Emily's Changes Ch. 02

Author's note: Thank you for reading this second chapter of Emily's Changes. This chapter assumes you've read the first chapter, and takes place immediately following those events. Please be advised, this chapter is world-building, more sexy times will follow. We enter immediately upon the last scene of the last chapter, for your convenience I've duplicated the last few lines of the previous chapter.

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.....I love being able to make yet more dreams come true!" as her body inside changed into a tall, green-skinned alien woman with waist-length black hair, to tease his inner Trekkie. "And let's not forget where this started!" echoed within Jack's mind as the body dissolved and he again held his greatest fantasy, the living costume. "My dream of humanity is true, your living costume is yours at any time, and we have a whole new universe of desire to explore!" echoed in his mind.

"You are a goddess," Jack said to the living costume in awe.

"No, honey, not A goddess." said the naked human woman next to him. She then morphed again, to become taller and more statuesque, becoming a perfect figure made of living marble wearing a costume. "YOUR goddess, and yours alone!".

Emily exulted in having control over the real world identical to the control she exercised over her previous existence in the ghost realm, changing between forms with abandon. Then, as she changed from living marble statue in costume to the form of a popular actress, suddenly she screamed, vanished, and the rumpled, unfilled, costume fluttered to the floor.

"Emily!", Jack cried. "Honey! What happened? Where are you?". Crushed by her disappearance every fear and worry within him surged to the fore. Was she truly, actually gone? He was so distraught all he could do was bundle the costume pieces together in his arms, fall to the bed, and sob. Fantasy, companionship, love; everything he had ever hoped for had come true beyond his wildest dreams, and now, gone? How could life be so cruel! "Emily...please...come back....", he sobbed. "I need you...I can't live without you." This pain of absolute loss lasted for what seemed like forever, until he finally in exhaustion and anguish fell asleep and began to dream.

****the ghost realm****

"Damn it!", she roared. "How could I be so stupid, so blind, so...careless!". Emily the ghost fumed in anger inside her small bubble of almost-reality within the ghost realm. The gray mist within her bubble churned and whirled to match the jumble of her thoughts and was slowly shrinking inwards. "OK, girl. Get it together, and fast. You don't have much time left. You have to recover your energy before this all falls apart."

The semi-human glowing entity within the bubble looked out upon the ghost realm. It looked as it always did, a vast, limitless sea of tiny colored particles of emotion. Every color imaginable was there, a random mixture of every feeling there could be with no direction, no flow, no discernible purpose. Small bubbles formed everywhere, most quickly collapsing in upon themselves immediately, and upon doing so the glowing white smudge in the center of the bubble would dissolve into a sea of colored bits and become one with the emotional sea. Occasionally a larger bubble would form, the ghost within having left the real world with desires unfilled, and these bubbles would move through the sea of emotion collecting more bits of emotion to grow in size. Gray mist would form within those bubbles, momentarily coalesce into recognizable shapes, and then these bubbles too would shrink and fade, with the ghost within again dissolving into the unending emotional sea.

Emily's bubble was large but shrinking dangerously. She called out to the emotional sea and particles of emotions would stream to her, the red of love, the orange of commitment, the blue of kindness, and as these flowed towards her bubble they would be absorbed, slowing the shrinkage but not stopping it. "I need to reach out to Jack. I can't do this on my own. Only with his help can I be saved!", she thought. "I used up all my energy with those stupid transformations, and it might be the end of me!".

****the real world****

Jack had fallen asleep clutching the limp living costume as if it were a life preserver and he had fallen off the Titanic. Fitfully, he began to dream. He dreamed he was standing at the shore of a quickly flowing river with his and Emily's home behind him. The water was dangerously fast and deep, if he fell in it would be his death for sure. The costume was in his hands, barely. While he held onto one satin glove with all his strength, the costume stretched out over the deadly river and into a grey fog that made everything on that side of the river completely indistinct. The costume kept stretching and stretching into that fog, pulling at him with ever increasing force. It was all he could do to keep from falling into that dangerous looking, alien fog.

As the costume continued to stretch, he thought, or maybe just hoped, that he could make out Emily's faint and distant telepathic voice at the other end. "Jack...I'm so sorry...I'm such a fool...help me. Please, hear me and help me...."

"Emily!", he called, yelling as loudly as he could. "Emily! I'm here, but where are you? What is this?" he cried.

**** the ghost realm****

"Was that Jack?" she thought. "Focus, girl. It's all you have!". She bent every effort of her willpower and desire to form thoughts of Jack, her tether, her love. Slowly, painfully, but grey mist within her bubble started to take shape, forming an image of him.

"Jack!" she sent to him, as loud and firm as she could think. "Think of me! Of us! Of your feelings and emotions! Please, Jack, don't question! Just blurt out every emotion you feel!"

****the real world****

He started to pour out all his feelings in a rush. "Emily, I love you, heart, mind, body and soul. I miss you. I need you. I fear not being with you. Without you, I'm lost."

"It is you." came the faint reply. "Please, please, keep telling me your true feelings, without them I may die."

As he continued to explain his hopes, his fears, his dreams, his needs, the faint voice came closer and stronger. Just as he thought he could barely make out Emily's face forming in the fog he woke. "Jack?", came Emily's voice within his head. "That was close."

He opened his eyes and saw the living costume in his arms, somewhat filled out again, but clearly deflated. "Emily, I dreamed, I heard you. Were you talking to me?"

"Yes, in your dream. It was the only way I could talk to you. I have no voice in this living costume form as you know, only telepathy. But Jack, I was a terrible fool. In my excitement I almost destroyed myself. I used up all my emotional energy and was pulled back completely into the ghost realm. It was only because you were holding my costume, my physical tether, and expressing such strong emotions that I didn't dissolve completely. You have saved me. I owe you my very existence."

"You owe me nothing, my love. But you seem so weak now, but seemed so strong and powerful just a little while ago. Please, stay still, but if you can, explain this to me." Jack said.

Emily replied telepathically "I should have explained this long ago. I will, but I need you to do something in return."

"Anything."

"Give me your emotions. Tell me what you are feeling every moment. It's critical. Emotional connection with you is the only thing keeping me here."

"I will.", he said. "Feel the love I have for you, the anxiety over your disappearance, the joy I have now that you've returned."

"Yes. that's exactly it. I will try to explain, but don't stop." she sent. "We have to start at the beginning. I'm a ghost, and you need to know what that means in detail."

"Please go on."

"The ghost realm is a vast, limitless sea of random emotion without specific purpose. It is pure emotional energy. All ghosts, when they first appear, are filled with the emotions and desires that they had at the end of their lives, plus whatever intent they had at the moment of death. This appears as a bubble floating in the emotional sea with the ghost a small white shining shape within. Most ghosts appearing within the ghost realm, who I assume to be humans that have died, appear without

significant desire or intent, so their bubbles pop and the shining shape, the ghost, immediately dissolves into the emotional sea. "

"Dissolve?", Jack said. "That doesn't sound good."

Emily continued, "I don't believe it to be a bad thing. That seems to be the normal end of life and occurs without pain or suffering. I believe that dissolution into the emotional sea is the final step before moving on to whatever may be next, be it heaven or paradise or reincarnation or whatever. But I do know that dissolution is final and irrevocable."

"Oh. Put that way it's more like the last doorway and not something to be feared."

"Agreed," she continued, "but if a ghost enters the realm with significant desires unfilled or significant intent unrealized, then the ghost can pull emotional bits from the emotional sea matching their emotions, filling the bubble and preventing it from collapsing. This allows some ghosts to maintain a separate existence within the ghost realm and not immediately dissolve, like me."

Jack hugged the living costume close to show his happiness. "And I am so grateful and happy you didn't dissolve. Were you at risk of dissolution just now?" he said.

"I was.", she sent. "My bubble was collapsing in upon itself, and only the energy of your emotions, sent to me through the costume, saved me."

"Oh, that's so scary I don't want to think about it. Do you understand what happened? Did it have something to do with your transformations while in the 'costumed woman' form?" he asked.

"Likely." she sent. "I'm certain I did something very, very stupid, love, and burned through all my emotional energy. Before I started transforming like that, my bubble was as big as this cabin or more, and filled with emotional energy. I realize now that the costume and I are linked in some way I haven't fully comprehended, and because of that link - what we call our 'bond' - emotional energy from you here in the real world floods into the ghost realm and has given me energy reserves far greater than I've seen any other ghost have."

Jack said, "then all of my emotions, love for you, happiness at our growing relationship, even how horny your costume form makes me...they all have been making you stronger?"

Emily replied, "I don't think 'stronger' is quite the right word. More like making me more real. And that's far more exciting than strength or power. Being your real wife, your real mate, becoming a real woman, is beyond what any ghost could possibly dream of. And I almost threw it all away." Her empty mask looked down, pressing upon his chest. "I am a very silly and selfish ghost. Can you forgive me? Are you willing to take the time to build back up what I in only an hour or two squandered on a few meaningless transformations?" she asked.

"There is nothing to forgive. We all make mistakes and I care for you too much to keep score. You are still a bit new to the real world, perhaps this was the cost of inexperience with the rules of reality as opposed to the rules of the ghost realm." he said.

She looked at him, the empty eye sockets of her mask directly aimed at his eyes. "You may be on to something there.", she sent. "That's exactly what I was doing, treating reality like my bubble in the ghost world. We need to dig deeper on this, but I am absolutely exhausted, and you know I have never needed sleep in my living costume form. Please, hold me all night, let's try to sleep, and see what other realizations come with the light of day."

And with that both Emily the costume and Jack the man knew they were starting over, but so long as they were together, it would be okay.

The next morning, Emily the living costume was looking a bit more like herself. Her usual seductive curves weren't quite the same, she wobbled a bit as she walked, but she didn't look to be in critical condition anymore. "Good morning, Em", said Jack. "I love you, and I am happy you are feeling better, and I'm grateful to see you next to me again."

Emily gently laughed within his mind. "Those are some lovely emotions, Jack, and thank you for being so solicitous. I love you too and seeing you gives me joy as well. But I think the crisis is over for now. Don't feel you have to give me the full litany of emotions every time you see me, but please continue to feel them for me and us so I may regain my former strength."

As they once again performed their morning coffee ritual, Emily, always logical and precise, started recounting more about the ghost realm. The living costume pulled up straight within its chair. "Ready for more ghost realm talk, Jack?" she sent.

He replied, "I'm not sure, my head is still spinning from yesterday. But if you think this will lead us to a better understanding of the last couple days, and more importantly prevent a repeat of you almost dying, by all means yes."

"Thanks, honey. Talking it through always helps me see the bigger picture." she sent. "As we discussed, the ghost realm is the emotional sea and I lived in a bubble of, for lack of a better term, 'stable emotion'. When I appeared in the ghost realm I had strong desire to be in a relationship, a need to be close to someone and loved, and had strong focus upon that goal. I can only surmise that I spent my whole life without those, so this was all at the forefront when I died, because I have no memory of my former life. That's lost when you cross over.".

"So a ghost is emotional energy, driven by desire, and shaped by will.", he said.

She sent back, "That's a good summary. I think you're right."

"And you said that a ghost with sufficient desire and will can collect emotional energy from the emotional sea to keep their 'bubble' inflated and intact, and so long as the bubble never collapses, they don't dissolve into the emotional sea. But what's the gray mist stuff about?" he asked.

"In my bubble, I could pull upon emotions from the emotional sea consistent with my own internal emotions. Some I couldn't pull, like hate, that's just not me. As the emotions came near my bubble, they would pass through it like some kind of membrane, and as they did, the gray mist would form. The gray mist would react to my desires, making indistinct shapes and forms. When I concentrated upon those forms, they would become more distinct until finally I realized I was seeing reality, but not fully. I could see movement and shapes but only see." she said.

"That sounds suspiciously similar to the transformation power you exhibited as 'costumed woman'.", he said. "Is that what you were cursing about yesterday, that you were attempting to treat your body like the gray mist and make it take shape and form to any thought?".

"Right again, sweetie.", she said. "Making the gray mist change shape and form to whatever you're thinking of is second nature to a ghost. As I desired a true companion the mist initially formed into your likeness as somehow it matched you to my desires. But as I concentrated on that image of you it became sharper and widened to include the cabin and the surrounding area. And I could make the chair or the floor or the bed seem sufficiently real to me that I could imagine talking with you or being near you, but it was all just mist, never real."

"Then came the day of the costume."

"And this is the part I still don't quite get. When you and I were so focused upon the costume at the same time, it glowed in the mist brighter than anything, almost like looking directly at the sun. And something joined me to it in a way I don't fully comprehend, but the immediate effect was that my bubble of existence in the ghost realm was connected to the costume by what appeared to me as some kind of golden, shining, line." she sent. "And there was emotional energy literally pouring out of that line like a fire hose into my bubble in the ghost realm, expanding it faster than I could believe. And to top it off, my thoughts would go back through that same connection to the costume, and you could hear them!"

"Hadn't you tried to send your thoughts into the real world before?" he asked.

She replied, "Only once or twice, because I was so afraid of dissolving. In the ghost realm I'd seen other ghosts inject their emotional energy through the gray mist into the real world, showing up as vague feelings, ideas, even momentary touches or smells to the humans. And each time they did, the amount of mist in the the bubble was used up and their bubbles got smaller. The bigger the effect in the real world, the more emotional energy was consumed. There were a couple ghosts that popped into existence with rather large bubbles and then caused sounds or even movement of objects in the real world, but then those bubbles would quickly deflate and they would dissolve. It's like there's a hierarchy of effects that have increasingly larger energy cost, and I was just too afraid to risk it until I saw you."

"So you risked it after the bonding with the costume was pouring emotional energy into your bubble from the real world, and that's the first time we spoke.", he said. "I'm very happy that you took that risk, Emily. I think we need to understand these different interactions you've described. Sounds to me like you've described three kinds so far.".

"Correct.", she sent. "There's sending a feeling or thought, sending a sensory stimulus like sight or sound or smell, and then actually applying kinetic energy to a real object. I'd guess that's the order of cost, too."

He replied, "You clearly do the first as we talk telepathically, and you're doing the second to see and feel here in reality, and the third to move the costume. But you've not made me see or hear or smell anything, why?" he asked.

She answered, "Never considered it, to be honest. For me the second is more important going the other way. When I first bonded to the costume I had almost no sense of touch except when touching you, which, by the way, I still love to do." She laid her glove on his hand. "This never gets old, my dear.", she continued.

He smiled, and put his other hand on top of her glove.

She continued, "But recall that over time I was able to have a full sense of touch for many other things and developed a sense of things around me. So I think again it's that golden connection, allowing these things to flow between the costume in the real world and my little realm within the ghost world. And that may be totally unique to our situation."

Breakfast long done, he asked, "Are you up for a walk?"

"Yes, love, I am. As we talk I continue to grow stronger, because we're constantly sharing emotions." she said.

They took a walk around the cabin, through the garden and along a favorite forest path. "So now the next thing is when I started appearing inside the costume.", she sent. "Could that be a fourth level effect? I know a lot of the various websites are bunk, but there are threads that string through so many of them and through old mystic writings and even some religious stuff. They talk about 'manifestation', and that seems to be what I did. I 'manifested' as a human."

"But wait. Exactly what is 'manifestation'?" he asked. "You were still inside the costume, so was that just your ghostly self forming visibly within? But that doesn't line up with your then being able to take the costume off." he said.

"Well, if you add the first three effects together, what do you get?", she replied. "You get a thing that can telepathically communicate, stimulate the senses of a human to see or feel or hear or smell, and use telekinesis to move things. Your Star Trek shows that you love so had exactly the same thing.", came her thoughts with a smirk.