Shattered Faith: Reawakening
An original story by Florina (Falcoknight_Florina).
Michael Cambridge groaned as he was aroused by the obnoxious trilling of his alarm clock. "Bah..." He sighed, sitting up in bed and yawning loudly. "I hate Mondays..." He brushed away a lock of brown hair that was obscuring his still-blurry vision. He stood up and stretched, walking to his closet and taking out his usual school uniform; He had always hated the thing, but his mother forced him to wear it anyways. He slid the jacket and pants on quickly and dragged a comb through his matted hair. When he was done, he checked himself in the mirror to make sure that he was somewhat presentable-the usual lanky, pale boy in the reflection grimaced back at him. "Here we go again..." he muttered to himself, thoroughly resenting life in general.
"Mikey, honey? Are you dressed yet?" His mother's voice rang outside his door, bringing him back to the reality of life.
"Yeah, mom... Be out in a second." He scowled at the thought of another pointless day of school... Ever since grade school, he had maintained a 4.0 average. Even now, in his Junior year, he need not exert the least bit of effort to pass his lessons. The only one that he had trouble with was his advanced social studies class... it wasn't that he didn't know the material, but the unit was largely focused on world religion, which Michael, an outspoken atheist, downright refused to take part in. He simply could not bring himself to believe in a higher power when his life was so miserable.
After breakfast and a close call at the bus stop, he finally arrived at school. The usual cliques had already met up; the laptop-toting nerds, the sports-playing jocks, the black-clad goths, and many more. Of course, the ones that caught his eye first (as they always did) were the chattering, dimwitted preps. Their sheer frivolity disgusted him... They had it so easy, with their rich fathers who would do anything for the spoiled brats... He walked past, attempting not to draw too much attention. Unfortunately, his endeavors were in vain.
"Hey, Mr. Depressing!" The head prep, Kiera, jeered (as she did every morning), "Why don't you go slit your wrists with all of your gothic friends over there?"
"Shut up, please..." Michael pleaded as he continued walking. Why did everybody assume that he was gothic?
"Ha! Yeah, right! Poor, sad Mr. Depressing, his parents can't even afford to feed him every night, so he's all depressed and hungry. Poor, pitiful him!"
"Shut up!" He yelled a bit more angrily this time. "Just shut up and leave me alone!"
"How sad, he's in denial! He doesn't want to hear the truth... That he's a poor, worthless wench that nobody cares about!"
***
"Ah, Mr. Cambridge... What is it this time...?" The principal sighed, looking at the poor, thin frame of a boy sitting in front of him.
"I broke that prep Kiera's nose," Michael said evenly.
"Why did you do that?" The principal replied, matching the boy's monotone voice.
"She insulted me and my family."
"Mr. Cambridge... You just can't lose control like that. I'm sorry, but this has happened too many times. I'm going to have to suspend you... Pack up your things and come back in a month, Mr. Cambridge."
Michael sighed uncaringly. He had seen this coming, but it was worth it to wipe that smug look off of Kiera's face. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd done enough damage for it to require reconstructive surgery. He stood up, shot a look at the principal, and began the long walk home.
***
Several figures shrouded in mist stood around a large, crystalline pool of pure water solemnly, staring intently into its depths. One of them, a woman with long, green hair, sighed deeply. "Poor boy... He doesn't deserve that. Is there anything we can do?"
"No, mistress. Our powers are bound such that we have no authority if we have no worshippers, and our subjects passed into the afterlife long ago... We are lucky enough to be able to survey the land like this." This voice came from a figure that was so shrouded in mist that none of his features were discernable from the fog that surrounded him.
"But that poor, tortured soul is not occupied by any divine hope in the first place! There is no law to oppose us so long as he does not believe that there is!" The woman's face was truly distraught with grief now. "I cannot stand and watch him suffer like that!"
A third spoke up from the shadows. "Hmm... I may have an idea. We have no worshippers, and it is only a matter of time before the demons awaken... We need champions, and perhaps this boy could be the first. However, if he is to be your champion, Mistress, then you know what you will have to do..."
The woman nodded, her sorrowful face lifted into one of hope. "Yes... I understand. It may be hard for him, but no harder than what might happen otherwise.."
The second sighed, shaking his head. "This is going against all of the rules... How will you gain enough power to convert him in the first place?"
The woman smiled, a glint of light in her eye. "I have a plan... Trust me."
***
"
"Bah, this figures! Now my mom is gonna kill me, and all that money will have been wasted..." He kicked a nearby rock into a car parked by the curb, which set off a loud, blaring alarm. "Oh, of course!" He yelled angrily as he dashed away towards home... And ran right into something, falling over.
"What the heck... Move out of the way!" He said furiously, then blinked as he realized that he had ran straight into a young girl. She did not reply, but merely smiled. She reached down, opening her hand and dropping a small, folded piece of paper near his hand.
"What's this, then?" He said as he looked up from the note, but the girl was already gone. He sighed, shaking his head in confusion. "Man, and it's not even noon yet. Some day..." He absentmindedly picked up the note, stood up, and began walking towards home while he read:
Meet me by the large oak in your back yard.
His curiosity aroused, he picked up the pace. "I wonder what this is about..." He said to himself as he walked past his front door. She had been wearing his school uniform, but he had never seen her on campus before. As he rounded towards the tree in question, he felt himself jogging, and then running in anticipation. "Maybe something good will happen today..." He said, though his voice didn't sound very hopeful. He jumped up to the lowest branch and waited...
"So, you came. That's good." Michael gasped and lost his balance, almost falling out of the tree as he noticed the same young woman from before sitting beside him on the limb, though she had traded in her school attire for a flowing green dress that outlined her mature curves. "I was worried that you wouldn't..."
"Who are you?" He gasped as he tried to catch his breath from the surprise.
"Someone who can help," She said simply as she laid a delicate arm around Michael's shoulder. "You have suffered for far too long... Now sleep..." Despite his wish to learn more, Michael suddenly found himself exhausted. "What... What are you..." He mumbled as he drifted off to sleep.
***
Michael's eyes fluttered open, looking around wildly as they realized that this wasn't where he had fallen asleep. Instead, he was in a large, fertile glade surrounded by looming trees and flowers. In the center was a small pool of lucid water whose depth was obviously leagues deeper than even the deepest pond. The second thing that he noticed was the girl that he had met in the tree, though she was now several years older in appearance and garbed in a long, flowing robe of multicolored leaves. "Good, you have awakened. I was beginning to worry."
"Who are you...? And where am I...?"
"I am Althea, Goddess of Nature and member of the Forgotten Pantheon..."
Michael scoffed at this. "Now I know you're bluffing. There is no such religion as the Forgotten Pantheon..."
"Ah, but you are missing the point!" Althea laughed, "That is why we are called Forgotten!" Her laughter settled as a more solemn expression settled on her face. "Our followers were wiped out long ago in a volcanic eruption, and when they departed from the living realm, we lost our power..."
Michael was struggling not to laugh at this point. "Oh, yeah. I'm really going to believe that. I'm an atheist, you know. So, I'll give you one chance to prove that you're legitimate..." Hehe, I can't wait to see this, He thought as he said this.
"Funny you should say that... I was planning on proving myself anyways. You see, I need a champion, and I have chosen you. You will be my vassal and my Partisan. You will be the Partisan of Nature and my eternal servant... And you will be given new life, a life away from the poverty and disappointment." This caught Michael off guard, but before he could speak up he was lifted off the ground by an invisible force.
"What are you doing?" He gasped as he floated towards the lucid pool of water in the center of the glade.
"Breathing new life unto one who desperately needs it," She said simply.
Suddenly, the force released Michael and he fell into the pool of water. Oddly enough, he didn't feel wet. but he did feel a strange energy seeping through him... He looked down over himself and was stunned to see the effects that the water had on him. His body had become slimmer, and all of the excess hair had fallen away. What little wait he had in his waist seemed to be migrating down into his hips, giving him an hourglass form. His face tightened up, his lips reddening and swelling. His nose became petite, and his skin took on a new, smooth complexion. His skin tightened and his rear began to swell with fat, making a perfectly rounded backside. His hair began to grow in length, reaching down to his waist, as well as taking on a peculiar pearl-colored hue. Next, the biggest changes began to take place as fat began to built up around his chest, giving him the perfect feminine form. As if finalizing the change, he felt his groin invert, leaving him one-hundred percent woman.
As the change finished, Michael felt herself being raised up out of the water and back to a broadly-smiling Althea. "So, I see that the change went accordingly..." She raised a petite hand to her mouth as she stifled a laugh. "You could sure use a change of clothes though..."
"What did you do to me?" She yelled, then gasped at her new, breathy voice. "I'm a freaking GIRL!"
"All will be revealed soon... I have used up too much power... Until we meet again, my daughter..."
TO BE CONTINUED.
R&R, please![/quote]
