Finally awakening after all her rest, Chloe felt wonderful, filled with a delicious animal strength, more energized than she could ever recall feeling.
After getting up to bathe herself, Chloe felt so good, as the warm water caressed her. It was only then that she'd really noticed the increasing indigo quality of her skin. She leisurely soaked in the tub, a nice bubbly bath, covered her blue flesh with globs of white bubbles, and then gently wiped them off with a soft washrag. She wondered what she would have looked like, all those years without the enchantress' illusion. At any rate, her flesh did not seem alien now, as she lovingly soaped and unsoaped it.
The trumpet sounds of the farspeaker were kind this time. She'd gotten completely dry before it tooted. ''I've been only trying for three weeks to get a hold of you! Who is the strange man that's been answering everytime I call?'' Mother at last got through to an alert and awake Chloe.
''That would be my boyfriend . . ,'' Chloe replied, with a hint of a smile in her voice. ''So you gonna tell me about him?'' her mother asked with great curiousity.
''Yes, Momma! He's an enchanter . . .'' Before Chloe could say anything more, Momma interrupted ''An enchanter! You know what I've always told you abour bards and enchanters. You can't trust 'em . . ,''
''But Momma, you can't judge them all by a couple bad ones you've met. Kaaldar's a good man . . ,'' Chloe insisted with some force.
''You gonna let me meet him anytime soon?'' a really curious Momma demanded to know.
''We'd love to, but we've been really busy . . ,'' Chloe said, hoping to postpone a possibly nasty confrontation. ''Well, get UNbusy. It's been ages since you've been home . . ,'' her Mother said, with some force of her own.
''Can't you come to Freeport? We could do lunch at one of the Inns in the Commonlands . . ,'' Chloe implored.
''I'm not travelling. You know I'm not keen on boats, and I don't trust the moon transporters . . ,'' Momma said resolutely.
''Make a friend of a wizard or druid,'' Chloe said, just as resolutely, but with little success. ''YOU make a friend of a wizard or druid, I'M not travelling. You bring that enchanter boy HERE!''
There was no getting Momma to change her mind. This could prove more difficult than they'd imagined. Kaaldar could always put on an illusion to slip by, but as Chloe had chosen the life of a Magician, such illusions were not possible for her. Those guards at the Felwithe entrance would not find her blue self so ravishing. Felwithe was now off-limits. What could they do? They'd have to think of something. Perhaps Lilah, her new grandmother, and HIGH Enchanter of all Neriak would have some helpful clues for them. Chloe would ask at her next appointment.
Still, that appointment was a couple of days away. She needed something to occupy her mind NOW. Visiting her new trainers seemed a good idea. One of them, a Jayna D'Bious, greeted her warmly. Really, they all seemed eager to work with her. To her not entire displeasure, nearly everyone knew of her story, and the long path she'd taken to 'come home'. Chloe was grateful for the warm reception.
Not only that, the city itself was becoming less of a confusing puzzle. At first, the underground cave qualities of it seemed vaguely disturbing, but now it only felt comforting, as if it were a safe womb. Now that she could explore it on her own, without invisibility, and visit the shopkeepers, the city overall seemed a much more friendly place. It even seemed less dark, well, it WAS less dark, now that her eyesight had improved considerably. The colorful neon designs which were on walls, and in some places floated seemly in mid air seemed to add just enough cheer. It seemed peaceful, the way a full moon night does.
The day of her final appointment came at last, and Chloe found herself eager to get it over with. She and Kaaldar arrived early, to a place that seemed much less tension filled. Success had that effect on a person. The routine began as it did the last time. The cleric chanted her soothing drones, while the necro inserted the needle, bearing the attached vial, into a vein near her inner elbow. The prick was followed by not much sensation at all, compared to that of before. It was only a pleasant humming, as the substance spread throughout her body to finish its work. So undisturbing it all was, Chloe fell asleep midway during the process.
Later, she was awakened by another needle prick to her vein. ''The is the final blood test, which should reveal all changes have been made,'' Necro-man said, smiling while he pierced her.
''Am I now legal to marry Kaaldar?''
''We will test the blood sample, and once verification has been made, yes, you will be legal,'' Necro-man said, this time smiling very broadly.
''Can you test it now?'' Chloe said, hoping to speed up the process. ''Yes,'' Necro-man replied and padded off to another room with his sample. His smile wasn't so creepy now, even though he'd lost none of that lustful ambiance. After fifteen minutes he returned, grinning more widely than she'd ever seen him, and pronounced with a breathy excitement, ''Yes, indeed we have verification!''
Chloe ran to Kaaldar and they embraced, exuberantly flinging their arms around each other.