Aka Amy

"How am I going to swing this?" I quietly asked myself as I sat cross-legged on the sofa sipping my coffee.

I was positive there had to be some sort of godly solution, either some way to be in two places at once or a way to cheat with time just enough to visit Ada's family for a minute or so without leaving Tess. I wasn't having much luck though. Trying to dig through Amethyst's memories without knowing exactly what I was searching for was like looking through an encyclopaedia without an index or table of contents.

Considering it was already half past one Sunday afternoon I only had about six hours to solve the problem. And I knew it was possible that there wouldn't be a problem. Ada might go home early, maybe she'd call for Amethyst before Tess and got to our planned activities after dinner. I could even stretch it a bit and arrange for us to have a late dinner. But I knew better than to just wait and hope. Even if I didn't need a solution today, I'd probably need it at some point.

Fortunately my girlfriend wasn't around to watch me fret over the situation. She'd retreated into the office and closed the door behind her, to focus on her studies again.

I'd just taken another sip of coffee when I was surprised by the sudden appearance of my angel. Raven didn't bother with the full angel of doom look, she was in her emo barista form.

She still bowed deeply though and stated, "I apologize for the sudden arrival my Goddess. I have news to report, regarding the task you assigned me last night."

"Already?" I raised an eyebrow. "That was fast. Make yourself comfortable Raven, and tell me what you've learned."

She sat down across from me and took on a more informal attitude to match my own. "As it happens, several demi-humans popped up about a year ago right here in southern Ontario. Most are trans people who received magical transitions which also included demi-human traits, not unlike the pink catgirl you helped last night. It seems the status-quo effect already covers their existence. For the most part, the general public simply assumes they're wearing costumes. People know there's no such thing as catgirls, so if they see what looks like a catgirl they 'know' it's just a human wearing a costume."

"And if the issue is forced," Raven continued, "For instance if a demi-human attempts to prove their non-human attributes are real, the result seems to be people grow angry or uncomfortable. It is after all unpleasant to have one's viewpoint forcibly changed. The bottom line is like I told you earlier, about smiting or aiding individuals? It affects them and their immediate circle of friends and family, but the public at large remains blissfully ignorant and unaware."

After a pause she added, "That doesn't mean the demi-humans don't have problems though. Whoever altered them didn't do anything else for them. Their bodies were changed, but not their ID or other documentation. I spoke with one online last night who explained the problems she and her girlfriend were facing. They're unable to get new ID, they can't update their financial records or any other paperwork. They've been in a kind of bureaucratic limbo for the past twelve months. Which I think means there's an opportunity for you?"

I drained my coffee and asked, "You figure Amethyst can help them out with their ID and stuff? I can pick up more worshippers by helping them with some paperwork?"

Raven nodded, "Exactly. I've already located the one I spoke with last night. We could visit her right now if you wanted?"

After a few seconds to think it over I nodded, "Sure. Let me put some clothes on first, then we'll pop over and see how it goes."

It didn't take long for me to get out of my nightshirt and into some leggings and a long tee. Then I pulled on some sneakers and I was good to go. It wasn't exactly the most divine outfit, but I decided that being a goddess meant I didn't need to worry about a dress code.

Raven knew where we were going so she teleported there first, then I was able to follow and appeared by her side. I found myself on what looked at first glance like a country road, though I realized after a moment that we weren't all that far from the city.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked my angel, as the two of us walked up the long gravel driveway towards a small bungalow.

The little home sat on a good-sized lot, with some trees running along the fence-line. From what I could see there was a nice large backyard with an old shed at the very back. The yard was mostly empty though, and looked a bit overgrown in places.

As I took another look around I added, "What do you figure those trucks are doing there?"

A pair of big tractor-trailers were parked just to the right of the bungalow. The one on the driveway was a big Mack truck, all black paint and shiny chrome trim, with dark tinted windows. And alongside it on the grass was an equally big grey Peterbilt, with more shiny chrome and pink trim. The two vehicles seemed large and imposing, and between them and their long boxy trailers they almost dwarfed the little home.

Raven replied calmly, "Yes I'm sure it's the right place. And I assume the trucks are here because they're both truck drivers."

"Oh," I grimaced. "Makes sense I guess."

I knocked when we got to the front door, and after a few seconds I heard someone approaching. A moment later the door opened, and I found myself looking at a small adorably cute ravenette girl with a pair of tall black-furred bunny ears sticking up from her head.

She was significantly shorter than me, which was an experience I didn't normally get to have. In fact I'd guess her height - not including the ears - was a good six inches shorter than my five-foot-two. And like me up until ten minutes earlier, she was wearing nothing but a large loose nightshirt.

"Yes?" the young woman asked as she looked up at me and Raven. "Can I help you?"

I was still staring at her ears so Raven responded, "Are you Abby Hayes? My name is Raven, we spoke online last night."

Abby's eyebrows shot up and she immediately looked wary, "How the hell did you find me? And how'd you get my real name? I know I never told you any of that stuff."

From somewhere behind the bunnygirl another woman's voice called, "Abs? Is everything ok?"

Looking beyond the tiny bunnygirl I spotted a tall slim young woman with grey hair and wolf ears. She was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, and had a long grey-furred lupine tail trailing out behind her.

"Sorry for showing up unannounced," I finally spoke up. "That's my fault. I was hoping we could talk in person? Raven told me you and your friend could maybe use some help."

Abby shook her head, "Not until I know who you people are, and how you found me."

My angel glanced at me, and the look in her eyes told me this was a situation for Amethyst the Goddess, rather than Amy Price the college student.

So I did the goddess equivalent of flexing and let some of that divine power shine through. And I tried not to worry about the fact that it seemed to get easier to call forth the 'goddess' in me every time I did it.

Revealing some of my divine nature allowed the two mortals before me sense my power, and as always it had a strong effect on them. It had an effect on Raven as well, and while she was basking in my divine light her true form was momentarily revealed.

From Abby's perspective, and that of her friend standing behind her, one moment they were looking at an emo goth girl and a short silver-haired purple-eyed coed. Then the next moment they were in the presence of a Goddess and her tall dark angel of death.

The bunnygirl's eyes widened as she cringed, and all her muscles seemed to tense like she was ready to take off running for cover. And the wolfgirl's ears drooped as her tail suddenly tucked down between her legs, while her shoulders slumped and she almost seemed to try and make herself look smaller.

I quickly reined in the demonstration before either Abby or her friend were too overwhelmed, then finally introduced myself. "I am a Goddess, and my name is Amethyst. And this is Ravenna, an angel. We found you with magic, and we're here to offer you some divine assistance."

"Um," Abby mumbled as she stared at me in wide-eyed shock.

Behind her the wolfgirl muttered, "Holy shit I almost peed myself."

It was incredibly hard to maintain my serious aloof goddess act after hearing that, but I did my best to ignore the comments. Instead I asked, "May we come in?"

The small bunnygirl finally nodded, "Um, yeah. Come on in."

The front door opened directly onto a small cosy living-room, and Raven and I were soon seated at a well-worn but comfortable sofa. We were offered drinks, then Abby and her friend sat opposite us on a couple chairs.

"So um, this is my friend Rachel," our host said as she gestured to the wolfgirl next to her. "We've been best friends for ages. Couple old-school truckers, who both got a new lease on a better new life."

After a slight pause she asked, "So what do you mean about helping us? Help us with what?"

Raven replied, "You mentioned when we spoke online that you haven't been able to get your ID updated?"

The wolfgirl scowled, "We've both been practically tossed out of more than one government building. It's not just us either, we know over two dozen other folks who got similar miracles last year? It's like they just want to forget about us. Like they can make us go away if they ignore us long enough."

"It was easy enough to file the change of name paperwork," Abby added with a frown. "You can do that by mail. The problem is getting new photo ID? Drivers license, health card, that sort of thing? Folks refuse to accept us. I don't know how many times I've been told to 'take off the fake ears first'. I can't take them off, they're not fake!"

Rachel nodded, "They don't even let you wear prescription glasses for your drivers license photo, so of course they get bent out of shape about the ears. But they won't listen when we try to tell them they're not fake. Then we get asked to leave because we're 'making a scene' or 'causing a disturbance'."

"And the rare time you do get past the thing with the ears," Abby continued, "Then there's the age thing. And in my case the size thing. They won't give me new ID because they don't believe I'm the same person as the one on my old ID."

I sighed as I glanced at Raven. It was just like she said, people simply didn't want to accept that folks like Abby or Rachel existed.

"So how did this happen in the first place?" I asked, as I turned my attention back to Abby and Rachel. "If you don't mind sharing, how'd you both get transformed?"

"It was about a year ago," the wolfgirl explained, "I came across a little keychain-sized plush toy in a vending machine, and the damn thing turned out to be enchanted. It turned me into a wolf first, then a wolfgirl. I told my buddy Abby here about it, she got herself a little bunny toy from the same machine? Poof, she's a bunny, then a bunnygirl."

Abby added, "The toys disappeared from the vending machine a couple weeks after that. I have a feeling I know what happened to them though. Somebody came round to see me about two weeks after I got my miracle, claiming she was here to help? Except that's not the vibe I got from her. She wanted to take away the miracle and turn me back to what I was before. I set her straight about that, let me tell you. But it wasn't long after that, me and Rachel realized the machine where we got our magic plush toys from was suddenly emptied."

The bunnygirl's expression went from dark to a scowl and she added, "I asked that woman about doing something for our ID problem? Like if she really meant to help folks like us, that's the kind of help we needed? She said she'd look into it, but needless to say I never heard from her again."

"I hope you're not offering the same kind of 'help' as her," Rachel frowned as she looked at me and Raven.

I smiled and shook my head, "Not at all. And I don't need to 'look into it', I can take care of your ID problem right now if that's all you need?"

Raven interjected, "This woman you spoke to, who claimed to want to help? Can you describe her? And did you get a name?"

Abby replied to Raven first, "She called herself May Hawthorne. I don't remember much else about her. Average height I suppose, mid twenties maybe? I remember her eyes were bright green, and she had black hair that was kind of frizzy and messy."

From the look on my angel's face I could tell she knew this mystery person. Or at least she recognized the name or the description. And from the look she gave me, I also knew it was something she wanted to discuss in private, so I didn't bother mentioning it right then.

Meanwhile the bunnygirl turned her attention to me and stated, "Ma'am if you can fix our ID both Rachel and I would be grateful. I don't know how you plan to do it, but if you're offering then can I ask you to fix everything else too? Bank records, ownership of our trucks, insurance, the whole thing? Me and Rachel are already risking trouble with the law, since we can't get our licenses and insurance updated. And trying to run a business when everything's in the wrong name's been rough too."

"I gotta ask first," Rachel stated as she looked to me, "What do you want in return? I may look young and pretty but I've been around long enough to know nothing's free."

I smiled, "You're right Rachel, I do want something in return. I can help you out with your ID and all your other records and documentation. What I ask is that you remember my name, and think of me when the moon is full."

The two of them exchanged a glance, then looked at me again. Abby asked, "That's it? Your name's Amethyst, and you want us to think of you at full moons?"

"Correct," I replied calmly. "I am a Goddess, and I'm here for people like yourselves. Someone else may have given you your miracles, but it feels like they've dropped the ball after that? I'm happy to step in and help out."

"You want us to pray to you? Or worship you?" Rachel asked. "Is that it?"

I still had some misgivings about that sort of thing, but even that was fading the more I confronted it. I didn't comment on that though, and instead simply replied "If you wish. But all I'm asking is that you remember my name, and think of me at the full moon."

"Ok," Abby shrugged. "I can't argue with that. So do I need to go grab my purse, or my bank statement or something?"

I reached out with my mind and my power to update her ID and everywhere else her deadname appeared. And I made sure to do it the sneaky way, so there weren't any flashy effects. A moment later when it was done I commented in my best casual tone, "Only if you want to see the results."

The bunnygirl's eyes widened, and she looked from me to her friend. Then she dashed into her bedroom where she left her purse, and a moment later we all heard her exclaim "Holy heck!"

She hurried back into the living-room carrying a fanny-pack in one hand and her drivers license in the other. She held the card out and showed it to her friend, "Rachel look! She did it! Name, photo, the works!"

The wolfgirl's eyes widened. She looked to me and asked, "Is it too late for me to get the same thing?"

"Not at all Rachel," I replied as I repeated the process for her. "In fact I think you'll find it's already done."

Unlike Abby, the wolfgirl didn't immediately run off to check her purse. Instead she frowned, "If you can do all this, why haven't we heard of you before? Why aren't you out there advertising or something?"

"That's not how it works," Raven replied smoothly. "If someone appeared on television or online and proclaimed themselves a Goddess, do you really think people would believe them? No. It would damage their credibility, perhaps beyond repair."

Abby frowned, "So what, next you're going to tell us we have to keep all this secret? We're not allowed to tell anyone what you've done for us?"

I shook my head, "Not at all. Word of mouth is ideal, to be honest."

Rachel asked, "What about the other folks like us? They're just as stuck for ID and everything. Does that mean we can tell them about you? Can you help them too?"

"Yes," I replied. "Tell them about me, spread my name among your friends and colleagues. I will help as many as I can, when I can."

Abby seemed to think that over, then she almost slumped down into her chair next to Rachel. The bunnygirl gave me a funny look and in a soft voice commented, "It's only just sort of hit me. You're a real live Goddess. I've got an actual Goddess sitting in my living-room, handing out miracles..."

Rachel nodded slowly and gave me the same funny look. "I've never been religious, but I guess meeting a Goddess kind of changes things."

I figured that was my cue to depart. I got to my feet and Raven stood as well, then I gave Abby and Rachel a friendly smile.

"You two take care of yourselves," I told them. "And think of me when the moon is full."

This time I made sure my magic was visible, as both Raven and I vanished from Abby's living-room in a swirl of golden light.