Chapter 66: Chapter 62: Ophelia

Owen yawned, stretching his arms out as he awoke. Blearily, he stood up, then blinked in shock as he found himself surrounded by six identical beautiful girls, around twenty to twenty five years old. They were wolf beastkin by the looks of it, with blood-red hair and fur, wearing tight-fitting scout’s gear that showed off their ample proportions, and he had to force himself to tear his eyes away as their tails began to wag, internally scolding himself.

Why are you ogling random women? He chided. You have Mary, and these girls are half your age. This isn’t like you, snap out of it!

He shook his head to clear it, abruptly stopping when he noticed that the girls were mimicking his actions exactly. A frown crossed his face, one that was mirrored in real-time on the faces of the girls. Hesitantly, he stepped closer to the girls, and they stepped closer to him. “Hello?” He asked, their voices in perfect harmony with his own. “Who are you?”

Something was off about his voice, but with those girls copying him so perfectly, he couldn’t tell what. They…they had to be reading his mind, right? He cast his eyes about the room, thinking back on his situation. He…he had been on that expedition to the Spine, and they had entered the dungeon, and…and he was captured by Lia, and it looked like he was in one of the dorm rooms, though it was odd that…

Owen jumped when he realized it. He was seeing from three perspectives. And, as he cast his eyes about the room, he realized that those girls, not six as he had initially thought, but three, were standing exactly where his perspectives were originating from.

Those girls…those girls were him. Her? Owen frowned as foreign thoughts began entering his mind. Just because he was in the body of a woman didn’t mean that she – no, he had to calm down and remember his training. When the mind was under siege and he still had some remnant of his sanity, he needed to work on squirreling away part of his mind, out of the influence of the effect.

But…did she have to? Her instincts were telling her that she was a woman now, and it would be easier if she accepted that fact. It wasn’t like she wanted to return to her old body, having three had so many applications for scouting, and she could already tell that her senses of smell and hearing were far better than they had been.

No. Owen told himself forcefully. This isn’t me.

Isn’t it? His instincts, reproduced in triplicate, seemed to say. You can accept your new self and still serve your country.

Yes, her instincts were right. Whether or not they were attempting to brainwash her, there wasn’t a flaw in the logic they had presented; regardless of how her body had changed, she was still herself, willing and able to serve her Mistress to the best of her capabilities. Owen – she’d have to think of a new name later – frowned at that last thought. The king she served was Brom, but…she felt no particular allegiance to him anymore. She curled all six of her hands into fists, wincing slightly as the sharp nails drew blood, but she didn’t stop; the pain would hopefully help her clear her mind. These thoughts weren’t right, she needed to hide her mind, what was left of it anyway, store it in a space these thoughts couldn’t reach.

But her new instincts were just too overpowering. There were three sets of instincts, one for each of her new bodies and brains, while there was only one of her consciousness. Why bother fighting? Her instincts demanded. You know you can’t win. And who can blame you? This is a Hero’s work, no doubt about it, is it a surprise that you can’t resist?

But…the world is in danger. She feebly protested. I can’t afford to stop here, not when so much is on the line.

It’s fine. Her instincts soothed. Mistress said she was going to deal with the Lord of Monsters, remember? Even if she doesn’t, the dead man’s switch was already triggered, so the Glens know. It’s okay to let yourself enjoy your new life, you owe it to yourself.

Her instincts were right; she was just delaying the inevitable. Why bother with a few more moments of futile struggle, when it would just delay her happiness? A smile slid across her face as she stopped her attempts to hide, fully embracing and even relishing in her new instincts. Yes, she was so much more now, and not even just three times more. Each of her new bodies felt significantly more powerful than her old one, and she had three of them now. Even if her bodies had each only been half as strong as she used to be, having multiple made them more than the sum of their parts. Coordination was everything, and three perfectly-coordinated people were a match for a larger, less coordinated force.

Yes, she would prove a powerful asset to her Mistress, and she couldn’t wait to show off her new, attractive body. She paused again at that, frowning at the thought. Yes, she was incredibly attractive, there was no denying that, but it was strange that she was even thinking in terms of attractiveness when she hadn’t thought anything of the sort for over a decade.

Then again, she was young again, and her libido seemed to have reset itself to how it had been in those days, multiplied by three. In fact, all her physiological responses were tripled, hunger, thirst, tiredness…though she wasn’t particularly tired at the moment, having just woken up. But it wasn’t exactly a straightforward tripling? It was hard to to tell unless she was specifically looking for it, but with care she could subdivide her feelings and figure out which body they were coming from. So…she’d have to stagger her bodies out so they weren’t on the same schedule, and then things wouldn’t be so overwhelming.

But…she thought back to her wife again. How would Mary react to Owen…no, she could think about her family later. That masculine name did not fit her, not when she was such a cute set of girls. It took her a few minutes of thinking, but she eventually settled on Ophelia, though she was willing to change it if her Mistress wished.

Back on subject, Ophelia couldn’t help but wonder what her wife and children would think of her new self. She so desperately wanted to give them the same peace and joy that her transformation was already giving her, but…they probably wouldn’t accept. Owen hadn’t accepted beforehand, and he had raised his kids in such a way that they likely wouldn’t either, even if Ophelia talked to them herself.

That was fine. She’d just have to convert them first; they’d love it once they tried it, and she was sure she and Mary could get up to some interesting things with these new bodies Ophelia had been given. But…wasn’t there something…

Right! Her Mistress, just before converting Ophelia, had told her that she would take care of Ophelia’s family. So, she just needed to find her Mistress, and work something out, and they would be so, so happy! Ophelia’s tails wagged at the thought; not only did she get to live a new, happier life with her family, but she’d be growing her Mistress’s forces at the same time! It was a win-win!

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And then Ophelia sagged, remembering the situation. She…she had briefly thought about it before, but she had that recording orb on her, and when her magical signature changed, as it surely must have, it would have sent everything back to Brom. And Brom, cautious leader that he was, would likely implement measures to “protect” Ophelia’s family. It was a silly move, but Brom didn’t know any better. And…besides, it was just like life to do this to her – give her a great gift and then immediately hit her with an equally large complication.

Now that she was thinking about it, where was that recording orb? A quick check revealed that most of her gear had remained on her, even if it had been resized and duplicated to fit her new bodies, but the orb was conspicuously missing. Still, her gear had been high quality stuff, and finding that it had been duplicated for each of her bodies was a delight.

Well, if the orb was gone, it was gone. She’d just have to tell Mistress about the orb, and make their plans from there. She just, uh, had to find her first. But…that didn’t seem like it would be a problem; the moment she thought about finding her Mistress, she could feel a pull in her gut, telling her the exact direction and even a measure of how far away she was. That…was new, right? She should probably check her status before continuing, to be able to better inform her Mistress of her new capabilities, if nothing else.

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