Morrigan’s eyes opened sharply as the overwhelming pain throughout her body screamed. She wanted to cry out but her voice refused to vocalize as she opened her mouth. Her scream was silent and seemed to last for hours before she could manage to breath, her lungs acting as if they hadn’t worked in days.

  The first thing she felt aside from the bone deep pain was the pool of sweat she lay in, her body curled into a ball on her side atop drenched sheets. The second, was the bile building up in her esophagus, a feeling that instinctually made her shift to the edge of the bed before she vomited nothing but bile.

  “Fuck!” she coughed and fought the urge to throw up again as every muscle in her body rebelled in excruciating tension.

  Woah kid, are you alright? Apollyon questioned in her mind; the deity’s voice heavy with concern.

  Morrigan spat out some of the bile that coated her mouth and forced herself to breath in sharp breaths. “Where were you!” she forced out in a struggled cry before releasing what little her body had to offer onto the floor again.

  What are you talking about? I’ve been here the whole time? Apollyon responded in a confused tone. Morrigan shook her head though, not after what she felt.

  “Please try and remain calm, Mori. I have requested an emergency visit from Dr. Tamina due to your biometrics becoming unreadable, even for my processing capabilities. I found that quite worrisome,” Sister interjected loudly over the speakers hidden in Morrigan’s bedroom.

  “What?” Morrigan managed to ask before gagging again.

  What is this rust bucket talking about? Your body was fine just a minute ago. I mean… how did you manage to sweat this much? Apollyon sounded even more confused than before as Morrigan tried to sit up. Morrigan too was confused.

  “Sister… how long, how long was I sleeping?” Morrigan asked painfully as her body tried to reject the idea of moving.

  “You have been in REM sleep for 58 hours, with an additional four hours of Quiescent sleep from the time between you laid down and to the start of REM.”

  That’s… that’s not possible. You just laid down, right? There is no way you slept for nearly three days! Apollyon stated firmly.

  Morrigan looked around the room looking for some kind of confirmation that either of them was correct. The only thing she could see new was a modest amount of long bluish white fur on the floor and bed until she looked at her hands to see her special “mark” now extending up her wrist and the backs of her hands with long, thin strands of black.

  She furrowed her brows and looked down the front of her shirt to see her entire chest and torso was now covered in eloquent swirls and geometric patterns, causing her heart to begin to race.

  “Apollyon… I’m freaking out, what the hell is happening to me?” she thought in a panic before forcing herself through the tension and pain to move across the bed and stand, nearly falling over as her legs tried to give out.

  I-I… I have no idea. Three days? But… Apollyon trailed off at a loss for words. The fact that the all-knowing deity was as lost as she was didn’t help her rising panic as she stumbled into the bathroom.

  The mirror didn’t look real as who she saw was not the last image of herself she remembered seeing. The woman looking back at her was indeed Morrigan except now, aside from the rapidly growing tattoo that spread across her body like a weed, there was a pair of dark crimson irises staring back at her.

  “This, this isn’t right…” Morrigan stammered before clutching the sides of her head frantically as she stumbled back into the wall behind her. “Where were you Apollyon? What’s going on with me… why couldn’t I find you?” she asked in a tortured whisper as a sharp pain wracked her brain as she tried to remember.

  I… I don’t know kid. This, uh, this is new for me too. Maybe it’s the reverse of what happened before? Apollyon tried to rationalize.

  “Look at me! This is not the same!” she growled sharply as she thrust herself towards the mirror, giving Apollyon a full view of the new appearance.

  Her crimson irises were dark, as if they were the color of a stale pool of blood while the “tattoo” trailed all the way up her neck in patterns that seemed nearly tribal. As she stripped in front of the mirror, it became apparent that her entire body was nearly covered now, though both Morrigan and Apollyon noticed that the tattoo no longer matched, but were now bilaterally mismatched, her left side fluid, elegant; while her right-side held the familiar sharp, geometric design albeit far more complex in patterns Morrigan couldn’t make sense of. From her ankles to her wrists and neck, her body was now covered in the strange markings.

  That’s definitely new. I mean, half of it is, well, what I’ve seen for brief instances while I tried cohabitation with others but… well you know, but this? I don’t even recognize it.

  Morrigan grit her teeth and clenched her fists as she leaned over the sink, rocking back and forth on her heels in frustration before she noticed the pain in her body had subsided.

  The relief from pain sparked a memory, the violent reaction to searching for Apollyon followed by the sharp burning cold.

  Before she could ask Apollyon anything, there was a knock on her bedroom door.

  “Sister, lock the door!” she demanded.

  “I do not advise that, Mori. I believe it is the most logical option to let-“

  “Seal the fucking door, Sister! That's an order!” Morrigan barked.

  “Understood, Inquisitor,” Sister responded with a tone of disappointment before there was a hiss and click, telling Morrigan the door was locked.

  Morrigan bit her lip to stem her anger. All she wanted to do was rip the A.I. apart and reduce it to the capacity of a fax machine, but knew she shouldn’t be thinking about Sister that way.

  The A.I. was designed for the benefit of the Inquisitor and their ship in mind, so it was illogical for Morrigan to get that mad at it.

  What surprised Morrigan was that she tasted blood, her own blood she realized as she saw a pointed cut on her lower lip.

  What the fuck? Both Apollyon and Morrigan asked simultaneously in their unique inner thoughts.

  Morrigan cautiously leaned closer to the mirror as if her reflection was going to jump out at her before slowly opening her mouth. What she could see was a nearly normal set of human teeth except, four of her teeth were just different to notice. Her upper and lower canine teeth were sharper, as if honed and ever so slightly longer, as if they grew by a mere few millimeters.

  She took her thumb and pressed it against one of the upper canines and felt the tooth puncture the skin and draw blood.

  “Are you fucking kidding me, seriously?” Morrigan murmured to herself.

  “What the shit, Apollyon? Why in the hell do I have fangs!” She shouted in her head in disbelieving outrage.

  Well, the only thing I can come up with is that I wasn’t too far off the mark when I said you were evolving but looking around… you’re still human, I think?

  “What the hell does that mean?” Morrigan asked in a groan. “If I was evolving then I wouldn't be human! My DNA would be changing and… God damn it…”

  Morrigan slumped back against the wall and slid down to the floor, near naked and completely defeated as she hung her head.

  Suddenly, the bedroom door slid open to let in the raucous sounds of confusion and a very temperamental Nora. “Get the fuck out of my way and anyone who tries to come into our bedroom is getting sodomized with the largest ice dildo imaginable!”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  As the door closed and locked again, Nora called out, “Hey babe? What’s with the crowd of people outside our door and why was the door- woah,” Nora’s question died as she stepped into the bathroom to see her heavily tattooed girlfriend with extremely messy hair sitting curled up on the floor.

  “I’m not sure when you got them, but all I can say is, damn!” Nora grinned as she eyeballed the tattoos.

  Morrigan didn’t response which caused Nora’s grin to falter. She stepped closer only to see her shiver, “Please, don’t…” Morrigan said softly from beneath her arms that pulled her legs in tighter.

  Nora could hear the desperate emotion in her tone before a loud scratching came from the door. “Skoll! Stop that, Momma’s fine,” Nora turned and shouted before turning back to see Morrigan’s shoulders shake in what she knew was silent sobbing.

  Nora ignored her request and sat in front of Morrigan and ran a hand through her disheveled hair.

  Morrigan looked up with tear filled eyes, her lips unable to keep from quivering, “Am I though? Look at me, Nora… what am I?”

  If Nora saw the changes in her, she made no indication of it as she cocked her head and pressed her palm against Morrigan’s cheek.

  Nora, in a rare moment of lucidity, let out a deep breath through her nose, “Mori, sweetie. Does it matter? I noticed long ago, this I mean,” Nora stated in a soft tone as she traced a finger along Morrigan’s arm. “I tried asking but you didn’t answer. Want to know why I never bothered asking again?”

  Morrigan's emotions were all over the place and the question only confused her more yet, she nodded anyways. “Because, in the end it didn’t matter to me why you had some strange tattoo that seemed to grow. I noticed it in the mines while helping you change, and several times after that, hun. Why would some mystical tattoo make a difference to how I feel about you?” Nora asked looking into Morrigan's eyes.

  Morrigan pursed her lips when she noticed what her girlfriend was looking at which only made Nora smirk, “I also don’t know why you would worry about something so pretty,” Nora’s smirk grew into a smile as she said it.

  “Its not natural… Nora, it’s not me. I’m not me… I don’t know what I am,” Morrigan stated dejectedly, her mind attempting to wrap around everything between the moment she woke up to Nora sitting, smiling at her lovingly. None of it made sense to Morrigan and terrified her on so many levels.

  “Wanna bet?” Nora challenged cheerfully, Morrigan furrowed her brows at that before Nora leaned forward.

  In her confusion, Morrigan didn’t notice that Nora had cupped her face in her hands and pulled her closer until Nora’s lips were pressed against hers. In that moment, everything fell away and left Morrigan only wanting the moment to last forever as she felt her own lips lock against Nora’s.

  Morrigan lost all perception of time, whether the kiss lasted seconds or hours; eternity was not long enough to satisfy her as Nora pulled back and grinned.

  “See? You’re still the Mori I know and love, even if there’s a hint of puke… did you throw up?” Nora’s demeanor reverting back to its crazy hyperactivity as she looked around.

  Morrigan couldn’t fight the chuckle that forced its way out as she rubbed her nose and sniffed, “Yeah, when I woke up. I’ll clean that up…” she said as she blushed from embarrassment.

  Nora only snorted and waved it off, “Please, not my first rodeo with puke, you’ve seen me drink.”

  That made Morrigan chuckle more as she nodded, holding her hands out for Nora to take. Nora didn’t miss a beat as she stood then helped her girlfriend off the floor, steadying her as she stood.

  “Thank you…” Morrigan said at a whisper before sliding her arms around Nora. Nora held her close before letting a sharp laugh slip out.

  Nora pulled back to look down at her and began chuckling, “We should totally keep tally on how many people freak out over this,” waving her hand around Morrigan’s general visage.

  Morrigan let out a loud groan before burying her face in Nora’s chest, “Can we please not? I just stopped panicking.”

  “Okay, fine. How about a shower first?” Nora suggested, her tone filled with hope and deep seeded desire.

  I’ll say it again, don’t let this one go. Hear from you soon, kid, Apollyon interjected quickly out of habit before receding to the deepest part of Morrigan’s mind, a place where the deity could give its host privacy as well as gain its own privacy.

  ◇◇◇

  To Morrigan’s surprise, Nora knew exactly what she needed to feel better. Romance was a rare thing to come from Nora, the blonde-haired woman often only exuding callousness and perversion, yet, the very few times Morrigan needed her to be a true lover, Nora knew exactly how to deliver.

  Morrigan couldn’t remember the last time someone had washed her hair, or taken such sweet and tender care of her as they shared the shower, filling the time with idle small talk to avoid the pressing topics of the last handful of days.

  Nora informed Morrigan that the crew had taken a liking to Skoll once they got over his frightening size, except for Shepard and Gene, which made sense to Morrigan. She knew Shepard would be pissed with her for allowing a massive alien dog to roam the ship without informing her ahead of time, or perhaps not liking the idea in general and Gene didn’t want a wild animal anywhere near the engines or warp drive. Morrigan really understood that given Skoll’s innate bioelectrical composition. She too didn’t want Skoll anywhere near the vital parts of the ship either.

  Nora also had taken the liberty of using Sigurd as an exercise tool for Skoll; apparently Sister had designated specific times of the day to alert the crew to an impending “fun run” in which Skoll would chase Sigurd throughout the ship. She was also told that Sigurd seemed to enjoy it, having taken a liking to Skoll which made Morrigan laugh. In truth, it made her happy. For as much of a pain Sigurd was, he was as much of a friend as he was a loyal soldier.

  “You ready to face the day?” Nora asked sweetly as she wrapped her arms around Morrigan’s naked body from behind, eliciting a content sigh.

  “Ten more minutes, just like this,” Morrigan sighed out as she leaned into Nora, the water cascading over the both of them adding an additional touch of comfort to wash the stress away.

  She could feel Nora smirk, “I don’t know, if we stay in here any longer, we’ll end up looking like Shepard,” the joke filled with levity as Nora giggled into Morrigan’s neck.

  Morrigan on the other hand, busted out laughing for a moment before settling herself, “You know, Shepard’s a bad ass old lady. Hell, if I look that good at her age while kicking ass, I would be perfectly fine with that.

  Nora snorted as she let go of her lover and pinching her butt. The yip Morrigan squeaked out made her smile before she rambled, “We’ll look even better than she does! I mean, you will. Chances of me hitting that age is low given the amount of stupidly dangerous situations I put myself in.”

  Morrigan turned around and crossed her arms with a glare in Nora’s direction, “I will ground you,” she stated with faux authority before pushing the fogged glass door to the shower open and stepping out.

  Nora feigned insult as she huffed and mockingly clasped her chest while turning the water off, “Well that’s just rude! After all the nice things I just did.”

  Nora heard a snort before a mostly tattooed hand grabbed her by the neck and turned her, pulling her into a deep kiss from her lover.

  “Thank you, I needed it,” Morrigan whispered, her sincerity told Nora she had succeeded and fired back at wicked grin.

  “Fair warning, I may die of laughter if anyone makes any stupid faces,” Nora pointed out as they dried off and got dressed.

  Morrigan rolled her eyes, “Well, you did do your one good deed for the day I suppose.”

  As they stepped out of the bathroom, Nora shook her head, “Nuh-uh, two good deeds. I’ll take care of the puke later, or you know, Skoll might want it.”

  Morrigan grimaced the idea as she retrieved her gunblade and began putting the holster harness on, “Ew, please don’t let him eat that… that’s so wrong,” Morrigan whined.

  “Oh please, he’s a dog, it’s a delicacy to them. Hell, I bet 200 creds Sigurd would too, being the dog he is,” Nora mused with a chuckle.

  Morrigan scrunched her nose in disgust at the mental imagery Nora put in her head which made Nora laugh even more, “Oh come on! You know it, I bet you wouldn’t even have to make it an order; he’s that hot for you.”

  Morrigan grimaced once again before Sister’s voice interjected the conversation.

  “Mori, I know you’re upset but I feel it is imperative to inform you that Xol is about to breach the door.”

  “The fuck he is!” Morrigan snapped and stormed to the door, pushing the unlock button to allow it to slide open. Xol froze in a hauled back swing with the look of shock on his reptilian face. Nora busted out laughing and pointed towards his face.

  “Oh my god! Your face looks so damn stupid!” She cackled madly.

  Xol absorbed the sight of his chieftain and dropped his mace behind him, which inadvertently fell directly onto Sigurd’s right foot with a loud, metallic thud.

  Sigurd winced and ripped his foot out from under the massive hammer, “Oi! Bloody hell mate, yer scratchin’ the hardware,” Sigurd complained as Xol dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

  “My apologies, Chieftain. We grew worried…” He stated shamefully.

  Morrigan sighed and looked around the room to see Admiral Shepard, Dr. Tamina, H?’tet, Gunnar, Sigurd who was more focused on his foot than her, and a snoring Skoll who some how managed to sleep through the noise draped over one end of the couch. All but Skoll and Sigurd staring at her in surprise.

  That’s when she realized someone was missing. “Shit!” She exclaimed before attempting to move through those who crowded her living room.

  “Wait just a minute, Inquisitor,” Shepard demanded before anyone could say anything.

  Everyone looked at one another before moving away from Morrigan so she and Shepard could see face to face. Even Nora ceased her laughing at the sudden shift of atmosphere.

  Morrigan held up her finger firmly, “No. Yekku has been down on the surface for three days because I’m an asshole. After I finish up down there and bring him home then we can talk about whatever it is you want.”

  Shepard seemed taken aback for a moment as she eyed those who were in attendance before nodding, “Very well,” she said stoically before eyeing Morrigan, “But I get you first when you get back.”

  “Fine, whatever,” she exasperated before storming towards the door in a hurry.

  “I’ll have them prep a ship,” Shepard stated as Morrigan opened the door.

  “Hey lass, what about yer prisoners?” Sigurd called out as she stepped out the door while Shepard spoke into a comm link.

  Morrigan didn’t even think about Taylor or whoever he had boarded the Archangel with. She needed to get her family back together above all else, which was the only reason Shepard allowed her to walk away in the first place.

  “I don’t know! Interrogate them!” She called back as she began running before she suddenly reappeared in the doorway pointing at Sigurd, “That means question, do not torture them!” She amended before sprinting down the hall.

  Nora stepped next to Sigurd who looked at the baffled and surprised looks of concern on everyone’s faces before he looked at Nora, who shrugged.

  “Aye… well that’s a shame,” Sigurd said in disappointment.