Anneza trailed off from her song and sighed as she hovered just above one of the pews, legs crossed underneath her. It would have been possible to sit herself down on it, but she was finding that when she didn't have a need to adopt normal human positioning (when cooking, for example,) it was easier simply to free-float.
She wondered again what would become of her. She could scour the whole Earth looking for ways to change back; even if atmospheric resistance placed limits on how fast she could safely travel, all she had to do was arc up out of the atmosphere into low orbit and she was free as a bird. But there was still the question of where to even look. And there were the logistics to consider - with no job, no income, how would she eat? She wanted to change back, but did she want it enough to live as...some kind of space-hobo?
But what kind of job could she get? She was only just starting to communicate through an interpreter of an intermediary language she only barely knew, and all her real job skills were based around communication...and even if she settled for a menial-labor job, an idea she was instinctively revolted by, wouldn't that market be flooded? But if she couldn't find work, then what? Her house would be foreclosed on, and she couldn't rent with no income...would she have to...move back in with her parents?
Would they even have her if it came to that? They'd been estranged for so long, and who knew what they'd think of her change... Or if they did, would they try to...try to steer her back their way? They'd used to do that all the time, dropping hints about how they wished he wouldn't focus so much on getting ahead at all costs, maybe he should start looking for someone to start a relationship with, blah blah...that was part of why he had left them. But even that would be better than...than being homeless, wouldn't it?
That possibility loomed large in her mind. These past few years it had gone from being something that only happened to the poor to the point where she was seeing people not too much poorer than herself overextend their credit and have their house taken away. Even before her life had been turned upside-down, Anneza had worried occasionally that she might be next...what had she done to deserve this?
She laughed bitterly. Oh, she knew exactly what she'd done. She looked at the devil-woman, still marvelling at the strange sight and slightly amused by the idea of a devil working in a church. The devil-woman was looking back at her, not quite able to hide her earlier reaction. Did she know, Anneza wondered? About Toby? Or the school? Surely there must have been some things on the news about both, and maybe this woman knew what she'd done...
...but if she did, she was doing well about keeping quiet. The space-woman shrugged and turned back to face the front of the church. "Look," she muttered, "I just, I...I'm sorry, okay? It was stupid and selfish of me and I put a lot of people in danger and changed Toby forever...I'm sorry! I want to change back, I didn't mean for things to go like this! What do you want from me, anyway!?"
Robert stared at the strange woman. Her face seemed so innocent, but sad, and her tone of voice suggested unhappiness, confusion...what was it that troubled her? Was it...was it her appearance? Yet she had only had that brief moment of surprise and then seemed untroubled by it. Or perhaps...but how could she know? The word couldn't have gotten around about the fire yet, could it? If she knew...how could one so innocent understand? How could she understand the passion for righteousness that had driven Robert to this, or the heartbreak at learning that she may have closed off a passage to Heaven...?
The devil-woman sighed and turned away, ready to get back to her work. How could she even be fit to be here anymore? Maybe she ought to go join the devils...no! No, she would atone for this. Maybe she couldn't reconstruct the passage she'd destroyed, but she could aid in repairing the rest of the damage...maybe then God would truly forgive her.
Jenny stared up at the lion-man and cautiously approached him. "Is...'s that fire?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the gently-flickering flames that danced along his mane. He was so big compared to her...
"It is," he smiled. "But it won't hurt anybody if I don't want it to. Here, feel." He slowly curled his back end around toward her and swished his tail out to where it was within her reach. Jenny looked back at Muriel, who smiled and nodded. The little girl took a deep breath...she knew her mom wouldn't let her get hurt. She carefully reached out a hand to the flame on the tip of his tail...
It was warm, and she jerked her hand away, but then she realized it didn't hurt. She reached back and stuck her hand in it; warm but not scorching, seeming almost cool compared to what she expected. She stared at the flame, then at him, and then tackled him with a hug, nuzzling into his fuzzy coat. He smiled and patted her on the back. "There's a good girl," he said. "I'm glad you got to come visit today."
