It was the day after the sun changed back to normal...
In some ways, Geoffrey Aurelius snr missed those days. But he had seen many days... centuries even. So many lifetimes. "Who would even believe the things that happened to me," he thought looking down. He had seen so many things and paid witnessed to many events in the history of Lakeside. His world had been so controlled until then. Controlled, ordered... he knew... he understood. Now he felt rather... lost.
He was sitting in his office wearing his usual suit. Flecks of white hair on his otherwise decent appearance. He at least shaved, despite the tensions of his life. He looked at the reports of the company.
"The loss is estimated at about five hundred thousand. Insurers claim they will pick up a third of it only citing 'unreasonable risk'."
Geoffrey looked to see a... little fairy on his desk. Of all the things for his advisor to be- and not change back either. The company director looked at the pages and signed his name. Things were back to normal for him. The job was all that mattered, and making money. Lots.. and lots of money.
"... you are not going to attempt to negotiate it? I think the insurers could be persuaded given the exceptional circumstances of the sun suddenly changing back." The little fairy girl was quite professional looking with her own business dress. Though she was barefoot.
"... I'm... not really feeling too well Tom," said Geoffrey.
"It's um.. Tam now," said the fairy. "You okay sir?"
'Am I okay?' Why should he be? He lost his wife and he lost his son as an heir to the company. Worse he now understood what he had done and.. deserved everything that happened to him. He had lost much of his vast fortune already. He was just... running things in the interim, until one of his little executives knifed him in the back. Why don't they do it... they saw his weakness didn't they? The tears that were threatening to erupt. A man didn't cry over loss though, and never cried foul...".. I'm fine," he said. "yes.. Tam. My apologies," he took a deep breath. "The insurers were taking an unknown risk. One third is acceptable, I don't care about the three quarter loss at this point." He put his hand on his forehead with a deep breath.
Tam sensed her presence was somehow causing more tension to Geoffrey. Almost an unnatural fairy sense. A lot of mythical changed were finding they were gaining some strange abilities lately. Even ESP. "Why... don't we take a break. I can handle the papers." she lifted a pen that was like a staff to her. She picked up a few sheets fluttering with her wings.
Geoffrey quietly nodded. "... a break sounds good. Take care of the rest if you could Tam. I'll... see you tomorrow." With that he got up from his desk.
Geoffrey walked down the streets. He had watched them all grow from their humble beginnings. To know what Lakeside looked like in the past... to know the first families that were around at the time... and yes he knew them all. He just couldn't remember them all. A mortal mind was not meant to keep such information but he was aware of so many things by an instinct.
"...when I was a fairy," he thought bitterly of those old- really really old days with that immortal body. He made a few friends in that state, though had to watch them grow old and die... most of all there was the time... time to think. Time to just... be. So much time.. and time to dwell on that pain too. An awful lot of pain... and the worst part was how difficult it was to be male again. He thought he was good and happy to return to being a man.
But something was missing.
He was now at the river, which was where he had met his wife. He was surprised he remembered that as it was over three hundred years ago to him. Their affair being more of an 'arrangement' then something with love. Though in some ways they did 'love'... they loved winning. But somewhere along the lines his wife changed, after the birth of their son. For some reason... she felt they were not really a family.
which might have been 'sort of' true. Things were all matters of convenience then anything else. That's just how he was. It was all.. in sequence. 'Maybe I should have been turned into a clockwork doll after all,' he thought grimly. His son.. his poor son... though she seemed happier now...
He sat for a while observing the sunlight. Normal.. no changes any more. Well unless you were very... lucky. Or unlucky. He wasn't sure any more if such a thing was to be embraced or feared. Was it possible to be both? It didn't matter though... it wouldn't happen to him again. He would never feel...like...
"... a woman hm?" a voice said.
Geoffrey blinked. "W-Who's there?" He didn't like unexpected voices from nowhere. He rapidly glanced around but found nothing until he looked into the river. There was some kind of shadow in the river. One of the 'changed' people perhaps? "You're... Some kind of.. mermaid?" he muttered. No.. she was a spider. A weird woman with spider legs. She looked all ghostly though...
"My name is.. Arachne. I will get to the point. We have something in common Geoffrey Aurelius."
Geoffrey stared at her. "I highly doubt that," he muttered.
Arachne was not deterred. She simply gave a soft smile under her beautiful framed black hair. "The world.. is going to go through a few more changes. I need someone with your particular talents.. and strength."
Geoffrey slumped forward to get a better look at her. "I've seen enough of magic to last a lifetime. What I want... you can not give me." He slapped at the water angrily, as the sunlight above reflected many times in strange ripples.
The wavy pattern of Arachne however started to shift and.. the man was presented with his fairy form. Beautiful, elegant.. innocent. Arachne appeared again fully. "... you can be her again."
Geoffrey balanced slightly. "W-Why would you even -THINK- I want-"
"Oh do be quiet for a moment and hear me out," Arachne said interrupting him. "I -know-. I know the pain you feel returning to your male body. You see.. I recognise the signs of one who has been rejected by the gods."
"I don't believe in gods," muttered Geoffrey. "I don't believe in gods!" Some weird woman was now telling him stupid things that intruded upon his understanding of the world. Nothing in his centuries of living made him believe in gods. In some ways he must have a better understanding of that then anyone.
".. perhaps not the right word to use," sighed the spider-witch. "I don't believe in them either. Not as gods anyway. They are.. forces certainly. But tell me, how did you feel being changed?"
".. at first I hated it. I.. liked it- eventually. At some point I even loved it. But it doesn't matter... I caused my own change. I'm just a time paradox doing what she- I- I mean he always did."
The spider-woman nodded. "You were used as nothing but a tool. You experienced life as a woman.. then it was taken away. You are left with the life of a man to continue as if nothing had happened. A small man, in a world where it's no longer about you. You have become as inconsequential as when you first changed- only now... that assistant of yours has more prospects just by her body then you ever did."
Geoffrey collapsed down on the ground. The words stung so much. He was nothing. He wasn't even deserving of a transformation... it was all just... just...
The spider woman sighed sympathetically. "People like you and I are different Geoffrey. Different then all the others... in many ways. The gods can not touch us... when they do see us, all they feel is offence for our existence. That's why you were not changed in the normal way. You must see that... but things are going to change again..."
"...how," whispered the man. "I don't see any prospect of things changing. The world is growing more magical every day and.. I can't understand it." He clenched his eyes shut. Why.. couldn't he be worthy. He learned his lesson! He would have done anything.. to just... feel like he was part of the world again.
"The world will change. I just need your... special talents. Listen to me carefully. Sort out your affairs and I need to you board a certain vessel. I will.. meet you when you land. Or ignore me and live your life as this mortal man... the choice is yours." She started to provide details of a flight... about ten years in the future. "When the time is right.. and you will know when it is... whisper this phrase..."
Geoffrey lived his life as best he could. A decade had gone by since then. He retired from his business and promoted Tam to run things there for now. He also had no money left at all. His ex-wife had it all, and he rarely saw his son turned clockwork girl.
So he bought his ticket with the last of money he had. One last.. roll of the dice. One last attempt to see if something would pay off.
The flight itself was a crazy affair. He was suddenly thrown into the worlds between worlds like all the other passengers. People were screaming and some were in tears. Geoffrey however wasn't really all that worried. He went to the bathroom while the others wrestled with some.. crazy passenger. Alone he whispered the phrase and.. vanished.
"Welcome Geoffrey Aurelius," said Arachne.
"Where.. am I?" He stared at the spider woman. This place looked like some weird arcane laboratory. Perhaps some sort of ancient castle?
The spider woman took out a few odd potions and placed coloured runes on the ground into a circle. "Where... and when. You have been shifted ten years in the past. To me I only just finished talking to your past self," she giggled. "Ah, weaves of time... how I enjoy manipulating them."
"You- you said... you could turn me back into ..."
"A fairy yes. Very simple and easy, you will feel like yourself again." The spider woman nodded placing an arcane rune on the ground. "I hope it was worth the wait.. you have waited a long time."
"... and this doesn't weird you out?" He hated that his worst secret was being casually discussed like this. Nobody even knew he had been a fairy... or.. that he grew to love it. In some ways that truth just.. embarrassed him.
The woman shrugged as her spider legs clicked along the ground. "I hold no judgement- unlike those forces calling themselves 'gods'. We deserve to be in the forms we find the most.. liberating." she gave a little smile.
"What exactly do you want from me out of this?" The young human man asked. "also.. what of... those passengers on the plane? Will they be alright?" He didn't think of it until now but... they seemed to be in some kind of weird 'oblivion'.
"I wouldn't be concerned it hasn't happened yet.. but it was always going to happen. It's a part of the weave I can not change. Either they will come here or be... lost forever. It's not determined yet. As for what I get out of it... I get you. I need you to just.. do a few things for me. So, would you like to see the threads of your life?" she took out a thread, as it looped and was caught in a knot. A very large loop indeed. "Now then... let's get you to 'normal'..." She took a set of golden scissors and started to cut at the threads, somehow cutting in the middle of the fine material length-wise.
Geoffrey had never felt so much pain in his life. It was like his whole body was being torn apart. This was not at all like a normal transformation at all. He groaned in pain as he felt something pushed out of his head and.. no.. he saw a giant below him... he saw two things at once blurring his senses and then-
"What was once one, will now become two," whispered Arachne. "I have separated the King from the Fey... The Man from the Woman..."
Aurelius- the man screamed. He had never felt so much raw power. He felt incredible. It was like all guilt had been removed. He no longer had to feel apologetic for his being. He could feel memories swirling... this was his castle. This was... his Kingdom! He knew this land.. he knew what it was.
Aurelius the fairy felt at.. peace. She was no longer feeling the need to pretend to be a man inside. She was free! She felt a slight pang though when she thought of her son... maybe she should try to get back to her? She admired her fairy body and the breasts on her body that showed her femininity. "Oh... thank.. you..." she said with a sigh. Relief flooded into her. She didn't mind this at all.
"My King," knelt Arachne before him. "As is the nature of this world... you have been weaved to be the King of this land... I submit to your will... as such."
"...Rise Lady Arachne," said King Aurelius. "I can sense it. I am indeed King of this land. I know this castle, the soldiers.. the wars that are fought. How! How is this my life?"
Arachne nodded. "You will get used to that. We all have our parts to play in this world... I also present.. the King's... weakness..." she gestured to the fairy.
Aurelius the Fairy was standing on the table. "Wait- what?"
"Bar her in Iron! The King must have no weakness!" Aurelius knew that as an irreversible fact.
"As you command..." Arachne smiled. She already had a cage prepared for her as it was wrapped around the tiny fairy.
