When I woke up I could remember the strange dream clearly. It was still dark outside and there was no voice bothering me. I felt much better than yesterday. I yawned and sneaked a peek at he outside. To the left a bit below me a bright light was pulsing in a certain pattern. It was too bright to see anything, but that had to be a lighthouse. Probably an automated facility.

I laid down on my tummy and propped my head on my elbows. There were some ships in sight heading north or south.

The noise of a helicopter approached from the north. I retreated completely into the cave and made myself comfortable again. The sound came closer and went farther away for a while. Finally the sun rose in the east over the sea.

The helicopter was still in the vicinity. It went away a few times, but reappeared a while later. As I couldn’t see it, it was mostly flying over land. It seemed to avoid flying near the cliffs. The wind was choppy here. Nothing serious for someone afoot, but flying surely was interesting next to the mountain flanks.

Since I didn’t want to go out into the open with that helicopter around I decided to stay put for now.

The last weeks were a hell of a ride. I looked down at the mounds on my chest. As far as I could see there was no viable way back to my former life. The only boon I could see now was that I was young again, but everything else kind of sucked.

The helicopter passed by closely, but still not in line of sight.

It made kind of sense to accept the changes, but the whole situation still felt off. Being able to control my body, at least basically, helped with the situation at hand at least.

It was bad enough. Being on the run from some probably influential jerk was bad. Hiding in plain sight with this gigantic, odd colored body was a bad joke as well.

Acquiring decent clothes would be a mess as far as I could see as there would be only really few stores which could provide clothes in my size. They were actually probably few enough to keep an eye on them. The only chance to find something would be Athens, the capital and one of the biggest cities around.

Assuming the helicopter was looking for me they certainly didn’t care about expenses, which was a bad thing as well.

I had no ID or passport for one, and no history or background anywhere to get one. With some money at had Greece may be not the worst place to start in a way. Some fakelaki may ease the way to get at least some legal papers.

Earning money without papers would narrow down the available jobs considerably. Gaining a decent wage that way was even more difficult. I had to take what I got.

Traveling to Athens in this ridiculous outfit without getting their attention seemed to be next to impossible in the first place. Sooner or later I had to refill my bottles and get something to eat. Trying to fish or hunt without tools was next to impossible. I could try to harvest mussels an cook them. I needed a pot for that. Aww.

So trying to survive and stay free was it for now. I had to tackle one obstacle after the other. I should try to get a ride towards Athens somehow. It would be much faster. Probably it would have been better to use the boat to get farther north, but that was water under the bridge now.

I was a woman now, this was painfully obvious, but I was sure there were many things I had to learn to fit in without drawing too much additional attention. I wondered if I could get pregnant and there was menstruation looming ahead without a change of clothes or the appropriate stuff to keep the situation in check. Aww. There was nothing I could do about it at the moment.

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I would go for pants and t-shirt if I had a choice. Wearing skirts and dresses still rubbed me the wrong way. On the other hand I didn’t really know what they knew about my situation in this regard. Trying to blend in would definitely suck in this case.

At least there was no need becoming a house wife in modern societies. I had had no talent for that stuff. Getting an office job like I was used to would be difficult. Prostitution was a no-go. Imagining having sex with a man was just feeling wrong, at least at the moment.

I considered briefly exploring the odd bits of my body a bit, but the situation was too much of a mess. While I had time at the moment, I was still in a tight spot. I’d at least wait until could get a bit more comfortable.

A bed at least, a roof above my head and a filled fridge would round out the picture.

I started to do some push-ups to distract myself a bit. They were easy as long as I didn’t go for endurance. The corset was such a nuisance! I started to play around with my balance as far as I could in the confines of the cave. Generally I was somehow well trained. I couldn’t remember working out though. On the other hand there were at least three weeks of blackout.

“It is twelve o’clock now.” The voice announced around noon.

“Oh. Your’re back?” I didn’t want to talk to a nameless voice in my head.

“I was never gone.” The voice objected.

“Do you have a name?” It would be easier for me to address the voice. Just to make sure I wasn’t talking to myself.

“No.” The voice replied curtly.

“May I give you name then? It’s weird to talk to you just like that.” There was a passenger ship passing by heading north.

“As you wish.” The voice answered without hesitating.

How could I name a voice in my head? The voice itself seemed not to care much about it. Should I choose a male of female name? Talking to a man in head while I was in an human body rubbed me the wrong way. Female it was. Something short and convenient would be best, it kept the conversation brief.

“Then you’re Cassiopeia from now on. I’ll call you Cassie for short, Cassie.” I had the prominent constellation in mind.

“Thank you for giving me a name. Do you have a name as well?” Cassie asked back.

That was a very good question. Going by my old name would make no sense at all. Nothing about me reminded me of the former me. Deciding for a name now help me if someone else was asking and I wouldn’t have to make up one on the fly.

It made no sense to go for a Greek name as I wasn’t able to speak the language at all. I considered my options for a while.

Should I take Julia, which was the female version of my old name? No. I hadn’t much in common with my former body. Something nice and short.

“I am Stella.” I answered after a while.

Since Stella means star it fits a bit with Cassie.

“I need a surname as well at some point, but it’s not that important.” I nodded to myself.

“Do I get a surname as well?” Cassie asked after a few moments.

“Why not. We could take the same. We’re somehow like family. We didn’t choose to be together but are stuck with other no matter what.” I chuckled while I got on my hands and knees.

“Why isn’t a surname that important then?” Cassie asked curiously.

“It’s mostly used when dealing with strangers.” I pushed my butt back to stretch my back.

“Okay. We are going to need one sooner or later though?” Cassie wanted to know.

“Indeed.” I sat down near the entrance of the cave.

“Should I remind you from time to time?” Cassie wanted to know.

“Sure.” It would give her something to keep track of.

“Which interval?” Cassie inquired.

“Let’s say every two or three days when there’s nothing else to do.” I had to choose something anyway.

“There is something else I have to tell you.” Cassie piped up after a while.

“Then go ahead. We’ve plenty of time at the moment.” I took a swig from the bottle.

“I’ve got material arts training instructions for you. You should start the training at some point.” She explained.

“Ah. I remember. We will when there’s time and enough space. Please remind me when I get bored.” I crossed my arms under my chest.

“Sure. That’s my job, Stella.” Cassie acknowledged.

“Well. It might help at some point.” I looked out at the sea.

It was a shame there was no beach and I would have liked to spend some time swimming. I would need a swimsuit for that though. Awww. It was frustrating how much I could not do at the moment for one reason or another.

“We could start with some training to fight in enclosed spaces.” Cassie proposed.

“Well. There’s nothing else to do at the moment. I think I won’t move before dusk today. Maybe I stay put for the night as well.” I got to my knees again an crawled a bit deeper into the cave.

I spent the next hours laying on the ground while getting a hang on kicking or jabbing in that positions. Cassie had even animations she could show me, replacing my normal vision for the time. My sense of balance was improved considerably as well.

The helicopter didn’t return after sunset.

I rested for about another hour or two, then I crawled out of the cave. Time to get some distance from the area.