Dylan knocked on the door. A few minutes later Aranince appeared and gestured to the Closed sign on the door.
*I need to speak to Medea,* she told her telepathically.
Aranince frowned. Darn telepaths. She opened the door.
"Kindly stay out of my head."
"I need to speak to Medea," Dylan repeated. "It's important."
"It's late. Come back tomorrow."
"I can't, stupid. I'm a vampire. I can't come during the day."
Aranince looked Dylan up and down.
"And if I invite you in," she said smoothly, "what's there to stop you from... making yourself at home, as it were?"
Dylan sneered at her.
"Stupid," she repeated, "witch blood is repulsive."
"And what do you want with Medea anyway?"
"Look, stupid, I'm want to talk to Medea herself, and not some stupid minion."
"Call me either 'stupid' or 'minion' again, and I'll freeze you where you stand until sunrise."
"Let me in."
"What the hell," and Aranince opened the door, figuring if this was a mistake, they could always ward the place again.
**********
"Medea, you have a visitor," Aranince said, leading Dylan into the room.
Medea looked up from where she sat on the lounge.
"What can I do for you, vampire?"
"I want you to turn me back into a boy."
Aranince snickered.
"Why come to me? There are many others who can do something that simple."
"Yeah, well, they don't want to deal with me."
"And why would that be?" Medea asked, although she already knew.
"Because I'm a hybrid vampire, which makes me extra strong, and I'm a telepath and atom manipulator."
"Afraid of what they don't understand - or don't think they can survive against, should you turn against them."
"Yeah."
"You say 'back' into a boy. Why not go to the one who changed you into a girl in the first place?"
"Because she's a vampire slayer. And she takes great delight in my being a girl. I have no way to force or trick her into changing me back."
"Or you do, and you simply haven't thought of it yet."
Dylan glared at her in the silence that followed.
"What is the name of the slayer."
"Friday Black."
"Friday," Medea mused. "I've heard that name before..."
She picked up her notebook off the desk and started thumbing through the pages.
"She's a Dathrian/human hyrbid too," Dylan said grudgingly, as if she hated to share the same species with her.
"Isn't she a friend of Zac's?" Aranince asked.
Medea flicked her fingers.
"That's it," she confirmed and turned to the appropriate page. "Ahh, yes... Friday... power of sex change... interesting."
"I did just tell you she turned me into a girl."
"Ahh, a child of prophecy," Medea mused to herself, ignoring Dylan's comment. "You'll probably find it difficult killing her if her task - or tasks - are not yet complete. Or she'll just come back again."
"Fine. I'll enjoy killing her twice."
"Do not tempt the fates."
"Look. You're the only witch around who has the ability to turn me back into a boy, and had bothered to say more than 'Go away' to me. Can we make a deal or not?" Dylan asked impatiently.
There was a long silence as Medea studied Dylan.
"Yes, I believe we can," she said. "What I want in exchange for your return to masculinity, is some samples from your body, pre- and post transformation."
"Samples?" Dylan frowned. "What for?"
"That's not your concern."
"Okay, why for? You want to know what makes a double-strength vampire tick?"
Medea considered for a moment.
"Friday has the ability not only to turn a boy into a girl... and vice versa, but she can also restore reproductivity. You were once a living, flesh and blood being. What I want to know is when Friday changed you, did she turn you into a... fully functional female."
Dylan and Aranince stared.
"Wait... you want to know if I can reproduce? I'm a vampire! There's only one way we can reproduce and that's from biting people! Not from sexual intercourse."
"That's because when you transform into a vampire that ability is taken away from you. But Friday can restore reproductive organs... I want to know if she can do it with vampires as well as ordinary folk."
Silence. Finally, Dylan sighed.
"I think... and I'm not completely sure... but I think I can already answer that question for you."
"Oh?" Medea raised an eyebrow.
Dylan shifted umcomfortably.
"I don't have blood... but I have ichor and well... from what I know about periods..."
Aranince smirked at Dylan's obvious discomfort.
"I see."
"If what you say is true... it would make sense."
"It would yes," Medea agreed. "I still want samples for my own investigation. For one thing, I do not know if you will retain that ability when I change you back into a boy."
Dylan nodded.
"Come back next week," Medea said. "I shall take the samples and transform you back then. I need the next few days to prepare."
**********
Aranince returned to the room after showing Dylan out.
"So," she asked, "are you really going to turn her back into a boy? Or do you have 'werequeen' on the brain?"
Medea waved a hand at her.
"No, no," she said, "Dylan is too unique, too valuable to be wasted on what is only a experimental proceedure at this point. I want to confirm her currently fertility and confirm whether he retains that fertility after his transformation. I cannot be certain that my magic will carryover Friday's work. I have certainly not been able to make a fertile vampire myself, although I know there are children of vampires out there."
"So... you're going to use the samples to produce your own vampires?"
"I think a vampiric were might be a very interesting study."
Aranince grunted.