Changed Redux Pt. 08

"I... but..." Mary stammered, looking back and forth between the Goddess, Julia, and Kristy who was just standing silently a few yards away awaiting her Goddesses command. Finally, she said with a bit of defiance in her tone, "It was just a dream."

"Tell me," Kazorra said, "All of it."

Mary did, all of it.

Kazorra was silent for a long moment when Mary finally ran out of words. Finally, she looked at Kristy. Without any apparent dialogue between them, Kristy nodded and said, "Yes Mistress." before going over to the kitchen counter and opening up her laptop.

Mary was just about to ask a question when Kristy said, "I have it, Mistress."

In answer, Kazorra flicked her eyes to Mary, "Show her."

Wordlessly, Kristy turned around the laptop and held up the screen for Mary.

Looking at the heading, Mary saw it was a Wikipedia page about women in ancient Mongolian history. A sub-entry read:

Tuya - A legendary warrior chieftess dating from approximately the period of 1205 AD to 1265 AD. Tuya was said to have been a skilled warrior woman who raised an army of over a thousand warriors all of whom were women. She ruled over a corner of the Mongol Empire and for a brief time contested the power of the Khan. Her armies were eventually pushed back but at great cost to both sides. An uneasy accord between her province and the greater empire was finally reached in approximately 1240 AD. The realm Tuya ruled eventually became the independent country of Kualastan which survived in various forms until it was finally absorbed by the Soviet Union in 1952.

Little is known of Tuya before her rise to Chieftress of her war band. Some scholars have speculated that she was born in the vicinity of the modern-day village of Ider though this is disputed. To date, no reliable information on how she affected her rise to prominence in what was at the time, a rigidly patriarchal society has been located.

Tuya was said to have a female lover named Gan who was one of her warriors. Little is known of Gan and no physical evidence of her existence has been located as of this writing.

Very few official records survive from the time of Tuya's reign so there is little physical evidence to support legends regarding her or her female warriors. There is also little reliable archaeological evidence due to the nomadic nature of the culture. Some historians dismiss the Tuya stories as mere legend. However, most historians believe she was a historical figure and that information about her was likely destroyed in the following years in an attempt to write the female warrior and leader out of history."

Mary felt as if cold jelly was creeping down her spine as she read the article. She was real... Tuya was real and suddenly Mary knew without question that the dream had been real as well. She had actually been Tuya. She had been that woman, she had loved Gan, she had made love to Gan, and she had saved Gan's life. It had been real and it had been her. For a brief period, she had lived another life.

Mary stood there feeling monumentally dense. It had never even occurred to her after the dream that night to go look up Tuya and see if the woman had ever really existed. It was far easier to just brush the whole frightening, confusing experience off as just another strange effect of the magic that was now running around inside her. Just a strange, frightening dream. That was all.

Upon reflection, she also admitted to herself that perhaps she hadn't really considered the possibility because she just didn't want to. The idea that she had somehow lived someone else's life was not exactly a normal, everyday occurrence.

The shock was too much and she felt the blood draining from her face. The room around Mary started fading to gray as her vision went fuzzy. From a great distance, she heard Julia cry out and she felt arms around her then everything went dark.

"You really need to stop doing this to me," Julia said, her voice somewhere between irritated and amused.

Mary pushed herself up but was immediately shoved back down by Julia. "Not yet. Rest for a few minutes." Sighing, Mary agreed and settled into the warm blankets and pillows. Looking around she saw she was still in Kristy's apartment and now in her bed. A scent caught her nose and she sniffed the air. Perfume and sex. It occurred to her then that she was not just in Kristy's bed, she was in the bed of a Priestess of the Goddess of Lust. Despite her still woozy condition, Mary felt her sex twitch and her nipples tighten with a delicious flush of arousal.

She looked about but didn't see Kristy anywhere. "Where did our host go?"

"She went to check on her baby who is apparently staying with her grandmother for tonight." She jerked her chin at the door, "In the main house, I guess."

"Oh, what about the Goddess?"

"She talked with Kristy for a couple of minutes after you passed out, then disappeared." Julia shrugged, "I wasn't really listening that close. I was kind of distracted by my girlfriend lying on the floor... again."

Mary felt herself blush, "Sorry."

Julia snorted, "I'm getting used to it." She sat down beside Mary, "So, was what you two were talking about true? About that Tuya woman? So that dream was, like, real? You told me a little about it but not much and I didn't want to push since it seemed to upset you so much."

"Yeah. I guess it was." Mary stopped for a second. She didn't have a clue how she could begin explaining this. She started anyway, "I mean.. It's like I was there, Julia. It was so real." She gave a mirthless bark of a laugh, "I guess that's why it seemed so real because apparently, it was. I kind of became, that woman. It's like I was living out her life or something."

Mary felt guilty that she had never really talked all that much about the dream with Julia, or with Marcellene for that matter. They both certainly knew she had the dream and knew the names of Tuya and Gan but aside from a few other basics of what had happened, that was it. Mary hadn't really shared all that much and neither of them had really asked. Mary wasn't sure exactly why she hadn't shared more but as she now thought of it, she suspected it was mostly due to her own fear. Fear of what the dream might have been. Fear that it might actually have been real. Fear that it might come back. She squeezed Julia's hand, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you more about it."

Julia shrugged, "It's fine."

"No, it's not." Mary took a deep breath then let it out slowly. After she felt a little calmer, she started to tell them all about her dream. When she got to the part where Tuya was speaking to Marcellene her speech slowed then stopped.

Marcellene, the ring, and Tuya. Tuya was a woman. A woman.

How could Mary have been so stupid?

"Marcellene?"

"Yes Mistress?"

"You once told me that I was the only woman to ever put on the ring. Right?" Mary asked.

"No, of course not, Mistress. I have been worn by one other woman in the past. A warrior chieftess named Tuya." Macellene said with no hesitation. "We have spoken of her before. That is likely why you visited her in the dream."

Mary felt as if someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water over her head. "What?" she gaped. "No, we have not! You told me when I first put on the ring that I was the first woman to ever wear you... wear it... whatever! The first I even heard of Tuya was in that dream when I, well, I... I kind of..." Mary stubbled for words, "I guess I became her, for a while anyway."

"No, you must be mistaken, Mistress. I know I told you about her." Marcellene said, her tone curious. "Why else would you have dreamed about her?"

"No, Marcellene. You have never mentioned her before." Mary said slowly. Another thought occurred to her, "You didn't even tell me you knew of her right when I came out of that dream and started talking about her. You didn't act as if you knew of Tuya before at all."

"I'm sorry Mistress but you must just not remember. I know we have spoken of her before. And I'm sure I must have said something that night, although I admit I can't recall right now." Marcellene said, her voice starting to sound a bit testy.

"So you don't remember ever telling me that I was the first woman to ever wear the ring?"

"I would not have said that."

Mary rubbed her temples with her fingers trying to think. She knew that Marcellene had told her in the past that she was the first woman to wear the ring. She also knew that they had never talked of Tuya before. What what was going on here? Was Marcellene lying to her? Why would she do that? The idea of it was ridiculous. Something else was going on, but what?

Another line of thinking popped into Mary's thoughts. She turned to Julia and asked, "Julia, when I first put on the ring, that first day, I told you all about it, Marcellene, the magic, everything. Do you remember? Do you remember me telling you that I was the first woman to ever wear it?"

"Yes, of course," Julia said, confusion and worry battling in her dark eyes. She was only hearing half the conversation, as usual, but she was apparently getting the drift of what was happening.

At Julia's words, Mary felt another wave, as cold as ice water, wash her body but she knew it wasn't from her this time. It was from Marcellene. Julia's words had just shocked the sorceress to her core.

"She remembers as well?" The sorceress whispered.

"Yes, Marcellene," Mary said softly. "She remembers because that was what happened. At least it did before. Now...well... " She broke off not sure what to say. When Marcellene didn't say anything she continued, "I guess maybe it's different. Maybe I wasn't the first now. You really were with Tuya, and I guess I was too."

After a few long seconds the sorceress spoke, slowly, haltingly, almost as if talking to herself, "You altered the past in your dream. You altered the past by changing Tuya's life, and... and my own. You changed my past..." Marcellene paused then said in a whisper, "and I didn't even know." "I... I have no... I have no memory of that. I remember Tuya. She was..." Marcellene paused then continued, "she was strong and bold, brave and driven by honor. She wouldn't let me use my powers to win battles. She would only use my powers sparingly. She wanted her warriors to be strong on their own."

Mary nodded at that. I matched her own memories of Tuya from the dream. But still, why hadn't Marcellene said something as soon as Mary woke up and started talking about it? It seemed to Mary that if she was talking about having vivid dreams of a Chieftress named Tuya, Marcellene probably would have chimed in with something like 'Oh, yes, I remember her.' or 'Yes, you remember, I told you all about her.' or something like that. But at the time she had acted as if she had never heard of the woman before. Why the change? Why did she remember now?

As Mary thought she dimly recalled a conversation she had with Marcellene weeks ago about changing the past and making errors in time, paradoxes she thought they were called. She remembered asking about how even a little change in the past could have huge ramifications in the present. But Marcellene had explained that the Universe would essentially heal up around most of these changes, sort of self-correct and everybody would just continue on. The world might change, events could change but the people in it wouldn't. If someone was supposed to be born, they would, if someone was supposed to die, they would. The means and methods might change, but the result was the same. For all the people in the world, why wouldn't notice anything different. Their lives might be the same or lived differently, but they would all still go on. Was that what was happening here? Was the Universe healing up around the damage that Mary's changing of the past had created? Maybe that healing didn't happen instantly?

Mary had an image of tossing a pebble into a pond, the ripples rolling away from the point of impact in slowly spreading rings. Was that how the changes worked in the ebb and flow of time? She tried to imagine the ripples spreading out through time as well as space but she couldn't quite wrap her head around it. But still, she thought that maybe it was something like that. She tried to explain what she was thinking about to Marcellene.

Marcellene considered for several long moments then said slowly, "Yes. You may be on to the correct line of thinking. If you had changed events that far in the past, it might have taken some time for the influence to spread to our present day. Or, it could even be that it was just my mind trying to adapt to the altered memories. That could be why my thoughts are," she hesitated, "confused." Another pause then, "But why was Julia not affected? She remembers."

Mary considered, "Maybe because I shielded her before. Remember? I used the magic of the ring so that she would always know whatever changes I made. I meant it to be so that she would know when I changed her and other people with the ring when I first got it, but maybe it works for all my other magic as well. I never did that with you because before it was the ring's magic that I was using and it didn't affect you. Now that I'm using my own magic, I guess things have changed. Or maybe it was because this is the first time I used my magic actually on you. Before you were only observing me using it on others."

Mary felt a warm tickle run through the back of her mind.

"You are beginning to think like a sorceress, my Mistress. I am so proud of you."

Realizing that the feeling was one of pride and happiness coming from Marcellene, Mary smiled, "All thanks to my teacher."

"Well, you are an apt student." The Sorceress paused then made a noise that made Mary think of clearing her throat with embarrassment, before changing the subject. "But though we may have put together what happened, we still do not know why it happened."

"Yeah," Mary said. "Why did it happen?"

"Could it be our Goddess, Ama-Arhus?" Julia asked, surprising Mary. She had been mostly silent up until now.

"Getting better at listening to one-sided conversations?" Mary asked with a smile, impressed at how much Julia had been able to follow along.

"I'm getting a lot of practice lately," Julia said with a small grin. "Well, Marcellene? What do you think?"

Marcellene seemed to consider that. "Yes, that I possible of course. Why she would be doing this I don't know but she does not reveal herself to her followers as Kazorra does so she is always more enigmatic." She paused for a few seconds then continued, "I need to meditate on this. To consider the possibilities."

"Well meditate fast." Mary quipped. As she relayed what Marcellene had said to Julia.

"Why? Are you in a hurry?" Marcellene came back.

Mary huffed in exasperation, "No, why would I be? I'm apparently time traveling in my dreams and dragging you along for good measure. Also, The Goddess of Sex just invited me over to basically just confirm what you already told me, that I may have pissed off some other goddess, three of them, maybe, with all this fate stuff. I'm sure I have plenty of time to..."

"To what? To prepare to deal with a god?" Marcellene interrupted, a bit of a sharp edge to her voice.

"I... well, no," Mary said, feeling a little knocked back. Marcellene had never talked to her like that before. "I just... I... I'm sorry Marcellene." She stammered then took a deep breath and huffed it out. "I'm just scared! I mean, magic, gods and goddesses, going back in time, changing history, bringing back the dead?" She tossed her hands in the air in aimless frustration, "I'm no one special. Why is this happening to me?"

"You still haven't realized just what you are, have you?" Marcellene said, her voice surprisingly gentle after the edge a few moments before.

Mary threw up her hands again, "Apparently not! So tell me, what the hell I am?"

"You're a sorceress."

For the third time in just a few minutes, ice water crashed down over Mary. "What?" she said in a strained whisper. "No. I can't be."

"Yes you are, and a very powerful one at that. Far more powerful than I ever was, in fact. It was dormant but now it's awake, possibly because of the ring but maybe because of something else. In truth, I suspect that you being a sorceress is what drew the ring to you. Although it's hard to say for sure."

"But I just found the ring in the mud! It was just a fucking accident!" Mary felt panic starting to rise in the belly, churning and rolling without real direction.

"No, with magic and the gods involved, I don't believe it was an accident. You were supposed to find this ring. You were supposed to have it. You were supposed to find me."

Marcellene's last words caught Mary's attention and her rising panic slowed. Maybe she was right. Perhaps she and Marcellene were meant to be together. Maybe Ama-Arhus had brought them together for some greater purpose. Maybe she wanted them to do... something. "You think so?" Mary asked cautiously.

"I am beginning to think so, yes."

Beside her, Julia huffed and raised her eyebrows. Mary felt her cheeks heat at the irritated stare she was receiving, knowing how much Julia hated hearing half a conversation with the trapped spirit. She told Julia what Marcellene had been saying. When Mary got to the part where she said that maybe someone wanted her and Marcellene to be together a look of sharp pain flashed across Julia's face and was just a quickly hidden but Mary saw it. She stopped, realizing what her statement had sounded like.

"Julia, I don't think it's like that. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. Remember, I swore to you that I would never leave you." Mary said earnestly, taking Julia's hand.

Without looking up Julia nodded. "I know. I just worry. It's not easy having a girlfriend that talks with gods and can travel through time when you're just some ordinary girl that sells bathing suits and sunscreen." She forced a slim smile.

"You're far from ordinary." Mary grinned, "You've got the best boobs in the state."

One corner of Julia'smouth quirked up into a ghost of a smirk. She raised one eyebrow and asked, "You sure? Have you been checking around?"

Reaching over, Mary gilded her fingertip down one Julia's heavy breasts, circling her nipple which she then pinched through the shirt, making Julia twitch. "Maybe a bit, but I always come back to you, baby."

Leaning in a little closer Julia whispered, "Do you really love me that much or are you just coming back for the boobs?"

Mary leaned in as well and said, "Maybe both." A heady rush of liquid warmth started seeping through her body as they got ever closer together. Their lips touched and Mary felt more than heard Julia's intake of breath at the electric spark that shot through both of them. Julia's lips were soft yet firm, warm breath and cool skin as they slid over hers. Mary felt Julia's tongue brush over her lips and she allowed them to part, letting her lover in. Eagerly, Julia's long tongue snaked into Mary's mouth where they danced.

Pleasure, hot and sweet, started to pulse through Mary's veins as Julia leaned in the rest of the way and their bodies pressed together. She felt Julia's full breasts press into her, felt her firm hips along her side, felt her hands running up her back and into her hair. She broke away from the kiss and hissed, "You feel so wonderful tonight."

Julia kissed for another second before pulling back. She grinned wickedly and in a breathy whisper said, "You should see what I feel like naked."

Mary made a sound that was half chuckle, half growl. "I think I already know."