by Erin Halfelven

3.1 Princess?

I had dreams.

In one of them, I wandered long twisting hallways in a building half made of some translucent substance that gave a coral light to the interior. In the dream, I was Damselfly, without the costume. I wore a sort of long flowing shirt or short silky gown that came only to mid-thigh, but covered me up to my chin in soft, green, glowing folds and drapes.

I didn't even feel odd about being female or dressed in something that might be a dress. In the dream, wearing this did not disturb me nor did the fact that I knew I still had my antenna.

I knew I had them because I could sense the whole of the building, or complex of buildings, around me… and all the people inside.

I could see and hear them, too. People like me.

The women dressed like me, slender or voluptuous, a few of them obviously pregnant, but each of them near a man who reminded me of the Skarab, either Kevin or Steve. Massive men with something about them that told of warrior skills, not every one as tall as my Gumpy, but each of them lean and hard-muscled for all of their bulk. And none of them wearing more than a blue loincloth.

Everyone had antennas, too, and high cheekbones, blue or green eyes, blond or black hair. All the women had wings, or at least most of them did. I knew I had wings, too. But the men had spiky, blue-black horns growing from their shoulders. And even this did not seem that odd in the dream.

It looked like a colony of cousins, of different versions of Skarab and Damselfly; all of them murmuring as I walked among them, myself and everyone else barefoot on a polished glass-like floor.

"Princess Tharryla has returned," they said in voices like the stirring of bees.

And I knew they meant me.

* * *

The dreams faded as I woke up in the bedroom I had been sharing with Kevin. The translucent walls became off-white painted plasterboard; the vaulted ceilings lowered to housing industry standard eight feet. Light filtered in from an afternoon sky through north and east-facing windows. I lay on a quilted counterpane on the same twin bed I'd slept on since the weekend.

I felt dislocated. I suppose I expected to wake up at home in Orange. My own room was narrower with only one window but with blue walls decorated with posters. Nothing at Gumpy's looked familiar, and when it started to sink in, nothing felt familiar either.

I rolled over on my back and felt my chest jiggle. I bit back a whimper. "I'm still Darla," I grumbled. I pushed hair out of my face and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. They didn't quite reach the floor of the tall country-style bed. Darryl's legs had.

"Why do I have to be so short, too?" I complained. I caught a glimpse of my face in the mirror over the dresser and saw that I was pouting like Tanya with a run in her pantyhose. But on me, it looked cute.

I tried looking madder, meaner, but even a snarl looked cute. "I'm doomed," I whimpered. Tanya had been cute, was still cute, but she had known how to use it as a weapon. I didn't want to have to learn such a skill.

What if I never changed back? What if I was just stuck like this? Forever.... I closed my eyes and tried not to think about that.

But with my eyes closed, I realized something else. I could hear everything in the house, and I knew right where things were. Kevin and Steve were in the kitchen leaning over the table, and Gumpy Steve was saying something.

"Josie was the original Damselfly," he said. "But she started out as Joe. Just like Darla was Darryl before, Joe became Josie. The government gave her new I.D., and all because we were in the counterspy business by then."

"Darla's great-great-grandma started out as a boy, too?" Kevin asked.

Steve must have nodded.

In my bedroom, I bit my lip and frowned. We'd heard this before, and Gumpy was sticking to the story.

"Maybe it just runs in the family," said Kevin. "Did she ever change back?"

"She never wanted to," said Gumpy. "She was in love with me and being Josie sure made that easier."

"Wow," said Kevin. "What if Darla doesn't want to change back because she falls in love with me?"

"As if!" I screamed, even though I wasn't in the same room. It didn't make me feel better to hear them laugh at my outburst.

"She can hear us," I heard Gumpy say. "When you have the ring on, even invisible, you can hear anything anyone says for quite a ways around you."

"Right through walls and stuff?" asked Kevin.

"Yup," said Steve.

"Cool." Kevin sounded like himself, not quite exactly, but I couldn't figure out what might be the difference.

"You awake enough now to go for a ride?" Gumpy called out.

"I suppose," I muttered, assuming they could hear me as well as I heard them. I looked around for the soft shoes I had worn earlier and found them under the edge of the bed. They were a lot the worse for the wear I had put them through running down to the orchard, but it was either them or the high heel boots I could see sitting beside the closet door. I put the ragged slippers on then took a moment to look at myself in the mirror again.

I needed a brush or a comb, but I settled for raking my fingers through my mop. "Girls always look in the mirror before they leave their bedroom," I muttered, not caring if the guys heard me. I made a face and left the room, going down the hallway.

I had to make a stop in the bathroom and the less said about that, the better. Especially when it occurred to me that the guys could hear everything I did in there. I got out as quickly as I could.

"I wanna show you kids what the car can do," Uncle Steve said as I joined them in the kitchen.

"Look who woke up grumpy," said Kevin grinning at me. He was out of his uniform, too, back to being dressed like a high school kid on spring vacation in jeans, t-shirt and sneaks. I liked him better as Karen in the Maidenfly costume, I decided.

"Look who woke up Dopey," I said. "Why did I never notice before what an annoying jerk you can be?" I looked away but had to look back again, something about him did seem different. I couldn't figure out what it might be and staring at him didn't seem rewarding so I looked away.

I could still see him though; he grinned wider, and Steve just snorted. Them being in such a good humor annoyed me even more. I sort of flounced over to a chair and sat down. They watched without saying anything. Why? "Am I so fascinating?" I asked.

"Fishing for compliments, Darla?" Kevin asked.

I didn't tell him not to call me that, he'd accepted being called Karen without complaining; I could do as much. I just looked at him, trying for one of Tanya's withering glances. I must have missed because he just grinned. "I don't need any compliments from you," I said.

"Ouch?" he said, still grinning.

I turned to look at Steve."Why did I pass out? Did doofus here flake out too?" I asked, pointing a thumb at Kevin to indicate which doofus I meant.

Steve shook his head. "You put out a lot of energy; after switching back, you needed a nap," he said. "Kevin had some left over after the switch, so he just took it easy for a bit."

My mouth fell open. It just kept getting worse. "Being a girl sucks," I said.

They didn't deny it.

"You say the Skarab needs his Damselfly, but what the heck good am I if a few minutes of fighting tires me out?" I demanded.

"Damselfly has other powers," said Steve.

"Yeah? Like what? Can I fly or am I just a damsel?"

Steve nodded slowly. "You'll be able to fly, not right at first…. You have to learn how to handle yourself, but later, when you use the ring, you'll have wings."

"Wings? Not just fly like Celebrant? Actual wings?"

"Like Mandragonne," suggested Kevin.

I pictured the big leathery bat-type wings of the leader of the Protectors in his dragon form and shook my head. Suddenly, I remembered having wings in the dream I'd had.

"No, more like insect wings," said Steve. "They're really force fields but they look like wings. You both have force fields when you learn how to use them."

That fit with what I remembered, glittery, almost insubstantial wings like some insects had. Like dragonfly wings but more up and back instead of to the side.

"Cool," said Kevin. "Can I fly, too?" I wondered, too. In my dream, the skarabs had horns on their backs instead of wings. Did the dream mean anything or was it just my brain playing with ideas?

Steve sighed. "There are lots of things you can do, both of you. But it takes time to master your powers."

"Is that a yes? I can fly?" Kevin demanded.

"It's not that simple. I don't want you wasting all your training time trying to learn to fly," said Steve. "It's going to be a lot more important for you to learn to be bulletproof, for instance."

"Whoa!"

"Wait, wait!" I interrupted. "People are going to be shooting at us?"

Steve frowned. "It happens. But don't worry, both of you are smart and strong-willed, I don't think you'll have much trouble learning to deal with things like small arms fire."

"What about large arms?" I asked.

Kevin laughed and flexed his biceps, not so large right at the moment since he wasn't ringed up as Skarb, Jr. He made a goofy face when I glanced at him, and a laugh came out of me, too. Surprised, I tried to frown at him but he crossed his eyes and made me laugh again.

Despite everything, I felt better, I realized. The training time had done worlds of good for my self-confidence, and I really had needed a nap. And that dream….

Had that been a vision sent by the Insect Lords? If it had, what was it supposed to mean?

And…. Princess?