"This cannot be possible, the great Goddess would not have allowed a man to bear her power..." Arianna said,
becoming quite flustered, staring at you with disbelief as she began to pace backwords and forewords, "I
must...I must consult with the other sisters, they will see through this obvious lie."
"Lie?" you questioned, a little upset be the accusation, "I'm not lying!"
"Please be silent, I must call our sisters from their slumber so we may discover the truth of this matter,"
she told you, stopping suddenly and clasping her hands together, withdrawing into some sort of meditative
state. You watched as she closed her eyes and began to chant, the words soft and unheard by you, more mouthed
than sung, wondering what the hell she was doing and where exactly these other "sisters" were going to appear
from. Only moments later did you find out, as you witnessed the effects of her chanting; the exquisitely
sculpted statues seeming to glow a brilliant white as from their depths, an entire legion of equally young and
beautiful woman began to appear, their forms ghostly and transparent, gradually turning solid, till you were
surrounded in the small temple by what looked to be over 100 of them, all neatly packed in a circle around
you.
“Wow...” you smirked as your eyes quickly moved from one face to the other, each girl appearing just as hot as
the one before, never having been in one place with so many gorgeous woman before. As you did, one of them,
tall with golden blond hair and piercing blue eyes then stepped forward, apparently speaking for the others as
she said in the same soft, unearthly tone, "We are here sister Arianna and you have brought the new champion
before us I see."
"Yes Illyana, this is she,” Arianna replied, bowing her head slightly in seeming reverence, this Illyana chick
obviously being in charge, “ The one we have long waited for, the one who shall carry on our legacy and heal
the hurts of the world."
"Then we welcome you noble sister,” Illyana smiled as she stepped towards you, bowing her own head as the
others quickly followed her example. “Tell me what is your name?" she asked, holding out a hand.
"Uh...Simon,” you nervously replied, feeling more than a little intimidated, “but I'm uh, I’m no sister."
"She says that she is not a woman, that she is a man transformed,” Arianna interjected, looking to the other
woman with questioning eyes, “But that is preposterous isn’t it? Athena would not let such an error occur."
You were beginning to get more than a little frustrated by nobody believing your story and interrupting rather
bluntly you told her, "Well obviously she has, ‘cause I might look like a chick now, but I'm definitely a
guy,” holding up your ID card again, this time for Illyana’s benefit as you pointed to your picture, “look,
says it right there!"
A sudden murmuring and muttering then echoed around the temple walls as the sisters turned to one another in
shock, seemingly just as upset by this revelation as Arianna had been. “Silence sisters!” Illyana quickly
hushed them, the voices instantly stopping as an eerie silence fell over the room and Illyana’s attention
returned to you, her blue eyes glaring at you suspiciously, as if you were suddenly on trial. “This tale is
troubling indeed, therefore we must use the Pool of Knowledge to discover if what you say is indeed true,
Simon..."
"Okay, let’s do that then,” you eagerly answered, feeling incredibly uncomfortable under all these watchful
eyes and eager to get as far away from them as possible, “The sooner I get out of this crazy nightmare the
better!"
Guiding you back round to face the small circular pool, Illyana then gestured towards it down towards it,
telling you to "Look deep into the very water of Olympus itself, that was brought here by the Goddess Athena
and show us all what we seek to discover, show us your true self; Simon Blake."
Assuming that this must be some sort of magical pool you decided to go along with it, staring deeply into the
clear blue water, watching in amazement as its surface began to shimmer and shift, images appearing from its
depths almost as if you were looking into some kind of weird mirror. You saw your life quickly flash across
the water; you as a baby then a kid, your life in high school, then college, finding the ring outside the
English department, until finally a large collective gasp echoed around the room as the water changed one last
time showing very clearly the reflection of the person staring into it; you, not as a woman but as the scrawny
18 year old geek you had once been.
“It cannot be!” a voice cried out, followed by several more similar comments, “This is...is impossible!” “It
is sacrilege!” “How can this be?” as ignoring them you excitedly gazed downwards at yourself hoping to see
that the reflection was accurate, rather crushed to find out that you were still in a female form.
“Please, calm down sisters, we do not yet know if that this was a mistake, perhaps...perhaps it was the will
of Athena,” Arianna desperately cried, trying to calm the others as the temple once again fell into a nervous
hush.
“There has never been a male champion before Arianna, you know that. This...this boy is an insult to our noble
cause!” came Illyana’s angry reply, looking towards you with great contempt.
Arianna however, continued in your defense, turning to her fellow sister and stuttering nervously, “But...but
we cannot know the Goddess’s will, we should...”
“We should do nothing sister!” Illyana’s scaldingly replied, causing not only Arianna to jump but you as well,
the woman’s apparent rage filling the ancient room. “No man has ever set foot in this temple and no man ever
shall,” she continued, backing away from you and closer to her fellow sisters, “The only course of action now
is to pray to Athena and to send that...that...man (her voice seething now as she aimed her accusing finger
directly at you) far from this sacred place, lest he infect us further!”
“Hey, I never asked to be brought here you know,” you grumbled defensively, not particularly enjoying being
the center of all this disdain, “Nor did I ask to be turned into a woman, so sending me back is just fine by
me.”
“Good. Then so it shall be,” were her final words before another sudden flash of warm, bright light appeared,
quickly engulfing the enitre room.