"Did you used to be called Daphne?" I whispered as I stared in wonder at the tall beautiful brunette.

She stared back for a second or two with an incredulous look on her face. Then she leaned forward and planted an angry smack on my upper arm as she hissed into my ear, "Of course it's me you dope!"

"How could you not recognize me?!" she added in a quiet grumpy tone. "You mean to say this whole time we've been talking, you didn't know who I was? We've only been apart for two years! And I'm not the one who angered a god and got herself transformed into a little bunny nymph!"

Before I could respond her tone suddenly shifted again, from grumpy to worried.

"Oh no," she gulped nervously. "Don't tell me the curse scrambled that pretty little head of yours, did it? Is that how you know my old name, but don't remember my face?"

By that point my ears were folded back and my mind was racing, while I gently rubbed my arm where she'd hit it. Even though it was just a little smack it turned out Daphne was stronger than she looked, and I was positive I'd have a bruise there soon enough. Except that was honestly the least of my worries just then.

I didn't know how to answer her questions without telling her I wasn't her best friend, that I was just sharing her body. I was also wondering why Melite hadn't spoken up yet. I knew she said she got anxious around other people, but I was sure she'd have said something or had some sort of reaction when the best friend she thought was lost forever turned up in front of us at the temple.

With all that going through my head I ended up not saying anything at all, and after another couple seconds Daphne reached out and pulled me into a very tight hug.

As she held me pressed close against her she whispered, "Oh my goddess Melite, I've missed you so much! I lost count of how many times I thought about slipping away from the temple and returning to Methymna, if only to see your face once more."

"Except we mustn't use our old names," she added with a soft sigh. "I am known as Elpis here, as you are now called Chloe. It doesn't matter though, whatever names we use I'm so happy to see you again!"

She paused there to lean closer, then planted a very passionate kiss on my lips.

I was already a little overwhelmed by the hug, but the thought that my very first kiss was actually meant for someone else left me feeling even more confused and overloaded.

Meanwhile Daphne was already talking again, "Now Lady Artemis herself has accepted you as another of her disciples! Surely that was no coincidence. Our goddess must have guided the two of us back together, it's through her will that you and I have been reunited. We shall have to make certain to thank her. Just think Melite, now we can live out our silly childhood fantasies for real! You and I, living together in service of our goddess? It's like a dream come true, like all our prayers have been answered."

At long last the beautiful brunette went quiet again. The two of us ended up just standing there next to the animal pens, holding each other in silence. It must have been a good half minute or so before she finally let go of me.

"Melite?" she asked nervously as she took a step back. With another worried look on her face she asked, "Or Chloe, I mean. Please say something? Please tell me you remember me? Lord Apollo didn't really scramble your mind, did he?"

I was still feeling very overwhelmed, my heart was racing from the hug and kiss while I struggled to try and figure out what to tell her. Although it was feeling more and more likely that I was going to have to tell her the truth. There was literally no way I could fool her into thinking I was really her best friend.

As I searched for the right words I noticed I was having some trouble seeing clearly, and ended up blinking a few times. I didn't actually realize I was crying until I felt the tears start rolling down my cheeks. Then my body moved on its own, and that's when I finally discovered I wasn't in control anymore.

We practically leaped into the taller girl's arms, and held ourself pressed against her in another tight hug. As we did so Melite sobbed, "Oh gods Daphne I missed you so much! I thought I'd never see you again, I thought you'd been dragged away by those Achaemenid pigs to serve their bastard king! However did you escape?! How did you come to be here of all places, less than a half day away from me? And how dare you not tell me you were safe! I've mourned your loss every day since you vanished!"

"My parents got me out," Daphne replied as she wrapped her arms around us again. "Mother shaved my hair and dressed me in servants clothing as a disguise, then father bribed some guards to let us leave Methymna. They brought me here so the three of us could pray. Then they left me here, in hopes that the Achaemenids would never find me."

After a sigh she continued sadly, "Father warned me not to leave this place until he himself told me it was safe. And both mother and father promised they'd visit again soon, that they'd find frequent reasons to return to the temple for prayer. Except they never came back..."

"I'm so sorry," we whispered as we hugged the beautiful brunette even tighter. "Your parents..."

She responded with a gentle squeeze as she whispered, "I know Melite. Merchants often visit the temple, and they bring news along with their wares."

After another second or two Daphne gently set us down again then sighed, "Much as I hate to say it, we really need to get back to work. Otherwise we'll be up half the night getting the chores done."

"And truth be told," she added in a coy teasing tone, "I'd rather get the chores out of the way now, then spend half the night getting reacquainted with you, my love."

That got our cheeks heating up again, and we tried to take a step backwards. Melite wasn't used to navigating our bunnygirl body though, and she'd already forgotten about our oversized dress. So rather than the demure retreat she intended our feet got entangled in the fabric and we ended up stumbling, then falling heavily on our behind instead.

Daphne had to lean against the fencing around the animal pen as she tried to control her laughter, while Melite and I just blushed and pouted as we struggled to our feet.

"Ok cutie," the beautiful brunette chuckled. "We definitely need to do something about your wardrobe first. Then chores."

"I'm not prancing about naked," Melite insisted with an indignant stomp of her little foot. "If that means butchering this dress to stay clothed then so be it!"

The taller girl suppressed another round of laughs as she pulled us up off the ground, "Nah we don't need to resort to anything so drastic. Now c'mon, we'd best stop playing around before someone tells Attis."

It turned out that the temple actually had some extra clothing available. None of it was particularly nice, and all of it was used. Stuff other people had donated, sort of like giving old clothes to Goodwill back home. It didn't take long for Melite and Daphne to find something that ought to fit us, although it felt a lot like stealing clothes from a lost-and-found bin.

After a bit of convincing Daphne managed to talk us into leaving our oversized sandals behind in trade for the small dress we'd selected. We actually offered the sandals to her first, but it turned out they were too small for the tall brunette. So they were left in the basket for someone else, while Melite tried on our new garment.

The faded yellow dress barely came down to our knees, and it was more or less sleeveless. It was maybe a little tight across the chest, but otherwise it fit just fine. So we wouldn't have to worry about tripping ever time we took a step, and that was the main thing.

Rather than leave her big fancy dress in the donation basket Melite opted to hang on to it for now. According to her friend she could probably sell the finely-made garment to one of the merchants who regularly stopped at the temple. The fabric it was made of was valuable enough we could either get some silver for it, or perhaps trade it for something useful. Like smaller sandals, or whatever else we ended up needing.

We still had that little coin purse too, it was carefully transferred from the old dress to our new one, tucked away out of sight inside the bodice. And having at long last dealt with our clothing situation, we finally got to work doing the first of many unpleasant tasks waiting for us in our new life.

At some point that afternoon I came to understand what Melite meant when she said things seemed almost dream-like for her while I was in charge of our body. I experienced the same thing now that she was in control, although it came on gradually at first.

It started when I found myself growing bored of watching her learn to muck out the sheep pen and listening to her complaining about the mud squishing under her feet and between her toes. My mind began to wander and I started to think about something she'd said earlier, when I asked if she minded that I'd sort of taken over her life.

Melite claimed at the time that her life didn't feel like it was worth anything to her. She said she had nothing left to live for, since Daphne had been taken away. Except now she and her soul-mate had been reunited, and that meant my invisible friend suddenly valued her life again, and had everything to live for. I was positive that's why she'd taken over, why she was happily doing all the unpleasant things we'd originally thought I'd have to do.

Somehow the rest of the day flashed by without my noticing, and the next thing I knew it was dark and we were back in one of those little sleeping alcoves. Not our empty one though, this one had some simple decorations and obviously belonged to Daphne.

The sudden shift left me a little disoriented, like waking from a long unexpected nap. There were some half-remembered dreams of us and Daphne getting undressed at one point so we could bathe together in a nearby stream. We were both fully clothed now though, and cuddling in the small private space as we shared our evening meal of wine, bread, cheese, and honey. It was almost romantic in a way, with the only light coming from a small sputtering oil lamp on the floor by the doorway.

"There's something you must know about me," we'd just told the beautiful brunette. "Something else happened after I fled Methymna, something strange and unusual. I don't believe it was Apollo's doing though, it was before he placed his curse."

Daphne asked softly, "What is it? Please tell me it's nothing tragic."

Melite replied, "It's not. If anything I think it may have been a blessing? Perhaps from the fates, or maybe Lady Artemis herself. Although it may not seem such at first, so please don't be upset."

"The fact is that I am not alone," my no-longer-invisible friend began. "Nor am I the Chloe you met earlier today. That was another girl, from another land far away from here. Somehow she came to be sharing my body, my mind. And it's only through her bravery and strength that I made it here."

Finally she addressed me directly, "Chloe are you there? I want you to know how grateful I am for your company. And I'm positive what I said before is true, you know? I believe you were sent here so you and I could help each other. I hope I was able to help you understand yourself a little better? And you have certainly helped me. You reunited me with Daphne, and for that I am eternally in your debt."

By that point the brunette we were cuddling with looked confused and curious. Her expression shifted to shock though when I actually responded, because it turned out I was able to access our body again at that point.

"You're stronger than you think Melite," I told her. "You're the one who knew about this place, and you're the one who guided me here. You're right about us helping each other though. I think we make a pretty good team."

Daphne shifted slightly so she could get a better look at me. She seemed wary as she asked, "What are you saying? If this is some kind of joke cutie, it isn't very funny."

I grimaced then gave her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry. It's not a joke though. This is why I didn't recognize you when we first met this afternoon, when Attis introduced us? That was me, Chloe, not Melite. And she wasn't around to tell me who you were. So I was just going along with stuff, trying to get to know you better until I finally figured it out."

By that point the tall brunette had shifted to the opposite end of the little alcove. She was frowning as she continued to watch me, then slowly shook her head. "This is unbelievable. Your tone of voice, your mannerisms, they're different. You're acting more like you did this afternoon."

"Yeah," I nodded slowly. "That's because I'm the Chloe you first met. Like both Melite and I just said."

Then I asked, "Melite? Maybe you should take over again? I think she'll be more comfortable with you here."

I wasn't actually sure how that worked, and maybe she didn't know either. It might have been intuition, or maybe it was just my desire to retreat combined with Melite's desire to be present. Either way the shift seemed to happen effortlessly, and just like that I was back to being an observer once again.

"I'm sorry Daphne," Melite apologized. "What Chloe said was the truth though, as was what I told you earlier. I know you're probably scared or confused, but I promise you Chloe is a friend. She and I are something like partners now? And both of us are your apprentice. Artemis accepted her pledge as well as my own. We are both her newest disciples. And her newest nymphs, too."

It still took another half hour or so for the other girl to get over her shock and suspicion. And I had a feeling it would take even longer for her to actually understand or accept our situation. For now though, she and Melite were both still overjoyed at having found each other again. And they were excited about the prospect of being able to spend all their time together from now on.

The two of them continued to talk quietly long into the night, even after the little oil lamp sputtered out and plunged us into complete darkness. The pair talked of the past and the future, of worshiping Artemis and of our other duties here at the temple.

By the time we all finally drifted off we'd agreed to try and work together as a team, that Daphne would do her best to accept that Melite and I were sharing this bunnygirl body. We also agreed that to the outside world and in front of other people we would be Elpis and Chloe, a normal temple maiden and a bunnygirl temple nymph.

Speaking with each other in private though, or in prayer with Lady Artemis of course, we would remain Daphne, Melite, and Chloe.

PurpleCatGirl

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