Half a second and another flash of the most incredible white light later and you found yourself once again
surrounded by pillars and statues, the small bathroom having given way to the ancient temple, or the
“Sanctuary of the Ring” as Arianna had called it.
“Crap!” you though, realizing that this whole episode was obviously far from over, gazing down to see that
once again your body had undergone a startling transformation, your nice new black shirt and matching jeans in
somewhat of a mess, hanging from your large, toned, muscular body, several buttons having vanished as your
rather immense cleavage bulged out for all to see. “I guess that’s another 25 bucks down the drain.”
“Welcome back, Simon Blake,” a familiar voice said from behind as you turned to see Arianna standing there
acknowledging you with a bow of her head. The other sisters fortunately seemed to be nowhere in sight and as
you searched around the room for any sign of them you abruptly asked in your now feminine twang, “Okay what’s
going on? Is this real or did someone at that party spike the punch?”
“It is real I assure you Simon, and I apologize for bringing you here without forewarning but I had great need
to speak with you.”
“Well this is just terrific,” you thought to yourself as you stared down at your large forearms, each one
being almost double the size they used to be and apparently 100% real, "this is all I need right now."
“I imagine you are confused and have many questions,” Arianna continued as she made her way towards you, to
which you could only reply, “No kidding!” as you examined the rest of your changed form once again; from your
long dark hair and giant chest all the way down to your thick, muscular calves and shoe destroying feet.
Having convinced yourself that this was all just a dream or hallucination or something, it was taking a bit of
effort to get used to all this again without breaking down into a sniveling wreck.
Taking a deep breath and composing yourself, you looked back over at Arianna, whose soft delicate face
reflected back at you a feeling of compassion as well as a sense of reassurance buried beneath her deep brown
eyes. She may have been just as pretty as Jenna (if not more so) but for some reason you felt sort of secure
around her, as if you could talk openly without acting like a fool, something about the way she spoke and
carried herself setting you at ease, making this whole thing somewhat easier to swallow (though not by much).
“So all of this is real? This temple, Athena, the magic ring, your legacy of champions, the whole me turning
into a woman thing, that’s all real and actually happening...like right now?” you asked, trying to get
everything straight in your head.
“That is correct. This temple was constructed by the great Goddess herself, a place for us to come and seek
knowledge and guidance,” she replied, indicating towards the magical pool at your feet then at the various
statues scattered around the walls, “and to communicate with our sisters who have gone before us, to prepare
us for the coming days ahead.”
“O...kay,” you responded still slightly puzzled as you tried your best to take this all in, “So where exactly
are we right now? Is this like ancient Greece, have we time traveled?”
“No, of course not, that would be silly,” Arianna softly giggled, apparently time travel being one step too
far for her, “Right now we are inside the ring. The champion of Athena always carries her strength and the
strength of her sisters with her at all time.”
“Wait a minute, we’re inside a ring!? That...that doesn’t make any sense; I’m wearing the ring right now,” you
told her, holding up your hand and displaying the ring that sat upon it as proof.
Arianna however simply gave you another one of her reassuring smiles as she circled around both you and the
pool, explaining as best she could for your uneducated ears. “It is not something that is easily explained,
Simon. After the first sacred temple in Athens was destroyed, almost three thousand years ago, the Goddess
gifted us with this replacement, a place that no enemy would ever find and that would always remain safe as
long as one of us carried the ring.”
“Okay, okay, just hold it there. I may be a big fan of sci-fi and comic books and know pretty much the entire
mythology behind the Star Wars universe, but even I’m going to need a little help here, so maybe it would be
best if you were to start at the beginning.”
“Yes of course, I apologize, I sometimes forget how much time has passed since I last walked the earth and
that our story has surely fallen into myth and legend,” Arianna told you with a hint of sadness in her eyes,
before smiling again and stopping in front of the pool of knowledge. “But perhaps instead of telling you, I
can instead show you...”she said as she gestured towards the water, your eyes soon following.