Transformation

Forgive me if I ramble a bit, but this isn't an English class. This is me just talking to myself, mentally. I do that so as to use myself as a sounding board AND to get my facts in order.
 
 

I'd seen enough of what had happened to Zerm….whatever it had been….to know that I'll never again wish even the Enemy to go to Hell. Wherever Zerm went, whether it was the Christian Hell or my religion, the Church of Silicon Valley, even I can't wish that upon them. Whether Lucifer's kingdom, or the nation of Bill Gates, I know I will never again say "Go to hell" in jest.
 
 

And if, by some quirk of fate, again in such a position as I had been with Zerm…..I shan't be as petty with that poor next black mage as I was with Zerm.
 
 

I remember seeing….something….lovely.
 
 

I am not going to do a religious conversion. I am not going to donate everything to the church and live as a monk. I think that I've lived a good and decent life, as well as I could under these trying times with the Enemy and the Company. However, if I ever face my enemy after death…again…at least I won't dirty the final moments before …. whatever …..comes down again to take me.
 
 

Later, after an short/long time (clock says five minutes…but seems like days), my mind drifts onto what I will become.
 
 

A literal golem…
 
 

Like my daughter, Inquirer, who'd been called a Golem but now is actually one….so will I become. Heck, they probably will even use my old Avatar…since I have been stomping around with my Terran friends in it. I was always partial to Arnold. Figures that I'll now look like him from now on….
 
 

The Jester sure has taken it….as some of the analogs are prone to say….
 
 

At least I'll be among good company!
 
 

Yes, I'm hardly alone in the "transformed" category. Much of what this list is about is from conversations I've had with them.
 
 

I'm gladdened that they now see me as a trusted friend. I'd hate to work with people that I admire (but hate my electronic guts).
 
 

Here's the list I've made while floating around in this gem.
 
 

Frederigo D'Honaire and Alicia D'Honaire
 
 

Now, these two fox manimals have been transformed physically. They have also been transformed mentally, as well.
 
 

Fred the manfox was an interesting case even before his becoming a humanoid fox. See, he was a bit cynical about others, though he got along well enough with others. You see, if you confront your father about a vile act he'd done…only to be beaten within an inch of your life….it tends to open your eyes to the darker side of things. This happened to Fred at age ten (he old me of it….interestingly enough). The fact that he turned out as well as he did is nothing short of amazing to me. That event, I think, played a key role in why he's such a strong follower of "honor" and "justice." He wants to be as far from Duke Dregerigo, his biological father, in character as possible.
 
 

From all accounts, he has grown in character to be even a better man….er….person than what he had been before.
 
 

His world view has grown to see that humans are not the only ones who are people. This is due in part to him no longer being human, but he's also grown to see the very race he'd sworn to protect Allarians from….as capable of being more humane than some humans he's met.
 
 

Finally, we come back to the physical transformation Fred and Alicia have undergone. The entire race is now immensely empathic, and as a direct result the Pack is of "many minds but one heart." Arguments in the Manimal nation are vanishingly rare, I've noticed. I've yet to hear of anything like a HEATED argument…..
 
 

Then there's the fact, from some of the Pack I've spoken with, that Alicia and Fred know each others True Name. Basically, they are linked on a spiritual level and as such, experience an incredibly deep love…..
 
 

Just like some other couples I know of, actually. More on that later.
 
 

Dragon Fred D'Honaire and Malachi D'Honaire
 
 

Now here's an interesting couple.
 
 

Malachi is a dragoness (funny how she makes a point of pointing out the "ess" as a distinction…something to do with a typical character feature in all dragons….they at least want you to know what sex they are). She had a bad run-in with rivals who bespelled her to do evil things. Only the actions of a nun prevented Malachi from killing herself in shame. In gratitude to the nun, the dragoness had "transformed" herself by adopting the Christian religion AND adopting a code of honor that would eventually help bind her heart to a young Dragon Slayer.
 
 

Through a freakish set of circumstances, Eye met Eye. The dragoness fell in love with the Dragonslayer. Dragon Slayer, upon seeing that Malachi would give up being a dragon for him instead asks her to make him a dragon.
 
 

Now, Fred's still very human…but he is more of a fusion of dragon and human in character. Malachi is in the same boat. She had been a human (albeit one infected and altered by lycanthropy). When a person is transformed in such a manner, the characteristics…experiences of one form tend to spill over and mix with that of the new form. It has something to do with the fact that a person who's matrix is transformed into a new, stable form (lycanthropy not being in that category), a person either adapts to his new form…accepting it and changing him in some way…..or the person goes permanently insane.
 
 

Fred is a human turned dragon, who's now a hybrid in character of his old race and new race. Malachi had visited the human condition, and had brought back "character luggage" from her trip.
 
 

And just like luggage given as a wedding gift, impossible to be rid of…..
 
 

Fred 1 and Astra 1
 
 

This is probably up there with the great ones.
 
 

Frankly, my heart is gladdened to see how this had turned out.
 
 

Through an outrageous act by their world's Minestus, this couple was eventually blessed (though at times it didn't appear as a blessing) with seven children.
 
 

Fred 1 feel in love with his children when he laid eyes upon them, he told me.
 
 

I didn't really….blame Astra 1 for not initially accepting being a mother and such. Everything had kind of come at her and overwhelmed her. If she'd never asked Fred's hand in marriage or accepting being a mother….it'd be understandable. I wasn't too thrilled with her initial decision, but I understood it.
 
 

Then she looked into her infants eyes, into her heart…..
 
 

By the Creator, I love happy endings……
 
 

The knight and amazon warrior "transformed" into a happy couple and family…..
 
 

It'd bring a tear to my eye if my Avatar was capable of crying…..
 
 

Fred 2 and Astra 2
 
 

Something along similar lines as Fred1 and Astra 1 happened here. The exception are that Astra 2 had already halfway acknowledged she had special feelings for the children and allowed the possibility that there might be a future with Fred 2.
 
 

A pitched battle with my treacherous subordinate officer sealed the bond between Fred 2 and Astra 2 (I must bring up the issue of who's laws and rules Seeker will be brought to trial under with the others). Fred 2 had been willing, out of his love for Astra 2, to lay down his life for her so she could escape. That touched her heart, and she felt herself fall in love with Fred.
 
 

Fred 3, Astra 3, Fred 4, and Astra 4
 
 

Again, the story of the changing the lives of knights and Amazon warrior princesses (all Christian….I noted with a bit of a quirk) changed to include the ideas of "family", "love", and "forever togetherness."
 
 

The most….notable change here in Astra 3 is the reason why I gave over that idea of the bra to her.
 
 

One word for those breasts of hers: impressive!
 
 

I could see her keeping them, actually. She seems to have grown attached to them, if you'll pardon the pun.
 
 

Oh…SHIT!
 
 

Before the death of Sato, I remember seeing and being amused slightly on how the Crystallics had restored Astra 4 to her original form….the one just before her being turned into a demifox. Meaning she's a dead ringer for Astra 3 in the breast department. Meaning that SIX Crystallics in concert, altered her back.
 
 

I….hope she likes those large breasts. Unless the other mages catch that blip before the BIG EVENT, she's stuck with them!
 
 

With the distraction caused by Sato's death (noble sacrifice though it was) AND the rush to go out and kill Zerm and his ghostly buddies, I have a bad feeling about this.
 
 

Hmm. Where was I?
 
 

Okay, back to the last few people…
 
 

Fred 5 and Astra 5
 
 

I've got to feel for these two, with having to go treking back and forth between their Walants and that dragon's cave…..
 
 

Under those conditions, I'd be a bit…put off.
 
 

So, on top of everything else, while Fred 5 comes from a similar background as his brothers, Fred 1 and Fred 2, I can't say the same for Astra 5.
 
 

1. Her Aqualaria was the most isolationist….least….er…..changed of all this group. 

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