“The adoption ceremony and the bonding celebration are tomorrow, so we will need to do the transformation ceremony on you both as soon as possible. We will need some recovery after each effort, so I propose to organise your ceremony first, Katie. Hopefully, for in about an hours time and then we should be able to transform Roni this evening. I have to admit I am really curious to see if it will work as a method of healing as well as change. There is no time to lose. Felicia and Yani do you mind taking Katie to the temple for her cleansing ritual.”
“Do you have an acceptable person to copy already?” Vee asked her.
“After our discussions, I talked to the Broken. Those, like me, who have been bonded and lost their partner. They are all willing to provide their essence for the process. I have already started creating the potions in readiness for your friends.”
“Can we be involved?” Tia asked.
“I think you could, but I would advise against it. You are emotionally involved and we don't want anything to interfere.”
Tia and then the others gave me a kiss on my forehead and wished me luck and then I was walked by the maids to the Lagbit church.
Chapter 32
At the entrance to the church, we were met by three priestesses. They took over carrying duties and I said goodbye to the maids. I was carried downstairs, one on either side and one leading, to a series of pools. I was carefully stripped naked and washed. I couldn't feel it in the lower half of my body, but by the sensual nature of the top half wash, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it. They then lay me down and massaged these sweet-smelling oils into me. By the end, I was feeling very feminine and pampered.
They then carried me up into the church proper, still naked and laid me on the altar. The acting high priestess greeted me and everybody else left so we were alone in the large church hall. She smiled at me.
“I need to be sure that this is what you want.” Then, keeping eye contact with me, she touched my forehead with her finger and said “I ask for truth, by Lagbit's will, I ask for truth. Katie why are you here.”
“I am here to be transformed into a female elf.”
“Is this what you wish?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anything you do not like about becoming a female elf?”
“Yes.” Shit, I didn't mean to say that. This truth spell really works.
“What do you not like about becoming a female elf?”
“It may turn me into a lesbian.” I had no control over my mouth.
“Truthfully, I do not know whether it will or not. You will not find a bonded mate or be able to have children if it does not. Despite this, do you still wish to become a female elf?”
“Yes.” I was able to make that sound definite, probably because I really had no doubts.
“So be it.” She then placed these objects on my forehead, throat, heart and groin. “These are rainbow crystals, beloved of Lagbit. What oaths you give with them present, are under Lagbits presence and cannot be broken. Do you willingly swear an oath of obedience and an oath of honour?”
“Yes.”
“Repeat after me. I will obey all rightful commands given by the Royal family.”
“I will obey all rightful commands given by the Royal family.”
“I will behave honourably unless my life or another life is at risk and then I will do as my heart bids.”
“I will behave honourably unless my life or another life is at risk and then I will do as my heart bids.”
“Very good Katie. There is one last thing. I have contemplated which essence to use and believe Lagbit inspired me.” She stepped away from me and retrieved a small wooden casket. She opened it up so I could see inside. There were ten small bottles, all glowing with a blue luminescence. “Ask for Lagbit's guidance and then choose an essence.”
I decided to take her literally. “Lagbit, I ask for your guidance to help me choose the right essence for me.” She brought the bottle closer so that I could pick one. Strangely one bottle seemed to glow a bit brighter than the others, so I picked that one.
“I will call the priestesses in now. Once they have formed circles around us, I will urge you to drink the essence and start chanting 'I submit myself to Lagbit to be made anew.' We will all be sending energy to you and the rest is up to Lagbit.” I nodded to confirm that I understood. She then picked up a small bell and rang it. We then waited for all the priestesses to come in and form circles around us.
Once all was ready, she took the stopper out of the bottle in my hands and guided it to my lips and tipped it up forcing me to swallow. I had been given these drinks called ginger shots, that were raw ginger and an apple put through a juicer and it was like that. Smooth with a heat that warmed rather than burnt. I started my chant. “I submit myself to Lagbit to be made anew.”
I tried to say it loudly, but my throat had been affected by the potion so I actually found it really difficult to say. Then I kept repeating, finding it harder and harder to say it. I don't know when I stopped saying it because so many other things started happening. All the priestesses stretched a hand towards me and I could feel the energy they were projecting. The burning liquid that had hit my stomach was now radiating heat throughout my body. Everyone started chanting 'By Lagbit's Will.'
The heat travelled to the rest of my body quite quickly and then slowly started up my neck to my head. When it reached my crown my vision changed. It was like I had been moved somewhere else or maybe I had just gone internally to my mental landscape.
I could see myself as I normally was and next to it was this body of an elven amazon. My normal self with my withered legs, next to an elf that was maybe six foot four, with a very muscular body. Big breasts and wide hips, but what really struck me was how strong and capable she looked. Her hair was brown with hints of red, her eyes a warm amber and her skin a light brown.
Remembering what Tia and Vee had told me about their experiences, I knew that I had to replace my body image with this wondrous beauty before me. Initially, I quailed at the idea of it, my sense of worthlessness, preventing me from taking the right action, but then I recalled the last time I had felt like that and Tia's response. Giving me a kiss on my forehead and telling me that I am loved. She was right. I knew I was loved and if I was loved that meant I wasn't unworthy.
With newfound courage, I mentally moved my beautiful amazon like body to overlay my weak and withered one. I could feel this pressure of energy behind me. I tried to let the energy in, open myself to it, welcome it, give thanks for it and it started pouring in. I didn't try and force the change, I allowed myself to change, like riding a current, taken in a direction that was not of my choosing, but would lead me where I needed to go.
Then it was done. There was only one image left and it was a beautiful amazon one. The energy carried on flowing through and sudden pain brought me back to the altar with all the priestesses pouring energy into me. I felt a strong pain, but somehow I knew it was doing me good. If there was such a thing as a good pain, this was it. I could feel it in my whole body. Then I realised that included parts that I hadn't felt for far too long. Even pain in my legs and feet was wonderful after an awful prolonged numbness. I rode the pain with joy in my heart and then that too grew less and less, until it faded completely.
Like a well-timed orchestra all the priestesses stopped chanting at once.
“It is done,” Myra said with a weary smile.
I looked down at myself and almost fainted with disbelief. It had worked.
Chapter 33
Tia's POV
We had breakfast with Roni in our suite. I don't think there is a set amount of time that it takes and whilst you are under the transformation process you are completely unaware of how much time passes. So we wanted to be around for when Katie had finished to see what happened but didn't know what to do until that occurred and no way of knowing when it would occur.
Our maids came to our rescue and promised to take turns watching the church entrance and inform us as s
oon as it looked like finishing. The difficulty in looking for a particular person to leave was that we had no idea what she was going to look like. We stayed in our rooms, chatting and waiting. We talked to our maids in Elvish but they seemed to understand English. Enough to get by with Roni when she spoke to them.
Lunchtime was approaching when Yani hurried to our door to let us know that the ceremony was finished. We all hurried to the church entrance. Priestesses were leaving by the droves, but none headed towards us. The last to leave was Myra, with a towering Elven girl walking beside her. The smile on both their faces let us know that Katie had succeeded.
“Wow, girl, you look amazing,” Vee said.
“I know, right. It feels so wonderful just to be walking. I don't think I ever want to sit down again.”
“Why don't we go for a walk after lunch,” I suggested.
“I don't think your human friend can join us for lunch with the Royal couple,” mum said.
“Do you think they would mind if we missed lunch and gathered a picnic. Go for a walk and ...”
“Tia. Your adoption ceremony is tomorrow and the start of the bonding celebration is a few hours later. They are still in the process of getting to know you. I don't think you should miss those few times we gather as a family.”
“I will be fine Tia,” Roni said.
“We will look after her,” Yani said. We had to tell the maids to treat Roni as female. For some reason, they automatically treated her as male.
“We will do the transformation ceremony for Roni at four pm, so hopefully she can join us for dinner. I will ask for our dinner to be delayed in case it takes me a bit longer. These ceremonies are quite taxing. In future, I would prefer to keep it to one a day, and not every day.”
“I am sorry mother, I am being quite demanding, aren't I.” We had a hug and a kiss on the cheek. We then were hurried by our maids to get ready for lunch. At least Katie was able to join us. She was still on cloud nine, so I don't think we were going to get much out of her except happy smiles. I so hoped that this translated to a healing in the real world.
Lunch was as good as usual. Myra loved the idea of using the transformation process as a healing method and was wondering what else we had planned. There were very few elves with disabilities since healing magic was available. We talked about trying it with very sick humans and even humans with limbs amputated. Since the process was essentially to copy a healthy normal female elf, Myra believed that it could work, but it would always be down to Lagbit to decide.
I asked her what I should call her when we were being formal. I thought acting high priestess was a bit of a mouthful. She told me that in most instances Mother was appropriate, otherwise priestess, without the high, was fine. If she was not dressed in a priestess robe then either Mother or Princess. Likewise, I could expect to be called Princess from now on, except by those I had given permission to call me Tia. I should reserve that right to close friends only.
After lunch, we picked up Roni and went on a guided tour of the palace grounds. Katie couldn't help herself and would run off and run back at random times. Initially, she was self-conscious about wanting to do it, but we all encouraged her. The first time she did it, she came back with a very sheepish smile and we had to be careful not to laugh at her and make her more self-conscious. The joy she was feeling was shared by all of us. That we had a part to play and could possibly do this again was wondrous.
We made sure we were back in plenty of time, which may not have been the best choice as it gave Roni time to fret. Still, all too soon she was taken by three priestesses for her sacred bath wash and oil massage. We then had another anxious wait. After talking to Katie and she went through her experience in detail, I think we all realized that it was a difficult process that was not guaranteed to work. I think being determined to work it out and make it happen would be a big factor of success. I wanted all of our recruits to be that way.
The maids happily kept watch for us, but this time insisted that we make ourselves ready for dinner. Since Katie was taken to the other suite to get ready it gave Vee and I, with the help of our maids, a chance to enjoy a sensual wash that may have taken longer than it should have. Clearly, we all take washing very, very seriously. I don't think they missed one spot. We may even have decided that a few spots needed to be washed multiple times.
Roni was the oldest of us and part of her experiment would be about ageing. All Elves that I had seen, looked no older than eighteen. Since Vee's and my age wasn't much older and neither was Katie's, looking young didn't mean anything. If Roni started looking like an eighteen-year-old, she would clearly be getting younger. She also had a boob job, so that would have to be either removed or monitored closely by Janice. Considering I hadn't seen a small breasted Elf, if she left them in, she could become enormous.
Felicia informed us this time that the ceremony was over and we all gathered outside the church entrance in our gowns. Most Elves are around six foot in height, a few below like Vee and a few above like Katie. Which meant they really did stick out and Katie's height kept surprising me. Part of it was the exuberance that she couldn't help expressing. She was practically bouncing on her feet, all the time. And no one could wipe the smile off her face.
I was slightly worried that when she returned she would become a bit depressed like I guess I was when my body was still male. Still, I didn't worry about it, since I firmly believed that her body would follow her mind and this body would become her norm. She just had to ride out a potentially bad week or so. Same was true with Roni, although she believed that since she had spent her whole life with a background depression caused by this gender dysphoria, that it wouldn't be so bad for her. Another part of her experiment.
Finally, Mother appeared with an elegant Elf on her arm. Both again smiling happily. We had a brief congratulations chat and hug, but the maids urged Myra and Roni off to get ready for our delayed dinner.
Dinner went amazingly well. Although we all looked to be the same age, how you talk and what you talk about does vary with age somewhat, so we found Roni getting on better with Myra and her parents. Not that we were excluded, but there did seem to be an age divide, just not a physical one.
We were heading back towards our room when something went wrong. I think I saw Katie collapse before we all passed out. When I woke up and tried to move my hands I realized they had been handcuffed together. I had been trying to reach behind me to take off my headset thinking that I had returned to the real world but unable to pull my hands apart left me bereft of ideas. Fear had its icy grip on my heart, I didn't know what to do.
Chapter 34
Brett's POV.
It was getting on towards four pm and the press conference was at seven. I knew Katie was entering VDR with Roni, Tia and Vee. They were meeting at lunchtime and I had expected Katie or Roni to call me before now. Let me know how it had all gone. I had given Roni the rest of the day off, and they could have entered the VDR after eating lunch so I wasn't too worried that nobody was answering their phones.
Still, I had this uneasy feeling. So I called John.
“Hello, Mr Winslow, what can I do for you?”
“Hi, John. I'm just being an anxious father, I think. I was expecting Katie to give me a call a while ago. Katie, Roni, Vee and Tia all met at lunchtime with the intention of going into VDR together. I can't get a hold of any of them, so I presume they are all still on VDR, but they should have finished before now.”
“The easiest thing for me to check is the location of their phones. I'll check that and call my security guys. Nobody should be able to get into or out of that building without them knowing. Let me do that and give you a callback.”
“Perfect. I just want some reassurance.”
“No worries.”
About five minutes later John phoned back. “All the phones are still in the penthouse and the security detail report no suspicious activity. Just in case, I am going to keep trying to call them. The maximum time they can be indi
sposed in VDR is two hours. When did you call them?”
“About half an hour ago.”
“Then if I still can't contact them in one and a half hours, we will need to take action.”
“I'm sure it is nothing, but...”
“It's your daughter, I don't blame you at all. I'll call you with any update.”
Time seemed to pass so slowly and still no word from John. I tried to keep myself distracted, but it wasn't working. After an hour I couldn't take it anymore. Rather than phone, I walked down to the head of security.
“John, I know it hasn't been the full hour and a half, but I am beginning to get a bad feeling.”
“What would you like me to do? I could send my security team up to check on them.”
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