A small divergence of events, a small divergence from expectation to reality... An outcome where Myra's conversation with Curt remained mostly the same... But with a small change in the events that followed...
"You destroyed the zombie of your daughter's corpse, talked with Simone's future divine self... and now pregnant with the reincarnated souls of the two people it killed... and now their statues in spite of not having souls are moving about on their own for no real reason you can determine other than the rain having something to do with it, even though things that WEREN'T touched by the rain, like the statues in your house, were affected anyway?" Curt asked, bewildered.
"Yes Master Curtie," Myra said.
Curt felt a headache, the entire world it felt like it was spiraling into chaos.
"Then... can you tell me why ... your former... 'collection'... are talking about their time as statues as if it was their real self, and being alive is a novelty?" Curt asked. He should have known better than to ask, he knew that the world was full of fetishes that everyone else thought were strange, but at the end of the day were what came natural to the person in question.
"That's because it IS their true selves! I'm not a monster, I wouldn't leave a MORTAL mind in a work of art. Unless mind and body are in harmony, there is only suffering. But I have to say... them being turned back this way is terrifying... When I TRULY transform someone, not just changing their bodies... I remake them from the ground up. They're not mortals made into statues, then turned back to 'normal' (what an absurd word). They're statues that have been turned into flesh and blood beings... And that is incredibly dangerous... You might as well be spilling gasoline everywhere and firing signal flares."
Curt knew he didn't want to hear this. "What do you mean?"
Myra turned her hand over, and let green flame appear.
"Fire turns one type of energy into another, it changes things, that is its nature. That is why transmutation comes so naturally to kitsune, flames already change and remake things. But only with a thinking mind behind it, otherwise it just devours. You understand Master Curtie?"
"I... think so."
"Now... magic depends on what form it takes... this rain... it shouldn't have affected those within my house. It just shouldn't have. But it did anyway. That is breaking the rules. It's like this magic had some petty personal grudge against my own magic if I didn't know better. But there's a problem. Magic's form aids to its nature. Rain washes things away, that is how it is. But... 'everything goes somewhere, everything comes from somewhere.' Duns Scotus used that unescapable logic once to surmise the existence of the S-class God using nothing but his intelligence and reason. Master... do you realize what this MEANS?!??! It means all the magic had to have GONE somewhere! And with the number of my creations that were forced into transient fleshy lives again... and it can't just be bottled up and thrown in a cupboard somewhere! And since we've seen that protection from the rain DOESN'T act as a protection of this side of the magic... Without a conscious mind to direct it, there's no telling what this mind magic will do!"
---
Elsewhere, in the centre of the storm, a deep well of warped energies were being shaped. A stone effigy of a giant claw twitched and grew in the centre of an abandoned school courtyard, where a tree once stood. The magical energies from the entire city converged at this point, breathing in in one shape, and expelled in another. Myra was right that the energies would be unpredictable if left free, the storm did have a mind of its own, and it drank deep of the magics washed away.
This claw was not truly the future Simone's body, she would need it to carry a spark of new life for that. But as a place to store the most disruptive energies of the storm, as a shrine of sorts...It would suffice.
Still, it was a lot of energy to store, and if anyone truly wished for the energies washed away from Myra's creations without being tricked or mentally manipulated into that desire, she wouldn't deny them. The honesty of nobility sets Simone apart from the nature of a trickster like Myra after all.
Sparks of lightning danced across the digits of the claws, with lightning being born so close to the boundaries of all the other elements, it was suitable for breaking down Myra's left over enchantments over time into raw energy. Though unfortunately not very quickly.
---
Marceline's many eyes blinked as her vision continued to change. She began to notice the flaws in her normal sight, only for them to disappear shortly after. Her many tiny blind spots that the mind or other eyes filled in the gaps of suddenly appeared as dark spots, only to shrink away. Her one point of clear vision in the focus of each of her eyes expanding and becoming clear and perfect vision. Her faceted vison becoming no longer just generally sensing dark shapes all around her, to perfect vision in 270 degrees around her, perhaps a bit more.
She blinked as a number of floating estimates of various measurements popped into her vision accompanying each of those around her: Magical potential, bust size, waist size, hip circumference, body temperature.
She made a childish squeal of delight, this was like some kind of cyborg vison! Her band-mates looked at her, and Randy was the first to notice something.
"You okay there? Your skin is looking a little... Weirder than usual," he said.
She was about to grab a cellphone out, when somewhere in her mind's eye she could see a model of herself. Her maid dress turning into near latex fused with her chest, but able to shift to a more natural flesh at her call. Layers of electrical circuitry running along the edges of her veins, while living blood an nanites intermingled inside them. Her internal organs mirroring the same mix of living and synthetic, while her upper torso's bones glowed with energy, and her exoskeleton just beneath the flesh seemed to be made of a tough carbon fibre an polymer mix.
She brought herself back to reality as she noticed Randy still staring at her. "This is incredible! Amazing! I mean... I'm still kinda organic, but I'm practically a robot."
>>>Correction: The technically correct term would be "synthetic lifeform", as you still retain the capacity to reproduce.
"... Aaaand I guess now there's some kind of computerized voice in my head," she said, "she sounds overly literal."
>>> Statement Noted: Data management system is still calibrating for user preferences, and will consider this feedback for future use.
Kara sighed. "Well, good that someone's getting a kick out of this... The rest of us are still trying to figure out where we're going to get a diaper for a baby Kraken."
Cherry's entire body shifted colours to a bright pink with that comment, trying to squeeze herself into a pair of seats to appear less conspicuous. But a giant pink spiky squid-octopus-thing stands out a lot, if not for all the other equally odd creatures filling the train.
---
Meredith was still waiting in line to board, but by this point, she'd already changed. Her fur brighter and whiter than its usual grey.
Mice and rats have been known across many cultures to have mild roles in folklore as something close to mythic, almost fae-like. So it wasn't to much shock that Meredith only got a couple of glowing runes on her thighs and the Chinese character for mouse in the middle of her collarbone. She had only shrunk a little, already having been somewhat short as a mouse girl, yet it was clear she was back at the start of puberty again, probably comparable to a ten year old human.
… And her thoughts turned to one of Curt's work mates she'd been dating... Dave.
When he suddenly showed up, she almost squealed with joy. He planted a kiss on her forehead, and she blushed.
"Thanks... I was just thinking of you," she said, "I was worried... Still am worried that... Turning into a child... And then there might be the lifespan thing... and I... Well..."
Dave stroked her ears. "I know. But I'd wait as long as it takes, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'd give anything to be with you."
Just then, whatever energies were still permeating the air outside must have heard them, as Dave was suddenly consumed by light, only to emerge as Meredith's seeming twin, but more black furred to her white, and her dress being the inverted colours of a normal maid's dress.
The new mouse girl looked down at her new form, and giggled, a blush forming as she did. "Maybe I should be careful what I wish for."
The two young girls threw their arms around each other, nuzzling each other both having the restraint not to do anything more scandalous in public just yet. Leaving her new name to be a question for later.
---
A seemingly nameless zombie catgirl followed Mindy. The other zombies that followed them back to the estate had spent more time as statues than as living beings, though they didn't exactly have any emotional attachment to being statues, that was all they were familiar with.
From her angle though, she had barely spent any time as either flesh or as clay; and she was rapidly finding both flesh and the clay she was only momentarily to be too weak; as clay her limbs had broken of as she fell over, leaving her in the state where all that was holding her together was duct tape; and if her dead flesh couldn't regenerate, then she'd be little more than a skeleton eventually, and then naught but dust.
So when she began to think it would be better it would be better to be a stronger material, like metal, that won't wear down or cripple her. It was unexpected for her to hear a reply echo in her head, as clear as if it was spoken.
'Well, that is genuinely your own thought, not one given to you... I can grant you that much.'
Her young body suddenly grew taller, her skin separating into plates that seemed like a mixture of hard steel and malleable rubber as her dress's body fused with it, and the skirt itself flared out in metal plates. Her body took on a mature appearance, breasts growing where they weren't yet developed, and an hourglass shape to balance it.
In accordance with her stated logic, her arms re-attached themselves, socketing themselves back where they belonged. And a synthesized emotionless voice echoed from her mouth as it calibrated itself. Her mind reaching out into the local network, as it gathered information beyond her years. Her eyes being replaced by a visor of ballistic glass with cameras behind them, with an LED animation of eyes hiding the cameras themselves.
The zombie cat girl's sudden transformation into a robot cat girl didn't even make the other's pause in their stride, and neither did she. Mindy on the other hand did at least look at her.
"Just so I know what the limits of what you can do are, did you turn into a 'pleasure robot' or an industrial robot," Mindy said, evading the exact term she was inquiring about only out of something akin to practiced etiquette.
The robo-cat didn't even blink. "I am fully functional for both purposes, I am however no more alive than you, so I wouldn't bare children," she said, "I do not however possess a directive to either serve Master Curt in such a manner as you imply, nor to deny him. So I cannot truly suggest I could serve in such a role, unless it is to fulfil some other directive."
Mindy turned back to their march back to the estate; both understanding that her showing that she acknowledged her response wasn't necessary.
---
Cassidy and Pam, along with the rest of their lion squad, both stood on the platform ushering all the others into the train. Their tails had begun to split like many of the other cat maids had, but perhaps out of stubbornness, none of them had gotten younger than looking sixteen. Even Leo, the one human among them, seemed not to be changing more than his hair getting thicker, and slightly discoloured.
"Ye' don't have to do this you know," Cassidy said, "yer got's better chances in there than out here, even if it ain't airtight chances."
Leo let out a hearty bark of laughter. "Don' be daft, thar's just as much magic to fuel what's happening in there as there is out here," he said, "a train full o' mythics is practically Rad'ed with the stuff, yer' think they just hold onto the stuff? Nar, they don' have the strength ta do that."
Pam smirked. "Well, I guess if you think you're going to have to bite the bullet anyways, I suppose you'd feel more comfortable working than waiting for the inevitable," Pam said, sounding practically like a posh brit compared to Cassidy and Leo bonding over street talk.
"Aye, but don't write me off just yet, as much as I would do to in gratitude for the ones tha' give me a secon' chance, I've got more life left in me than tha lot o' yer combined. I ain' gonna turn tha' easily," Leo said.
A giggle came from behind them and somewhat above, not even having to look to know it was Sophia. "Well, you're not wrong about how magic is fuelling the changes, it certainly seems that way... But there do seem to be some... Outliers, where magic is almost certainly not the cause, unless its simply a kind of magic too different from normal to be sensed by the rest of us."
The others mostly shrugged and ignored the playful cat perched atop the train. She herself, in all her wisdom, seemed to be enjoying her body getting younger for some reason, the energy of turning back to an early teen by human standards giving her a weird thrill.
---
A certain rabbit girl, Eva, who was saved by the ray gun during Cassidy's little incident, was already younger than she was before all this started. She didn't have many more years to loose, so it wasn't like it was any surprise to see her back in diapers, only a little embarrassed by the whole affair. Still, she did the one task she was most used to in her old job and even now, helping serve those who looked like they could use some food or drink. It was a harsh day after all, and they could use whatever solace they could get.
She rubbed at a couple of horns beginning to grow out of her head. Or were they antlers? It was hard to tell, and she didn't exactly know what kind of mythical rabbit she was becoming. Some she'd been serving suggested she must have been turning into a Puka, others figured she might be turning into a Jackelope.
It didn't matter to her which it was, she was just glad to help.
---
Kathy and Carrie pouted at their own sudden need to have diapers strapped to them.
"Wearing this feels so wrong," Kathy said, "heck, wearing anything feels wrong, but this is even worse!"
Carrie groaned. "shouldn't you be more worried about our lost age? It took forever for us to look even close to adults, but now we have to go through it all again from the start!"
Kasai giggled. "Daww, you do understand what its like."
"Its different, you're practically a new person when you do it, like... I'm not even sure if its just your personality that changes, or if you forget who you were," Carrie said. She suddenly drooped as she said it, "I... I'm sorry, that's a bit mean."
Kasai tilted her head. "Its not mean, and its not all that different. You're acting just as much like babies as I am," she said, "that's not a bad thing, its fun, its like we're storms of emotion, and all it wants to do is have fun, and do whatever comes to mind, and make others feel the same."
Carrie and Kathy shared a look. "Since when did you become the mature one here?" Kathy said.
Kasai smiled. "I don' know."
Carrie sighed, and yes she smiled as she did so. "And now she's back to being a normal kid again."
Emma the baby unicorn who looked at the three bickering just shrugged and smiled, she hadn't lived long enough to grow up, and as she was already a toddler, being a baby wasn't much of a change. She wasn't even bothered by the loss of hands to her unicorn side, since its not like she needed them before either.
… Still, she wasn't sure if Carrie or Kathy were in the same state or not. Their kind of dragon didn't exactly show much difference between being humanoid or not at this age, and unlike western dragons, they might not loose their thumb in their 'feral' form.
---
Susan and Kitty were sitting across a table from Kitty's kids, in one of the more open cars on the train where the seats face each other.
Kitty had changed a lot, true to her name, she'd become a cat, calico patterned, and with a split tail. She hadn't lost her hands yet, but it seemed she'd lost herself in thought in the rain, and her age was rewound that of a young teenager. Perhaps it couldn't go further, as she already had kids, but it was a miracle it had stopped before the magic or reality warping... Whatever had taken anything else.
Susan despite her best efforts, spending most of her time sheltered on the bus before now, was not much older. The signs she was turning kitsune becoming more obvious with each time a mythic of strong magic walked past and made a shiver go up her spine.
The two were blushing, occasionally nuzzling each other when the kids weren't looking, and while they were busy marvelling over some weird change.
The kids themselves weren't able to cause much trouble, partly because they were good little maids who did what they were told, and partly because they were back in diapers like many other kids had become with even mild exposure; and they'd certainly gotten a laugh at how soft their new paws were once they'd gone full feral. Suzzie taking after Kitty and gaining her split tail as well, while Sharon gained a few star patterns across her body, perhaps in reference to the constellations named after a bear who raised a girl.
Perhaps an unconventional reunion, but it seemed love was being rekindled between Kitty and Susan... Or perhaps it was never gone to begin with. One never knows with what some will admit to others, or even to themselves.
---
Skyla's old boss watched over the employees and former employees of their last workplace. Between the trio of bunnies growing tiny horns, a snake girl's arms turning into wings, and a wolf girl's eyes glowing a frosty blue as she found herself on all fours, it was certainly lively; not to mention all the others from the office that had changed themselves, or that they were all teenagers again.
Still, she herself wasn't going to mourn the loss of a little height, and being a devoted business girl the surging magic presence in both her and her employees seemed a boon, enough to make her splitting tail twitch excitedly.
Then again, if she didn't age backwards as well, maybe she would actually have been older than them physically at least... and as much as she could tolerate the embarrassment of needing diapers for herself, or of her employees seeing her like that, more than anything she hated the idea of simply how much money she'd be wasting to have to pay for them.
She sighed during a quiet moment, and supposed all good things came at a price.
---
Paige was waiting on the platform near Leo until he'd decided it was time for him to go too, she hadn't changed much, only the slightest hint of a splitting tail. She kept herself busy by watching her kids, David having turned into a baby kitsune vixen running around on all fours, albeit a very fennec looking Kitsune. Meanwhile Hal looked a bit like some kind of Japanese tweenaged dog girl, her crimson red outer coat and her glowing eyes suggesting some kind of power, but it wasn't clear what.
Hal didn't look entirely comfortable with her sudden wardrobe change to a dress, but somewhere between her blushing and her traitorous tail, she seemed to be enjoying it in a way that she was embarrassed about, perhaps just because she was on the receiving end of why she might like it.
"You know, If you're not going to get much younger, I should probably teach you about feminine hygiene," Paige said.
"Mom!" Hal shouted, "not in public... Besides, I already learned about that in school. They don't exactly explain it in a separate room from us."
Paige chuckled under her breath. If nothing else, Hal could use the new experience, be a bit more open. "Well, have you decided on a new name?"
Hal blushed. "Kind of... I mean, I guess Haley is fine... But I'd rather everyone still call me Hal! The only person I'd want calling me that would be my girlfriend," she said. "... or boyfriend," she muttered under her breath. She gave herself a light slap after she said it, as if to deny it.
Paige gave a mental chuckle, looking over to Leo, hoping he'd get through this with his pride intact, whether he changed or not.
---
Silvey looked exhausted, between her friends and the rest of the blanked out maids, it felt like she'd just found herself in the middle of the most bizarre kindergarten... If those could be placed inside a train. An entire train carriage of kittens with split tails, and Kitsune kits... All of which found themselves stuck as ferals. Even she herself it seemed, by some twist of luck.
All around her, the others were taking it all differently. She wasn't sure if it was because of Curt's urging to be more like their old selves, or just them being stuck in the body of something emotionally unstable.
Sasha wasn't handling it so well. She had tears streaming down her face, and she just stared at her paws, like she was staring at bloody stumps. She had been much more distraught earlier though, until Silvey had managed to calm her down, partly by reminding her she could relearn how to work materials using magic rather than her hands if she had to. Though that probably wasn't as much of a reassurance as she hoped, as it would likely be as difficult as being rehabilitated after getting your arms re-attached.
Liddia seemed to be taking it slightly better. She'd managed to bring a laptop with a rocket launching game with her, but the flight controls weren't exactly that easy for her to use in this form; given how limited her ability to press the buttons with her paws were. Still, she looked like she was getting the hang of it, though if her frustrated muttering was anything to go by, it seemed like she was trying to distract herself from the fact her ability to serve as a maid had been obliterated by her sudden hand loss.
Silvey sighed, somewhat glad that another school's chimera teacher was apparently relatively decent at reassuring them. Apparently having came over from the next car over after her teachers went to her unsure how to deal with them.
---
Myra sat admiring the former statues from her collection that had come with her, the ones with their own souls. It seemed they certainly still had a fondness for the activities of statues, albeit in this case manifesting as doing beautiful poses when asked. They seemed overly fond of their original poses, but they were starting to experiment with new poses. It wasn't all that unlike a body building competition, though that was most fitting for the Amazonian puma.
Still, they certainly seemed to be resistant to change, at least compared to those still alive in all senses of the word. Even with some of them having been thoroughly drenched, only a handful looked much younger than their mid teens, and those only seemed to be that way since they were already in a form close enough to childhood when they first became flesh... Usually having been depicted as a child or mythic themselves at the time as well.
Still, even watching this impromptu show in this standing room train car, she couldn't help but think back to her encounter with that future goddess... She was most likely responsible for much of the chaos, whether or not she intended it, and it seemed which she had no ill will towards her, she had to have had some kind of disagreement with her if she was the one who reverted her art to flesh and blood.
Were their experiences with immortality really that different to have such differing views on the lives of mortals?
She was broken from her reverie by a sudden new visitor who seemed to have come through to get a bit of piece and quiet. A Chimera, apparently slightly older than most of her former statues, perhaps similarly resilient, or maybe just sharing the losses of age between them.
A stray thought occurred, sheep head, cat head... Not unlike the two growing within her were before their current state... And the future goddess had made a coy comment suggesting they might turn out like that.
She chuckled, not really sure what the coincidence meant, but it was something to relate to.
---
It seemed the first train had gotten full, and another train was already waiting behind them. It began to begin trailing away from the town, taking half of the current maids with them, the other half still on the platform.
… Sophia had gotten inside the train at the last minute, having had her fun lounging around in the magically charged air; even noting aloud the fact that the air itself was charged with magic, even without the rain or thunder.
Some of those left behind who heard her, started to wonder if the station was too windy.