Refracted Light

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

11/15/98:

In what seemed nowadays to be a rare event, I found myself
with a few hours of free time from all the assorted work
that was clamoring for my attention.

Not that my free time was all that free. Ken had called me a
few days before, wanting to get me into his lab for a while.
I guess he had some new experiments he wanted to try on my
blood. I think he might have some idea why it tasted 'Dead'
to Elena nearly three months ago.

It just seemed like everything was trying to happen all at
once. I still had to go see Sora about what she had come up
with. I've been putting it off for months now. Every time I
had the chance, something else happened.

I was considering taking a week off next time I was Rhea,
which would give me a few days to stop doing everything,
relax, and just be around my friends for a while.

I hoped Rachel could get some free time then as well. Oria
and I had been trying to talk to her, but every half second
of her time was being used dealing with the final
deconstruction of the Council. Everybody wanted a say in how
things should go, and most of the actual governments are
still screaming about all this.

Frankly, I thought, a large part of the multi-verse was
about three inches from total collapse. For the next few
months everyone involved was going to have to give
everything they could simply to keep the Consortium up and
running well enough until things start to settle down.

The stress was starting to get to people as well. A few had
already dropped out, being replaced by even more eager
people who had no idea what they were really getting into.

I was happy though, a few more contracts for building ships
with the Council power system had finally been given out.
Meaning that I don't have very many people knocking down my
door. I still have about a hundred contracts to do, though.
What started as a small shipyard now already employees close
to a thousand people, and adding more everyday.

Frankly, at times I felt ready to just hang it all, and run
around whatever office I happened to be in, screaming at the
top of my lungs. I just wanted to get home, take a nice long
hot bath, and sleep for a week. I wasn't looking forward to
dealing with Ken right now.

A promise is a promise though, and I do try to keep them.

Knocking on the door to Ken's lab, I slipped inside. It
looked like every other lab he's had. A dozen tables, each
covered a foot deep in thousands and thousands of reference
papers, books, and the occasional half finished meal.

Ken himself was sitting in one corner, bent over a table and
focusing all of his attention on whatever was on it. His
wings flicked softly as he made a few notes on some paper
next to him.

"Ken," I said, standing a few feet away.

He jumped a bit, standing up and turning his chair to face
me. "Fox! I didn't hear you come in."

I shrugged. "Sorry."

"It's all right," he said, standing up and walking over to
me. "I some times get involved with my work. I just lose
focus on anything else."

I nodded. "I know."

He picked up a small vial from the table next to me. "I'm
going to need a fresh sample of your blood."

I offered up my left hand to him. Waving his foreclaw over
it, he muttered a few words under his breath. A pool of
blood welled up in my palm. Grasping my hand gently, he
tilted it to the side, letting it all flow into the vial.
The spell guided it, so not a drop was left on my skin.

"Take a seat," he suggested, turning around and walking back
over to his worktable. Setting the vial down, he started to
do some sort of work on the contents.

I didn't bother to sit down, I just wandered around the lab
a bit, being careful not to upset any of his skillfully
balanced stacks of things as I did so. Occasionally I would
peek though some papers to see what they contained. Most of
the time I couldn't even recognize the language, let alone
read it.

In a far corner I found a table that was pretty empty. All
it held was a couple knives, three rings, and a large
gemstone set into a necklace. Most of the objects were
covered in a layer of dust, as was the rest of the table.
Near one side, I saw an outline in the dust of the very
pendent I was wearing.

Reaching up, I grasped the pendant in my hand, holding it
tightly. Then with a sigh, I shook my head, forcing back
most of the thoughts that were running through my mind.

Turning around, I started to wander back though the stacks
of paper.

"Fox," Ken called from his corner.

"I'm still here," I answered, looking over a table at him.

He nodded, and returned his attention to his work. He
fiddled with things for a bit, but sighed, dropping his paws
to the table.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice strangely quiet. He didn't
look up as he said it, but I watched as his wings sagged
slightly.

"For what?" I asked crossing my arms. I already knew the
answer, but I wanted him to say it.

He turned his head to look at me, then looked back down at
his table. "For what I did to you."

I snorted. "You're sorry. After what you did to me. After
how long it's been, you just say you're sorry!"

He nodded weakly.

"I just can't believe it." I muttered, "You just went into
my head and fucked with my mind. You betrayed the trust I
had in you, and all you can do is say you're sorry."

He turned his head towards me, giving me a very hard look.
"You have no idea of how I feel about this," he said,
speaking slowly. "Do you think I just decided I was going to
dive into your head and try to block some of your memories?
I did it because I had to."

"You had to?" I yelled the question at him, leaning forward
over the table that was in front of me. "Whatever made you
think you had the right to cast any spells on me, let alone
decide you had no choice in the matter!"

"Because you had just killed a man," he answered, holding
his voice in check, but I could see the anger behind his
eyes.

"That," I snapped in return, "is no reason. It happened
again, and I took it well enough then."

He shook his head, his wings pulling tight against his body.
"You murdered a man; you strangled every inch of life out of
his body in a fit of anger," his voice was starting to show
some hint of his anger now.

"But that didn't give you the right." I snapped at him.

"It damn well did!" he yelled back, "You were sixteen, a
child. Add to that the fact that you were so emotionally
unstable that sometimes you would just fall apart at the
slightest jab. You didn't have any control of your emotions
then, and when I saw you kill that bastard I knew just how
you would react."

"And how would that be?" I said with the same strength as
him.

"You would have broken down," he answered, trying to calm
his voice, "hell you had already started. You would have
gone into yourself, tearing every part of what happened to
bits, dwelling on it to the point that the outside world
would have gone away. That single event would have become
your life. It would have driven you farther and farther into
yourself until that was all there was."

"So you're saying if you had left it alone I would have
died?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes," he answered, "you would have lost all perspective on
reality, and done something stupid, and gotten yourself
killed, or just lost all hold on what was real or not."

I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"How the hell would you know," he answered, "Up until a few
years ago you never even paid any attention to yourself. You
had no idea or understanding about anything going on in your
head. All you ever did was react to everything that happened
to you, but you never really did anything."

"And you knew me that well?" I asked, grabbing the edge of
the table. "Better than I ever knew myself."

"You," He counter, "you never looked at yourself."

Digging my claws into the side of the table, I heaved,
lifting it up and throwing it on it's side, sending the
contents crashing to the floor at Ken's feet. "Fuck you!" I
yelled, panting softly.

He took three large steps over to me, and slapped me hard
across the side of my face, hard enough to snap my head
around and force me to try to and take a step back. I hit my
leg with my foot and went sprawling into a pile of papers as
I crashed to the floor.

"You are still a child," he said from above me, his voice
cold.

I growled, lifting myself onto all fours, his condemnation
of me just adding to my anger.

"You had no idea what you meant to me, Fox. You had no idea
how much doing what I did hurt me. It's why I left you, it's
why one day I just picked up my things and left you, and
didn't see you again until I had to. I couldn't stand
myself, I had to go and search my soul to decide what I
should do."

I shook my head, about to snap something back at him, when I
noticed the paper that was just under my face. I don't know
what attracted my attention to it, but once it did I
suddenly recognized the drawing on it.

I felt all the anger drain out of my body as the sudden
understanding of what I was seeing sank in. Grabbing the
paper I spun to my feet, shoving it into Ken's face. "Tell
me this is what I think it is."

"What?" he asked, startled at the sudden change of topic.

"Is it what I think it is?" I asked again.

He paused, then took the paper from me, looking over it.
"That depends, what do you think it is?"

"Thrysten's gem," I answered.

He nodded. "Then you're right. Still have to translate these
some day," the last part was muttered to himself. "Why
though?"

"It's a norm-shift stone," I explained.

He nodded again, slowly though, trying to understand what I
was pushing for.

"Do you think it's locked to only work on her?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but I wouldn't think so. It
makes more sense to let it work for anyone. Locking a spell
to one person is very complicated."

"So it would work for me?" I asked again.

He nodded. "It should, but what would you become?"

"How about a lioness," I suggested.

He stopped, suddenly understanding what I was trying to get
at. "You mean, use this when you're Rhea, so you become a
morphic lioness?" He sounded slightly amazed as he said it.

I nodded. "Yes, exactly! Do you think it would work."

He rubbed his chin, his wings fanning out slowly as a smile
spread across his muzzle. "I'll have to adjust a few of the
spells on your pendent, but yes, it should work!"

"Come on then!" I said, starting for the door. "Lets hop the
nearest fold and see some old friends."

Ken grabbed his satchel as I went through the door. Our
argument was put behind us for now, but I was going to have
to think hard about what he had said.

Stopping at the nearest fold, I opened it quickly, pausing
only for a few seconds to remember the fold in Draz's
castle. Once open we both stepped through onto one of the
battlements that topped the large building.

The guard that was closest to us jumped, spinning around to
stare at us, a look of shock on his lupine face.

"Hi," I said.

He blinked, recognition forming on his face. "I remember the
pair of you," he said, walking closer to us. "You were here
a year ago."

"Abouts," I answered, "Is Thrysten here?"

"I believe so," he answered, starting to quickly adjust to
our presence. "Do you wish for me to get her for you?"

"Yes," Ken said from behind me, "And a private room to meet
her in if that can be arranged?"

"Very well," He looked behind us, "Hess, I will fetch the
Queen. Could you escort them to her reading room?"

"Yes sir!" a guard who had come up behind us said. The one
we were talking to turned and left.

Hess escorted us down into the castle, into a small room
that was filled with pillows of all sorts. Even in the
center of the castle it was very well lit, a dozen magical
lights floating near the ceiling, giving everything a soft
warm light.

"Nice place," I commented as the guard left us alone.

Ken was looking around at the walls and the pillows. "This
room has dozens of spells on it. Spells for warmth, light,
to keep the pillows free of fleas and other things. Someone
spent a lot of energy to make this room not only pleasant to
be in, and extremely clean."

"She always did like soft things," I commented, sinking into
the pillows. It was a room I would like as well, made just
to lounge around in.

Ken sat down as well, spreading his wings out wide for a few
seconds, relaxing a bit. We sat and waited, not saying
anything to each other, the level of tension in the room
slowly building. I was about to start a pillow fight to just
for something to do when the door opened.

"Fox, Ken!" Thrysten said, stepping inside the room and
closing the door behind her. "What brings you two here?"

I smiled at the sight of her, the soft light reflecting off
her wings. She was an old friend, a morphic gryphoness, and
very lovely in every right. A large smile was on her beak,
and her leonine tail swished in a wide arch behind her.

"We're kind of here to ask a favor." I answered.

She fell back into the pillows, her wings spreading as she
bounced. She was dressed in a simple shirt and pants, not
the formal clothing one usually expected from a lady of her
rank. "What kind of favor?" she asked once she settled down.

"We want to use your gem," I explained, sitting up to look
at her.

She glanced down at the gem as it rested against her chest.
The sea-blue color reflected the light of the room. "Why?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," I answered, "It would be
best to just show you." I took my pendent in hand and was
about to take it off with Ken grabbed my arm.

"That might not be the best idea right now." he said.

I blinked. "Why?" I sounded a bit shocked.

"The spell to shift your clothing," he explained letting go
of my arm. "You're going to be without the pendent for at
least a week, and if this does work your clothes aren't
going to come back on their own. So unless you want to go
back to Prid nude, I suggest you strip now."

"Oh," I answered, that part of the spell was so convenient I
had really forgotten about it.

"Would one of you two please explain to me what is going
on?" Thrysten asked, sounding annoyed, but still smiling.

"It's a very long story." I said, taking off first my watch,
and then the black cloth bracelet that was tied around my
right wrist, in remembrance of Becky. I handed both of them
to Ken, then followed with the engagement ring, and my
earring.

"Which doesn't explain why Fox is stripping," she commented
dryly.

"I don't mind," Ken said, smiling a bit. "He's cute nude."

"Ha, ha," I responded, as I put the engagement necklace into
his hand, then started pulling off my shoes and socks.

"I think all that skin looks strange," Thrysten said.

"Wait a minute," I answered, pulling off my shirt and
throwing it at her. My pants followed next, which I folded
up and set in my lap. "There, anything I missed?"

"Just the pendent," Ken commented, reaching over and
plucking my glasses from my face.

"Ok then." I said. Taking the pendent, I removed it and
handed it to Ken; a few seconds later I was on all fours.

Thrysten jumped back a bit, letting out a squawk as she did
so. "What just happened?" she asked.

"Fox was attacked a few months ago," Ken explained, "The
pendent is the only thing that keeps him human anymore, but
he still has to be like this a few days every month."

"Oh," she said, sounding slightly excited, "That's why you
want to use my gem!"

I nodded.

She reached down and removed the gem from her neck. Moving
forward she held the chain open for me. My ears lowered as
she placed it over my head, letting it fall around my neck.

"Do you know how to use it?" she asked.

I shook my head, sitting back on my haunches and looking
down at the gem. The color had changed to a fire-red as it
came in contact with my skin.

"Take it in your forepaws, and sort of talk to it. Ask it to
change you," she explained.

I nodded. Adjusting myself so I could get the gem in my
paws, I looked down at it. Closing my eyes tightly I sent
every thought in my mind towards it, asking it to change me.

A suddenly chill came over my skin, my fur shifting as if in
the wind. Nothing else seemed to happen though.

"Fox?" Ken said.

I sighed, opening my eyes and letting go of the stone. I was
quite surprised to feel it land between my breasts.

Looking down at myself, I laughed happily. "It worked!" I
cheered, my voice sounding the same as Rhea's did in my
mind.

"Fell strange?" Thrysten asked.

"Yes," I answered, "I didn't feel anything during the
change."

"No," she said with a grin. "Being female!"

I shrugged, pulling my pants back on. They were now to big,
I had lost some size in the change, though not as much as
when I became a fox-morph. "This isn't the first time," I
answered her question. Adjusting the back of the pants to
keep my tail free.

She laughed softly. "I'm not surprised in the least. You
still have an interesting life."

"Thanks," I commented, pulling my shirt back on as well, I
tucked it into my pants so it didn't hang loosely, but not
to tight. I reached up and carefully removed Thrysten's gem,
noticing as I did so that it had returned to its normal
sea-blue color.

"Would you two care to stay for while?" she asked, moving
closer to us. "I would like to catch up a bit. We didn't
have the opportunity when you were last here."

"I'm sorry." I said, picking up my ring from Ken and putting
it back on, then the necklace as well. "I need to get home
and explain this to Oria."

She nodded sadly. "I understand. How about you Ken?"

"I'm not sure," he answered.

"Go for it," I told him, putting my watch back on, and the
black bracelet. Then I stuffed my socks into my shoes, I
knew they wouldn't fit. Nor would my earring, which was now
in my pocket, my ear not being pierced in this form.

He smiled, putting my pendent into his satchel. "I guess I
could stay for a few hours."

"I'll stop by and visit sometime," I said, standing up,
wobbling a bit from my new center of balance. "I'll bring
Kalie along as well."

She smiled. "I would enjoy that." She paused for a second,
"Would you like an escort out?"

I shook my head, my hair, which now ended half way down my
back, flying a bit. "I can find the fold easily from here."
I said, taking my glasses from Ken, not needed them in this
form.

"Ok, come back soon though."

I smiled. "Of course," I said, opening the door. Pausing for
a few seconds I looked back at Ken. "Apology excepted," I
said, stepping out of the room and closing the door before
he could respond.

-----

This story is (c) 1999 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.
Elena is (c) 1999 by Chris Bradford.