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From: J R D <jrdss@pobox.alaska.net>
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Subject: {ASSM} Change of Power [4/14]
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 00:10:05 -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 4

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 4

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

Day 2

Oh, Goddess!  I don't know whether to cry or jump for joy.  I was 
waken early this morning by a lady about my age.  "Good morning," she 
says with a cheeriness I definitely didn't feel.  "I'm to be your 
escort today."

"I don't suppose you could escort me in about an hour, and let me get 
some more sleep?"  I asked.

"Feeling a little groggy?  That's transition lag.  Kind of like 
metaphysical jet lag from arriving here."  She then reached into her 
belt and pulled out a dagger.  I must've gone bug-eyed, because she 
just smiled and said, "Relax."  She then pricked her own finger.  She 
waved her hand a bit, and sung.  The blood on her fingertip became a 
mist that flowed towards me.  I backed up a bit, but when I breathed 
it in, all my exhaustion dissipated.

I got up and thanked her.  After we left my room, I asked what the 
blood and song was for.  "They're my foci," she said.

When I asked her what that meant, she said, "Oh, I forgot.  You're an Orphan."

"Orphan?"

"Somebody who didn't awaken due to the training of one of the 
Traditions.  You see, each Tradition takes promising Sleepers who 
might understand the universe from their viewpoint and trains them, 
hoping they'll Awaken to their higher potential.  But there are a 
few, more and more these days, who Awaken without any prompting from 
the higher orders, an Orphan.  And a focus is a casting aid to help 
control the universe around you.  As you follow the path to 
Ascension, you're able to shed more and more of those aids.  As an 
Orphan, you either have your own foci or no need at all.  Me?  I use 
the foci of my own Tradition, the Verbena."

"The Verbena?"

"One of the groups I'm to introduce you to today.  The Verbena are 
the modern day descendants of the Pagans and Druids of the 
Pre-civilized world.  I use things like blood, song, dance, herbs, 
and such as foci.  Verbena are the masters of Life magicks."

She then took me to her section of the base, showing me some of the 
rites and rituals of the Verbena.  Some of it, like the chanting and 
singing were like what mom had taught me as one of the Sisterhood. 
But some of it, like the blood magic, was kind of creepy.

The next group she introduced me to was the Celestial Chorus, masters 
of Prime.  These people focus through things like prayers, fasting, 
sacrifice.  They believe that their magick is actually a gift from 
the Supreme Creator.

The next group were the Dreamspeakers, masters of the sphere of 
Spirit, the modern-day descendants of the shamans of old.  They get 
their power through beseeching the spirit world.

Then she introduced me to the Cult of Ecstasy, masters of the Time 
Sphere.  How do I describe the Cultists?  You know when people who 
experienced the drugs of the 60's say that they experienced new 
worlds and mind-expanding vistas?  For the Cultists it was true.  I 
suppose that's not an entirely fair assessment, but it was the 
impression they left me.  For them, their foci are anything that 
provides sensation.  Drugs, sex, even pain.  Definitely not for me.

The next group was the Akashics, or more formally, the Akashic 
Brotherhood (although from what I understand, more and more the word 
"Brotherhood" is being dropped when referring to these folks), 
masters of Mind.  This was when I discovered who my strange rescuer 
had been.  The Akashics are descendants of Oriental mages who focus 
their power through discipline and their martial art.

Next I was shown the Order of Hermes, masters of Forces.  The oldest 
formally established order (although the Verbena and the Akashics 
both can trace their lineage back much further, the Hermetics are the 
first to formally unify most of their groups under a single ruling 
body).  When you think of mages from most fantasy stories, sitting in 
their towers apart from the world, writing new spells and doing fancy 
rituals, that's these guys.

I don't think I'll be joining these guys, for two reasons.  One, 
they're a little too... anal for my tastes.  Two, if arrogance were 
power, these guys would already rule the world.  And that's saying 
something, considering the rest of these mages' attitude.

This was when I asked Morrigan, my escort, if any of the mages lived 
in the twentieth century.  That was when she brought me to meet the 
Sons of Ether, masters of Matter.  These guys are like the mad 
scientists from old pulp novels of the 20's and 30's.  Fancy gadgets 
based on obscure scientific principles, most of which have been 
disproven, are their foci.

Then she introduced me to the Virtual Adepts.  Now these are guys I 
could really get behind.  They're computer mages.  Their foci? 
Computers, programs, virtual reality gear.  These guys really 
impressed me.

That was when it happened.  Morrigan took me to meet the last 
official group.  The Euthanatos.  Death mages.  Masters of the Sphere 
of Entropy.  Just walking into their area kind of creeped me out.  We 
went in when a class was in session.  A bunch of apprentices were 
being trained by a Master in the use of a knife.

Then I saw him.  At first, I thought my eyes, my heart was deceiving 
me.  I thought that his visage was the result of the combination an 
overactive imagination and the potential I had seen.  I saw... 
Marcus.  The man I loved, the father of my child.  Morrigan was 
saying something to me, but I didn't even hear her.  I called out to 
him.  His head turned and then I saw it was true.  It was my Marcus!

I ran to him and threw my arms around him.  I felt his arms encircle 
me, but it was cold, perfunctory.  After far too short a time, Marcus 
broke the embrace.  He looked at me, and asked, "You are well?"

I said yes, and tried to restore our embrace.  But Marcus locked up 
his arms, and kept me at a distance.  He said, "I need to get back to 
my class," and turned back to his class.

I stepped away, wondering what was wrong, when Morrigan asked me what 
was going on.  I told her about my relationship with Marcus, and 
explained how I lost him, to which, she just said, "I'm so sorry."

When I pressed her for details, she explained.  "Your lover is now 
one of the Euthanatos.  The Euthanatos, in an effort to understand 
death, allow themselves to experience death.  They go beyond the Veil 
and return.  From the sounds of it, Marcus's Awakening experience was 
his dying."

"But if his Magick kept him from dying-"

"No, not kept him from dying.  Brought him back from death.  That... 
changes a man.  The Marcus you see out there is not the same Marcus 
you last knew."

I was stunned.  Marcus... no longer loves me?  I begged off any 
further tour, and returned to my room.  Goddess, I think I will cry.

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

Bronwyn, early the next day, went into Laurie's kitchen, where the 
younger woman was having a morning cup of coffee.  "Morning, Bronwyn, 
shouldn't you be looking after Lani?"

"Lani is fine.  She's at the sitter's.  I figured we needed to talk 
about this Jack problem."

"There's no problem."

"Laurie."

"No, Bron.  This is my decision."

Bronwyn remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "I scanned 
him last night."

"BRONWYN!"

"I'm sorry, love, but I can't just stand by and do nothing."

Laurie grumbled a bit.  "I just hope you haven't provoked anything by 
doing it."  They both sat in silence for a few seconds before Laurie 
said, "Well, since it's already done, what did you find out?"

Bronwyn smiled.  "Honestly, not much.  His shields are... incredible. 
Nothing I did could allow me to slip past even one of them.  But it 
was the strangest thing."

"What?"

"When I was there, especially when I touched his shields, I got this 
feeling of... familiarity.  Like I knew him."

"Is he someone you know?"

"No.  At least not someone I've known recently."

They heard feet on the steps and Bronwyn placed her fingers to her 
lips in a silencing motion.  When he came into the room, Laurie said, 
"Good morning,... Jack."

"Good morning, mother-darling."

Bronwyn got up, saying, "I guess I'd better go."

Jack said, "Sit down, Bronson."

Bronwyn froze in place.  "What did you call me?"

"Bronson.  Your pre-Transformation name.  I thought it'd hold enough 
impact to get through to you."  Jack pointed to the chair which 
Bronwyn was barely out of, and she sat back down.  "Now, where do I 
begin?  Let's start with that pathetic intrusion attempt you made 
last night.  Now you didn't really know, so let me explain something. 
My specialty is not imitating other people.  My specialty is combat. 
And the first type of combat I mastered was mental combat.  So while 
you were clumsily banging your head, metaphorically speaking, on my 
shields, I went through some of your mind to find some personal data 
about you.

"Now, at first, I figured I'd get some data, come down this morning, 
use it to prove I had been inside your head, then make some nasty 
threats."  Bronwyn and Laurie got suspicious (and a little 
frightened) looks on their faces.  "Relax.  I dismissed that early 
on.  I realized that if I threatened you, it'd probably only provoke 
you.  And I don't want to fight you."  He looked Bronwyn in the eye 
and said, "Either of you," in a tone that made it clear that if he 
had to fight, he'd find fighting her much easier than he cared to 
admit.

He continued, "Let me explain something.  There is nothing you can 
do, that I cannot counter, undo, or just plain ignore.  But you can 
hassle me to the point where I decide to up and leave.  But if you 
drive me away, know this, I can rebuild Jack's life anywhere on the 
planet.  You drive me away, and the day after, she," he pointed to 
Laurie, "starts finding letters of acceptance to colleges across the 
country, maybe around the world, for Jack Donovan.  Then when Jacqui 
gets finished with her apprenticeship, she comes back knowing that 
you were unwilling to give her a decent chance at a life as Jack, and 
with a great life somewhere else.  Get the point?"

Bronwyn and Laurie nodded.  Jack said, "Good.  Now I've got an early 
class today, and if my senses aren't betraying me, I think we're 
going to have a pop-quiz today."

After Jack left, Laurie slugged Bronwyn in the arm, and gave her a 
dirty look.  "If you blow this for me, Bronwyn, I will never forgive 
you.  And if you lose my daughter for me, I will never speak to you 
again."

Laurie stormed out of the room.  After she was gone, Bronwyn 
whispered, "But I can't just sit by and do nothing."

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

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

Day 3

I cried myself to sleep last night.  Then had dreams of dancing with 
Marcus, like on our prom.  I woke up this morning and broke down in 
tears again.  How am I going to manage this?  Knowing Marcus is just 
in another part of the base, and doesn't want to be with me is just 
too much.

Anyways, Morrigan introduced me to the last group, the semi-official 
one.  They call themselves the Hollow Ones.  They're Generation X 
mages.  Kind of fatalistic, but with a sense of hidden hope inside 
them.

There's a small group of unaffiliated mages, the Orphans.  I'm not 
sure which group, if any I'm going to join.

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

Bronwyn sat in her home, trying to think of a way to, at least, keep 
an eye on the Jack look-alike.  There was no way she could discuss 
this with Laurie.  Not that Bronwyn blamed her lover.  If Bronwyn had 
been made to choose between her child and the Sisterhood, she'd've 
made the same choice.  But it just wasn't in her nature to sit back 
and do nothing.

Most of her options just didn't seem to be of any use to her. 
Whoever this man was, he was just too powerful to be confronted 
directly, either with subtlety or blatant action.  So that left only 
indirect action.  Shape-shifting and illusions seemed out, too. 
There was no way a mage of his power wasn't going to notice the 
presence of magic.  He may not have been able to see through them 
(although that seemed unlikely), but he'd definitely notice the 
presence.

Which pretty much left the Transformation spell.  Which had dangers 
of its own.  If something happened she'd be stuck like this forever, 
so she had to pick her form carefully.  He had already admitted that 
he had scanned Jacqui's mind, so she couldn't look anything like 
herself or Bonnie.  She thought about it for a while then cast her 
spell.  When she was finished, the cute little redhead looking back 
at her from the mirror was exactly like she wanted.  Sexy, without 
being too sexy, but also cute and pretty.

Luckily, it was still early enough in the term that a transfer 
student wouldn't be too strange.  And she could choose a schedule 
that she wanted.  Only one or two classes with "Jack" would be 
necessary, and she could grab the electives, or maybe even a computer 
class or two.  One thing she had learned from Jacqui was that the 
Sisterhood was woefully inept in modern technologies.  But whatever 
it was, she wouldn't be able to use mental scanning to get her 
through the rough spots.

She'd cast the spells later that night to create the official records 
of...  What would her name be?  She finally decided on Nita.  But 
she'd create the official records of Nita tonight, so she could get 
some sleep before starting her watch the next day.

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

He walked into the base and into the lab.  "I got it," he told the 
scientist working there.

The scientist replied, "Are you sure you want to use this?  The 
Sisterhood knows you've got it.  They may have developed 
counter-measures to it."

"Please.  The most effective counter-measures would've been 
destroying all traces of the virus before they left the base.  But 
the bitches were so concerned about their whelp that they totally 
overlooked making sure that all back-ups were destroyed when they 
destroyed the computers.  No.  We will do this, if only to avenge my 
brother's death."

"But your brother isn't dead."

The man turned on the scientist!  "Transformed into a girl?!  He 
might as well be dead!!!"

The scientist cringed, "Yes, sir, Mr. Lancaster."

After Lancaster left, the scientist resumed his regular stature.  He 
took the computer disk with the virus on it and smiled.  "Fanatics 
are so easy to manipulate," he thought.  He stuck the computer disk 
into the drive.  It'd take some work to make it into a sufficient 
tool for his uses, but when he finished he'd show those fools in the 
Brotherhood what worshiping a Dark One really meant.

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

"Nita" walked into the cafeteria.  She had checked a bit, and found 
out that right after practice, a few members of the team, including 
Jack, usually went to the cafeteria and had some sodas and snacks. 
She had arranged it so that her next class would be with the 
look-alike.  If it was possible, she'd get him to walk her to class.

She sat down at an empty table and waited.  It was only about 15 
minutes before Jack and four other guys came in, laughing and joking. 
They sat at a table across the room from her, and continued to laugh 
and joke.  She was trying to figure out a way to get Jack to notice 
her, when she noticed that a couple guys were pointing at her and 
whispering.  She was tempted to use her magics to amplify her 
hearing, but she really couldn't take the chance.

Then it finally sunk in.  Bronwyn a.k.a. Nita realized that she had 
become far too reliant on her magics, but, if she was to pull this 
off, she'd have to do everything she needed without recourse to even 
the simplest of spells.

The boys seemed to be discussing something, and from the sideways 
glances, and subtle pointing, she guessed it had something to do with 
her.  Finally, one of Jack's friends got up and came over to her. 
"Hi, my name is Bob," he said, introducing himself, and extending his 
hand to her.

Nita placed her hand in his, and he took it and kissed it.  "My name 
is Nita," she said.

"Enchanted.  Are you new around here?"

"Transferred in today."

"Need somebody to show you around?"

"Well, no, I think I've pretty much got it down.  Thanks."

"Could I perhaps entreat you to share your phone number with me?"

"Sorry, no phone number yet.  Just moved into town, remember?"

"Perhaps I could take you out next Friday so that we could get to 
know each other?"

"Sorry.  Until I can get caught up, I'm going to have to devote my 
free time to study.  But I will keep you in mind for the next time 
I've got some free time on my hands."

Hearing that he wasn't going to get anywhere, Bob kissed her hand and 
departed back to the rest of the group.  Judging by the way he was 
being treated when he got there, Nita guessed that he was being 
razzed for failing to score with the new girl.  She thought about it. 
If she wasn't able to make friends with "Jack", she just might be 
able to stay close by getting close to his friend.  He seemed a nice 
enough fella, and kind of cute.  She could do worse.

It was then that a guy, uninvited, sat beside her.  He took her hand 
and said, "Hey, baby, new in town?"

She yanked her hand out of his and said, "Obviously."  She tried to 
make it clear from the tone of her voice that she wasn't interested, 
but, like so often happened with intrusive asses like this, he didn't 
get the hint.

"So what's a hottie like you doing sitting alone here?"

Turning away from him, she said, "Trying to get in some studying 
between classes."

He started to get way too close to her.  "Aw, what's a babe like you 
worrying about studying for?  You can land a rich guy for a husband 
just by smiling and flirting a lot."

Normally by this time, she'd've sent this guy packing with a mental 
suggestion or two, but restrained as she was, she could only push 
away from him, saying, "Look, I'm not interested, so why don't you 
get lost?"

He got so close to her that she could smell what he had eaten for 
lunch.  "Aw, come on.  You're a girl.  I'm a guy.  I can tell you're 
interested."

She tried to push herself free of his grasping arms.  "No, I'm not."

Nita heard the slap of hand on fabric.  She saw a hand on the jerk's 
shoulder, and followed it up to the face of, of all people, Jack. 
"Lady said she wasn't interested.  A gentleman would take the hint 
and leave."

The jerk looked up at him, and said, "Beat it, ball boy, find your own girl."

He turned back to Nita, but Jack said, "First off, the girl isn't 
yours, and she's trying to make it clear that she isn't interested in 
becoming yours.  Second, as a guy, your asinine, childish behavior is 
an insult to real men everywhere.  So why don't you back off and go 
find some airhead bimbo to insult?"

The jerk let go of Nita and stood up.  "Why don't I just beat me up a 
jock instead?"

Jack made a face that left the impression that he was considering it 
then said, "I suppose that's always something you could try."  He 
turned back to his friends.  In a game show MC's voice, he said, 
"Bob, what's the standard prize for a man who takes a swing at one of 
the team?"

Putting his hand to his ear like he had a pair of headphones on, Bob 
imitated the voice of the prize announcer on The Price is Right, 
saying, "Well, Jack, the standard award for someone stupid enough to 
take a swing at a team mate in front of the rest of the team is a 
serious ass whooppin'."

"Is that all, Bob?"

"No, sir, Jack.  The offending idiot would also get the eternal 
enmity of the entire sports department as well as possible suspension 
and criminal charges for daring to start a fight."

"Thank you, Bob."

"You're very welcome, Jack."

Jack turned back to the jerk and, in a more serious tone, said, "Now 
you can take that swing if you want, but you will get hurt.  So why 
don't you do the smart thing and just go on your way?"

The man looked from Jack to the team, one of whom took the 
opportunity to break a pencil in an act of symbolic promised 
violence, and back to Jack.  He then said, "This isn't over," and 
started to walk away.

As he passed by Jack, Jack said, "It is if you're smart."  After he 
was out of earshot, Jack said, "Which probably means it's not over." 
Jack turned to Nita, tipped his hand to his forehead in a salute, and 
said, "There you go.  One damsel in distress de-distressed."

As he walked back to the team, Nita stuffed her books in her bag and 
ran over to them.  "Excuse me, could I get one of you to walk me to 
my next class?  I'd rather not risk running into that guy, or someone 
like him, again."

Bob asked, "What's your next class?"

"Intro to Sociology."

Jack said, "That's my next class.  It looks like you've got an escort."

Bob said, "Lucky dog," and punched Jack in the arm.

Jack just smiled and extended his elbow in a gentlemanly way.  Nita 
slipped her arm through his.  He escorted her to the lockers to grab 
his books and they went together to the class.  He made sure she was 
comfortably situated and then took a seat a row over and two seats 
back.  After class, she managed to catch him before he left.  "Can 
you... walk me home?" she asked.  "I guess I'm still a little freaked 
by that close encounter with whoever he was."

"Sure.  That was my last class."

Jack walked her home, and, at the door, she said, "Maybe I'm being a 
little forward, but transferring in late has got me flustered and a 
little behind.  You seemed to have your stuff together in class. 
Could we get together this weekend?  Just to study, I mean."

"Sure.  How about Saturday in the campus center?"

"That'd be great.  See you there."

After Jack left, Nita thought to herself, "This could be easier than 
I thought."
-- 
"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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