back causing the arm holding Bronwyn to go limp, spun him away from
Bronwyn, and back-kicked him into the other Brothers.  Jack knelt beside
Bronwyn, now on her knees gasping for breath.  As he touched her, he flowed
healing energy to her and asked, "Are you okay?"

Mystified, Bronwyn looked into Jack's eyes and saw the look of concern and
love that, previously, he had only given to Nita.  She nodded as he helped
her to stand.  "Good," he said as he gave her a light kiss on the forehead
and a short push shoving her towards the other Sisters.    He then turned
and walked towards the Brothers.

Jeremy stepped forward and said, "Why are you throwing in with them?  You
should be with us!"

Jack just stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "You are so
clueless; it'd be funny, if it weren't so tragic."

"If you're not with us, you're against us!  Destroy him!"

The Brothers collectively lashed out with their power.  Bronwyn was about
to do something to try to defend him, before she saw that he was standing
unaffected in the midst of the Dark Power.  Then she remembered his look
and kiss and said, "He... knew I was Nita?"

Laurie said, "Uh huh.  After that first kiss you two had, he came home as
mystified as you were.  He confessed he knew.  He said he didn't mind you
watching him, it was just your trying to pry into his head that he minded."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"He made me promise, just like you did.  And being stuck between you two
was really annoying."

Bronwyn fumed a bit before saying, "Sorry."  Laurie's smile said all the
apology that was needed.

Before they could continue, the Brothers ceased their assault.  Jack stood
there unaffected, not even a hair out of place.  Jeremy whispered,
"Impossible."

Jack smugly said, "Not really.  About a decade ago, I did a service for the
Dark One.  My payment for that service was total immunity to his power, no
matter who wielded it.  In other words, ain't thing one you all can do to
me."

The doctor stepped forward and said, "I bet I can."

"Bet you can, too.  But we both know you aren't really human anymore."
Jack reached back and drew his sword.  Every empath in the room (every
Sister and a couple Brothers) felt a wave of aggression and an anticipation
bordering on hunger flow from the sword.  In a smooth motion, Jack crossed
the room and hacked off the doctor's arm at the elbow.  But the stump
didn't bleed.  Instead, when the doc grabbed it, it trembled, and out of
the stump exploded an octopus's tentacle.  Then a wave of evil spread out
from the doc, and every Brother and Sister in the room recoiled.  "And now
they know it, too.  You, demon worshiper, Nephandi, are the kind of evil
they, both the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood, were created to fight."

The doctor glowered at Jack, and said, "Not that it will save them.  Or
you."  The doc charged Jack.

As the fight began, the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood were about to jump
in, when Jacqui and Marcus stopped them.  Jacqui told her mother and the
other Sisters, "This Nephandi is too powerful for you.  You will only
distract the Akashic Master from his duty."  Both the Sisterhood, and,
surprisingly, the Brotherhood behind Marcus stepped back.

As the doctor and Jack fought, the doc was unable to lay a finger (or
anything else) on Jack, but every time Jack slashed the doc or removed a
part of his body, an animal part grew in.  Lobster claws, bear paws,
various animal heads.  It was only a short time before the doc was a 15
foot tall, insane conglomerate of various parts.

The two separated and the doc growled, "You cannot destroy me."

Jack smiled.  "Maybe not."  Jack extended his hand back.  The disk with the
Goddess's power on it flew from the hand of the Brother holding it to Jack.
"But this can!"  He flung it with an outside toss and it went sailing like
a frisbee at the doc.  When it was only a few inches from the doc's human
face, Jack pointed the Soul Blade at the disk and fired a bolt of energy at
it.  When it struck and destroyed the disk, the Goddess's power exploded
into a ball of light centered on the doc, getting a shriek of pain unlike
any heard before.  When it faded, the doctor was laying on the floor, human
once more, in body if not in soul.

Jack stepped up to the doc, but the doc lurched forward, and, with the last
of his power, disappeared.  Jack looked up, but with a distant look in his
eyes.  After a few seconds, he smiled and said, "Gotcha."  He then swung
his blade around and sheathed it.

A voice then said, "Well done, Akashic."

Everybody turned to the entrance and saw a Native American walk in.  Jacqui
gasped.  Laurie whispered, "Who is that?"

"That's the Dreamspeaker Master, the most powerful Spirit mage on the
planet.  He's over two-hundred years old.  Reality objects to people that
old.  He's putting his life at stake just being here."

Jack asked, "Are you ready?"

He said, "It'll take me a few moments to make the proper connections."
Jack just nodded.

Bronwyn stepped up.  "It seems we, and I in particular, owe you once more."

Laurie asked, "But I thought you said you were going to switch back to your
regular form?  Why are you still in Jack's form?"

>From behind them, Julie said, "Because she doesn't want me to know her."
Laurie saw Jack visibly tense.  "But did you really think I could be this
close to my child and not know it?"

Jack's face took on a hard edge.  "I suppose it was too much to hope for."
Jack shifted into another form.  He was now a little shorter than Jack was,
but his body was wider, more buff.  Where Jack had the lean, trim body of
an athlete, this new form had the compact, streamlined form of a fighter.
Without even looking back, he said, "Hello, mother."

A shocked Bronwyn said, "Joanie?"

The Akashic Master almost yelled, "NO!" and Bronwyn felt the anger spew
from him, with such great rage that all the Sisters were forced to take a
step back.  Most of it was directed at his mother, but some of it was
directed right at Bronwyn.  And it was more than just anger that she had
used the wrong name, there was something personal about it.

He continued, "I am JOE!  It has been Joe for the last sixteen years!  And,
more importantly, it always should've been Joe!"

Julie, tears in her eyes, said, "I only did what I thought was best."

"For who?!  'Cause it sure as hell wasn't best for me!"

Laurie put her arms around the now distraught Julie.  Laurie angrily said,
"So she Transformed you.  You know why she did it.  If you had such a bad
time as a woman, you could've talked it out.  There was no reason to
threaten her.  No reason to abandon her!"

"Oh, is that why she told you I left and threatened her?"  He stepped up
and stared right down at Julie.  "It seems you left a few things out,
didn't you, mother?"

Julie whispered, "We don't need to go into this now."

"Oh, I think we do."  Joe started to pace around Laurie, Julie, and
Bronwyn.  "This isn't like your Transformation of Jack, where you
introduced an unwitting boy to his feminine side.  You see, as a kid, I was
a little spy, always sticking my nose where it didn't belong.  I knew about
the Sisterhood by the age of ten.  I knew about the Transformation by
twelve.  I spent three years wondering about it, deciding whether or not to
try it.  When I was fifteen years old, I decided no, and told mom.  And on
my sixteenth birthday, she Transformed me anyways."

Jacqui said, "So you were Transformed like me."

"There are some differences, Jacqui.  BIG differences.  First off, I knew
that if I started playing with myself, started investigating my body, I
might lose control and not be able to change back after the first hour.  So
I kept control, and told her to change me back after that hour.  She
wouldn't."

Bronwyn said, "Julie!  Anybody who doesn't accept the Transformation after
the first hour is to be changed back!"

Julie said, "But she did accept it!"

Still pacing, Joe said, "Technically true, but only after she convinced me
to.  'Try it for a week,' she said.  'You might like it,' she said.  She
made it sound like a vegetable I hadn't tried yet.  But I couldn't really
argue the point, so, after a promise to change me back if I didn't like it,
I agreed.

"One week later, I told her to change me back.  She goes upstairs, and
comes down about an hour later and tells me, 'I'm sorry, dear.  I made a
mistake.  I can't change you back.  Only you can do that now.'  I'd later
find out that was exactly what she planned in the first place."  There were
some shocked looks on the Sisters faces, but they remained silent as Joe
continued.  "I was upset, as you can well imagine, but I still believed mom
and felt there was no use crying over a mistake.

"I threw myself into my lessons of how to be a woman, all along knowing I
was doing it with the ultimate intent of changing back.  I learned fast,
both as a woman, and as a Sister.  I specialized my magics in information
gathering, amplifying my own natural tendencies.  But I figured out what I
needed to change back after only a year, so I started getting serious in my
dating.  After three months, I found a nice boy, and got pregnant by him.
Nine months later my son was born.

"I spent a couple months nursing him before realizing I could take it no
longer.  I prepared to cast the Transformation spell, and that was when mom
really betrayed me.  As I had spent the last two years mastering myself to
cast the Transformation spell, mom had spent the last two years crafting a
spell to destroy me.  As I attempted to change back, mom cast her spell, a
very carefully crafted spell.  A spell that would make any use of the
Transformation spell by me impossible.  Combined with her previous spell,
it would stick me as a woman for the rest of my life!"

A collective gasp went up from the women.  Bronwyn said, "Julie, you didn't!"

One of the Brothers, all of whom had remained silent to watch what
happened, said, "What do you expect from a manipulating bitch?"

Joe turned on them.  "Quiet!  Unless you want to be blown off the face of
the planet!"

When he turned back, Julie said, "Please, Joanie, it was just your male ego
keeping you from accepting your femininity.  If you just give it another
try-"

"YOU DON'T GET IT!  I didn't change back because of ego.  If that were just
it, the Transformation back never would've been successful.  I refused the
original Transformation because I knew who I was.  I decided to change back
every time because I knew who I was.  I mastered myself and my magics
because I knew who I was.  And I turned down those magics, and cast the
spell to go back because I knew who I was.  And this," he said slapping his
chest, "is who I am!

"When you refused to accept that, and I was forced to fight you, I fought
back with everything I had and was.  It blew open every channel I had and
gave me more than enough power to shatter all your spells upon me.  The
result was a backlash that nearly killed you.  But I also knew what all
your spells had done, and I was so angry, felt so betrayed, I didn't care."

Laurie said, "So you threatened her and left?"

"Not quite.  At the time I didn't know how powerful I had become.  I
thought I was a powerless male.  But before I left, I realized that
eventually mom would probably come after us.  And there was no way I could
trust her around my son.  So I did the only thing I thought I could.  I
threatened her.  I'm not sure I ever would've killed her, but I hoped the
threat would be more than enough to keep it from ever being an issue."

"But what about my grandchild?" Julie asked.

"What about him?"

"Don't I deserve to see him?"

"No, mother.  You lost any and all rights to get anywhere near him when you
tried to destroy the life I wanted."

"I only did what I thought was right!"

"Crimeneys, mother.  You STILL won't admit what you did was wrong!  I'm out
of here!"

Joe turned, but the Dreamspeaker Master said, "No!  The battle between the
Sisterhood and the Brotherhood must end.  This is your plan and it is a
good one, but if you leave it will only mean more destruction.  Is your
anger worth that?"

"Fine.  You know the plan.  You complete it!"

"We need the Soul Blade, and you are the only one who can wield it long
enough to accomplish what needs to be done."

Joe and the Dreamspeaker Master locked eyes in a brief battle of wills
before Joe unsheathed the Soul Blade.  There was that same initial
anticipation, but this time it was followed by a sense of disappointment.
Joe said, "Let's get this over with."  Julie was about to step forward, but
Laurie stopped her.

Joe held the blade above his head and parallel to the ground.  He placed
his hand over the blade, right next to the hilt, fingers extended and drew
it along the blade.  As he did, lightning flashed from nowhere to the blade
between his hand and the hilt.  The further he moved his hand down the
blade, the brighter that section grew.  When he reached the end of the
blade, it was like a miniature star in the room.

He then swung the blade out and down.  As it went down, it cut a line in
the air.  The air in the room suddenly started swirling about like a
cyclone had been loosed in the room, as if reality itself protested what
the Akashic Master was doing.  As the blade continued its downward path,
the line widened in the middle, and those looking at it couldn't help but
think of tearing fabric.  When he touched the floor, all the light in the
blade had been discharged into the tear, and he quickly stepped back and
sheathed the blade.

The Dreamspeaker Master stepped forward and plunged his hands into the
split.  As his hands entered it, they disappeared.  After a few seconds, he
pulled his hands back through, dragging two hands with it.  The hands were
followed by two bodies, and as soon as they entered everyone knew who they
were.  They stood just a few feet below the high ceiling, one male, one
female.  The woman was dressed in a flowing gown that shimmered like the
night sky.  The man was dressed in nothing more than boots, a heavy
loincloth, and a big helmet where the only thing that could be seen inside
was two glowing orbs where his eyes should be.  Every Sister and Brother
knew who they were, for their powers flowed from them.  They knew they were
in the presence of the Goddess and the Dark One.

Jeremy yelled, "They have brought them here so we can finish our battle
once and for all.  Quickly, destroy the Goddess!"

Jeremy fired a bolt of darkness as the others (both the Brotherhood and the
Sisterhood) prepared to move.  But the bolt never reached its target.  It
instead hit the Dark One's hand and was absorbed harmlessly.  Then the Dark
One, moving with a speed no human could match, swung his hand down and
swatted Jeremy Lancaster into the back wall.  In a deep Bass, the Dark One
said, "The next one who tries that gets scraped off the wall with a
spatula."

Every member of both the Brotherhood and Sisterhood were mystified.
Finally one of the Sisters whispered, "The Dark One protected the Goddess?"
but the room was so silent it carried with the force of a yell.

In a normal voice, Joe asked, "You're surprised?"  Then he said, "Oh, yes,
that's right.  Despite your connection to these two, you are still unaware
of their connection to each other.  Let me make introductions."  He stepped
between the two.  "On my left, we have the essence of all that is woman,
the living representation of feminine power.  Known to one and all (at
least in this room) as the Goddess.  On my right we have the essence of all
that is man, the living representation of masculine power, and her," he
thumbed at the Goddess, "husband, the Dark One."

A murmur of shock and surprise went through the crowd.  Many wanted to deny
it, but once it was out there, everyone knew it was true.  Joe said, "And
now that that's done, I'm outta here."  He then clapped his hands together
over his head.  His hands exploded in a sparkling burst like fireworks.
The burst dropped from his hands, and as it fell he faded from view.  Julie
released a cry of despair and tried to catch him before he disappeared, but
Laurie held her back.  She stopped fighting when the fireworks touched the
ground and Joe was gone.

Everyone stood around, not knowing what to say until the Dark One spoke to
his Brothers.  "You disappoint me.  You were created to protect humanity in
general and the Sisterhood in particular by fighting the forces of darkness
represented by what you saw in the fight waged here tonight.  You were
never meant to dominate or destroy humanity.  You are the martial defense
as described in Sun Tzu's Art of War, to be set lose against the darkness
at the Sisterhood's command."

One of the Sisters said, "Hah!  You were supposed to work for us!"

But Bronwyn said, "Not quite.  I've read the Art of War.  Yes, the military
only acts at the command of the civilian government, but once set lose, the
civilian government is supposed to step back and let the military
government do its job."

The Goddess said, "And that was the mistake of the first Sisterhood, the
one you replaced.  They felt that since it was their job to tell the
Brotherhood when to attack, they should also have the right to say how to
attack.  And when the Brotherhood wouldn't implement their commands, some
of which were totally unusable, they resorted to manipulation.  I'm afraid
that part of Jeremy Lancaster's story was true.  They did try to manipulate
the Brotherhood into slaves."

The Dark One continued, "With the Sisterhood failing to support the
Brotherhood, it was then that the first demon worshiper infiltrated their
ranks, convinced them to lash out at the Sisterhood, and that their
"rightful place" was as rulers of the planet."

"It was shortly thereafter that your ancestors came to me and beseeched my
aid.  I tried to convince them to beseech the Dark One directly, for they
were men and I could not grant them power directly, but they were too
afraid of the Dark One to even contemplate accepting his power."

"It was then," the Dark One said, "that I suggested the sex change.  That's
right.  It was MY idea.  It was my hope that the men of the Brotherhood
would be more willing to accept the once men as their partners, and, yes,
mates in the fight against evil."

"But my husband underestimated the fear present in both the Brotherhood and
the new Sisterhood.  In a world where femininity was seen as weakness, the
Brothers were afraid of facing that part of their own soul.  And in a world
where the only way seen to fight evil was to be darker than the darkness
(thus humanity's name for my husband), the Sisters were afraid of the
brutality of manhood."

"And thus, lacking the empathy of their female side, the Brotherhood became
prey for evil far too often."

"And now gaining the aggressiveness of their male side, the new Sisterhood
arrogantly felt it unnecessary to reunite the two."

The Dark One and the Goddess both raised their hands, and Bronwyn and
Jeremy (who had been more pained then damaged by the Dark One's blow) felt
their hands raised.  The Dark One and the Goddess brought their hands
together, and suddenly the distance between Bronwyn and Jeremy closed
despite neither one moving a muscle.  And when the Goddess and the Dark One
clasped hands, Bronwyn and Jeremy found their own hands clasping.

The Goddess said, "Despite what sex you choose as a lifemate, man and woman
were meant to be partners in the domination of the universe.  Neither one
truly dominating the other."

Bronwyn and Jeremy stared at each other for a few seconds before slowly
releasing their grip and stepping back.  The Goddess and the Dark One said
in unison, "Let it be known that all Sisters and Brothers in this reality
are hearing our words here today.  It is time for this battle to end.  It
is time for the Sisterhood and the Brotherhood to be reunited as a team to
protect humanity from true evil.  All who disagree may step down and step
away."  Everyone in the room was silent.  No one could know, but each was
wondering how many (if any) of each group was deciding not to accept the
new way of things.

After that, the Goddess and Dark One said, "So be it."

Each of the Incarna shrunk down to human size and escorted the respective
heads of their orders back to the group.  When the Goddess stood before the
collected Sisters, she waved to Jacqui, who had been watching in the
background.  "Come along, child.  The power you wield may be a power all
your own, but you are still one of us.  If you chose to be."

Jacqui smiled and came over to the group.  "I was a little worried about
being accepted now."

"Nonsense, love.  As long as you are woman in soul, you will always be
welcome."  Jacqui took her mother's hand as the Goddess then turned to the
Sisters and said, "Now about those Birth Rites."

Bronwyn said, "We have faithfully cast them upon all our children since you
handed them down to the first of our ancestors."

"Which brings us to the problem."

"Problem, Great Lady?"

The Goddess turned to Laurie and said, "Would you explain?"

Everyone but Jacqui turned to Laurie.  "The Birth Rites... were not handed
down by the Goddess.  Her original intent was that, in an effort to give
them balance, our male children would spend time as women, and our female
children as men.  Then our children could decide to be either male or
female depending on their own preferences.  The men would join the
Brotherhood, and the women would join the Sisterhood.  But our ancestors
had been so afraid of the Dark One and his power, that they crafted a
series of spells that would make it impossible for the men to receive the
Dark Power if they went back to being men, and since they couldn't stop the
girls from receiving the Dark Power at least once, they made it impossible
for us to even have girls."

Bronwyn turned to the Goddess and asked, "If this was not your will, why
did you allow it?"

"My children, you are not puppets.  I can give power, and guidance when
asked.  But if you are bound and determined to make the wrong choices then
I cannot stop you.  To do otherwise would be to destroy a vital part of
what makes you human, your free will.  But that is not the only thing.
Laurie."

Laurie paused before saying, "In order to make sure that the Sisterhood
would remain strong against a possible resurgence of an evil Brotherhood,
the Birth Rites contain compulsions that make us transform all our children
whether we or they wanted it.  It also includes suggestions that make us
want to accept our new feminine status."

A combined murmur went up through the Sisters.  "We're like this," Bronwyn
whispered, "because... we're compelled to be?!"

The Goddess said, "The suggestions only made it more likely that you would
accept your womanhood as what you want.  It didn't make it compulsory.  No
one here would've gone back, it was that truth of yourself that gave you
such skill with my power.  But it shames me to say that about fifteen
percent of the Sisterhood are women against their natures.  Normally I
would be able to do nothing about this.  What human will has done human
will must undo.  But under agreement to the Akashic Master, I do hereby
perform my agreed upon favor and remove the Birth Rites without risk of
Transforming back.  But should any wish to return, I am charging the High
Priestess, whether she be you, Bronwyn, or your successor, to make it
possible."  The Goddess turned to leave.

Before she went anywhere, Bronwyn ran to her, and said, "Great Lady,
speaking of the Akashic Master, when he was here earlier, he was so angry,
and... and it was at me.  To be honest, I can understand his anger at
Julie, but I thought we were getting along so well.  Laurie says he loves
me, and I trust her feelings.  Do you know why he is so angry at me?  I
didn't do anything to him."

The Goddess looked into Bronwyn's eyes and images of the brief time that
the Akashic Master had spent as Joanie flashed through her mind, images
that contained the times where Bronwyn had met the young girl shortly after
her Transformation.  Then Bronwyn got it.  "I didn't do anything for him
either.  Great Lady, can you send me to him?"

The Goddess smiled.  "No need to use any power.  He's only on the roof."

Julie, who had been listening carefully, said, "I have to go to her," and
started moving towards the stairs to the roof.

Laurie placed herself between Julie and the stairs.  "Julie, no."

"Laurie, I have to go to my daughter."

"Julie, listen to yourself.  You have to go to your DAUGHTER?  Julie, I
hate to break the news to you, but you don't have a daughter!"

"But-"

"No, Julie, no buts.  I have yet to hear you even use a masculine pronoun
to describe your SON.  HE has made HIS choice, and HIS choice is to be a
MAN."

Julie was on the verge of a breakdown when she felt the Goddess's touch
upon her.  "Julie, Laurie is right.  You were always more closely aligned
with me, and you were much happier once you were a woman.  But you were so
much happier as a woman, you assumed the same would be true of your son.
And, as a result, you never even got to know your son.

"But even at his most feminine, he was always more closely aligned with my
husband than with I.  It was not ego, but rather his true nature that
necessitated his return to manhood.

"And your son, Julie, is an exceptional man.  I knew that Jacqui would ask
him to protect Laurie against those who might strike at her to get to
Jacqui, and I hoped he might feel enough upon watching her to attempt
reconciliation with you.  But I never expected what he did.  Everything
after he met Jacqui, his imitation of Jack, getting Laurie to confront her
guilt, rooting out the secret of the Birth Rites in a way that Laurie could
accept, the freeing of the Brotherhood from their dark manipulator, and
even bringing us here to reunite the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, was all
him.  Be proud of HIM, Julie."

Julie looked down shamefully.  "He must hate me."

"No, Julie.  He loves you very much.  He's just finding it hard to forgive
you.  But in order for him to forgive you, you must first accept him as he
is."

"Should I go to him now?"

"No.  Let Bronwyn go to him.  Trust her to do the right thing."

Julie nodded.  As Bronwyn headed towards the stairs, the Goddess and the
Dark One returned hand in hand to the split in reality.  As soon as they
touched it, they, the split, and the Dreamspeaker Master all disappeared.
One of the Sisters then said, "That was mind blowing."

Bronwyn climbed onto the curved dome which was the roof of the ballroom.
In the dark, it took her a few seconds to spot him sitting on the edge of
the roof, his knees pulled up, his arms wrapped around them.  She slowly
and carefully made her way down to him, and sat beside him.  She put her
hand on her arm and said, "Can we talk?"

He took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I blew up at you.  It's just
when mom was there, saying what she did, and then you used my femme name, I
just lost control."

"I'd like to be able to leave it at that, but I can't.  You were right.
When I met you right after your Transformation, I sensed the pain you were
going through, but when you wouldn't open up to me, I checked with your
mom.  She told me exactly what I wanted to hear, and you made such a
beautiful, powerful woman... I didn't want to hear about anything that
meant you would be returning to your male life.  I am sorry."

"I wanted you to be able to fix everything when I met you.  Come in, wave
some magical wand and make everything right.  It was unfair, I know."

"From the sounds of it, there was nothing I really could've done.  Not to
reverse it, at least."

Joe sat there for a few seconds before saying, "It's kind of ironic.  I
never wanted power, but time and again it was thrust upon me.  I never
wanted to be a Sister, but mom gave that to me anyways.  And the very act
of forcing my way back to the life I wanted opened channels of power I'd
never even dreamed of.  When I discovered that I would've been more than
content to just be another warrior in the fight, but it turned out that I
had certain abilities that made me the foremost warrior in the fight for
the safety of reality.  And if that wasn't enough after nearly killing
myself a number of times, I and the Soul Blade find each other, turning me
into a nearly penultimate weapon against the forces that would endanger
reality."

Bronwyn looked at the blade hanging from Joe's back.  "Not to change
subjects too radically, but what is that thing?  Is it my imagination or
does that actually have emotions?"

"All souls do."

"It's alive?"

"Kind of.  Six centuries ago, there was a powerful mage who wanted to help
humanity.  Unfortunately, he was also prone to psychotic rages where he'd
scour entire sections of land free of human life.  He thought he could find
a way to cure himself, until he started discovering others like himself.
Those whose madness made them immune to what was then known as the Scourge.
Realizing that he and others like him were mankind's worst enemy, he forged
the blade.  But he realized that there was no magical way to keep the blade
from falling into the hands of his enemies.  Anything he did could
theoretically be undone.

"That was when he was confronted by a young squire.  A twelve year old boy
who had Awakened to his power during the mage's last rage.  A boy whose
master had been slaughtered in that very rage.  The boy attempted to
destroy the mage, but really had no chance.  But rather than destroy the
boy, the mage ripped the boy's soul and Avatar, his magical self, from his
body and bound them to the blade.  That way, the blade could resist any mad
mage who attempted to use it."

Bronwyn was shocked.  "There's a fourteen year old boy in that thing?"

"Six hundred and something actually."

"Haven't you ever tried to release him?"

"He doesn't want release.  His life has become a fight against the forces
of darkness.  He serves a useful purpose and he knows it."

Bronwyn sighed and rested her head against his arm.  "You are a man of many
wonders, Joe."  Joe moved his arm from under her and wrapped it around her
shoulders.  She asked, "Do you forgive me?"

He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head.  "Of course."

After a few seconds, she said, "Now that we've got the boyfriend girlfriend
thing out of the way, do you mind if I speak to you as High Priestess of
the Sisterhood?"

Joe sighed.  "You want me to try to reconcile with my mother."

"Yes.  I can't make you.  I don't think anyone could.  But I think it's
time for a healing.  For both of you."

Joe just sat there for what seemed like a long time before he said, "You
don't know how much I want to believe in her.  How much I want to just say
okay and come back to her."

"But?"

"But the fact that she did what she did once means she could do it again.
I won't put my son at risk like that."

"But you could undo anything she did."

"I could undo the magic.  What I can't undo, at least without serious
tampering in my son's mind, is the knowledge that someone he loves and
trusts betrayed him."

"Are you talking about him?  Or you?"

Joe looked down at her.  "I suppose a little of both.  But ultimately I
can't risk my son going through what I went through."

"But the Goddess talked to her.  She realizes what she did was wrong."

"And what she did was wrong before, even by your rules.  That didn't stop her."

"Joe-"

"Bronwyn, I'm not saying it won't happen.  But I don't give a damn what the
Goddess says, or the Dark One says or does.  When it comes to my son's
safety, I will not take chances."

"But-"

"Bronwyn!  My son knows of his heritage.  He also knows what mom did to me.
I haven't told him anything that would put him at risk if he decides to go
the route of the Sisterhood, but until either he decides he wants to try,
or I decide I can trust her, my son is off limits."

Bronwyn was trying to think of another argument to use when he said, "But I
can introduce her to her granddaughters.  There's no reason to believe they
might be at risk."

"You have daughters?"

"Three of them.  Twin twelve year olds, and a seven year old."

"That kind of explains why I didn't get pregnant when we had sex that first
time."

"Uh huh.  I only produce X chromosone semen."

"And with the Birth Rites in place, my egg rejects all X chromosone sperm.
Well, with the Rites gone, we could have babies, either male or female."

"Not quite.  Part of my payment from the Goddess for retrieving Jacqui, was
total immunity to her power.  That includes her removal of the Birth Rites."

"What about your girls' mother?  Where is she?"

Joe was silent for a while before whispering, "Till death do us part."

"Oh, Joe, I'm so sorry.  How did she die?"

Joe was silent again while he contemplated what to say.  Finally he said,
"I killed her."

Bronwyn was shocked.  "Was it an accident?"

"No.  I killed her intentionally although unwillingly."

"What happened?"

"My wife was a shape-shifter.  The same group of scientist-mages that
kidnapped Dana, got to her.  They wanted to find the "scientific reasons"
behind her shape-shifting.  So they used their Life magicks to keep her
alive while they tortured her, forcing her body through one change after.
When I finally found her, her mind was gone, her soul shattered.  I did
everything I could to heal her, but she was too far gone.  Even reminding
her of her children's need for her did nothing to bring her back to me.  So
I did the only thing I could.  I granted her wish to die."

Bronwyn could hear the pain in his voice.  But all she could do was snuggle
in and share her love with him.  He finally said, "Bronwyn, I'm not telling
you this just to share myself.  If we get together, I will do everything to
protect you, but I have some very nasty enemies.  You could be at risk."

"I'll take my chances."

"Thank you."  Joe leaned over and kissed Bronwyn.  "There is one other thing."

"What's that?"

"I want to teach you how to fight, defend yourself.  After seeing the way
you hit Jeremy, you need it."

"What?  I hit like a girl?"

"No.  Some of the worst hits I've had have been from women.  That was just
weak."

Bronwyn looked into Joe's eyes and saw a twinkle that she took to mean he
was only funning her.  "Oh, really?  Let's see how much of me you can
take."  She reached into his gi and started tickling him.  They playfully
wrestled around a bit before they wound up laying together laughing and
kissing.

After a few minutes, Bronwyn asked, "When do you think you could get
together with your mom?"

"Her return flight is day after tomorrow, so how about the day after?"

"How do you know about her schedule?"

"I have... an acquaintance who has a lot of influence in the airline.  It
was no accident last Thanksgiving when she couldn't get another return
flight at a later time or day, and had to leave without meeting me."

"I should've guessed."

The two kissed, then sat back and watched the stars.  Finally, Bronwyn
asked, "What about that doctor?  Did he escape?"

"Not exactly."

"What happened to him?"

Joe got what could only be described as an evil grin on his face.  "Want to
see?"

Bronwyn looked at him suspiciously, but finally said, "Okay."

Joe snapped his fingers and a glowing circle appeared in the air.  In the
circle a csene played out.  The doctor was in the middle of a forest.  He
stood up and dusted himself off.  He looked around with a smug grin on his
face, like he had managed to get away.  A wolf howled in the distance, but
the doctor blew it off.  Until a wolf appeared in front of him, seeming to
melt from the woods.

The doctor started screaming at the wolf, figuring that he would be able to
scare it off.  But then the wolf's form shifted and flowed into a
half-wolf, half-man form standing almost eight feet tall.  In a very
groling voice, it asked, "What's the matter, doc?  Don't recognize me?"

The doctor realized the werewolf was the same he sent to the Progentor labs
some time ago, and barely managed to avoid her as she leapt at him.  He
took off running, and was surprised when she didn't follow immediately, but
his surprise quickly faded as wolf after wolf flowed from the darkness,
nippiong at his heels and driving him on.

He finally broke out of the woods.  Seeing the city in the distance he took
off at a run, hoping to reach shelter before the pack got him.  He saw a
man leaning on a bike by the road, smoking a cigarette.  He ran up and
said, "Excuse me, but I'm being chased by a pack of vicious wolves.  If you
don't want them to get you, too, we need to get out of here!"

The man blew smoke into the doc's face.  "You know, you'd think that after
I died, I'd be able to give these things up.  Oh, well," he said as he
grabbed the doc by the throat.  His eyes then glowed red and his incisors
grew to twice their normal size.  "It's not like I've got to worry about
cancer anymore."  The vampire then punched the doc back towards the
werewolves.

The doc quickly stood, seeing more vampires appear around him.  As the wolf
pack and vampire clan encircled him, he said, "Impossible!  Werewolves and
vampires are blood enemies!"

"Normally true, but a debt is owed.  The only thing we have to do to repay
it is destroy you without destroying each other.  The ironic thing?  With
the exception of not destroying each other, we'd've done that for free."

The doc then got a look of absolute terror on his face as the two groups
leapt at him.

Joe snapped his fingers and the ccircle disappeared.  "The rest just gets
bloody."

Bronwyn asked, "Why didn't he use his magic?"

"After that blast of Goddess power?  He barely had enough power to get away
from me."

Bronwyn said, "I'm glad I'm not your enemy."  The two kissed.


----------

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



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