The rest of the funeral was, well, a sad event. Shirley had been put in the ground and some people left while others hung around. The tombstone read: Here lies Shirley, the princess of Boluga that lost her surname. She was loved, and her brave deeds will forever be remembered.
Abby walked over to me, “This is beautiful in a way.”
“Yeah, it is. I hope Haley can have some closure.” We both looked at her talking with Funk.
Abby looked at me, “Melin is gone now, you can change back into a man, if you want.”
I looked at Abby, “Does it bother you that look like a woman? Or the fact that I am wearing a dress?”
“No, not at all, I just don’t understand why you would want to walk around as a woman when you are a man. Or have you always wanted to be a woman?”
“Abby, why are you pushing this?”
She crossed her arms, “Don’t ignore my question.”
“Look, I don’t care whether I am walking around as a man or a woman. As long as I feel comfortable and that I can be myself.”
Abby nodded, “That is alright, what does Lory think? I saw she kissed you, but it looked a bit awkward. She is trying to accept you for who and what you are.”
I sighed, “If it bothers Haley or Lory too much, I will change back. For now, I am enjoying the change of scenery. Did you grow Abby?”
“No, you shrunk.”
Abby offered me a hug, I hugged her. After that, I just stood there with clasped hands. A man walked over to me, I did not recognize him. He seemed to be around my age, black hair, and he wore a suit. “Hello there, I was not at the funeral, I did hear it from some distance, I was working at the lumber mill. How did you know the deceased?”
“My daughter knew her.”
The man nodded, “My name is Tony, what is your name?”
“Oh, you can call me, Steve.”
Tony nodded, “I see short for Stephanie? I can comfort you, you can come to my home if you want.”
I looked at him, “Seriously? Are you seriously hitting on me, right after a funeral?”
Tony turned a bit red and scratched his head, “I am sorry, is this not a good time?”
I slapped him in his face. He walked away. Lory walked over, “What is going on?”
“He hit on me.”
Lory looked at him, “Oh, what a strange fellow.”
“What is our plan Steve?”
“I am not sure what Haley wants but if our house is available, I want to change clothes and look at the new café.”
Lory nodded, “Let’s go check it out.” She took my hand, and we went over to our house. Once we got inside, I undressed and Lory turned around. I looked at her, “You can look at me.”
She blushed and turned around, “Sorry, this is a bit strange. I know you are my husband, but you look different.”
I walked over to her, “I am still me, even if I look a bit different. Do you want me to change back to a man?”
Lory shook her head, “No, I want you to do what makes you feel comfortable. If you want to walk around as a woman, then I think I can live with that. The last few days have been hectic, learning you have multiple personalities in your head, you being fine with wearing dresses.” Lory handed me clothes, “Now get dressed, I am hungry. And, when there is not such a damp mood hanging around, I will show you what I mean with me being fine with this.”
I looked at my shirt, “Am I always supposed to wear a bra when I go outside?”
Lory looked at me, “What do I do?”
I sighed, “Can you help me?”
She helped me while she whispered, “If you are going to keep walking around like this more, then you should learn how to do this yourself.”
“Yeah, I know, how do you feel about the funeral?”
Lory sighed, “It was good. Haley got to say goodbye properly and tell people how important she was to our daughter. The fact you actually managed to get a god to get Shirley’s soul to a good place is helping a lot. Your speech was a nice one as well.”
“Thanks, I did not have a lot of time to make a speech. I am glad the whole town worked together. You know another journey is awaiting us, right? The shadow world?”
Lory nodded, “But not now, first we have a break.”
“Yes, let’s go to the café.” Lory stopped me by grabbing my arm, “What is it my love?”
She showed me a brush, I shrugged and turned my back to her. She brushed my hair, it actually felt good. Lory turned me around after she was done brushing me, she kissed me slow and gentle, “You really did a great job with comforting Haley, I am proud of you.”
“Thanks, Lory, you did a great job too.”
“This, me being a woman, is not just about being a woman, it is tactics as well.”
Lory looked at me, “What do you mean?”
I lifted the sleeve of my left arm, “Give me a dagger.” Lory did so. I poked and scraped it on my arm, nothing happened.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Lory scratched her head, “How is that possible?” I stabbed a bit harder and blood came out.
“Eris is a god, wearing this, suit, toughens my skin. This body is the toughest of me, and me is a lot.”
Lory chuckled, “I see, not just hots, but also smarts.”
I sighed, “Yes, let’s go to the café.” Lory took my hand, and we started walking to the café. The inside looked a bit barren, just a counter with a woman serving drinks, a few tables and chairs, there were a few windows. I sat down and Lory sat down across me. I closed my eyes and entered my mind space.
As I entered my mind space, I still had Eris’s body. Captain walked over, “Hey mate.” He hugged me, “How are things going, with the funeral and all?”
“Oh, I am pretty good. I need to do something.” Captain nodded. I walked over to the mirrors. “Angel?”
Angel looked up, “Yes?” I walked over and slid open the mirror. He walked over and smiled, “What is going on?”
“Go, wander around,” I slid open all the mirrors except for Eris’s.
She walked closer, “Hello Steve, you look a lot like me.”
“What can I say? Your body is nice, that came out wrong. Eris, can we be friends? I know you just wanted attention, and a bit of freedom. If you co-operate, I can give you some more.”
Eris smiled, “I am so sorry, I just totally lost my cool back there, I got so angry sleeping, with these haunting visions of my past. You know, I was in a cocoon, right?”
Thanos walked over, “If it means anything, I am sorry for what I did to you, it was cruel and unnecessary.”
I slid open the mirror, “There is one thing you need to do tough Eris.”
She walked over while rubbing her wrists, “Yes?”
“You need to help me, get this place decorated. It is boring,” I spawned a dining table and chairs. “We need to make it prettier!”
Eris cheered and rubbed her hands together, “It is time for a makeover!”
I called out, “Alright guys, before we can get started on making our own little house here, I need you all to come over here.” All of me gathered in one spot.
Captain laughed, “I never considered doing this, it was impossible to get them to work together the last time.!”
I stretched my arms, “Come hug me all of you!” I got overwhelmed with a giant group hug by myself! “Ok, Eris, could you make a kitchen? Something fancy, where we can cook if people are bored and hungry?”
She nodded and started spawning items and dismissing some. “Thanos?”
“Yes?”
“You are strong guy, please make a training ground for us. Fighting keeps us strong.” He nodded and walked over to Eris for advice.
“Agent S?”
“Yes?”
“Can you make a shooting range? We all need to learn how to properly use guns, and the ability to spawn them.”
He nodded and got to work. “Angel?”
“Yes?”
“Can you make the dining section, a place where we can gather and eat, or have meetings, things like that?”
He shrugged, “Fine with me.” He got to work.
“J?”
“Yes?”
“You are a laid back and lazy person.” He gave me a thumbs up. “Make some fun things, board games, video games, whatever.”
He smiled, “Fine with me!”
“Captain?”
“Yes?”
“You are the captain, oversee this whole operation and give orders where they are needed, you are second in command.”
“Eris!?”
“Yes?”
“You are third in command, may something happen to me and Captain, I expect you to take over the wheel!”
“Alright boss!”
I put my hands on my waist, “Well, I am going to see what is going on in the outside world. If anyone needs something, just speak up!”
They all waved and got back to work. I opened my eyes, Haley sat next to Lory, Abby suddenly sat next to me and Funk also sat here. Lory looked at me, “Are you awake?”
“What?”
Funk chuckled, “You have been gone for like an hour, we thought you had fallen asleep.”
“No, I kind of staged an operation.”
Haley looked at me, “An operation?”
“Yes, I let them all out!”
Funk coughed and almost chocked, “You did what?”
“Yeah, we are building a house!”
Abby looked at me, “What?”
“Yeah, we are building a house in my head. We can gather there, have fun, play board games. Thanos is going to make a training ground in my head.”
Haley let her head fall, “Don’t tell me you let out the tentacle woman.”
“Eris is actually a nice woman, she handles the kitchen. That sounded wrong, I mean she probably has good taste in what a good kitchen looks like.”
Lory just stared at me, “And, what part of you thought, it was a good idea to let all my personalities wander around?”
Captain spoke up through me, “This is all Steve’s plan.”
I shrugged, “See.”
Funk stared at me, “You are playing with fire Steve.”
I let out a sly smile, “But fire can be useful, how else would you get a nice steak?”
Lory took my hand, “I trust you know what you are doing. You are trying to unite, a legion of you.”
Abby chuckled, “Imagine fighting a legion of Steve’s.”
I looked at Abby, “I am going to hold you to that, I mean a lot of me, not over 3000 of me!”