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Enterprise

By Ariel Montine

Chapter Fourteen ~ Re-Gifted

What will become of Andrina, Arista and Atina with their cocoons engulfed in fire?

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Enterprise

Chapter Fourteen ~ Re-Gifted

By Ariel Montine

Father, Mother, Ariel, Aquatta, Adella and I saw the cocoons of Andrina, Arista and Atina consumed by a ball of fire surrounding them. We were all grief stricken at the sight of our isisters dying when we thought they had been saved.

Arista was finished looking on in horror and prepared to act, “We’ve got to do something to save them! I’m going to use my power to blast one out! I’m helping Atina but they all need to be saved.” Arista started floating in a gravity bubble as she summoned her power to cast against Atina’s cocoon that was engulfed in a fire ball. I began to focus on Andrina and Aquatta focused on Arista..

“Hold!” boomed John Triton our father. That he spoke at all was enough to get our attention as we ceased our actions and listened as he continued. “Do as your mother directs!”

“Attacking the fireball will kill your sisters quicker. Only Alana and I can use our enchantment to avoid the fireball to act directly on the cocoons to free your sisters. Alana free Andrina and I will free Arista and together we will free Atina.”

I began to wieve an enchantment that woiuld act on the coocoon itself and bypass the fireball around it and I observed Mother doing the same thing. I was just about to cast my enchantment on Andrina’s cocoon when I was interupted again.

“Hold!” This time it was the Goddess Danu, Queen of the Faerie. Her voice not only commanded attention to the greatest decree buit was enforced by her power which held all of us frozen in time including my sisters in peril. Only Mother and I appeared to have our minds and bodies free while our enchantments which had been just short of casting had dissolved into nothingness.

“I forgive your ignorance since life in the human world has supplanted your faerie ways, Athena. Do you see your error now?”

“Yes, your Majesty. My daughters in the cocoons are fully faerie without the human half that resulted from John and I concieving them. They must fight to emerge thru the cocoon and fireball. If we helped them they would not be strong enough to survive outside the cocoon. Thank you for stoping us, Your Majesty.”

“You are welcome, Athena, but all is not well yet. The enchantment that gave you your daughters Alana and Andrina works against the daughters in peril as well. I have held fulfillment of its consequence in check but now a decision must be made. That enchantment.which made the sextuplets, seeks to act to keep them all identical. If it is freed to act, it which would place all six of the sextuplets in cocoons sharing the same danger. Alana, by joining them can commune with them all to direct them to use their powers to break out.. If I remove this enchantment then Andrina and Alana will no longer be your daughters, Athena and only Atina and Arista will remain in peril.”

“How can I make such an impossible decision. I love all my daughters and each choice places some in danger.”

“This is not your choice to make but Alana’s. Alana, this is your enchantment. You alone must choose whether I disolve it or let it act upon you and your sisters.”

The tables had turned and now I had to make the decision that Mother had found impossible to make. Knowing my sisters, I knew which choice I had to make for myself and for them.

“I choose the danger! Hell of a time to ask!”

“A quote from a human myth. This is a powerful one. I gift thee with the fulfillment of your enchantment to completeness.”

With those words time flowed once more. I was inside a cocoon with a fireball assulting me as my newly formed fully faerie body contorted with pain. With my new faerie sight I could see each of my sextuplet sisters contending with the same situation and Mother, Father and Ariel looking on in horror to our plight. 

~’ Awaken Sisters! Use your power to break thru the cocoon, now!’~

I built up my power and directed it against the cocoon and saw my sisters doing the same thing. Would it be enough I questioned in my own mind as sll of our powers reached their climax and as one that energy was directed outward from our enprisonment. Six booms eminated from each coocoon and six identical faerie stood where the cocoons had been before. Lost was any curiosity about what I had become as my only motivation was to hug my sisters to recieve assurance that they were indeed all safe and sound. The resulting group hug encompased not only the sextuplets but also our parents and Ariel. There would be time to sort everything else out later, for now we were overcome with the joy of being reunited with each other again.

After the initial disregard for everything to celebrate a new life for each of us, propriety led Father to disengage his hug and beat a hasty retreat. You see all of us identical sextuplet faerie were as naked in our rebirth as we had been when we were born originally.

“Daughters, I am so glad that you are all alive. Mary, I’ll leave you to help our daughters adjust to their new bodies. When you are finished come up to the house where I will make ready a feast of celebration such as the like has never been seen.”

We all thanked Daddy and giggled at his red face and swift retreat. 

“Girls, that was not nice embarasing your father like that!”

“Sorry, Mother! I guess sumoning clothes was not my first priority. I got lost in the joy of being alive with all my sisters! Shall I do so now?”

“No Darling. Your father is right that its time for you all to become aquainted with your bodies. Ariel, shall we join them?”

“I’m no spoil sport but I feel a bit left out that I’m not totally faerie too. At least you’ll be like me.”

“Momma, aren’t you totally faerie too? How could we have been half faerie before if you weren’t all fae rie? How come you don’t look like us? I don’t see you using glamour.”

“Arista, you are correct in that I am totally faerie yet I don’t appear so and I’m not using glamour to alter perception of my appearance. Ariel, would it help for you to be enchanted to appear as your sisters even though it would not physically changed?”

“Momma, it would help me feel like I was fitting in for right now. Are you enchanted to appear human?”

“Yes my darling. And before you ask why let me remove my enchantment and give you your enchantment. Then it will be apparent.”

Mother began weaving an enchantment over Ariel while undoing the one over her which became apparent as she began to loose the magical cords which made it up. When we were thru, Ariel became as faerie in appearance as any of us and identical to us all including being naked. What we were not ready for was that Mother in undoing her enchantment also became identical to us losing the apparent age that had appeared to separate us. We all welcomed Mother and Ariel with a big group hug as we marveled that the eight of us were identical now.

“You did it for Father. He grows old but we do not. You made yourself appear human and to age for his sake.”

“Yes my daughters. It comforts your father in daily life yet it is not deception since I told him from the begining that I would not age. Ariel, you alone now are the visual evidence of your father and my life together. In time you will discover that being of two worlds can be as rewarding as it is challenging. Your sisters have another challenge. All of their experiances are of the human world and yet they by necesity have been transposed to the Faerie world. They must learn all over again how to live in it and inspite of the dangers it holds for them.”

“I think I understand Mother. I will treasure the Gift of Life that you and Father gave me. I’m okay now. Can we all put on some clothes now?”

“Of course, Ariel! I have just the thing. Girls, let’s go to the dressing room and we’ll all put on the gowns that I and my attendants wore when I married your father in the faerie celebration.” 

As we all withdrew to the room that Mother directed us to, the enchantment was removed from Ariel as she requested. We found the chest and within were delicate gowns which none of us had seen the like on earth which could only have been created by the faerie. Each gown was identical and each fit our new curves as if it had been custom fit for us. Not that we were any slouches before, remember we were all cheerleaders, but our new cuves just screamed sexuality. It was little wonder to be out of lusting eyes, that Mother had chosen a more demuire human like form to live in the human world. 

“Mother, how can it be that each of these gowns fit us perfectly? Who were your attendants?”

“They were my sisters who were all identical as you my daughters are now. Ariel, are you having trouble with your gown?”

“Yes Mother. It doesnt fit. Can you help?”

“Of course, my dear.”

Mother used enchantment to tailor the gown to Ariel so that it fit her as well as the gowns fit each of us. we gathered around to hear what Mother wanted to tell us about being totally faerie. Ariel was drinking in each word as well as any of us since she knew that more faerie traits could manifest themselves as she grew older and she wanted to be ready for them.It was as if we were under a spell as we took in every word she told us until finally the spell was broken as Mother resumed her human enchantment before our eyes.

“Girls, it’s time now for that feast that your Father promised. We’ll resume this discussion later for more details but I have covered the basics for you. Use your glamour to appear human for your Father’s ease.”

We all chorused as one, “Yes, Mother!” and with the glamour in place we ported up into the entryway of the house to join Father for the promised meal.

”My Daughters, welcome. Now it is time to feast and celebrate! Please join me in the dining room.”

It was like Thanksgiving there with the turkey and all the fixings and sides. I guess that I expected a more faerie kind of celebration but it felt comfortable to revel in the familiar human tradition which we had all grown up enjoying. We were home and each of us delighted in taking our portions of the wonderful meal and enjoying the delicacies that tradition brought along with joyous conversation as we all caught up on each other’s experiances since the last time we got together. We giggled and cut up with some of the amusing stories until finally the meal was over and Father led us to the living room to have our desert.

“My Family, we have rejoiced for past present and future life. Now it is time we paused to remember those who no longer share the journey with us.”

I thought back to the image of the ship sailing with Voyager’s crew into the west and I wept for them. In all of this joy, the world was still imperfect and Hydra had not only taken our friends away but nearly had killed my sisters except for the intervention from others.   

I was weeping over the loss and near loss and each of us let the grief out as hands joined in unity of an unbroken family chain.

“As much as I would love to stay here in the love our family, Hydra has taken our friends and threatened our family. I must find out where the battle leads now.”

“I would expect no less of you all to keep safe that which is dear to you. Alana, you may withdraw to seek out guidance on what you must do to end this treat.”

“Thank you, Father”

I knew what I must do inorder to connect back into the hunt for Hydra as matters had advanced in our absence. I reasserted the connection to Alexis

“Alexis?”

“Back again Alana? Are your sisters safe?”

“Yes, we are all safe. There is more to tell but it will keep. How goes the search for the double agent?”

“We are investigating some suspicious behavior from two that I would not have dreamed were the culprits”

“While you are at it, could you please get a read out on current info on the Hydra infiltration in Moscow that we quenched and the potential one in Munich.”

“Of course, but you have to quit distracting me and be quiet and let me work.”

“Yes, maam!”

Alexis may physically be fourteen now but she still seemed like her former self in her mind. Without me to distract her, I observed her slipping into her fourteen year old persona in order to complete her disguse of being Brigg’s neice to flush out the double agent. I willed myself into the background as I observed thru her eyes. She was met by Faith who had been following our Shuttle Commander, John and pilot Don from the sextuplets original mission aboard the Space Shuttle Enterprise which seemed so long ago now. 

“How goes it, Faith?”

“I’ve been following along listening and they are really excited and secrative about something. Briggs was right about us being girls helping to get information. I doubt that they would even spoken in front of me had I still been Gail Gordon.”

“If they haven’t come right out and said it, what do you guess it is about from reading in between the lines?”

“They are talking as if a shuttle is being preped for flight and I don’t mean by NASA. That leaves Enterprise. Do you suppose that Hydra has designs to steal her?”

“They were lucky with taking down Voyager with the inside information their double agent provided them. It would make sence that Hydra would want Enterprise’s technology since they fear it so much.”

“Good work, but stay on it. We can’t come to Briggs with guesses. We need evidence that can’t be compromised. We’d really look like school girls if we came with guesses only to find out that we had made the wrong assumption.”

“I need help. The Major and Colonel split up on separate tasks. Which one would you like?”

“I have something going that I can’t put down right now. I’ll send Sandra to tail the Colonel so you can catch up with that hunky Major.”

“Shut up! This is purely professional!”

“And you have a vested self intrest in clearing him even if he doesn’t notice you. I admire that dedication to duty. Now go!”

“Yes maam!”

Faith scooted off while Alexis called Sandra on her cell.

“San, pick up John in the cafeteria. He and Don appear to have been naughty boys and I want you to find out if it is true.”

“Anything for you, Lexi! bye-ee!”

I was about to decloak when I saw that the previous engagement that Alexis had begged off to continue was to find out the information for me.as I observed her on the way to the intelegence room. She seated herself at a computer and began to sift thru everything that we had concerning Moscow and Munich

She discovered that the remotes that we had left were still functioning but to both of our surprise, Moscow was once again up and running as an outpost of Hydra. We had chopped off it’s head but it had grown back. The only way to take Hydra out was to take out all of its heads at one time! How in the world were we going to do that since we didn’t know where all the heads were. It seemed that the mission to Munich would be useless. What we really needed to do was to discover where all of Hydra’s heads were so we could take them all out at the same time! It would take forever to go from one head to an adjacent one and even at that we would have no way of knowing if we had them all. Our only hope would be to find the double agent and use him or her to find out where all Hydra’s heads were from the inside.

I felt a hand on my shoulder in the real world shaking me. It was Ariel.

“Sister, please come back! I need you!”

“I’m here, Ariel”

“I need to know .Will Il still be on the team since I won’t be fully faerie like you all are?”

“Of course you are still on the team, Ariel. We need you and the fact that you are half human may be vital if we encounter another surprise attack. It was the assertion of our Faerie nature that made us vunderable to the attack that almost killed some of us. Now that’s all we have and we have that vunderablility all the time, now. I love you,Sis and that you are willing to help. You are one of us now and forever.”

Ariel and I hugged tenderly. I could understand her insecurity from the time when I had been Alan but longed to be Alana in any form to try to fit in. I had become part of this wonderful family and if I could give Ariel back what I once was given to be included then I counted myself lucky to be able to regift the gift that had been given to me.

“Thank you, sis! I’m sorry for interupting you. Did you find anything yet?”

 

“Moscow is back in Hydra hands. It seems that in order to kill it, we must cut off all it’s heads at the same time. The mission to Munich would be worthless. I will get back to Archangel and see if he concurs that it be canceled. Our best hope now is that the Little Angels find the double agent and get him or her to turn and reveal all of Hydra’s heads so we can take them all out at the same time. They have leads and it is best to let them take care of it. We all need to learn more about what we can do individually and as a team so that when we have targets then we will be ready to strike.”

“Momma wants you to come down and get leftovers from our thanksgiving feast. She says that missing meals is not something you new faerie should do right now. We’ll all need our strength if we are to carry out the plan when it is time.”

“Mother is right, lets go down and join them now. I’ll check back in with the Little Angels later.”

Ariel and I went hand in hand to join the rest of our family. While the calendar didn’t say so, this had become in reality for all of us, Thanksgiving day.