Dilemma of Dreams - 8A

An adult speculative Christian post-Armageddon fiction
Dilemma of Dreams
Chapter Eight: Part One
The Meeting with Dimerkess

It had been Peralte helping me dress. He was the one that bought me, and as his possession he had done what was necessary to assure that I presented myself properly. This morning Assadra saw to my needs.

She also put on a lovely dress. I spoke to her about how I had noticed the difference between her stride and that of a normal lady the first day I met her. Her legs had been altered to be more like that of a cat. Her thighs were not that long, although her feet were greatly extended. What actually went into her wide shoes were only the thick toes. She mentioned that it had taken her some time to adjust to the alterations of her legs, but that she had accepted them along with her large ears. She did prove that she could move on all fours, and climbed a tree letting me see her claws in action. While I dressed to show off my femininity, she worked to hide her feline traits.

What the lipstick had tried to tell me yesterday, Assadra declared the lesson in a manner that I fully understood. It did not take much to have my body fully declare its gender. She mostly worked on my eyes, but left my face alone declaring my youth to do more for me than the cosmetics.

She spoke of the changes that would come to my body as it matured, although what options I had in this life. The monthly suffering of females that troubled all women in the previous life would not come to me in this one, although Assadra could not assure me of having no discomfort during my first few months of womanhood. She however mentioned her cat-like appearance, and told me things to help me make certain decisions about my own appearance when my body settled into its fullness.

I came before Peralte wanting his approval, and he spoke words of pleasure to both of us. He had dressed in a respectable suit as well. It was not the same one that I saw that day when I came under his authority, but it was of the same style and almost the same shade of blue. I again saw the cane. He laughed when I pointed it out, then spoke of thinking that he might need it to deliver certain instructions. Rapping the tip upon a rock he laughed again, then told me that I had saved myself from his feeling that he needed to continue to travel with it.

“Then why are you bringing it today?” I asked.

“Because I feel that I might need it. A cane has uses.”

We started walking as Assadra asked him about the claw handle. Peralte replied that it made a good back scratcher at the end of a day. She questioned him about liking claws scratch his back, and that set the two to again start exchanging words that I did not fully understand. As before however, I could sense the joy and playfulness of the comments, so cheerfully walked with them.

The two had me discuss the routines of my life at the convent. It was an easy life, and they both noticed how quickly I rattled off the order of each day. Peralte however had me go into depth about the masses. When I mentioned the music, he had me recite the words to some hymns. He then altered it to one giving glory to a greater God. I did not remember the hymn, but sang the altered words with him. I then found myself remembering other songs from my life long ago, and we were singing those when we spotted the town.

It was not how I had planned my town, but I found the dense settlement enchanting. A fast flowing stream that appeared rather deep did run through the middle of the village. Three bridges crossed the waterway with a tight collection of home businesses lining the shores. Some other quaint, brightly painted homes were set behind the first row, although these became fewer in number as the distance from the stream increased. There was no town square, something my town had, and no real thoroughfare allowing travelers to move into the community. We actually had to intrude on private property to proceed.

The people were not rude, although did step outside to see who was invading their space. Peralte had said that he had worked on designing these mountains; I was thus not surprised when somebody recognized him. I however did not see why a child had to be sent to announce his presence, because the size of the town would only provide Dimerkess with little over a minute to prepare.

We came to the river to see a man stepping through a doorway. He had a rather plump build with a completely bald head. I remembered that he enjoyed eating, so felt it improper to appear as someone with a lean stature. He thought glasses gave him a more experienced countenance, but he presently had them sitting on top of his head. I stayed by Peralte’s side wondering if Dimerkess would recognize me.

“Assadra, I guess that I have to give you credit for finding Peralte. Just the usual check-up my man. Nothing special. Who do you have with… you – oh, my.”

For a heavy-set man, Dimerkess could move rather quickly. Before I could react or make a statement, he was kneeling in front of me. He hugged me with an expression that caused me to feel that he was about to cry. Instead of releasing tears, he rose to release venom.

“You knew about this, didn’t you, Peralte!”

As if unconcerned, the man replied, “The whole time. I even witnessed the transaction between Mesapher and Tersepsus. I then did what we are all supposed to do, I went to see Jesus. We talked and talked, had a good time, and the decision was made to allow Mesapher time.”

“Twenty-six years!”

“I don’t remember either of us specifically mentioning twenty-six years.”

“You can be a bastard. You know that, Peralte?”

“Yes, and I will also talk about you down on my knees.”

The look from Dimerkess declared that he was very dissatisfied. He however tried to soften his countenance in turning back to me. Kneeling back down, he tried to sound friendly.

“Do you remember being Mesapher?”

“I am remembering more and more. I am Vetacha now, but I know who I was.”

He hugged me again, then said, “You don’t look old at all. Did you go through multiple changes?”

“No. Ten-year-olds have to work to prepare for their life as a woman. I thus never turned ten.” I looked to Peralte, then turned back to Dimerkess to say, “I am ten now.”

He grunted, then said, “You are an immortal, darling. You can be any age you want.”

Peralte sternly replied, “No, she can’t. Tersepsus put her through three years of learning to have her adjust to her life. She now needs to age in a normal fashion to learn about her present life. She cannot be a woman without being a girl.”

“She cannot be…” I felt that Dimerkess wanted to challenge his words, but he looked back to me and mumbled words of agreement. “We all have our talents, which means that we all have our areas of weakness. Okay, well, how do you feel, Vetacha?”

“I feel very good. I am glad to meet you again, Dimerkess.”

I actually curtsied as I said that. Instead of showing any pleasure at the action, he rose with a grunt. He then invited us all inside, although Assadra spoke otherwise.

“It is just an inn, Dimerkess. We can talk out here.”

“I plan on talking for a long time, Assadra. There is food and drink inside. Both your tiger and a couple of Peralte’s ladies have been by, so you should also have things to your liking.”

“Peralte, are you going inside?”

My owner replied, “I have just had Vetacha spend three days walking for most of the day. While it is something she does enjoy, I believe the young lady would like some time relaxing.”

I agreed, although had to ask about something else I preferred. “Does this place have a large bath tub, or at least a swimming pool?”

Dimerkess replied, “A large heated pool of fresh natural water can be found down in the sub-basement.”

“I might want to stay a while.”

Peralte commented, “No problem. It is not like we are in a rush.”

“God, no,” Dimerkess exclaimed. “Twenty-six years later, what does a few days matter?”

I found it strange just how hard he took my transformation. He said nothing about Assadra being part cat. He did not relate to her that well, but I sensed that for me it was something other than me being in a different body. He kept wanting to speak to me as the person I was, although he constantly treated me as a young lady. I hoped for some information of my past to help fill in holes in my memories, but he instead acted as if the years I had been in the convent were what we needed to speak about. I thus found myself not really liking Dimerkess, even as my memories tried to say that I once considered him as a father figure.

I sat next to Peralte quietly eating mini-sausages, special cheeses on really delicate crackers, and a number of foods that I never really got to enjoy in the convent. We did have such things occasionally. They would actually be prepared for special visitors, although the ladies in the convent always made a lot. When we were allowed to partake of what was left over, all the girls quickly finished off what was set out. Not only was I now able to have as much as I desired, but I believe the quality was much better as well. In any event, I listened to my elders speak without any desire to go anywhere except to the table to refill my plate.

Dimerkess did try to claim that I was not responsible for the collapse of my reality, although Peralte did not speak in favor of me there. I listened as he clearly let it be known that I was responsible for the demise of my Western town. I believe that there were some pauses where I was to defend myself in some fashion, but I would only smile while continuing to eat. Dimerkess finally got tired of making his case, so fixed himself a plate while asking Peralte to propose his own theory.

“I told you that I am not at fault, because I did consult with those that we are supposed to consult with.”

Dimerkess turned from the table to declare, “The world out there is not the world we grew up in, Peralte. Those are worlds of our creation. We are responsible.”

“You are responsible for yours. I am responsible for mine. Mesapher – Vetacha, was responsible for hers. Still, we have access to awesome guidance.”

“But things like that,” Dimerkess pointed at me, “goes beyond our system, His system. He made Mesapher male, male and female made he them, so what I have before me is not right.”

“Vetacha is in response to an agreement between Mesapher and Tersepsus. You have to listen to Vetacha. She has her own goals and ideals, and those are responsible for what happened to her.”

“Goals and ideas! What goal is it to change sex?”

Peralte did not match the volume of Dimerkess. “Mesapher did not want to work. He wanted to go about his little reality without any concern for that reality. What happened was that Tersepsus, in a moment of extreme honesty, admitted that his monasteries had all members active in some manner. Nine-year-old girls in the convent however were only required to attend certain lessons. Mesapher thus became a girl, and she became satisfied living as a nine-year-old girl. As much as you, or Jesus, might not like it, Vetacha found a place she liked better than her room in Heaven.”

The room grew silent. Dimerkess checked on my wine. He then finished filling him a plate, grabbed him a bottle of wine, then sat down. After eating for a period, he finally decided to have Peralte talk some more.

“Okay, so tell me, why did you go get her?”

“Because she was waking up. I cannot say what exactly, but I felt it best to move before things advanced to the point that we truly had a crisis.”

Dimerkess set down his plate before saying, “So you do at least believe that we have a problem.”

“We had it the whole time. Vetacha however was not a problem.”

“Well, mister I-spoke-to-Big-Brother, what is the problem?”

“He would not tell me. He did however say that that Vetacha could tell us, if we did not find the problem before she finally grew bored with her place. I have thus been working with you, Dimerkess, to try and discover the actual problem. We did not find it. I did not consider it the big problem that you did, as no other realities were collapsing. I then received word from Tersepsus that Vetacha was awakening to her situation, and here I am.”

Dimerkess refilled my goblet with the wine that I had chosen for myself, then asked, “Okay, darling, let me hear the second part to this joke. Go ahead and tell me that you do not know what the problem is.”

I drank some of the wine before replying, “I do know what the problem was. There was no gold in them-there hills.”