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Noaqiyeum
(Time Abyss)
2023-09-05 00:31:28
(Ancient bump, but I eventually found it on my own - it's called "Metamorphoses in Amber", by Tony Pi.)
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I ran across this story years ago on what I think was an online speculative fiction zine - I clearly remember the short story Wikihistory
on the same site, but that hasn't exactly helped me find it again (it's all over the internet now). :P
- The protagonist is an archetypal Loveable Rogue, and one of a number of immortals wandering the earth, who rejuvenate themselves by draining prehistoric magic from insects encased in amber.
- The protagonist magically contracts Wolbachia
from the insect he last used, begins slowly turning into a woman, and sets out to try to find a cure. (Among his contacts are another immortal who was previously infected but has long since accepted her transformation.)
- He uncovers an artefact in the possession of another immortal - a larval phoenix, in the form of the maggot which first hatches from the phoenix egg and consumes its parent's body, encased in amber yet still slightly alive, which has a dangerous amount of magic which should be able to restore him if properly used.
- (I think the lost panels from the Amber Room
are mentioned too?)
- Ultimately the protagonist realises an alternative plan and embraces her new form and identity, instead seizing the opportunity to steal the phoenix from its current owner and reincarnate it.
Edited by Noaqiyeum