The Dragon Awakes

A massive amount of energy rushed into my body as I opened my eyes. Memories of my trial were still there, yet separate from 'me', which made them easier to push to the back of my mind for now. I felt stronger and more complete than I ever had before, but there was also something different about me.

When I tried to look at my body, I quickly understood the disconnect. My body was that of a silver-scaled dragon. I had four strong legs, wings, horns, and a long tail and neck. My talons and horns were crimson while the webbing of my wings was a dark violet color.

I was floating out in space, so I could only hope that meant that Katye had gotten me away from the Voyager. Stretching out my senses, I tried to 'feel' for any of the metal that I had created which would be onboard the Fae Dragon while silently complaining that Raven no longer had my Naru Darc mark, or this would have been an easy matter. It took me a few minutes since they were so far away, but I found them and flapped my wings to head that way.

I had greatly underestimated my speed when I was like this, and I closed the distance between us in just a couple of minutes. Although I was a little surprised that they did not come to meet me, it was easy to guess why when I looked like this. I noted that I was longer than the Fae Dragon from nose to tail, but my main focus was on the five auras that I could sense in the ship. Two were gathered in the lounge area, likely Filigree and Nyka, while the other three were on the Bridge.

Shifting back to my human form, I teleported myself into Engineering since I did not want to scare them. I was also a little worried about how mad they would be at me, but after everything that happened in the trial, I would just be happy to have them back. What I had not expected, was for my hair to have grown to be down to my butt, and it was now silver in color.

The door opened while I was examining myself, and when I looked up, the three of them were in the doorway. Raven was in the middle, with Katye on her right, and Echo on her left. None of them looked happy to see me, but I could not resist smiling and teleporting myself in front of them. Katye was the only one to react as I had moved so quickly, but I still managed to wrap an arm around her waist while the other grabbed Echo and I pulled all three of them into a big hug.

"I missed you three," I breathed with relief.

"Rebecca?" Raven asked cautiously.

"Yeah," I replied, letting them go. "I'm sorry; I know that I worried you all, but the trial helped me understand more about my power."

"You... know that you have horns, right?" Echo asked.

"Oh, right... Dystina told me that it was a dragon thing. This is as human as I can look now, though I'm not sure if my hair will turn back to normal with time," I explained.

"That's what you are worried about?!? Do you know what could have happened to you?" Raven demanded.

"I do now, and I'm sorry for making you worry, but it was needed. Ever since I learned the truth about who I was, I've had hostility towards Dystina and the source of my power, which is ultimately why I needed the seal from Mimic."

"What happened?" Echo asked.

I walked away and sighed, "I saw what could happen if I lost control and it wasn't a pleasant experience, but it made me understand just how dangerous my power can truly be."

"Can you tell us about it?" Raven asked.

"I'd rather not... the memories are still fresh, and I just want to enjoy your company, even if all you want to do is yell at me for doing something so foolish," I said with a weak smile as I turned back to face them. "After all, I broke your helmet, Raven."

Raven's, and even Echo's, expression softened at my request while Katye's had remained complex from the moment that I confirmed that it was me. It was not angry, or sad, or concerned... there were traces of pity, and something else that I could not quite figure out. Her gaze actually made me feel a little uncomfortable as it was almost like she was looking into my soul.

"I should contact the Voyager and let Janeway know that you are okay," Katye said then headed back onto the Bridge before any of us could stop her.

"Katye," Echo said, but she kept walking and the door shut behind her.

"Go on, Echo; I'm fine," I sighed when I could see the conflict in her eyes.

She gave me a nod and followed Katye while Raven walked over to me. I pulled off the gloves of the exo-suit and placed them on the workstation next to me. There was concern in her eyes, but I just smiled and placed a hand on her cheek, enjoying the feeling of her warm skin.

"You're so beautiful, especially when you smile," I said gently.

"Rebecca..." she complained in a reprimanding tone that I had not heard in a long time.

"I'm fine, Raven, really. I may have some new emotional baggage, but most of it faded away when I was finally able to realize that it was all an illusion. The biggest danger that I faced was due to my ignorance of my power," I explained as I let my hand fall to the side.

"Will you tell me about it?" she asked softly.

"In time, perhaps... but I have a lot to sort through in my mind before I'm ready to talk about it. I'm still me, but I also have memories of a long life that stretched out far into our future, even if they are false," I sighed while I took off the different pieces of the exo-suit. Once it was off, I stretched and said with a light chuckle, "I'm going to take a shower, if you would like to join me, but I can tell that you aren't exactly up for it."

"It's not that..."

I stopped Raven by cupping her cheek and placing my thumb on her lips, and I said gently, "It's okay, my love. A lot of things have been thrown at you, and Katye and Echo, in a short period of time. I'm not going anywhere, and I have no problem giving you all the time you need."

I smiled before heading up the stairs. Filigree was sleeping on Nyka's side, but the fox was wide awake with her eyes locked on me, and her ears flat against her head. I could smell the Soul Beast's fear which made me sigh, but I kept walking.

None of the magical strength that I had gained in my trial remained, but the strength of my Soul had increased greatly, which Nyka was very sensitive to. Soul Power was a very powerful form of energy built on the experiences of both the Ego and True Soul, which could manifest in countless ways, empowering magic, body, and mind alike. Although my strength had gotten a boost after the trial, most of it was useless for the current 'me' because I lacked practice in using my Soul Power, so most of my efforts would be wasted.

I undressed in the bathroom and found the first problem with having horns. Pull over tops were not a friend to a horned individual, and I ended up ripping my undershirt as I tried to take it off. The rest of my clothes were unaffected by the changes to my body, but I did find more differences. There were a few silver scales on my shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees that blended in with the flow of my body. Although I had known it for a while, I was not truly a human anymore, but I had refused to accept it until now.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, I walked into the shower as I turned it on. It had been a long time since I could enjoy hot water since my Chaotic aura would usually change the Water into Acid and other elements, though at a lower rate. More than anything, my Demon Heart trial had taught me to appreciate the simple pleasures of the 'world' since I knew that they could be taken from me. I just let the hot water splash on me until it was suddenly shut off.

"You've used over five percent of our reserves with an hour-long shower; I think you've had enough," a familiar voice chided.

I gave a snort of annoyance and opened the door of the shower to find Katye in the bathroom with me. There was something different about her aura, more powerful, more refined, that did not fit with Katye per se.

"You're not Katye," I accused.

"And you are not Dystina," 'Katye' replied with a voice that was not her own.

"Alkatyenia?" I chuckled. "I see... you separated yourself from Katye to keep her Ego intact; thank you. Dystina chose a different method. I've been inheriting her legacy through my dreams long before Mimic butted in. The trial that I had was something very different from what 'she' had, it seems."

"How? Your Soul is much too strong for a simple Telo transformation."

"I'll explain that to Katye if you'll leave before you drain her dry," I sighed, stepping out of the shower.

Alkatyenia smirked before I felt her aura retreat and Katye nearly collapsed before I caught her. Despite seeing her in pain, I did not transfer my own mana into Katye as I could not get the memory of her corrupted form out of my head.

Instead, I asked aloud, "Fae, can you transport one of our mana crystals here?"

A green, replicated crystal appeared next to us, and I handed it to Katye. She was confused by my actions since it would have been much easier to give her some of my personal mana, but she drew the energy out of the gem as I helped her sit properly on the ground. With a light smile, I traced my fingers along the side of her face before I stood up to finish drying off.

"You said that you would explain," Katye said softly.

"It might have been four hours for you guys, but I have no idea how long I was in there from my prospective... though it was certainly long enough to see what the corruption my Chaos could do to the universe. Lucky me still has all of those memories and experiences in my mind, so my Ego has grown quite a lot after that," I replied with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca. You just felt so different that I thought that Dystina was either trying to fool us or had fused herself to you," Katye explained.

"You have nothing to apologize for; if you had been right, you were trying to protect yours, Raven's, and Echo's feelings. Seeing the person you love, with them not truly being the person you know, is a cruel fate," I remarked, knowing just how that felt. Trying to dry off my hair, my horns proved to be a new obstacle and I complained, "This is going to take some getting used."

Katye chuckled lightly as she stood up and said, "It's not too bad. The horns suit you."

I shot her a smirk as I hung up my towel and asked, "And the scales?"

She stepped closer to me and ran a hand up my arm, feeling the ones that covered my elbow and shoulder, then smiled with surprise. "They are softer than I would have thought, not sure how good they would be for real defense though."

Her hand continued upwards, and she gently touched my horns. A ripple of pleasure spread through my body at the touch, and I could not help but let out a soft moan. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment since I had not been expecting such a strong reaction, which made Katye chuckle before she leaned in and kissed me. It had been so long, to me anyways, since I had kissed her, so I returned it with overwhelming passion. My hands started roaming her body and, for a moment, she was completely swept up in my momentum as I pressed her up against the bathroom wall, but she recovered her wits and pushed me away, breathing a little heavier.

"That certainly hasn't changed," Katye huffed with mild frustration.

I smirked and grabbed my clothes before walking out of the bathroom. Raven and Echo were in the bedroom and were surprised to see me walk out which made me chuckle. Their eyes were drawn to the new patches of scales as Katye walked out, but I let them look while I walked over to the replicator that was built into the wardrobe to find an undershirt that did not require sliding it over my head.

"It really is Rebecca; Alkatyenia confirmed it," Katye said.

"Just Alkatyenia?" I teased.

"Her new weak spot is her horns, as they are much more sensitive than nearly any other part of her body," Katye retorted.

"Jok yu," I chuckled as my new shirt materialized.

I heard a light chuckle from Raven, which made me feel a little better, since it meant that she was not too worried about me now. Looking over my shoulder, I could see both of them looking at me with traces of curiosity in their eyes. I could only shake my head with a wry smile as I pulled on my pants and then turned around.

"Just get it out of your systems quickly and don't mess too much with my horns, or we won't be meeting up with the Voyager any time soon," I said, holding my arms out wide.

Raven smirked and stepped closer to me. Like Katye, she slid a hand up my arm to feel the scales on my elbow, and then my shoulder, before moving onto my horns. I was able to suppress the moan of pleasure this time since I was expecting it, but that proved that it was not just my connection to Katye that made them so sensitive. Echo did not join Raven in feeling my new additions, but she gave me a true smile, so I knew things were okay with us.

I gave Raven a quick kiss before saying, "Alright, the petting zoo is now closed."

"Sorry," she replied, a little bashful.

"You're fine. There are just other things we should focus on, like refilling the core from my shower," I remarked. "How's Voyager by the way? I'm sure my fainting episode worried a few people."

"Janeway was concerned when she brought you to the Shuttle Bay, but I was able to deliver your message before we left the ship. When I talked to her after you returned, they had found the hibernation pods and were trying to figure out why the survivors haven't woken up since they apparently know that the planet is habitable again," Katye replied.

"Oh right, this all started because of an episode," I remarked as I put on the new undershirt that closed in the front by wrapping the bottom edges around my waist. "They are being held hostage by the artificial intelligence's manifestation of fear, unable to leave. I probably should have let things happen naturally since Harry was not in too much danger since the clown needed him alive, but oh well, a few less nightmares is probably a good thing. There is a way to shut it down carefully from the outside by removing the program pathways one by one, but it didn't work in the show because the clown killed the one who gave the hint to the Doctor, so Janeway stopped B'Elanna."

"I'll see what I can figure out when we get back," Raven said.

"Thanks," I said, pulling on my uniform jacket. "Well, unless the three of you have any other tests that you'd like to perform on me, I'd like to get back to our normal crazy reality."

I got a look from both Raven and Katye, but I just shrugged and walked out with Echo following close behind me. The other two followed us, so I led everyone down to the Bridge. Katye was the one who talked to Janeway and got permission for us to land in the Shuttle Bay. Once we landed, Raven left to help B'Elanna and Harry with the hibernation pods, while Katye and Echo, conveniently, decided to use the Mind Linker. Janeway's visit to the ship was expected, but now I would have to meet her alone.

"Hello, Kathryn," I said as Janeway boarded our ship.

"Rebecca?" Janeway asked with surprise.

"Yes, but I'm aware of the changes to my biology," I chuckled. "Dragons are powerful, prideful creatures, so the fact that I have been rejecting that side of me caused me a number of problems. Things should be sorted out with my other side for the foreseeable future, so I should not have another 'episode' again."

"I'm glad you are okay then," she replied.

"After what Katye told me about my Storm, I'm sure that the Voyager's sensors picked it up as well. If you have any questions, I'll answer them to the best of my ability, but even I don't have all the answers when it comes to my abilities."

"We did detect some kind of plasmic storm that grew to be nearly a light-year wide in roughly two hours. Do you mean to say that was your power?"

"I call them my Chaos Storm Clouds, and they are my most powerful and dangerous spell. Typically, I control them so that they do not grow more than I want, but while unconscious, they were free to expand. Obviously, this only happened because of the breaking of my seal, so there is no need to worry I'm going to conjure them up while I sleep," I explained.

"Can you control your 'storm' when it gets that big?"

"Oh, no. The area that I can actually control my storm clouds in, is significantly smaller. In fact, if I had not needed so much energy for my transformation, it would have been hard for me to 'clean up' my mess."

"It's good to see even you have limits," she sighed.

I chuckled while thinking in my mind, "For now."