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Subject: {ASSM} Change of Power [7/14]
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 12:10:05 -0500
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Had to get a new email, so I'm reposting my old works under the new
addy to get it out.
Change of Power pt 7
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 7
------------
Lancaster reviewed the reports that they had gotten from the various
attacks on the Sisterhood by the mercenaries they hired. They had
gotten a lot of information, but ultimately, none of the mercs had
stood a chance.
He told the doctor, "We're going to have to arrange some attacks with
lesser members of the Brotherhood. We need to put greater stress on
finding out more of their capabilities in combat. We know they're
incapable of killing, but, as we have found out, that doesn't mean
they are ineffective in combat."
"Agreed. But we may not have to risk members of the Brotherhood."
"Explain."
"Unlike the members of the Sisterhood, we recognize that there are
other paths of power. Other ways to gain mystic skills then by
following the Goddess or the Dark One."
Lancaster shook his head dismissively. "Lesser paths. Some of these
people barely have more power than an average man."
"Agreed. But if we inform these lesser workers that they will be
facing magic users, they will be prepared where the Sisters will not.
They may actually take out a few Sisters. And if they don't," the
doctor shrugged, "who cares. Yes, eventually the Brotherhood and the
Sisterhood will have to engage in direct confrontation, but knowledge
is power, and the more knowledge we have before that confrontation,
the more power we have."
Lancaster considered it. "Agreed. Make it so."
After Lancaster left, the doctor nearly broke out laughing. This was
too easy. With the help of the Brotherhood, he would start a war
amongst the lesser paths that would result in chaos to feed his dark
master. And he would be able to give the leaders of the Technocracy,
who were becoming suspicious of his activities with the Brotherhood,
something to work with.
------------
************
Bronwyn walked into Laurie's house. Laurie was waiting at her usual
place at the table. She asked, "Are you ready to talk now?"
Bronwyn, seeming to be in a stunned state, sat down without saying a
word. Laurie's healer's senses told her of Bronwyn's confusion, and,
although still upset at her friend's actions, her concern took over.
"Bron, you okay?"
Bronwyn just sat there for a few seconds before saying, "Laurie, I
think you were right. I think I should just confess who I am to...
Jack, and then fade out for a while. Handle some stuff going on with
Sisters in other states."
"Alright, now I know something is going on. What happened yesterday?"
"I... I don't know what you mean."
"Yeah, right. Yesterday you were convinced that I should just let
you play out your hand. Now, you come in here tongue-tied and
stunned and tell me you just want to fade away? What happened?"
Laurie dropped her voice. "He didn't... do anything to you, did he?"
"No. Yes. I don't know!"
Laurie placed her hand on Bronwyn's. "What happened, love?"
Bronwyn took a deep breath, clenched Laurie's hand, and started her
story. "After we left here we went to that coffee shop down by the
mall. We talked. We laughed. We ate muffins. Before we knew what
happened it was closing time. Jack took me home, and walked me to my
door, to the apartment I set up as Nita. We stood there like two
kids, not quite sure what to do or say. Then I figured I'd give him
a good-bye kiss. Nothing special. Just a light peck on the cheek.
But somehow our lips met.
"Oh, Goddess, Laurie, it was so fantastic! I just melted into his
arms. He made me feel so safe... protected. But without making me
feel small."
"Sounds great. What's the problem?"
"Laurie, I can deal with the fact that I may have fallen for him, but
the fact is I have NO idea who this man really is! Have I fallen for
him or have I fallen for his image of Jack? Besides I was trying to
get him to fall for me, not the other way around."
"So? It seems to me you achieved your goal. If he hadn't fallen for
you, I doubt the kiss would've been as intense as you describe."
"But-"
"No buts, Bron. You're confused by your feelings for him. The last
thing you should be considering is running away. Besides, I thought
about it and you were right. If Nita suddenly disappears out of his
life, he may get upset, particularly if, as I suspect, he's fallen
for you."
"But-"
"No, Bronwyn, as your friend, as your healer, and as the woman who
you directly disobeyed to do this, I am prescribing a healthy dose of
time as Nita."
"You can't be serious."
"Very. Bron, your confusion isn't going to go away if you run away.
You need this."
Bronwyn slumped into her chair. "Bitch."
Laurie just smiled. She asked, "Do you really mean that?" already
knowing the answer.
Bronwyn gave a small grin. "Of course not."
"Then kiss me to apologize for it." Bronwyn and Laurie leaned
together and kissed. "You know, if nothing else, your kiss with Jack
has brought us back together."
"We haven't been together since before Jacqui left. Doesn't Jack
have practice today?"
"For the next few hours."
"Good." Bronwyn grabbed Laurie by the hand and dragged her upstairs.
Three hours of giggling and fun later, Bronwyn lay beside a satiated
Laurie, gently stroking her breast.
The phone rang and Laurie picked it up. "Hello? Yeah, wait a
second." She handed the receiver to Bronwyn. "It's for you."
"Hello?" After a few seconds, Laurie felt Bronwyn's concern and fear
suddenly spike. "Yeah, okay, keep me informed."
"What's wrong?"
"In the last twenty-four hours four Sisters have been attacked."
"More mercenaries?"
"Not standard ones. Laurie, the people who attacked us this time
were wielding magic."
"Members of the Brotherhood?"
"Three of those attacked said that the magic used didn't have the
dark feel to it."
"And the fourth?"
Bronwyn swallowed, having problems getting it out. "Dana is missing.
Whoever attacked her overpowered her and took her hostage. Both her
mother and daughter are sure she's still alive, but they can't locate
her. Something is blocking their attempts."
"Goddess protect us."
************
Excerpt from the journal of Miss Jacqui Donovan, Vol. II
Day 52
Over the last four weeks, granny and I have talked a lot. I followed
her suggestion and told Marcus how I felt, then let him work things
out on his own. I wasn't sure how he was doing, but the other day
I'm pretty sure I caught him staring at me when he thought I wasn't
looking. It's a small victory, but right now, I'll take anything I
can get.
Granny has suggested that I might want to join one of the groups. I
think I haven't chosen one so far because I felt it might be like
betraying the Sisterhood. Granny says I'm being foolish. She says
the Sisterhood loves me, and they would've had to have degenerated to
the point where they were no longer worthy of the Goddess's power
before they'd throw me out for wanting to maximize my training
potential. She also says that if I join one of the groups, I might
be able to talk them into letting mom come here for my baby's birth.
I guess the question now is which one. I briefly considered joining
the Euthanatos to be close to Marcus, but that group really isn't for
me. Besides what happens if Marcus decides we should just be
friends? Or worse yet, decides
No, don't even think that, Jacqui. Trust that your love for him is true.
I've pretty much ruled out the Verbena and Choristers. They tell me
that most of the Sisters who have Awakened have joined one of these
two groups, but they're really not for me, and Granny says (and I
agree) that I need to choose a group I feel comfortable with. Which
likewise leaves the Dreamspeakers and Cultists out. In the two
months I've been here, I've gotten to know a lot of each group, and
although both groups aren't as out there as I first thought, neither
do I feel I can really do their world views.
Which leaves the Hermetic Guild, the Akashics, the Virtual Adepts,
and the Sons of Ether.
Like I said, I don't think I'll be joining the Hermetics, but for
some reason, they've been courting me pretty heavily to join. At
first I thought it was because everyone says I am an incredibly
powerful Mage (am I destined to always be too powerful for my own
good?), but recently I've gotten the nagging suspicion there's
something more to it. Of course, when I ask, they won't tell me a
thing, saying that if I want to find out I should join up.
You know, I really like the discipline of the Akashics, but the
martial aspects kind of intimidate me. Not only for the fighting
skills but for the fact that the Akashics seem to have the greatest
responsibility for fighting enemies of the Traditions. Besides, with
my pregnancy, learning that martial art of theirs would be a real
hassle.
Which leaves the Sons or the Virtual Adepts. I think I'll probably
be going with the Adepts, but I've really had to revise my opinions
of the Sons. At first I thought they were just a bunch of wacky
scientists, but they really seem to make learning fun. They have a
joy of discovering new things that I've rarely seen in anyone. I
suppose I still have time to decide.
I still haven't been able to get to the archives and check out what
they have on the Sisterhood. I'll try to find the time to get there
soon.
************
Laurie had just returned from shopping for some new clothes. With
Jack getting all her food her budget had expanded tremendously and
she had decided to take advantage of it at the clothes' store.
She did this partly to do something other than sit around the house,
partly to take her mind off the problems of the Sisterhood. In the
last two weeks there had been no less than a dozen attacks on Sisters
across the face of the globe. And they were still no closer to
finding out who was behind these attacks.
And worse yet, Dana was still missing. Her daughter and mother had
spent long hours trying to pierce the wall between them, but, so far,
to no avail.
She was thinking of calling to find out if they had made any recent
gains when she heard a knock on the door. She checked the peephole
and saw a delivery man. She was wondering what was being delivered
when she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.
She felt a hand over her mouth. Not restraining, but blocking, to
keep her from crying out. She looked to the other end of the arm and
saw Jack's face and relaxed.
Jack removed his hand from her mouth, leaned in, and whispered, "That
man is a magic worker. Apparently you have become the next target
for these attacks." Laurie got a concerned look on her face, but
Jack continued, "Don't worry. With me here, there's no way he can
break in and hurt you. But if you invite him in, I can neutralize
him and we might be able to learn the true source of these attacks.
The risk in that is that he might be able to move fast enough to hurt
you before I can stop him. I doubt it, but anything is possible.
I'll leave it up to you."
Laurie thought about it for a few seconds and said, "Let's take a chance."
Jack nodded, and placed himself where he'd be behind the door when it
opened. He nodded and Laurie opened the door. The man outside said,
"Package, ma'am. Requires signature and ID."
"Ok, come on inside."
Laurie turned her back and walked towards her purse sitting on a
table. In a mirror, she saw the man step inside and pull something
out of his back pocket. But before he could use it, Jack kicked it
out of his hand, then grasped the man in a Sleeper hold. Laurie
turned, and felt him struggle with his magics, but nothing he did
accomplished anything. She felt his magics squelched like a match
dropped in water. It was only a few seconds before consciousness
left the man.
"Quite humane," she commented.
"Mom, you will tend to find that those who are really the best at
fighting are those who like to use it the least." Jack lowered the
man to the floor.
"Yeah, but that was almost anti-climactic."
"Had to keep him in relatively good shape in order to scan him."
Jack placed his hand on the man's forehead.
"I'm not sure scanning him is going to do any good. Some of the
Sisters have scanned men who have attacked them and found nothing."
"Well, no offense, but your senses are not as well developed as my own."
Laurie was about to say something, but Jack held his hand up while he
scanned the man's mind. Finally, he looked up and said, "He was
hired by one of the Brotherhood."
"Are you sure?"
Jack nodded. "You can't have ever felt that power without being able
to identify it again. You never noticed it because the people being
hired never identified the feeling of the power, so it wasn't part of
their conscious remembrances."
"Then it looks like we have another war on our hands."
************
Excerpt from the journal of Miss Jacqui Donovan, Vol. II
Day 73
I finally got a chance to see the base's archives on the Sisterhood.
All I can say is, mom, I am so sorry for all the hate I had for you
after my Transformation. You were as much a victim as I was.
************
Bronwyn, Laurie, and five of the best and most powerful were sitting
in her kitchen discussing the developing situation. Bronwyn asked
Laurie, "Are you sure that this is a plot by the Brotherhood?"
"Jack was sure. Not having the ability to go as deeply as he could,
I couldn't sense the presence of the Dark One's power through
second-hand contact."
Julie, one of the other Sisters, a good friend of Laurie's from
before she got pregnant with Jack, asked, "Can we trust this man?
Being male, his power must be more closely aligned with the Dark One."
Bronwyn said, "Trust me, if this man wanted to do us harm, he could
do it in a lot more effective ways than feeding us false information.
I think we can trust it."
"Where is he? Perhaps we should interview him ourselves."
"He's at practice at school. He's said that if we want to interview
him, he will be available so long as we don't expect him to modify
his schedule, or in any way interfere with his personal life."
"Just like a man."
Laurie said, "Julie, he didn't have to be there to protect me. I
wouldn't have even known that this man was a magic user if he had not
skipped class and warned me."
Bronwyn said, "I think it's pretty safe to assume that we are now in
the middle of another war with the Brotherhood. Each of you, when
you return to your homes, needs to warn all the Sisters anywhere near
you to be on the lookout for possible attacks."
After that the meeting broke up with an agreement to meet tomorrow to
personally interview the man. Everybody except for Julie left to get
some sleep. After they had gone, Laurie asked, "Okay, Julie, what's
wrong?"
"Wrong? Why do you think something's wrong?"
"I'd have to be a pretty poor healer not to feel the pain resounding
off of you. Come on, spill the beans."
"It's nothing, really."
Laurie tried to form a link between them, but Julie had every shield
up, making it impossible. Looking into Julie's eyes, Laurie decided
to play a hunch. "So how is your daughter? Wasn't Joanie the name
you planned to give her after her Transformation?"
Julie started, "She's..." but then crumbled into tears. Laurie
quickly got beside Julie and wrapped her arms around the sobbing
woman.
After Julie settled down, she said, "Okay, Julie, what's wrong?"
Julie sniffled a bit and asked, "Laurie, I hear your daughter had
problems adjusting, but eventually decided to stay a girl. How did
you manage to convince her?"
"I didn't. I let the decision remain hers up to the end. In fact,
she hadn't decided to remain a woman until shortly after she got
pregnant. In fact, I was so sure that she would've been happier as
Jack, that I almost gave up my life to give that back to him. Does
this have something to do with Joanie? Is she unhappy as a girl?
Why didn't she Transform back?"
"She's... She did. Only two years after her Transformation."
"And you never let anyone know? Julie, her Transformation was
eighteen years ago!"
"Bronwyn knows she changed back, but she doesn't know..."
"Know what?"
"Nothing."
"Julie, please don't shut me out."
"After she Transformed back, she... she left me. She took her child,
and left the house, saying that if I ever came after her or her child
again, she'd kill me!"
Laurie sat there, shocked. "I'm... I'm sure she was just angry.
I'm sure that now that... he's," Laurie saw Julie cringe visibly at
the mention of her child's return to masculinity, "had a chance to
cool down, he'll be willing to talk. Haven't you made any attempt to
contact him?"
"That's just it, I have no idea where she is!"
"You didn't follow her... his aura?"
"Of course I did! But about a week after she left me, something
happened. Her aura changed so radically in such a short period of
time that I lost track of her. And nothing I have done since then
has allowed me to find her!"
Laurie was stunned. Nothing she understood of the way magic worked
should've explained what Julie was saying. "Why didn't you tell us?
We could've gotten together, worked together to find him."
"My problems with my daughter are my own. I didn't want to bother
anybody else."
"Julie, that is NONSENSE! The Sisterhood isn't just a group of
girls, Julie. We're a family. We're here for you in pain and in
joy."
Julie looked into Laurie's eyes, then leaned over and rested her head
on the healer's chest. Laurie held her while she felt silent tears
stream from Julie's eyes.
After a few minutes, Julie pulled herself together and said, "Thanks,
Laurie, you're still the best."
"Julie, I know you're not big on asking for help, but maybe we could
ask Jack for help. He's very powerful and very skilled."
"No, Laurie, absolutely not. I feel bad enough involving the other
Sisters in my problems. You have to promise me not to involve
outsiders."
"Alright, if that's what you want. But I think you should at least
meet him. You sure you can't stay? He'll be back later tonight."
"I wish I could. For some reason, the only flights I could get were
today. The flights are so loaded for the upcoming Thanksgiving
holiday, I almost didn't make it today. Short of making a magical
plague to knock dozens of people off a flight, I'm stuck."
"Okay."
The two ladies hugged and relaxed for a while before Julie had to go.
After she was gone, Laurie had a chance to sit and think. After the
attacks had begun on the Sisterhood, she hadn't spent much time
working on Jack's clues, feeling that it wasn't time to work on what
she thought was a personal matter, but clearly this went a lot deeper
than she thought. She spent the next couple hours pouring over the
records she had of the Sisters.
When Jack came home, Laurie asked, "Can we talk?"
"Sure." He slid into the chair beside her. "What's up?"
"I have spent the last few hours going over my records in depth and,
for the life of me, I can't find a single reason why Jacqui and a few
others have reacted so badly."
"I told you, you're looking at the wrong question."
"What do you mean? Jacqui and a small percentage of others were
unable to handle their Transformations and reacted badly. All the
other Sisters were fine with it."
"And that doesn't strike you as odd?"
"What?"
"Think about it for a second. There have been approximately 150,000
Sisters throughout history. Out of that number, 30,000 reacted badly
to the Transformation. That leaves 120,000 individual Sisters who
had exactly the same reaction to the Transformation."
"So?"
"Look, if more people had reacted like Jacqui, upset, or maybe even
just mystified about their Transformation, but grew to accept and
love their femininity, that would be understandable. But did you
feel anything like that?"
Laurie thought about her own Transformation. After she had
Transformed, she had been mystified, but over how it had been done,
but not what had been done. Thinking about it, it hadn't made sense.
Her entire life had been turned upside down. Guys who had been her
friends were now suitors, and girls she had wanted to be more than
friends with were now interested in nothing more than friendship.
But even from the beginning, it had just seemed so... right.
"I... I don't get it."
"And when you do, then you will have solved a major step towards your goal."
Jack then went upstairs to his room, leaving Laurie to wonder what was next.
--
"This is reality, not T.V. Can't you tell the difference?"
"Sure. I just like T.V. better."
J R D
jrdss@pobox.alaska.net
--
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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