What the dragon mages have learned...

Synizn 3

"Ouch," I hear Astra mutter to herself, "'Problematic' raises all sorts of alarms in my book."

Have to agree with you, princess Astra, I agree silently with her on that score, noting the Doctor of the Voyager still looks surprised that I and Andrea could have heard him and Exotica through the outer (still functional) isolation "force field" screen.

I can see how he could make such a for ordinary human hearing (and mayhaps even Vulcan hearing), but being that dragons (even in human form) and other creatures of magic hear things that mundane folds just can't hear, ordinarily.

Well, I know that he'll get over it, despite having a similar temperament (according to my new family) like that Doctor Winchester from the American television show, MASH.....whatever a television is and whoever that fellow is.

Ah, he'll get over it after he realizes that despite the apparent breach in privacy, Andrea still has a right to have been listening in for consultation purposes. After all, she was the person who gave initial aid to Exotica's mother. As for me, well, I figure that I probably shouldn't have listened in, but there's nothing for it now.

Now, that one issue aside, there remains the issue that is going to be "problematic."

See, here is the problem that had come to light when discussing results that my brothers and my fellow dragon mages had upon trying to figure out a way to neutralize the potential danger that the Crystallic still posed by just existing. The solution we'd come up with proved to be just to use the slipgate system and a variation of the ritual that got the Rules and Agents attention in the first place to teleport it away to the Rules and Agents. Being that in the past those Celestrials had done a fantastic job at neutralizing the other Crystallics, why not now! But that's when we discovered that the Crystallic had a "security feature" that made this (the only scheme which we could figure out that would work) less than appealing. Basically, it could be done, but it's user and anyone standing too close would be accursed with the latest version of lycanthropy in it's inventory. Being that the latest version was demifox neo-lycanthropy (created by Minestus). And the accursing needed to take root in it's victims, or else the teleport would fail. In other words, it had to be a non-Champion to do the job or nothing! Don't know what Tesla was thinking when he installed that feature, but it's there and that's that. Being that few people really want to change their forms, I'd pretty much written off it off.

Making matters worse (and more relevant to the task at hand) was that Minestus had somehow placed a similar "security feature" on anyone but himself trying to utilize the Crystallic in regards to the demifox curse. I believe that he'd done it on the idea to prevent anyone from undoing what he'd done to Astra and Fred. That little tidbit had come up between talks about out various Dragon Circles (differences and similarities) and discussions why those who'd become demifoxes who looked so different from each other (had something to do with the fact that the neo-lycanthropy had to make a "guess", more or less, on beings who never had a human child body when growing up).

At the time the later issue had held my attention more than the other one. After all, who in their right mind would want to take a form other than the one they'd been born to?! Well, I guess I should have remembered Andrea's case (re: 12526)....and thought about the possibility that Exotica's mother could need the same!

I explained all of that to a tense audience, adding that we'd not be unleashing a potential demifox plague upon the people of Nantucket Earth. The nature of the "fix" that the Rules and Agents put upon Andrea and the other demifoxs from Terra Prime would null out the neo-lycanthropy, making it harmless.

"Now, being that I rather doubt we talk a non-Champion mage from Terra Prime into using the Crystallic to help your mother...only to also become a demifox themselves," I finish up, "We have a problem. We have no non-Champion human mages (which will only do) on Nantucket Earth....besides you, Exotica."

"We could try to bypass the block that Minestus put on the Crystallic...." Andrea begin.

"But that could take decades...which my mother wouldn't have if she is to have a normal life," Exotica interrupts, smiling sadly, "Little friend, I do know enough about Atlantian magic from my studies to know that and this is going to be the only way. Very well, I accept that."

Exotica

Ironic, really, I think to myself, In the worst of times before now, I and my mother had wanted escape so badly that we even prayed for God to change us into birds or something swift so we could not be recognized by the monster. That and be fast enough to get the Hell away from him and his men! But now.....it's going to happen. Might as well do it in style while getting rid of a dangerous Atlantian artifact AND saving my mother from a life of misery!

I know myself enough that after actually

"One thing," I finally say, "Who are you going to be helping next? Which Fred and Astra?"

"Wha....We are going to go to the world where Astra is part of the cult following for the Doctor...er....the Time Lord one," Andrea sputters, glancing over at the holographic medic, "Why?"

"Because after I'm done I, and my mother I'm sure, will want to see you off," I smile, "Demifoxes to demifox, you see.

A bit later.....

I and my mother are at the major slipgate nexus that had appeared out of thin air right next to this worlds Stonehenge (or the "Great Wisdom" as they call it about here and now). Looks so much better in this age (1250 BC by the local calender). That and it looks so much more....friendly compared to this Atlantian version of it.

1. "Let's begin," I say, raising the Crystallic in my hand, feeling the magic beginning to flow....

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