Ty formed a mental image of the thing he wanted to be. Then, he imagined himself turning into that creature. He felt his new-found
powersurging through his body as he began to grow a pelt of pure white fur with a black patch along the back. His hands became paws
with opposable thumbs and his fingers grew webbing between them. He felt his face push out into a short snout with a mouth full of
razor-sharp teeth. His body bulked up and became very muscular and a thick tail ending in a fin grew from his backbone. His legs
became digitgrade, his feet webbed paws as well. He felt a tug as his ears moved to the top of his head and changed shape. He now
looked like a muscular anthro otter with a fish's tail and a mouth more akin to a shark than an otter. His ears were black to contrast
against the white of his fur along with the patch along his spine. His clothes had disappeared when he had grown to the size of the
other creatures and he now stood nude with them.
Now the dragon thing passed through the stand along with the kitsune. He approached Ty and now faced him ay slightly higher than
eye-level.
"Is this the form you wish to have, Keeper of Earth? You will not be able to change from it in this realm." Ty nodded his agreement and
the dragon continued. "Very well, now Vøl, Keeper of Fencøql, will teach you about your role. Follow his instructions and remember the
rules he tells you. The fate of Earth is in your hands now. Council adjourned."
{Follow me,} Vøl spoke in Ty's mind as the other creatures left the place through various means of locomotion.
Ty followed Vøl through the Order Space which continued to change it's appearance. However, there appeared to be countless floating
squares that showed one constant image of a specific planet. Standing, floating, or sitting at many of these squares were other
creatures similar to what Ty had seen at the council.
{Those are the portals where each universe connects to the Order Space,} Vøl explained. {Those watching the portals are the
respective keepers of that universe. From that portal, they can control every aspect of that planet. You'll notice that some squares are
very close together. That means that two inhabited worlds are close to one another and their keepers must work together to maintain
order between them.}
Vøl lead Ty to a vacant square, which were much larger up close. He saw the Earth from a spacial view as it slowly rotated in space.
Curios, he reached out and touched the square at the place where he had lived. The image suddenly zoomed in on his town and
remained still. A nod from Vøl encouraged him to keep experimenting. Ty located his house and the image zoomed in again. He could
see tiny, prepubescent Dustin sulking in the backyard. By tapping the house, he could look inside and see Mark and June looking out
the window at Dustin and at a webpage about late bloomers.
"They don't even care that I've disappeared!" Ty said angrily.
{They do not know,} Vøl explained. {Once you are accepted into the Order, your previous life is erased. They believe that Dustin has
always been a late bloomer and have never had a foster child.}
"Oh," Ty said, now angry at himself for jumping to conclusions. "I gues I should change him back."
{Wait,} Vøl stopped him, {Your powers bring consequences with them. If you simply change him back, his parents will panic. You must
be careful to make them unaware of the change. You could make it so that he has always been his previous size, or you could make it
so that huge growth spurts are common. You must learn to think your changes through. That is why we keepers only change things
under dire circumstances. If we make too many changes, we might upset our planet's balance.}
Ty was amazed at the implications. He could do anything, but he still had to be careful. He decided to make it so that Dustin had
always been a normally developed boy. He immediately became his old self, not sulking now but listening to an iPod. The computer
turned off and Mark and June began talking about how proud they were of Dustin. With that fixed, Ty tapped on the house again and he
was zoomed back out to the world view.
{You must respect your new powers,} Vøl told him, {It is your responsibility now. Many of us find that the best way to find out what our
planets need is by visiting them. If you pick a location, you can step through the portal to that place. On your planet, you can take
whatever form you want. Your powers will still work and you can return by willing it. However, once you return, you will take this shape
again. Also, no mortal may enter the Order Space unless they are a replacement. But you won't be doing that for quite a while. If you
need anything else, Fencøql isn't that far away. I'm only in the next galaxy over. We're in the same universe, so we'll work together
sometimes. Just ask me if you need help. Good luck, Tykü.}
The kitsune left and took his place a little ways away.
'Tykü?' Ty wondered. 'I guess that's my new name. Now what should I do?'