Swarming Sovereignty

Owen yawned, stretching his arms out as he awoke. Blearily, he stood up, then blinked in shock as he found himself surrounded by six identical beautiful girls, around twenty to twenty five years old. They were wolf beastkin by the looks of it, with blood-red hair and fur, wearing tight-fitting scout’s gear that showed off their ample proportions, and he had to force himself to tear his eyes away as their tails began to wag, internally scolding himself.

Why are you ogling random women? He chided. You have Mary, and these girls are half your age. This isn’t like you, snap out of it!

He shook his head to clear it, abruptly stopping when he noticed that the girls were mimicking his actions exactly. A frown crossed his face, one that was mirrored in real-time on the faces of the girls. Hesitantly, he stepped closer to the girls, and they stepped closer to him. “Hello?” He asked, their voices in perfect harmony with his own. “Who are you?”

Something was off about his voice, but with those girls copying him so perfectly, he couldn’t tell what. They…they had to be reading his mind, right? He cast his eyes about the room, thinking back on his situation. He…he had been on that expedition to the Spine, and they had entered the dungeon, and…and he was captured by Lia, and it looked like he was in one of the dorm rooms, though it was odd that…

Owen jumped when he realized it. He was seeing from three perspectives. And, as he cast his eyes about the room, he realized that those girls, not six as he had initially thought, but three, were standing exactly where his perspectives were originating from.

Those girls…those girls were him. Her? Owen frowned as foreign thoughts began entering his mind. Just because he was in the body of a woman didn’t mean that she – no, he had to calm down and remember his training. When the mind was under siege and he still had some remnant of his sanity, he needed to work on squirreling away part of his mind, out of the influence of the effect.

But…did she have to? Her instincts were telling her that she was a woman now, and it would be easier if she accepted that fact. It wasn’t like she wanted to return to her old body, having three had so many applications for scouting, and she could already tell that her senses of smell and hearing were far better than they had been.

No. Owen told himself forcefully. This isn’t me.

Isn’t it? His instincts, reproduced in triplicate, seemed to say. You can accept your new self and still serve your country.

Yes, her instincts were right. Whether or not they were attempting to brainwash her, there wasn’t a flaw in the logic they had presented; regardless of how her body had changed, she was still herself, willing and able to serve her Mistress to the best of her capabilities. Owen – she’d have to think of a new name later – frowned at that last thought. The king she served was Brom, but…she felt no particular allegiance to him anymore. She curled all six of her hands into fists, wincing slightly as the sharp nails drew blood, but she didn’t stop; the pain would hopefully help her clear her mind. These thoughts weren’t right, she needed to hide her mind, what was left of it anyway, store it in a space these thoughts couldn’t reach.

But her new instincts were just too overpowering. There were three sets of instincts, one for each of her new bodies and brains, while there was only one of her consciousness. Why bother fighting? Her instincts demanded. You know you can’t win. And who can blame you? This is a Hero’s work, no doubt about it, is it a surprise that you can’t resist?

But…the world is in danger. She feebly protested. I can’t afford to stop here, not when so much is on the line.

It’s fine. Her instincts soothed. Mistress said she was going to deal with the Lord of Monsters, remember? Even if she doesn’t, the dead man’s switch was already triggered, so the Glens know. It’s okay to let yourself enjoy your new life, you owe it to yourself.

Her instincts were right; she was just delaying the inevitable. Why bother with a few more moments of futile struggle, when it would just delay her happiness? A smile slid across her face as she stopped her attempts to hide, fully embracing and even relishing in her new instincts. Yes, she was so much more now, and not even just three times more. Each of her new bodies felt significantly more powerful than her old one, and she had three of them now. Even if her bodies had each only been half as strong as she used to be, having multiple made them more than the sum of their parts. Coordination was everything, and three perfectly-coordinated people were a match for a larger, less coordinated force.

Yes, she would prove a powerful asset to her Mistress, and she couldn’t wait to show off her new, attractive body. She paused again at that, frowning at the thought. Yes, she was incredibly attractive, there was no denying that, but it was strange that she was even thinking in terms of attractiveness when she hadn’t thought anything of the sort for over a decade.

Then again, she was young again, and her libido seemed to have reset itself to how it had been in those days, multiplied by three. In fact, all her physiological responses were tripled, hunger, thirst, tiredness…though she wasn’t particularly tired at the moment, having just woken up. But it wasn’t exactly a straightforward tripling? It was hard to to tell unless she was specifically looking for it, but with care she could subdivide her feelings and figure out which body they were coming from. So…she’d have to stagger her bodies out so they weren’t on the same schedule, and then things wouldn’t be so overwhelming.

But…she thought back to her wife again. How would Mary react to Owen…no, she could think about her family later. That masculine name did not fit her, not when she was such a cute set of girls. It took her a few minutes of thinking, but she eventually settled on Ophelia, though she was willing to change it if her Mistress wished.

Back on subject, Ophelia couldn’t help but wonder what her wife and children would think of her new self. She so desperately wanted to give them the same peace and joy that her transformation was already giving her, but…they probably wouldn’t accept. Owen hadn’t accepted beforehand, and he had raised his kids in such a way that they likely wouldn’t either, even if Ophelia talked to them herself.

That was fine. She’d just have to convert them first; they’d love it once they tried it, and she was sure she and Mary could get up to some interesting things with these new bodies Ophelia had been given. But…wasn’t there something…

Right! Her Mistress, just before converting Ophelia, had told her that she would take care of Ophelia’s family. So, she just needed to find her Mistress, and work something out, and they would be so, so happy! Ophelia’s tails wagged at the thought; not only did she get to live a new, happier life with her family, but she’d be growing her Mistress’s forces at the same time! It was a win-win!

And then Ophelia sagged, remembering the situation. She…she had briefly thought about it before, but she had that recording orb on her, and when her magical signature changed, as it surely must have, it would have sent everything back to Brom. And Brom, cautious leader that he was, would likely implement measures to “protect” Ophelia’s family. It was a silly move, but Brom didn’t know any better. And…besides, it was just like life to do this to her – give her a great gift and then immediately hit her with an equally large complication.

Now that she was thinking about it, where was that recording orb? A quick check revealed that most of her gear had remained on her, even if it had been resized and duplicated to fit her new bodies, but the orb was conspicuously missing. Still, her gear had been high quality stuff, and finding that it had been duplicated for each of her bodies was a delight.

Well, if the orb was gone, it was gone. She’d just have to tell Mistress about the orb, and make their plans from there. She just, uh, had to find her first. But…that didn’t seem like it would be a problem; the moment she thought about finding her Mistress, she could feel a pull in her gut, telling her the exact direction and even a measure of how far away she was. That…was new, right? She should probably check her status before continuing, to be able to better inform her Mistress of her new capabilities, if nothing else.

Name: Ophelia Sylvain

Race: Triplicate Tracker (Bound)

Level: 1/125, 0/750 EXP

HP: 3,500/3,500 (21,000/21,000)

Stamina: 3,000/3,000 (18,000/18,000)

Mana: 1,500/1,500 (9,000/9,000)

Strength: 750 (4,500)

Defense: 500 (3,000)

Dexterity: 900 (5,500)

Magic: 200 (1,200)

Magic Defense: 300 (1,800)

Mental Fortitude: 900 (5,500)

Title: Bound

Your race has been deemed too powerful for the current swarm, and as such your true power has been bound until the swarm is deemed worthy, or until a member of the swarm reaches your power level naturally. This Special Title cannot be removed or set as inactive.

Titles:
List truncated. Open ‘Titles” for more.

Skills:
List truncated. Open “Skills” for more.

Ophelia’s jaws dropped and her tails began to wag as she marveled at the sheer power of her stats. Or, at least, the unbound versions of her stats. The loss of the ability to equip Titles was a bit of a bummer, but it was a temporary thing, and absolutely worth the tradeoff. Still, that didn’t tell her anything about her new race, could she…

Triplicate Tracker:

The Triplicate Tracker is a Disaster race born from the union of a highly experienced scout, a three-headed monster, and an impressively powerful tracking artifact. This race provides three bodies to the recipient, as well as a myriad of tracking abilities. Each individual body has separate HP, Stamina, and Mana and gain full benefit from the creature’s stats, and if killed returns to life after a week has passed, provided at least one body is alive. If any of the bodies are killed, all other bodies have their stats reduced by a third until the body is returned to life. There is no limit to the distance that may be between bodies, including interdimensional travel.
The Triplicate Tracker has fantastic Dexterity and Mental Fortitude, great Strength, HP, and Stamina, good Magic Defense, passable Mana, and bad Magic.

That was where the orb had gone, it was…inside her. Was her? That pull she felt functioned exactly like the orb had…could she record and transmit video as well? She flicked through her Skill list, noting with some satisfaction that the extensive list contained all of her important Skills from her old life, in addition to another set from her old life, and yet another new set from the orb, which replicated its functions perfectly.

Wait. That second set was…from a second old life? She frowned, tugging at that mental thread, and found she had an entirely separate set of memories, from a giant three-headed dog monster known as a cerberus. The memories were hazy, and it was clear that the cerberus hadn’t been sapient, but even so she was able to extract some information from them.

A scary bat-thing (a vampire?) had pressed the cerberus into his service, and then there was a big fight, and then…she was here. And, surprisingly, she didn’t really…connect with those new memories, they weren’t hers in the same way her memories of being Owen were. It was more like…like she had watched them as a video, or read them from a picture book.

Still, she could feel the cerberus’s effects on her consciousness; the desire to call her Mistress “Mistress” instead of Queen, the longing for praise and physical contact, and even the odd, if pleasant, bubbly feelings she felt were likely from the monster. Or, no, if she was being honest with herself, she had always enjoyed praise, and the cerberus had only intensified that.

She should have been appalled at how much her mind had changed, but that was just the remaining bits of Owen talking. There was nothing wrong with being more touchy-feely and bubblier, and it didn’t matter whether Mistress was Mistress or Queen, they were both titles of subservience. Besides, Mary had always liked dogs, so getting three of them was sure to delight her.

Ophelia bounded off down the corridors, following the directions her Skill was giving her before eventually ending up outside her Mistress’s door. But…judging by the sounds and smells coming from within, her Mistress didn’t want to be disturbed, so Ophelia let her bodies collapse into a big cuddle-pile on the floor, getting as comfortable as she could while she waited.

Regretfully, Lia and Rose’s private time ended. As much as Lia would have liked to stay with Rose like that forever, they had business to attend to. So, after Rose and Lia had taken a second shower, separately, Lia got herself dressed and opened the door to her room.

She was immediately assaulted by three exuberant dog girls, who caught her up in a big hug. “Mistress!” They said happily. “I’m so happy to see you!”

“Professor Sylvain?” Lia ventured. She had been expecting her teacher to change somewhat from the conversion, but she hadn’t expected it to be this drastic.

“Yup!” The girls said. “But I’m going by Ophelia now. Um, unless you want to name me something else, which is fine, too!”

“Ophelia is good.” Lia said, feeling slightly weirded out as one of Ophelia’s bodies actually pressed its head into her hand, demanding pats.

“H-how are you feeling? Is the whole three bodies thing weird?”

One of Ophelia’s other bodies thrust its head into Lia’s other hand, while the third disengaged from the hug entirely, putting a thoughtful finger on her chin as she spoke with Lia. “The three bodies thing took a little getting used to,” she said, from only the standing body, “but I think it’s going to be really useful! I just have to be careful spacing out my bodies’ needs so I don’t get super tired all at once or super hungry all at once. And as for how I feel, I feel great!”

“You seem…different.” Lia said tentatively. “Are you sure you’re still…you?”

“Yup!” Ophelia said happily. “I’m still riding the high from the conversion, though. Give it some time to settle and I’m pretty sure that trademark Owen pessimism will be back, just…not as bad. I already felt a little of it earlier, so I know it’s still there. Other than that, I’m more…doglike, a bit bubblier and a lot touchier, but still the same underneath it! I’m just not holding back anymore, why should I?”

Lia couldn’t help but feel strange as Ophelia systematically broke down Owen’s image. He had always been aloof, slightly on edge, and pretty unwilling to speak about anything that wasn’t directly related to teaching. And…here Ophelia was, acting basically the exact opposite.

“You only saw me at work.” Ophelia said, apparently reading Lia’s expression. “I was more relaxed around my family, and you’re family now, Mistress! I mean, everyone in the swarm is, but especially you!”

“Oh, right, your family.” Lia said. “We need to work out how to get them. Amelia helped me get mine, but she’s…not as strong as she used to be, she’s still regaining her power after her conversion.”

All of Ophelia’s ears and tails drooped. “Um, about that.” She said. “The orb we were using to track you…if my magical signature disappears, it sends the last hour of events back to the Glens. They know everything, and Brom has probably sent people to “protect” my family. They also know where the cave entrance is and…I’m really sorry, if I had known things were like this, I would have left it somewhere far away so they couldn’t see.”

“What’s this I’m hearing?” Rose said, coming out of one of the bathrooms. “The Glens know?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Ophelia said dejectedly. “I’ll make it up to you however I can.”

Lia smiled, patting the heads that were still underneath her hands. “I can’t blame you for anything you did before you were converted, you were different then. You’re…um,” she hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should be saying this, but Ophelia’s expectant expression spurred her on, “a good girl?”

Ophelia beamed. “Thank you, Mistress!” She said. “We can…we can wait on my family, if we need to. Brom won’t hurt them, and he won’t use them as hostages, either. I just…don’t want them to be sad for longer than they have to be.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Lia said firmly. “Amelia may not be nearly as strong as she used to be, but there’s a chance we can still make something happen, it’ll just be more work.”

“If anything, they might actually gather them in one place for us.” Rose mused. “From there, it’s just a matter of stealth.”

Ophelia gave Lia a relieved smile, then started. “Oh! What happened to the rest of the team?”

“They should be finished converting downstairs. Want to go meet up with them together?” Lia offered.

“Yes, please.” Ophelia replied. “I want to see how they turned out, too!”

“Let’s go, then.”

Fighterman481 This was an interesting chapter to write, that's for sure. I wanted to depict Owen's descent into becoming Ophelia, and this is what we ended with. I like how it turned out a lot, the subtle(?) creepiness of Owen sort of...losing himself juxtaposed with a much more positive outlook, but I decided to walk it back a little at the end, as you can tell by the whole "this is a temporary high" thing. Still, Ophelia is going to be super embarrassed about this when she looks back on it, so that'll be fun.

I'm torn on whether "saving" Ophelia's family will take a frontal role now, or come up later. On the one hand, I don't want it to feel like they can just go in to society whenever they please, but on the other, an actual "heist" (as opposed to the more or less "routine" extraction of Lia's family) sounds fun, and I have to have the two sides make contact at some point. Or...actually, I just had a neat idea, but I won't spoil it for now.

Anyway, next time we're going to...probably gloss over the rest of the expedition team tbh, but we'll truly discuss the aftermath of recent events, so look forward to it!

And, as always, thanks for reading!