Aka Amy

"You seem a little distracted today," Siggy commented as they curled up on my lap. "Is something wrong?"

I grimaced as I gave them a few scritches, "Nothing's wrong. Not yet at least."

The little torty asked, "Did something happen during your rituals last night?"

"It's not that," I shook my head. "I'm just thinking about Tess. She might be performing a miracle at work today, and I guess I'm a little worried about her. And about how things might play out afterwards."

"That's exciting. What sort of miracle?" they asked, while nudging my hand to get me to give them more pets and scritches.

I started stroking their soft fur as I replied, "She'll be giving a young trans person an instant transition. It'll probably mean revealing magic and the supernatural to a few people, including her boss and coworkers."

The torty purred, "Nice. You don't hear much about real miracles these days. Apart from the odd weeping statue or some guy's likeness appearing on a piece of toast. That's one of the few things I really miss though, performing miracles for the faithful? Not so much the big showy appearances, but the wonder and gratitude from the mortals who receive the miracle."

"It's definitely rewarding," I smiled. "You don't have to do them in person you know? I've done most of my miracles overnight while people are asleep. The gratitude and wonder is still there, but I suppose it's stronger when they get the personal visit and see the showy magic happening."

Siggy asked, "You're not worried of running afoul of the status quo?"

That made me grimace, "I haven't had any trouble so far? I'm no expert but I feel like helping a few individuals here and there isn't a problem. I'm not looking to change the whole world, as much as I feel like some of it really needs changing. I'm not doing things out in view of the public at large either, these things always happen behind closed doors."

"Why?" I added. "Have you ever run into trouble with that?"

The small cat rolled over so I could rub their belly while they responded, "No. My heyday was a thousand years ago, I don't think the status quo was even a thing back then? The last millennia has been a long slow decline into obscurity for me, and for a lot of other small gods like us."

"You're the first I've heard of in a long time who's actually fighting back and gaining worship," they added. "That's why Ida and the others are so interested in being friends with you."

"I really didn't set out to fight anyone or anything," I pointed out as I rubbed the soft fur on their tummy. "At first I just wanted to live a normal quiet comfortable life with my girlfriend. Then Tess convinced me to start helping trans and queer people, now that's what I want to do."

Siggy was quiet for a bit after that, apart from their purring. I kept one hand on the little torty's tummy while I reached out and picked up my coffee cup with the other, and drained the last of it before it got too cold.

Eventually the cat responded, "I remember you said something like that to the others. That their goal had to be helping people. You said if all they were interested in was helping themselves then they'd fail before they even got started."

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I'm no expert on this stuff, that's just what feels right to me? I'm sure they'd have some short-term success gaining worship if they were just putting on a show or an act. But I think it'd be hollow, and the faith they gained would be tainted. And the whole thing would be liable to fall apart the moment someone saw through them."

"You're very wise for someone so young," they stated in a sage tone.

I rolled my eyes then asked, "Are you thinking about finding more worshippers again? Have you put any more thought into who your people might be?"

"Yes," Siggy replied. "But I'm not sure yet how to approach them, or how I can help them. I think I need to speak with your girlfriend about it? I think she might be able to help me."

"I'm sure Tess would be happy to..." my voice trailed off a moment, then I grimaced. "They're starting now. Anyways Siggy I'm sure she'd be happy to help you, but she might be a little busy today. It probably depends on how things go over the next few minutes."

My attention remained with Tess and Hannah as the two of them prayed to me. Then I felt the moment when my cleric triggered her strongest spell, I felt the flow of power from me through her and into the trans teen. The prayers ended a few moments later, and I didn't want to snoop so I focused on the cat once more.

As I rubbed their tummy I asked, "So you figured out who your people are? Do you want to talk about that?"

"Not yet," they purred. "Sorry Amethyst, it's not that I don't trust you but I'm not ready."

I shook my head, "That's fine Siggy, you don't have to tell me anything. I'm glad you've made some progress though."

"Thank you," they responded as they continued purring.

At that point I received another prayer from Hannah, this one was full of joy and gratitude. She was standing in front of a mirror in the washroom at Tess's clinic, she'd just seen her new reflection for the first time, and the second-hand euphoria I got from her was a huge mood boost.

I couldn't help smiling as I gave Siggy some ear scritches, "What you were saying earlier, about the wonder and gratitude after performing a miracle? It's true. It's really nice, being able to help people like this. Granting their biggest wish and seeing how happy it makes them has to be one of my favourite things."

Siggy agreed, "Like I said, that's the part I miss most. It's nice not having to worry about being forgotten and fading away, but that feeling of joy and wonder and happiness mortals radiate when you've helped them is really special."

"It sure is," I stated as I gently picked them up. Then I cuddled them against my chest as I said, "I hope you get to feel that again soon Siggy. I hope Tess can help you with whatever questions you have for her. And I'm sure I don't have to say this, but the fact that your motivation is helping folks tells me you're going to succeed."

"Thank you Amethyst," they mumbled as they relaxed against me while their purring got louder.

I just smiled to myself and tried not to think about how strange it really was that the small cat I was holding and cuddling was actually another goddess who'd been around for over a thousand years.

"Ah," I sighed a half minute later as I received another prayer. This one was from Tess, and hearing it unravelled some of the joy I'd been feeling after hearing from Hannah.

With another sigh I gently put the little torty down on the sofa next to me as I apologized, "Sorry Siggy. I have to go, my cleric is requesting my presence."

Their purring stopped and they sighed, "Good luck Amethyst, I hope you don't have to smite anyone."

"Yeah me too," I grimaced as I got to my feet. "See you later."

They curled up on the sofa and watched as I focused on my girlfriend's location. And when I teleported, I made sure it was extra-showy, with lots of swirling golden light and sparkles and stuff. It crossed my mind a moment too late that I probably should have dressed up for the occasion, rather than appearing barefoot in nothing but leggings and an oversized t-shirt.

To make up for my underwhelming appearance I let some of my divine energy out so the mortals could feel it. I figured that would be more than enough to convince them I was exactly who and what my girlfriend said.

I found myself standing in the middle of Theresa's office. My girlfriend was off to my right, with Hannah next to her. A middle-aged human woman was standing to my left, and I figured she was probably the trans teen's mother. And in front of me were Tess's boss Beverly and a coworker named Rosa.

It looked like there'd been some lively debate going on, but my arrival brought all conversation to an abrupt end. Now the mortals were all staring at me, and other than my girlfriend they were all wide-eyed with shock or awe.

"Oh my goddess," Hannah gasped. "It's really you! Thank you so much for this miracle, you don't know how much it means to me!"

I looked her up and down then gave her a friendly smile, "You're welcome Hannah Greer. And I do know what it means to you, I know how it feels to finally have a body you're comfortable with. That is why I do this, that's why I want to help people like yourself."

Then my gaze shifted to Tess as I asked, "You requested my presence Theresa, how can I help?"

She knew I was playing things up a bit and she went along with it, "I'm sorry to disturb you my goddess. As you know I just performed a miracle in your name for Hannah, but her mother and my boss were both questioning my actions and the truth of your existence."

"I see," I stated, then looked at the two older women again.

Beverly appeared to be in her late forties or early fifties, her blonde hair was in a short attractive style and she was dressed causal in white capris and a floral-patterned blouse. Hannah's mother Sonya was around the same age as Bev, she had wavy shoulder-length brown hair and wore a pair of relaxed-fit jeans and a loose beige top.

"My name is Amethyst," I stated as I looked back and forth between the mortals, "And I am a goddess."

I punctuated that last word by letting a bit more divine energy shine through. Both the older women looked a little pale, while the receptionist bowed her head down. Meanwhile both Hannah and Tess looked tense but happy. They were almost smiling, basking in my divine glow. Or something like that anyways.

After a few quiet seconds I asked, "Are there any other questions?"

Another second or two passed in silence, before Mrs. Greer spoke up. "What Miss Fuller did to my son, can that be undone?"

Hannah's eyes widened and she shook her head. She sounded almost panicked as she insisted, "Mom no! You can't take this away from me!"

"Nobody asked my permission to perform this procedure on you," her mother responded. "I'm still your mother and I need to be consulted if someone's going to do any sort of...changes to my child!"

I focused on the woman but quickly realized she wasn't acting out of hatred or malice. It was primarily ignorance that was guiding her, but she did seem to genuinely care for her child. Basically she just had no idea what it really meant to be trans, and considering Hannah only came out to her a few minutes earlier the woman hadn't had a chance to learn.

I also determined that neither she or her husband were religious. They believed in 'god' but only the nebulous pop-culture concept of a bearded white guy floating around in clouds.

So having a short busty coed show up and proclaim herself a living goddess was a pretty big stretch for Mrs. Greer to accept, and if not for my divine aura thing I had going on she probably would have outright dismissed me and Tess as crackpots.

With all that in mind I dialled up the divine energy another notch then stated, "Sonya Greer, my gift to your daughter cannot be revoked. The girl you see before you is who she's always been on the inside. That Hannah only found the courage to tell you this today does not change the fact that this is who she really is."

"Thank you!" the teen girl exclaimed, while my attention remained with her mother.

Mrs. Greer gulped, "How do we know this...procedure of yours is safe? And what about his ID? What about school in September? What about his father, and his other relatives?"

"HER records and documentation have already been corrected," I stated, with enough extra emphasis on the correct pronoun to rattle the office windows. As for the safety of magic I wasn't going to claim to be infallible or anything, but I quickly came up with a response to that. "And a divine miracle is immeasurably safer and more effective than anything human medical science has achieved, but perhaps that is a matter of faith?"

"As for Hannah's family and friends," I added, "The only cure for ignorance is education. I hope that those who claim to love her and have her best interests at heart will take the time to educate themselves. Or at the very least, listen to her when she tells you how she feels and what's best for her."

The woman was still cringing from when I boomed out the correct pronoun, but she nodded and mumbled an apology. Then she looked at her daughter and asked, "Um, Hannah? Maybe we should go now?"

The teen was once again smiling happily, basking in another wave of euphoria from her mom using her new name. She nodded, "Ok mom. Thanks again Tess. And Amethyst, thank you! For everything!"

"You are welcome," I responded.

Bev and Rosa both moved out of the way so the mother and daughter could leave, and it was obvious from her body language that Mrs. Greer was in a hurry to escape. From what I could tell she was planning on having a long talk with Hannah as soon as they got in the car, but I was confident things would turn out ok. Sonya wasn't angry and didn't hate her daughter. Mostly there was confusion and concern, with a little dose of fear from my raised voice earlier.

With the two of them gone that left Bev and Rosa along with my cleric and I. The receptionist was mostly just a silent observer. She seemed overwhelmed by the whole experience but her curiosity outweighed her fear, which is why she stuck around to watch.

Meanwhile the older woman was mostly thinking about what this event was going to mean for her clinic and her reputation. She was also starting to think about possible legal or regulatory headaches that might arise from one of her employees performing a miracle on an under-aged client.

Beverly finally addressed me, she sounded a little nervous but was trying to assert herself since this was her clinic and she was the boss here.

"Um, Miss Amethyst is it?" she asked. "Would you mind excusing us? I need to speak with my staff now, to discuss the potential fallout from this morning's excitement."

I could tell my girlfriend was anxious, she was worried about whether or not she'd still have a job in the next few minutes. I offered, "Would you have me stay with you Theresa?"

"Thank you my goddess," she replied. "But I've taken enough of your time here already."

She added with a little smile, "Anyways you're always with me, in my heart."

I actually had to fight not to smile back at her, but I knew it would spoil the act. So I kept a calm expression as I teleported back home again, with another big show of swirling gold lights.