General Makepeace was at a loss. Nothing in thirty years of battle training could really prepare you for being turned into a...
... a fairy girl.
Still, some of that training did help. She was focusing on the mission to capture those two rogue agents. She made note that she was in no pain physically, and any mental issues can just wait. Of course there was the problem that she didn't know how this fairy body worked. Useless wings... a tiny body... no physical strength... she also saw a long cascade of red hair fall on her face.
...that would have to go.
Although her long hair was currently the only thing keeping her modesty, as she glanced down to her small breasts. (Would she really care though?) "...Have any clothes?" Asked Makepeace to Lucas.
Lucas gave a little smile. "Second person I've had to give clothes to, I'm sure I can at least make something for you." She simply took one feather from her left wing, straightening it out a little into a fine needle. she then took out one thread of her hair, as She tore out a little cloth from her robe, and made a reasonable rag for the new fairy to wear.
As this was going on, the general looked at the ground and found a stone of reasonable sharpness on its edge. She started trying to cut her hair, being careful of the antennas. She was rewarded with locks of her hair falling off, giving her a more rugged look.
"All done. Here." said Lucas.
General Makepeace looked it over. It was hardly conventional, but it would do. Lucas had even made it backless to let her wings out. She was already missing her fatigues at this point. She also saw Lucas had drawn her name, much like it would show as a rank.. She thought maybe the angel had some weird change of heart, but the fairy's heart sank when she saw underneath the bold letting of 'Makepeace' it added 'not War' in a stylised curve. "Must you make a political statement in everything you do?" General Makepeace asked with an annoyed grunt.
Lucas grinned as she up the fairly sharply. "Well, I am only here because of your poking around this world, and spying on my friends, so yeah. I'll be making you see the errors of your ways. Call it fate."
General Makepeace frowned heavily at that. "Lucas... I know you don't like it, but we are here together. I don't want to fight you over 'politics'."
"Then why do it?" asked the angel plainly.
"Do what? My job?"
"You can't call murder a job" the angel said angrily.
The little fairy was almost shaking with rage as she balled her tiny hands into fists. She took a breath and calmed down. "Lucas... the world has changed dramatically over the last ten years. Entire nations have changed their outlook. There is peace in places where there was no peace, and outright war in places we never even thought it could be possible. Things have- well- Changed."
"People like you don't help," said the angel thinly. "I am not the bad one here."
"...oh Please," the general said angrily, with her shining green eyes staring at Lucas. "It's not about bad guys or good guys."
The angel stared quietly at the fairy. "There is right... and there is wrong. It's as simple as that."
"It's not so simple. But forget all about the greyness of the world we live in and consider this. It's a new world Lucas... a completely and utterly new world. What happened in the past is just the past. Do you think anyone cares that Italy- once as the Roman Empire, invaded every almost every country in Europe? It's history... things like that are not part of my mission. I also resent the idea, that you think we are not thinking, feeling people. We do think... we all have beliefs in what's right and wrong... but we made the choice- a commitment, to protect our citizens. We 'chose' to give our lives, because we believe in our nation." What do you believe in? Angel?"
Lucas stared at the general coldly. This was not a conversation for this time. "Explain everything to me. I want to know everything you have done."
General Makepeace sighed as she sat on Lucas's shoulder. "We were in a difficult situation when the sunlight first changed.. but life was going on. We were mandated to find the cause by our government... By chance, we had found out about Jen's stone, from a report by Hawkins."
"Hawkins?"
"Yes. And no, Hawkin's did not betray you... but he was being watched. We were keeping an eye on all transformed agents, in case they went... nuts." said the General plainly.
Lucas quietly absorbed this information. Spies spying on spies... what a dark depressing world these people lived in.
The general shrugged as she continued."...Hawkin's was reprimanded for keeping things out of his report. Something like that would be treason, if I am brutally honest. But then the strangest thing happened... those in government could not remember Jen's stone. Nobody could remember... but my team- we did retain our memories. We feared it was due to a wish Jen had made... but we could find no evidence of that. It was not likely she would spare us, if she was aware of our existance."
"Probably something to do with the gate you made," said Lucas in thought.
"I don't know what it was. But we were in a unique position. We were sworn to protect out nation from the 'threat' of the stone, but we could not report it. We also could not act directly upon Jen. We had to become secret even to our own agents. We made a self-contained unit, with Agent Hawkin's help. At first we tried to get the stone... but that never worked. Those that attempted the mission tended to... well... fate seemed to conspire against it happening at 'best'. At worse- well you've seen what happened to Agent Black and White."
"Anyway, secret units as ours 'are' listed in certain places. Officially we were magic-watchers. We were selected for the M-gate project. It became an added thing for us to do... we developed new technology using what magical resources we could."
Lucas nodded at that. She was starting to get a little worried about Lilly. Still she believed the teenager could handle herself. Whatever happened to her, she had the gift of magic to aid her... she hoped. Still there was no sign of her right now, and they had to continue their own search.
The two walked through the forest for a while, and came across a curious river. instead of the sound of rushing water, Lucas could almost hear... words. Strange and curious words. Strange images seemed to shimmer in the water, tantalising and beautiful with curious shapes.
"Hm, That doesn't belong there," said the general pointing in the distance.
Lucas walked further along the river and came across... a dam? "Human construction," said Lucas examining it. There was even an industrial made copper wire, running outwards and into the distance. "This your doing?"
General Makepeace shook her head. "No... this is new. Someone dammed a river, and is generating electricity from it."
"Science in a world of magic... I'm curious to see who would have need of that. Let's follow the wire."
Something very strange had happened to Lilly. They had encountered the black and white guardians, and they had to play 'the game'... why were games important here? Something to win, something to lose... why was that the aspect of this world?
She tried to think, what would Lucas do? Well... she changed the rules- or rather, worked within the system she was given, and found another solution. A liberating experience to be sure, when one realises they can... but in a world of magic as this, there seemed to be a price... especially as Lilly didn't really understand all the rules to the magic realm.
She opened her eyes, to see a world in black and white... the world of colour seemed to have been taken away from her. She tried not to panic. Had the guardians done something to her eyes? But what got her more worried, was how small she felt. She used her twin-tails to balance herself, as each tail arched itself quickly adjusting her weight and letting her stand up to her full height...
...of about a foot.
She was a squirrel... sitting on a tree branch. A real, actual full animal squirrel!
... not good.
It was pretty obvious she wasn't a 'normal' squirrel. It was not just her twin tails that set her apart, but the innate intelligence in her eyes, as she observed with the 'knowing' look of a human-like person. She felt a sickness in her, that came with fright and panic, at losing more of her humanity in this physical transformation.
There was something jarring about this world. It was not like the Iridescent light... this was not something the sun did to people, and it showed just how far away and how unpredictable the magic could be away from Earth. The magic from the sun was... done 'nicely,' almost artistically. As if somone was simply painting a brush upon their world, or taking people to the next stage of their lives...
But this was different.
This was a much more raw form of the magic and could be very unpredictable. Fortunately, she still had her human thoughts. But there was a... distraction? Something calling to her, some kind of... need? She suppressed it for now while she got her bearings.
The full-squirrel looked herself over. Her body was in such a primal, primitive state. She was quick and agile, but also physically weak. But what was even stranger was this 'feeling'... there was something she desired. Something she wanted. It was calling her to act, giving her a 'purpose'? What did she need to do?
Suddenly she saw an entire 'tribe' of squirrels similar to her, running up the tree. All of them had something 'distinctive' about them, so none was quite identical. Much like human faces, she could tell them apart. Unlike her though, they only had single tails.
"Hello?" She called her voice making high pitched chatters.
The others seemed to understand her. Three circled around and smelled her... there was a natural curiosity in their eyes.
"Do you have more shiny things?" one asked her.
Lilly looked blankly at the fellow squirrel. "Uh no- but can you help me?"
Then the other animal seemed to do a double take looking in shock and surprise "You- You have two tails! Are you from the Tree of life?!"
"No- I- I'm from Earth," she explained. "Up... there. That world, the sky up there." she said pointing it. The strange curious clouds separating this world from her home... now it was just a sea of grey, instead of the brilliant whites.
"She's an Ocilee!" the other squirrel cried out.
The squirrel quickly brought the attention of the others as they all crowded around Lilly. She tried to relax as they prodded her tails, making sure they were real.
"I'm Scatter," said the male squirrel. "We are so lucky! Now we are have you in our tribe we can get more shinies! We might even do better then the foxes!"
"What are shinies?" Lilly asked trying to keep up with this.. bizarre group.
"We take them from those who pass the forest! That's the game. We have to play it, now you have to play it. It's really easy we just have to be quick and cunning."
"I'm not interested in shinies," explained Lilly, a little ill by the idea of what sounded like 'stealing'.. "I'm just trying to find my father. But now I've lost my sister." She hoped she was alight.
"collect enough shinies and you can get anything you want!" Then the squirrel approached Lilly with a grin right up to her nose. "You'll be a great monster in this world you'll see! Listen, can you hear her calling us?"
monster? Lilly said tensely. I'm not a monste- then she felt herself go in a trance... she could feel something.. something shiny was in the forest... she had to join the others, of course she did. She just needed to get more of the shiny things... they were as precious as the stored nuts for the winter.
"Go ahead my pet... find the shinies..."
That voice... who was that voice?
"I am your protector, New-One... do as your tribe needs... collect the shinies, get them from the hunters..."
Lilly was confused for a moment at that voice. So.. silken, and soft and it was just... comforting. Like a mother to a daughter. She felt compelled by the voice, and couldn't' resist. "Collect... the... shinies."
"...and so your student becomes a monster," said the dark robed figure, as she placed a card down.
Now the game had changed, it was no longer a game of chess... but two people, playing a card game.
Jen looked at her set of cards. The people she knew in her life, and the circumstances each had.. all of the different combinations of their lives. "My student is not a monster, and she will prove it."
"How is the voice doing anything you didn't do?" asked the being, as she placed a "compulsion" card down, next to the Lilly the Squirrel card... the being placed next to it, a picture of Jen herself, overlaying it together as they became almost transparent. The link between Teacher and Student clearly evident.
Jen blinked. "What do you mean?" She slug-girl took the powerful Lucas the Angel card, and set it down next to the flightless fairy card, as she contemplated her next move.
"...she idolised you Jen," said the dark being. "She was made to, because of the sunlight. You brainwashed her, and all those who were transformed into 'liking' their forms. This voice could so easily be you... manipulating life on a grand scale..."
Jen gritted her teeth in palpable anger. "If I were still young, I would have cringed at those words... but I have seen far more in life now. I know it's not true... I didn't brainwash anyone! I didn't make anyone into... anything." She objected so strongly to the very idea that it was in any way her fault.
"...then who did? You were the one who wished this world to exist... it was your stone, and this is your world. Lilly had a life before you changed it... who are you to decide which life is better?"
"I didn't decide... I just... let the magic decide."
"So you absolved yourself of any blame... does that comfort you?"
Jen frowned again as she considered that question. She picked out a card, and turned it over. "Magic girl Four..."
"You do realise, she has no power in that world... how much faith do you have in that card?"
"She has helped Lilly before... and she will again."
"Then I will play... this card."
