Greta looked at what had happened in the house. Laying on the floor was a dead girl of ten. Greta was horrified looking at her. The violence that had obviously happened here sickened her. One of the women was trying to comfort the other who had several cuts that needed to be healed. The woman said, "Rachael honey. It isn't Jessica. You talked with Jessica remember. This is just the demon twisting the knife in our guts as it's final act."
"I know," Rachael said sadly. "But can you honestly say that seeing what looks to be Jessica laying there dead doesn't affect you?"
"No I can't," the woman said.
"You don't know what I would be going through if something were to happen to Jessica," Rachael said. "She adjusted to the change as well as I did. That just created another bond between us besides father and son or mother and daughter after the change."
"What happened here?" Greta spoke up for the first time.
Rachael and the woman jumped a bit. They obviously hadn't noticed Greta had appeared in their living room. "Goddess," the woman finally got out. "Forgive us for our rudeness but as you can see we have a little problem."
"Tell me what happened," Greta said in a soft soothing voice. She knew that both of them would be in some shock after what had happened here. "You can start by telling me your names."
"My name is Allison Lynn Donner," Allison said. "My wife's name is Rachael may Donner and this is our daughter Melissa Anne Donner. Oh Goddess! I forgot about Melissa needing medical attention."
Greta saw the red blistering welts and said, "There's no need for that. I can heal her."
"Thank you Goddess," Allison said bowing a bit.
Greta placed her hands over Melissa and said a few soft words. The welts began to glow and once the glow faded there was no sign that anything had happened to her. Greta then saw the same welts on Allison's hand and healed those as well. She then went to heal Rachael and said, "Now please tell me what happened."
"Well Rachael has been getting moody lately," Allison began. "She would be sensing something but nothing ever came of it until today. Today she said the feeling was stronger and she didn't like it. She came in here to look at a couple things from her male life. I had taken her mind off of it and I was going to put Melissa down for her nap so we could have some fun when Rachael started counting down. I had heard her do that before during the change so I knew something was coming."
"You counted down to when the wave hit?" Greta asked Rachael stunned.
Rachael nodded and said, "It was like I had to do that just as I had to count down the seconds until the demon appeared."
"Interesting," Greta commented. "Please continue."
"Well once Rachael had finished the demon appeared out of this energy vortex," Allison said. "It shot it's tongue out and wrapped it around Melissa. Rachael cut it's tongue before it could eat her and the fight started. I had never seen Rachael like that. Not even when she was male."
"I can understand that," Greta said. "Now where did the sword come from? I thought that the world was rid of stuff like that."
"It just stayed," Rachael said. "I don't know why but I'm glad it did or we would have been dead."
"I saw the gems on the hilt glowing during the fight," Allison said.
"Could it be the sword was fighting and not Rachael?" Greta asked.
"It was me fighting," Rachael said. "Though I think the sword lent some power to me. The way the demon moved was too fast for anyone to keep up with but somehow I did and won. There's something else from my old life. A ring that didn't change." She got up and went over to where she had the ring. Sighing she picked it up and put it on her middle finger. She wasn't expecting anything to happen so she was surprised when it began glowing and it shrank to fit her finger. "This is new," she said as soon as the ring had stopped shrinking.
"I think I need to tell you something," Greta said. "We've recently learned that there's a demon by the name of Astara that has conquered other worlds. She either kills the inhabitants or converts them into demons."
"So the demon that came..." Allison trailed off.
"Was some other world's Jessica," Greta finished.
"Oh Goddess I killed someone's daughter," Rachael cried out.
"You didn't kill her," Greta said with conviction. "Astara did by turning her into a demon. You just freed her. Would you rather she had continued to be a demon?"
"No but you could have turned her back," Rachael sobbed. "She didn't have to die."
"My powers might be linked to this world," Greta said. "They may not affect those from other worlds. If that's the case then I wouldn't have been able to transform her back."
"So what happens now?" Allison asked. "Surely this Astara will be coming here to convert or kill us."
"We have to build defenses," Greta said thinking. "And we'll need people who can fight the demons." She looked at Rachael and said, "I know that you may not want this but I have to ask you to join us in the defense of our world. It sickens me to think that we'll have to resort to violence but we need to. Rachael, with your sword you can be a tremendous help. Please help us in order to protect our world and your loved ones."
Rachael looked at Allison and Melissa and thought about Jessica. She couldn't just sit back and not do anything if they were in danger. On the other hand how many more Jessicas she would have to kill? How could her heart stand that? And what if her Jessica was converted? Would she have to kill her too? "I... I don't know," Rachael said looking down and the conflict obvious in her voice.
"I know that this is a difficult decision for you," Greta said. "So take your time thinking it over but please don't take too long. In the meantime I want you to see Carmen. She might be able to help you understand things better."
"Alright," Rachael said nodding.
"Good now pick up your sword," Greta said. "Allison, I would advise you to go stay someplace else for tonight. Since the demon appeared here it's logical to assume that more may be coming and you will be in danger here."
"I'll go stay at Penny's honey," Allison said giving Rachael a kiss. "I have faith that you'll do the right thing." She went and gathered up some of the things she would need for tonight while Greta and Rachael returned to the living room.
As soon as Allison left with Melissa Greta said, "We can go now. She should be safe."
"What about the... body?" Rachael asked.
"It's best to leave it for now," Greta said going against her instincts to give it a proper burial. "I don't want anyone coming in here and getting attacked if more demons come through."
"What about our neighbors?" Rachael asked. "They may come over."
"I've already put a warning on this house so none will be likely to enter," Greta said. "I hope that they'll be safe if more demons do come. Right now though we need to be off." With that she grabbed Rachael's hand and they disappeared.