John remembered that she took a sip of punch and then... She prayed to Chronos for some sort of guidance, but Chronos wasn't that type of god... god... John had a friend Silky who worked at a nearby shrine as a shrine maiden... maybe she had some insight? Alright, get clothes, try to figure out what happened on the way, get to the shrine and maybe get a better handle on the connection to god thing... sounded like a plan. Looking John saw a pile of clothes on the floor and thought "Well... that's probably me sized... can't go out nude anyways." and thank goodness they fit... Second thought find Principal Abet first and then go out.
John found Principal Abet in the courtyard freaking out and approached calmly and said "Hi little Abet, I don't mean harm. Just want to turn you back to normal..." and let out her aging magic to get her principal roughly her regular age.
Abet was surprised saying "I'm an Adult?!?" before John booked it to get to her destination leaving a very confused Lauren Abet back at the school.
Silky was at the shrine sweeping some of the leaves. Her constitution was frail, but the air around the shrine was clean and all she could hear was the rustling of leaves and the wind. Nice and peaceful... Then Silky heard some girl yelling "SILKY!!!" Well things could be worse. The girl ran up to Silky and panting spat out "Silky I've got a favor or two to ask."
Silky asked "Well... mind if I asked your name first mam?"
John said "It's me, John. The god Chronos made me his priestess."
Silky said "I know I'm a shrine maiden, but do you honestly think I'd believe that?" Then the oddest thing happened and the young woman turned into a small child...
John was a grin on her face said "Believe me now?"
Silky replied "Well... it's hard not to believe at least the Chronos part with you so young."
John said "Great, hopefully soon I wont have to convince everyone I see soon." and then aged back to normal.
Silky asked "Should you be using divine powers so flippantly?"
"Well Chronos told me to experiment. As soon as he says so I'll restrain them, but I see no harm in using them like this. In fact how about I turn you back to a more healthy state?"
"Wait, what?" and as the magic attempted to enter her body she muttered "This feels weird..." but she wasn't actually changing in any way.
"Why isn't this working?" John pondered.
Silky said "I don't think my gods like your god messing with me. I appreciate the sentiment, but I think part of the reason I get sickly so often is that my gods don't want me tempted away from the shrine... So you wanted some god advice?"
John nodded and said "And if I could borrow a phone. The other night I accidentally got drunk and... I'm not really sure what happened." Silky raised an eyebrow and John muttered "Well I didn't realize the punch was probably 80% alcohol so-"
Silky said "Ok, come inside, make some calls, and I think I need to hear about what happened."
Inside the shrine Silky let John borrow one of her uniforms thinking maybe it could help in some way and John told her the summary of everything she remembered last night.
Silky said "Interesting... So everyone besides... based on the story I'm guessing Vicki?... had their first and last names in the prayers?"
John nodded and said "It sorta felt like the name was shouting itself at me instead of being text..."
"Hmm... How to put this..."
"Wait do you know what's going on?"
"Maybe... some philosophy that may have a grain of truth. I was always taught that everything has a soul of sorts. From our clothes, to the shrine, to all the grains of sand in our zen garden. Apply that logic even our bodies have a sort of soul apart from ourselves. I think we usually don't notice the soul of our bodies as they tend to work harmoniously with our own. The prayers you get are channeled through our body which contain our given name. However with your power, the difference in Vicki's Soul and young immature body soul got thrown off sync. I'd imagine her body's soul is now more in charge and Vicki's actual soul being more passive, but having the potential to flare up like it did last night. The name you felt being the name she associates with herself more."
John sighed and said "Great, now that we know that her problem is that her soul's not in charge how do we fix her?"
"No idea, I just take care of the shrine, pray, get home schooled, and deal with guests now and then. not like the gods give us a handbook on soul maintenance. I think if you age her body back the desync will get better, but it's possible that Vicki's soul will just kind of be in the background forever."
John heard Chronos' voice in the back of her mind "I veto, there is no need to give Silky power."
John muttered "Chronos?"
Where the god's voice in her mind said "Great, now my priestess overheard our conversation Ammy."
Silky asked "What is it John?.. AMATERASU?!?" she fell to her knees to pray "Oh goddess why have you started to..." and then picked herself up and said "I guess that makes sense. So what am I just on clean up duty?"
Chronos rang in John's mind "Sure I gave her time but I'm the god of time. How do you get soul from the Sun?"
John asked "Silky? do you also feel scared that beings of unimaginable power are starting to become more involved in this world now?"
Silky said "Duh, while I trust Amaterasu there are gods like Susano who can be abrasive at best. Then if Chronos is also out there then that implies there are probably also Zeus and other Greeks that are considerably flawed by nature... plus who knows what other pantheons?.. Hey! We've been friends for a long time why can't she?... Fine... Maybe not allowing her in your shrine is understandable."
Chronos rang again in John's head "Great, we'll have to build up our own following, get funding, money, and land permits just for a small shrine. Fine Ammy you can use my priestess for a test run but she's get restored."
John was confused then Silky muttered "Well since I can turn her back... How can I say no Amaterasu?" Then John suddenly felt weird. Like her very soul was getting pinched and being pulled down into some recess of her very body.
John's body said "Huh? Oh that feels a lot better. Like a totally new girl."
John thought "I didn't say that... what's happening? I can't move...
John's body saying "Feel a lot more like myself!" her posture and very way a speaking a lot more feminine as if she was the Jane that John had imagined.
Silky said "I guess you may be a little more spunky, but I prefer John." and Suddenly John felt her soul getting dragged back out.
John spoked "ugh... that was an odd sensation. Like a prisoner in your own body. Wonder how hard Vicki must've pushed to pummel Ronda the way she did."
Silky smiled and said "Well I'm gald you're with us John. I don't think I'd hate Jane, but well you are you."
nodding John replied "I'm going to have to bring Vicki to the shrine so you can fix her... Also maybe our principal... she was acting a little funny."
Silky said "Maybe get someone to bring her to me or something... also you should scram before Amaterasu tries to turn you to a squirrel or something." John unsure of what was going to happen grabbed her clothes and left with the the shrine maiden uniform. Silky tried to say "Wait those are..." and sighed before Amaterasu starting telling her about a certain perk or two that came with true Priestesshood.