It turned out that life at the temple moved at a very different pace from anything I'd experienced in the modern world. So after all the excitement and surprises of my first day and a half in the ancient world, things very quickly became a whole lot quieter.

There was always lots of work to be done, and that work was usually hard, messy, unpleasant, or a combination of all three. But I didn't have to do it alone. To make things fair Melite and I usually alternated days, so one day she'd be out in the body while I'd be watching or resting, then the following day we'd swap and I'd take over. And either way we always had Daphne with us, either working alongside us or acting as our mentor and telling us what to do.

The beautiful brunette was still kind of wary about me at first, but gradually the two of us became friends. She remained a whole lot closer to Melite than me, which was understandable. And now that they were basically a couple young adults suddenly living and sleeping together, it wasn't long before the two of them graduated from best friends to lovers. I did my best to give them their privacy when they were together, but that still led to a few awkward moments now and then.

There were also several more people at the temple for Melite and I to meet, and over the course of our first week there we were eventually introduced to all of them.

There was Attis of course, who was kind of the main boss of the whole place. As high priest he was in charge of both the temple and the farm and the surrounding lands. But mostly he focused on the temple and doing whatever holy stuff high priests needed to do.

Next came the temple maidens, which there were five in total now including Lais and Daphne and us. Eirene was another attractive young woman in her early twenties. She didn't like to talk about her past, the most we learned was she'd originally come from Mytilene. The only other thing I knew about her was she'd pledged herself to serve Lord Apollo.

Then there was Pallas, a young girl who'd named herself after Lady Athena. Pallas was about ten years old now, but she joined the temple when she was only about seven, after her parents died towards the end of the revolt. And needless to say, she wanted to devote her life to Lady Athena.

Out on the farm things seemed to be mostly run by an older man named Hektor. He was probably in his mid to late forties, and looking at the guy you could tell he'd had a rough life. He kept his greying hair and beard trimmed short, and had lots of old faded scars that made me think he might be some kind of retired soldier. He seemed to know a lot about farming though. And despite his appearance he was actually incredibly kind and soft-spoken.

Koios was another farm worker, or at least he was supposed to be. He seemed kind of lazy and laid-back, and I was pretty sure his real ambition was to become a priest of Dionysus. Or maybe he just liked to drink a lot, he had a sort of college frat-boy party vibe to him as far as I was concerned. He also tried hitting on both Elpis and us at least once a week, despite being shot down and told off every single time.

Then there was that younger boy, Milon. Nobody knew how old he was exactly, but we all figured he was somewhere around eight. Apparently he'd been abandoned or orphaned or something, and was living on the streets of Methymna begging for whatever scraps he could get. One of the travelling merchants brought him to the temple last spring, and he'd been here ever since.

And finally there was Simon, a shy quiet boy in his late teens. He seemed nice enough, but his name made me smile. Everyone else I'd met here had exotic ancient-Greek sounding names, but Simon was just Simon. He worked on the farm but also did a little hunting in the nearby hills and woods. Daphne sometimes accompanied him for that, and both Melite and I hoped to join in at some point too. It was part of our pledge to the Huntress, after all.

Speaking of, when we weren't busy mucking out sheep pens or shuffling around the fields pulling weeds, we also spent time learning about our duties as disciples. Daphne did her best to teach Melite and I, and the three of us tended Lady Artemis' shrine in the temple together. We also shared stories with each other, myths and legends about the Goddess of the Hunt.

My new life made it easy to fall into a sort of routine, and without things like smart phones or computers or even old fashioned paper calendars it was easy for me to lose track of time. Like hours and minutes didn't really matter anymore, we basically got up with the sun and went to bed when it got dark. There was no concept of 'weekdays' versus 'weekends' either, we always had things to do. Although some days were set aside for worship or prayer or whatever, like different gods had different holy days.

The only real change to our routine came with the harvest, which happened some two or three months after Melite and I joined the temple. That was a lot of hard work, but it was followed by a big festival and party. Except Daphne and Melite and I had to hide, because of course Lord Timoleon showed up to enjoy all the fruits of our hard work.

The three of us ended up having our own private little celebration together instead, such as it was. Our big harvest treat was we got to have a small piece of roasted lamb from the sacrifice. That was a welcome change, considering almost the only things we'd had to eat since our arrival was bread, cheese, and honey, with a bit of weak wine. Before the festival the most exciting treat we had was fresh pomegranate.

That got pretty monotonous, eating the exact same meal every day. And it made me miss that aspect of my old life even more. Like fast food, junk food, getting pizza delivered, all that sort of thing. I still missed my online friends too, and the internet. And I missed Uncle Bruce and Aunt Mary. At some point I came to realize, even if they were cringe at least they cared. Which was more than I could say for my parents.

And while I definitely didn't miss my lanky masc body I did miss not having to share one with Melite. Especially when things between her and Daphne got more serious. Neither of them said it, but I could tell they were feeling it too. I was definitely a third wheel or whatever that saying was. The friend who was always hanging around being in the way when they wanted to get romantic.

Which wasn't great for me either. Everyone else knew that 'Chloe and Elpis' were a couple, so it's not like I could try and find my own girlfriend without everyone assuming 'I' was trying to cheat on 'Elpis'.

So with all that in mind, it wasn't much of a surprise that the subject of whether or not I'd ever get the chance to return home was something that came up at least once a week. Like today, another month or so had passed since the harvest festival and it was my and Daphne's turn to muck out the goat pen. We'd worked quietly through the morning, but around noon the tall brunette brought up the topic once again.

"Hey Chloe?" she asked quietly. "You had any more thoughts or ideas lately, on the subject of getting yourself back home?"

I shook my head, "Not really. I still kind of want to go home? But as much as I miss it, I'd definitely miss Melite and you. And the other folks here too."

"At this point I don't even know if it's possible though," I added with a sigh. "It's been months though, right? Maybe we just need to accept the fact that I'm going to be here forever."

Daphne frowned slightly at that thought, "Have you tried praying to Artemis? For guidance, or for help?"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course I have. Like a hundred times by now. And I'm still here, so maybe that's her answer?"

The taller girl shrugged, "Make an offering, leave her another sacrifice. That's what it takes sometimes, when you want to call upon the power of the gods."

"We've only got one coin left," I frowned. "And that's the one that brought me here. I've said all along I don't want to let that one go, incase it really is my only way home."

Melite took over so she could point out, "I know Chloe. But it hasn't helped so far, has it? And that would be a very big sacrifice indeed. Perhaps that's what Lady Artemis has been waiting for?"

I took a deep breath then let it out as a long sigh, before fishing that last chunky silver coin out of the little purse we kept hidden under our dress. I turned it over in my hand, looking at the image of pre-curse Melite on the front and the binkying bunny on the back while I thought about what she and Daphne said.

Finally I grimaced, "Alright then. Heads we leave the coin as a sacrifice to Lady Artemis tomorrow, while we're doing the full moon ritual. Tails we hang onto it, and keep hoping it gets me home someday."

"What are you -" Daphne started to ask, as I gave the coin a little flip up into the air.

It spun end over end as it sailed upwards, about a meter or so over our heads. As it reached its apex the late autumn sunlight reflected off the shiny silver and straight into my eyes, leaving me momentarily dazzled. That was followed by a sudden sense of vertigo and disorientation, then shock as a man grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug.

"You're back!" he gasped as he held me against him. "What happened? Where'd you go?!"

His words barely registered as I found myself coughing from some harsh chemical fumes in the air, then I cringed at the sound of a distant roar overhead.

I probably looked half-crazed as I glanced around wide-eyed at all the chrome and glass and colours of the cars in the parking lot. And the asphalt under our feet. The huge mountain-sized convention centre building behind me. And the airplanes taking off and landing at the nearby airport.

"Uncle Bruce?!" I finally gasped as I focused on the middle-aged man in front of me. "Holy shit. I'm home! I'm..."

Just like that my mood plummeted and my shoulders slumped. I didn't have to look or check, I could tell by the sound of my voice and the way my body felt. My bunny ears and tail were gone, and I was alone in my head. Melite was gone, along with Daphne, Attis, Lais, and the rest of my new friends.

I sighed, "I'm me again. Back home, but back to my lanky masc form."

My uncle gave me another worried look, "What's wrong? What the hell happened to you? Are you ok?"

"It's a long story. I um..." I mumbled as I shook my head. Then my eyes widened and I started searching the ground as I exclaimed, "The coin! Where is it?!"

Bruce grabbed me to try and calm me down again as he replied, "Hey it's ok! I've got it. I caught it when you tossed it and um... You disappeared. I don't even know how to explain it, you just vanished. Where'd you go?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I sighed again as he pressed the chunky piece of silver into my hand.

I thanked him as I clutched it tightly. For the last three or four months it was my only link home. Now it was my only connection to the adventure I'd just had, my time as a temple maiden, bunny nymph, and disciple of Artemis.

"Maybe we should get back home," Uncle Bruce suggested. "Whatever just happened, you look like you've had a pretty rough time of it."

I hesitated as I looked around the busy parking lot once more, while I thought about the farm and the temple and my friends. The sights, the sounds, the smells. It was hard though, the modern world was really overwhelming. I was also maybe stalling a little, since I knew there'd be a lot of difficult conversations in my near future. Not just trying to explain what happened, but now that I knew I was trans I wanted to deal with that as soon as I could.

"Alright. Let's go -" I started to tell Bruce, when I was cut off by a woman calling to me from one of the convention centre exits.

"Chloe! There you are!" she shouted as she headed straight for my uncle and me.

She looked about average height, or maybe a little on the tall side of average. Her figure seemed athletic, slim but with some smooth lithe muscle under the skin. Her short sandy brown hair was styled in a slightly messy pixie cut, and her bright hazel eyes had a spark of intensity in them that was hard to ignore. She was dressed sort of casual, in running shoes, a pleated off-white skirt that ended just above her knees, and a matching off-white sleeveless top.

It was obvious what she'd been doing in the convention centre, as she was carrying a large khaki canvas bag that was basically a gun-case except shaped like it had some kind of hunting bow inside. And as she got closer I noticed the gold brooch pinned to her blouse just above her heart, in the shape of a bow and a quiver of arrows.

By that point my eyes were wide since I knew without a doubt who this woman was, and I immediately dropped to my knees and bowed.

"Lady Artemis," I gasped. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

She laughed, "You're one of my disciples Chloe, I can always find you. Although you have kept me waiting some two and a half thousand years."

"I'm sorry ma'am," I grimaced.

By that point Uncle Bruce was obviously even more confused as he half demanded, "What the hell's going on here?"

The goddess glared at him and stated, "Silence mortal! I have business with your niece."

"Anyways Chloe," she said as she focused on me again, "You swore to dedicate your life to me, as one of my disciples and as a nymph. However, I note that your current physical form is ill-suited for either of those roles. Would you like me to remedy that for you?"

As soon as I realized what she was offering my eyes widened and my heart started pounding in my chest. I gulped and nodded, "Yes please! If you could make me Chloe again I'd really appreciate that ma'am."

"You are already Chloe my child," Lady Artemis replied with a warm smile. "You always have been. All I'm offering is to help make you look like the girl you already are on the inside."

That left me with a little smile and a bit of a blush as I replied, "I understand. Um, does that include being a bunny nymph again? Won't that um, that's going to be hard to explain isn't it? People don't believe in stuff like that anymore."

"You would not be my only nymph in the world today," the goddess responded. "But I do understand your concerns, and have ways to address them. Are you ready?"

I gulped once more but stated, "Yes my goddess, I'm more than ready."

Lady Artemis smiled, "Then it is done. Rise my child, stand tall and let the world know that you are Chloe, disciple and nymph of the Huntress."

There was no dizziness or anything this time, but I was her again. Not the tiny bunnygirl version though. Instead it seemed like I was in Melite's original form, including the long fancy dress and sandals with the complicated laces. My long blonde hair was pulled back and tied in a bun at the back too, just like the on the coin. I still had my hoodie though, which was good since my phone and wallet were stuffed in its pockets.

"Thank you my goddess! Thank you so much!" I replied with a huge smile on my face as I got to my feet.

My grin faltered though as I asked, "Do you know why all this happened? Or how?"

She replied, "The fates had some loose threads that needed mending. I helped them, with your assistance. I trust you're pleased with your reward?"

"Yes ma'am," I nodded. Then I asked, "What of Melite and Daphne though? Are they ok? I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye before I found myself back here..."

A look of pain briefly crossed Lady Artemis' face. She sighed before gently reminding me, "Their time was past more than two millennia ago Chloe, they're long since dead."

"But know this," she added, "Melite and Daphne lived long and happy lives together, and raised many strong healthy daughters. One of which is how you come to be here today, my child. Although some hundred generations removed, you are descended directly from them."

My shoulders slumped and my eyes welled up with tears as that news left me with some very mixed emotions I'd have to process later. For now there was just one last thing I could think of.

I held out that chunky coin and offered, "Before you go, would you accept this small sacrifice of silver? As a gesture of gratitude, for everything you've done for me."

"That belongs to you Chloe," Lady Artemis replied. "Keep it with you always, for it represents your commitment to me, as both disciple and nymph. It's also a symbol of our bond, and the bond you briefly shared with Melite."

The goddess continued with a little sigh, "Now it's time for me to take my leave. Remember your oath, and if ever you have need of me you know my rites. Goodbye Chloe, live well."

And with that she was gone.

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