Lin answered calmly "Leopards are always beautiful, Fiona.  That form looks more akin to the Midgard Serpent, with a few adjustments.  But, I will share a bit of a secret with you.  It doesn't truly matter WHAT your physical form settles down to, because the person inside you, your essence, is not unhandsome.  And you can MAKE your physical form reflect that if you so desire.  That's a wonderful gift."

Fiona was quick to change back to her human form this time, but once the change was complete, she burst out in tears. "What... what's happening? I tried to... to turn back, and..." She sat down on the edge of the porch, face buried in her hands as tears rolled down her cheeks. That last change had shaken her deeply.

  Lin came over, and leaned Fiona against her, just like her own mother would have.  She stroked Fiona's hair, and said softly "It's all right, Fiona.  Take a deep breath.  You've seen Andravian, now haven't you?"

Fiona embraced Lin and buried her face in her shoulder. This here was something that nothing in the world could have prepared her for. Where do you learn what to do when you turn into a strange, faceless monster? She softly shook her head, her face still against Lin's shoulder. "Who is that?" she asked, swallowing a sob.

  Lin held up her right hand, and a small illusion of Andy appeared.  First in his 'humanskin', then it morphed into the tall, bronze-black-and-purple Demon who had been Ozzy's best man at the wedding.  "Andravian.  Andy for short.  He's the resident Demon here in Weston, and a Bound one."  She still stroked Fiona's hair with her other hand.

Although she was still deeply shaken, the embrace helped Fiona calm down a little. At the sight of the illusion, Fiona just nodded quietly. She had met him, of course... but when she'd first seen the wedding party with Ozzy and Andy at the forefront, she had been quite scared, to say the least.

  Lin said quietly "I've done a little research on him.  Poor fellow, Andy's mother is human, like your parents.  But his father is, was, from a line of Fallen Angels.  They 'Fell' because they loved humanity too much, and wanted to protect them.  Andy has those same instincts.  That same need to protect mankind, even if it costs him dearly.  He spent a decade in Hell, because he had another Demon trying to take his body, and he wanted to protect mankind, more than he wanted to live his own life.  He was only 18 when Ozzy was forced to Banish him.  Now he's a much quieter, less boisterous, more somber soul.  He won't speak of his decade of Banishment to the others.  And he won't hear of apologies of any sort from Ozzy.  My daughter, Ozzy, Bill, and one other person went to Hell to find him and bring him back . . . and THEY barely recognized him when they DID find him.  You've seen him, although in a tux, in his natural form.  And he scares the daylights out of most people just because he's NOT human anymore.  He doesn't even bleed red."

Fiona stopped crying and fell quiet as Lin told her story. She slowly raised her head, looking up at the woman. When the story was over, Fiona let go and wiped some tears off her face with her hand. "I... I'm sorry. I should have realized... you guys have been through so much. I'm sorry for getting so upset... some of you have had it so much worse."

  Lin tapped her nose, and said softly "You're catching one of my points.  My other point is, that they're not going to be cruel or unkind to you because you have become a little less human than you were, Fiona.  The New Age Defenders will always accept you as you are, and your PHYSICAL appearance isn't the important part of you.  What truly matters, is in your mind, your heart, and your soul.  And they ALL know it."

Fiona nodded, and gave Lin a tiny smile. "I know. I just... need to get used to this, I think." She looked down at her nude body; out of habit, she covered herself up, although Lin was the kind of woman who had seen everything. "Um... why do you think that happened? Why did I turn into something different?"

  Lin tilted her head, sideways, and said "My best guess?  The mutagen in your system."  She stroked Fiona's hair, and asked her in a gentle tone "You do realize that you're going to want to wear SOMETHING that will change with you all the time for a while?"

Fiona nodded a little. "That would be nice... it's getting a bit chilly. Um... but I thought the mutagen just changes you once, and then it's done... or is it different for shapeshifters?"

  Lin admitted "I'm not familiar with how the drug works, and we don't know any other straight-out shapeshifters who are Mortal."

"So... something like this hasn't happened before?" Fiona asked. She closed her eyes and concentrated - and out of her skin, a shirt and a pair of pants simply 'grew' around her. When she opened her eyes again, she stared down at herself in wonder. "Wow... I didn't think that would work."

  Lin shrugged, and said "I don't know any other mortal shapeshifters.  The rest of those I know who shapeshift, aren't human in the first place!"

Fiona ran her fingers along the side of her shirt. "This feels so weird... it's proper fabric, but it's still a part of me, and I can still feel it all..." After a moment of inspecting herself, she looked up at Lin. "What are they, then?"

  Lin smiled, and said "Dragons, deities, other entities not human to begin with at all."

"Well, I suppose with the mutation I'm not entirely human anymore, myself..." Fiona sighed quietly and leaned back, allowing herself to return to her 'natural' form. Whatever that was now. Maybe this time it would be something a bit more pleasant...

  Lin nodded, and watched with her head tilted.

  Fiona felt her body shift, changing and stretching in different ways.  Wasplike wings unfolded from her back, and she found herself in possession of compound eyes, a wicked stinger, mostly humanoid torso, and four legs, with two bony, odd tentacle-like things growing from each wrist that looked like secondary stinger sets!  Her skin had shifted to a dusky brown shade as well, and she could see into the ultraviolet ranges easily.

Fiona felt dizzy, her vision suddenly fractured into hundreds of tiny images - not to mention that she was seeing colors she'd never seen before. She nearly fell forward, but her four legs allowed her to stay upright. "Whooaaa..." she muttered. "What... what am I?" She couldn't even blink now - she didn't have eyelids anymore! With her hands, she tried to feel all over her body, trying to find out what she had turned into.

  Lin said thoughtfully "This time it looks rather like a wasp or other similar insect, and human hybridization.  You have compound eyes, and big waspy-wings.  Want to sit down again?"

"Y-yeah..." Fiona's mind was quickly adjusting to the new form, and the many individual images were already starting to combine into one coherent picture again. She walked over to a chair and tried to sit down; but with four legs, that wasn't an easy task. After a few tries, she just sat down on the ground.

  Lin moved to sit on the ground with her, and said "You certainly are doing a lot of changing.  Are you doing it on purpose?"

Fiona kneeled down with her hindlegs and crossed her forelegs. It was as comfortable as she was going to get like this, she figured. "Well, I tried turning back to my native form... just to see if it would be something different again, since it had been before. But I'm still confused... I wasn't even thinking about insects or anything. Does that mean that... every time I try to turn back to 'normal', it'll be something different from now on?"

  Lin shrugged, and said "I don't know.  I'm not sure how, exactly, this drug works.  I do know it's interacting with your God-Touched powers.  What all that will do, I don't know."