*Ahem*
So if you're here, you've at least decided to give my story a second glance. For that, I'm grateful. I'm hoping to release a chapter every couple of weeks, so if nothing in real time explodes, I'll be able to keep it going.
Leave questions comments and the like where ever questions and comments go, and I'll try and apply advice and the like to the next chapters.
Chapter 1, Now what?
I soaked in the big metal tub and considered. Now that I wasn't spiking off adrenaline, getting cut up, and wrapping my mind around a rapid-fire set of new situations, my mind fell into a kind of computer logic routine.
Fact 1. I was not where I used to be. Even though this new place had an odd assortment of modern conveniences, like clean hot and cold running water, fairly modern weaving techniques, if the towel was any indication, and what looked like an abundance of other creature comforts, it also had magic. The potions I drank earlier had removed all evidence of the cuts and bruises I'd suffered earlier, and the lamp in the corner hanging from the wall looked to be powered by an odd little stone.
Fact 2. Everything seemed to be mixed up. Running my little encounter through my head again, I had seen no less than three different building styles, 1100's British style (like where I was currently), a Greek ruin of some sort that my guide had tugged me past, and 'Adobe' style buildings from the middle east. Even the bathtub I was in was a great copper thing with 'claw-foot' feet from the Victorian era. The thugs, 'Curly' and 'Sandy' from before wore chain, scale, and plate armor in a sort of Roman gladiator randomness that was functional, if ugly. The dagger I had 'borrowed' from 'Curly' had a short curve in it like an Arabic janbiya, while the other had what looked like a Roman gladius at his hip.
Fact 3. Something odd was going on with the people. The Matron and 'Curly' showed ability past what I would have considered normal. Even if I were only 50 kilograms, he was making a one armed push up look easy. And the Matron of this tavern should not have been able to move that fast.
Fact 4. I was, mentally, who I used to be. While it had been ages since I took an actual bath, and not a shower, my arms still did the automatic motions of some one cleaning themselves without really thinking about it. Throwing that not-orange, really rusty martial arts learned from when I was a child, knowledge of what used to be my world. It was all there.
Fact 5. I was not WHAT I used to be.
That last one gave me the weirdest bunch of mixed feelings. Sure, by anyone's standards, discounting the ears and tail, I looked pleasing and exotic. Even as I dried off and looked at myself in the mirror, if I had met my current self as a man, I'd almost be unapproachable. But aside from that, internally, everything felt clumsy. My old balance was gone, though my tail (which held so much water I had to gently wring it out over the tub before drying it with the towel) helped. My hearing seemed sharper, but my sense of smell was the same, or similar enough.
I was far far more flexible. Years of factory jobs and little motivation to expend more effort after a long night of work had pretty much done the old me in, in that area. In this body, after a few minutes of stretching, I could hold the backs of my ankles while standing straight kneed. Do the splits, both front to back, and straight outwards. I could even, after holding a chair for balance, touch the bottom of each foot to the back of my head.
It was as if I were literally given a brand new body, grown from the brow of Zeus, ready to...
To what?
I considered that as I started putting on the clothing provided to me. I was kind of glad my mental age made me capable of brushing off some of this part. Panties, modern style too, were some what awkward with my tail, but with a little bit of shifting about, I managed to stop them from trying to crawl upwards or escape down. Black stockings that were basically a tighter version of a knee sock weren't too bad either. But there was nothing left to keep my breasts from swaying about inside my new dress, and while the fabric was not exactly uncomfortable, something needed to be done about that before I started causing accidents.
I made a silent vow to myself to never tease another woman about her wardrobe.
I was just trying to figure out the bonnet when there was a gentle tap at the door.
"Yes?" I said, forgetting for a moment that no one seemed to understand English. Instead I crossed the room and opened the door.
Outside stood the owner of the pointed ears I had seen earlier. There was no mistaking that green hair, which, now that I could see them, matched her blue eyes perfectly. I took a step back and let her into the room proper. She said something, with a slight upturning of her tone at the end, which made me think she asked a question. I tilted my head slightly with what I hoped was a questioning look.
She said something else, this time in what sounded like another language, but with the same hitch in tone at the end. It was a question, I was almost certain. I shook my head and I think my ears did something that told her I still didn't understand.
Instead of speaking a third time, she instead did a walk around me, tugging at my outfit in a couple of places, and as she got behind me I heard a tiny noise like the ripping of fabric, and shivered uncontrollably for a moment as she reached into the small hole and tugged my tail through it. My brain still wasn't completely wired for my tail it seemed.
Aha, this must have been her spare uniform. She was a little shorter than me, and I think the tallest next to the Matron. She must have been checking to see if it fit properly. After my skin stopped trying to fluff itself from having my tail pulled, I turned, tried to look concerned, and gave my torso a little side to side shake. I didn't have to fake the wince that followed at the friction. She made a 'hmm' noise, left the room, and returned a moment later with a long strip of what looked like ribbon.
Yes, never again making fun of a lady and her wardrobe. Nope.
She didn't seem to know what to make of me simply pulling the dress and apron over my head. Her manner seemed a little cold, no, distant? But after I started to bind myself with the ribbon, unconcerned about being half naked, she helped me wrap my new anatomy properly. I thanked my old scout master for teaching me to bind my own torso in case of injury, but I'd never thought I'd do it for this.
That done, I redressed, got help with the bonnet, then after a quiet 'tch' sound from my newest acquaintance, she went to the linen closest and fetched a pair of scissors. I suppose I did look some what lopsided after nearly getting my head cut by a sword. Looking in the mirror and making a quick decision, I held part of my hair in one hand, and put the other edgewise against the middle of my forehead. I knelt down in front of the mirror and she seemed to understand my hand signals. 'Make one side like the other, and leave this bit.'
When I finally made my way down stairs, following behind the elf(?), the lunch crowd seemed to be gone, and the two cat girls were cleaning up the tables with practiced ease. My gray haired guide was taking a turn at dishes, and the Matron was sweeping the floor. At my appearance one of the cat girls made a noise, getting the other to look, then my guide and finally the Matron herself. I was suddenly crowded by the two cat girls, but I simply held up my hands in mock surrender at the sudden outpouring of words.
The Matron spoke a sharp word, then a few softer ones, until finally she pointed a thumb to herself, and said "Mia Grand." She said the words clearly, one at a time.
My guide did a little curtsy after drying her hands on her apron, "Syr Flova."
The brown haired cat girl did a little twirl in place and said "Arnya Fromel."
The black haired cat girl opted for a formal bow, hands in front of her, "Chloe Rollo."
My wardrobe savior and barber said simply, "Ryuu." When I turned my head to her.
I looked at them all and with my best impression of an English butler bow, one arm in front hand open and palm up, other behind with fist closed, both bent at a right angle, I bowed. "Kodori."
Author's notes.
And so introductions are had, and mental cleanup done. I hope I haven't strayed too far with all of the exposition. Self re-discovery and all that.
And yes, I know there is one more person who works at the Goddess of Fertility, but that's for later. (Two, if you count the cook who by the wiki's explanation simply 'exists'. Nothing more)