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Cindy didn’t look anything like a Val Kyr, but neither had Julie or I before our Val had been awoken. She was short, petite, and had shoulder length purple hair and several piercings on her face. Between that and her dark clothes, she definitely radiated a ‘goth’ vibe. However, Cindy was also about the same age as Julie and I, less than a year older, which meant that the two of us were excited about the idea of having Cindy join the Val Kyr. Of course, Cindy had to accept the invitation first, and at the moment, she was still considering it.

“So, you two are really Val Kyr?” Cindy asked, giving Julie and I suspicious looks.

I quickly glanced around us, making sure that no one was listening in on our conversation. We’d just arrived at the mall a short time ago, having been introduced to Cindy by Connie, who’d immediately taken off again with Lindrell. Now, Julie and I were now standing in the jewelry store where Cindy worked. It wasn’t one of the high end jewelry stores that sold a lot of wedding rings and such, but one that was aimed more towards teenagers and young people. Fortunately, the store was mostly empty at the moment.

“Yeah, but only for about a month,” Julie admitted.

“Connie said you two are supposed to be my bodyguards or something,” Cindy said a little skeptically.

“We’re mostly here as backups,” I admitted with a shrug. Then I gave her a defiant look and added, “But we’re still more than able to deal with any daemons we run into.”

Cindy snorted at that, though I had the feeling that her reaction was less about her lack of faith in us and more of a skepticism that she was really in any danger. It was a little annoying that she wasn’t taking this seriously, but I couldn’t blame her for it either. From what I understood, she was lucky enough to have never seen a daemon before in her life, which meant that she still didn’t know what she was getting into.

“You know,” Cindy said, giving Julie and I each a speculative look. “I’ll get in trouble if I’m just standing around talking to people…unless they’re customers…” It was clear that she was trying to talk us into buying something, which made me wonder if she got a commission.

“We were just leaving,” I responded, gesturing to the door. “Now that you know we aren’t a couple of crazy stalkers, we should let you be.”

“Hey,” Julie protested, giving me a mock glare. “We were told to go shopping, so I’m going to start my shopping here…”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t protest as Julie began walking around the store, looking at the various pieces of jewelry. However, it only took a few minutes before she began pointing out, “You know Michelle, I think this one would look good on you,” and, “This one is just your style.”

“I’ve never worn jewelry before,” I pointed out wryly, “so it can’t really be my style…”

“You’ve never worn jewelry?” Cindy asked, giving me a curious look.

I didn’t want to go into the whole thing about being a convert so I just shook my head. “Not my thing.”

Cindy gave a gasp of mock horror and gasped, “Blasphemy…”

“I know,” Julie exclaimed with a giggle. “We must punish the heretic…unless she repents…”

I saw where this was going, and I was more than a little tempted to point out Julie’s hypocrisy. After all, before this, she’d never really worn much jewelry either, at least not unless it was as part of a cosplay.

“Well,” I joked, “do you have something in the way of the One Ring?”

Cindy stared at me for a moment, then gave me an evil grin. “As a matter of fact…”

Cindy rushed to a jewelry case and pulled out a gold metal ring with writing along the side, a replica of the evil ring from the Lord of the Rings movies. It wasn’t one of those expensive and high quality movie replicas, but it looked pretty decent. I stared at the ring for a moment, then began to grin.

“I’ll take it,” I said, deciding at the same time that I might as well give in to the inevitable. After all, it was only a matter of time before Julie talked me into it anyway. “And those earrings over there…”

A short time later, Julie and I left the store, each of us with new earrings…and freshly pierced ears. Julie’s old piercings had sealed up when she became Val Kyr, and this had been a first time for me. Cindy was pretty quick about it, though I was quite aware of the fact that as soon as I took the rings out for more than half a minute, the holes would close back up again. However, since I’d picked some small stud earrings, they wouldn’t get in the way during my training so I wouldn’t need to remove them very often.

As soon as we stepped out of the store, I adjusted the backpack I had slung over one shoulder and looked over to where Shannon was working at a small kiosk. I wasn’t sure how they’d arranged for her to have a job so quickly, but she was currently selling small knick knacks, and doing so in a position where she could keep a close watch on Cindy.

“Nice earrings,” Shannon said with an amused look. She spoke in a normal tone, and she was far enough away that I never would have heard her if it wasn’t for my enhanced senses.

“Thanks,” I responded, speaking at the same volume and earning a curious look from Julie.

Julie and I started walking, having already decided to make a full circuit of the mall before we stopped at another store. “I’m surprised you bought that stuff,” Julie finally told me. “I mean, I thought I was gonna have to nag you a little more before you’d get your ears pierced…”

“It’s not like it really hurt,” I pointed out wryly. That little pinch in my ears was absolutely nothing compared to what I got every day during just five minutes of my training.

Julie grinned at that. “Yeah, but I thought you’d protest about it being too girlie…”

I gave her a flat look and reminded her, “I’m having a period. You can’t get much girlier than that.”

“True,” Julie agreed. “And the bling looks good on you.”

I snorted at that since I didn’t really consider one ring and a pair of simple earrings to be much in the way of bling. “You too.”

As we walked around the mall, I kept my senses wide open so that I could detect any signs of daemons or daemonites. However, this also meant that I was even more aware of the fact that a lot of guys kept staring at me with obvious attraction.

I squirmed uncomfortably, feeling weirded out by all the male attention. I knew exactly what I looked like, and had no doubt that if I’d seen a girl who looked like I did, I would have stared too. However, that didn’t mean I liked the way they kept looking at me…or what I knew they were thinking.

Though I’ve been a girl for almost a month, this was actually the first time I’ve had to deal with guys…as a girl. Until now, I’ve been in Val Halla, surrounded only by women. Sure, there had been a lot of suspicion and hostility at first, but it hadn’t taken long before most of them accepted me as ‘one of the girls’. And to my surprise, I suddenly realized that I’d begun to think of myself as one of the girls too.

I felt a chill run down my spine as I looked around, catching sight of a man who was staring at me. I immediately looked away, feeling embarrassed and really wishing he’d stop that. It was strange…and very uncomfortable to find myself on the other side of the gender divide. Of course, I’d been on the other side of the gender divide for weeks, but suddenly having guys around me somehow emphasized this even more.

Between the attention and the discomfort from my period, I really wanted to just grab what I needed and go. However, in spite of how we were going to be spending our time, this wasn’t really a shopping trip. Or more accurately, the shopping trip was just a cover for our bodyguard work. I grimaced and did my best to ignore the cramps and stares, because I knew that neither was going to go away anytime soon.

After our initial walk around the mall, Julie and I started off in a video game store, which immediately lightened my mood. At least this was the kind of store I was familiar with and comfortable in. It was enough to let me forget just how weird my life had become, at least for a few minutes.

“Oh my God,” Julie blurted out, rushing to the latest Playstation. “I’ve been wanting to upgrade for awhile now, and I finally have the money…”

“But where are you going to play it?” I asked her, thinking about the lack of power outlets in Val Halla. Julie seemed to deflate a little from that, then looked around again. Her eyes settled on a Nintendo DS3 and her eyes lit up again. I rolled my eyes and reminded her, “You know electronics don’t work right in Val Halla…”

Julie glared at me and said, “Way to ruin the mood.”

“It’s a gift,” I told her with a grin, earning a chuckle in response.

“Over here next,” Julie insisted, half dragging me to a shoe store. I had absolutely no interest in shoes, but I didn’t resist. After all, we had an entire day to kill at the mall, so there was no reason not to go.

“I didn’t take you for a shoe hound,” I told Julie after we’d been looking around for a few minutes.

Julie hesitated a moment, then admitted, “I never really dressed up or had any interest in fashion… But now that I look like this, I want to take advantage of it a bit more. I mean, maybe I could start wearing high heels a little…”

I looked Julie over and nodded my understanding. I’d always thought she was pretty, but she’d never stood out as one of those gorgeous girls that all the guys drooled over. However, now she had the kind of body that girls would envy…and guys would drool over. I felt a stab of sadness as I remembered the fact that we were no longer dating.

“I know you aren’t enjoying your new body as much as I am mine,” Julie said, giving me a sympathetic look.

“I’m getting used to it,” I responded self-consciously.

“You know,” she said, giving me a thoughtful look. “You should think about all the cosplay options this opens up for you…”

“Cosplay options?” I asked her suspiciously.

“Well,” Julie told me with a grin, “there are a lot of characters I’ve always wanted to dress up as, but never had the figure for. Now that I do, I can’t wait to try some out… Maybe the next time we go to a con, I’ll dress up as the Black Cat…”

“That would look good,” I admitted.

Julie grinned happily at that. “And I know you might not be ready for it, but think of all the costumes you can pull off now. You can try all the sexy girl costumes you always liked staring at…”

“Don’t remind me,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

“You’d make an awesome Supergirl,” Julie insisted.

I wanted to protest, but when I considered it for a moment, I had to nod agreement. “Probably.” Then I pointed out, “And Lindrell would make a great Power Girl…”

Julie nodded her own agreement at that. “Shannon would make a great Black Widow… I think Bethany would be perfect as Red Sonja…”

“Yeah, but she wouldn’t really need a costume,” I pointed out since Bethany already had her own sword and armor, which she used every day.

We continued talking about cosplay options for the next hour, sharing what costumes we’d like to try, suggested a few more for each other, and of course, coming up with more costume ideas for the various Val Kyr we knew. I was a little embarrassed to admit a few of the costumes that I thought would look good on me now, like She Ra, or that I was seriously thinking about trying them out.

While we were doing this, we continued shopping, going from store to store and killing time. In spite of the conversation and the stores, I kept stretching my senses out so that I could catch any signs that our enemies were near.

Eventually, Julie and I ended up in the food court, where we both stocked up on greasy junk food. It was funny to watch Julie, who was actually excited about the meal. “You don’t realize how great this is,” she told me with a broad grin. “I mean, I don’t have to worry about calories or feel guilty at all…” Her grin broadened even more, though I hadn’t thought it was even possible. “Being Val Kyr is totally awesome…”

“It does have its good points,” I admitted. But just then, I felt another knotted cramp, which reminded me quite firmly that there were serious downsides as well.

I scowled as I looked over the purchases I had sitting next to the table. Most what I’d bought was just clothes, and I hadn’t even gotten carried away in the least. Since I didn’t have much in the way of clothes that fit my new body, or at least not clothes that I could wear out in the real world, I was almost starting from scratch. A few shirts, a couple pairs of pants, and some socks. I still needed to get some more bras and underwear and then I’d be done, at least with the things I could really justify buying.

With that, I thought about the other purchases I’d made, a couple of graphic novels. Right before coming to the food court, Julie and I had stopped at the comics and collectibles shop to look around. I’d missed out on all the resent new releases, so I’d just wanted to see what had come out recently. However, instead of the nice comforting return to normalcy that I’d expected, I found myself being stared at by every guy in the place. It was as though they were shocked to see a girl who looked like me, in a place like that. And when I’d gone to pay for the graphic novels, the cashier had been patronizing, asking if I was buying them for my boyfriend…assuming that a girl couldn’t possibly read comics.

“Are you okay?” Julie asked me, giving me a worried look over the hamburger she was in the middle of eating.

“Yeah,” I responded with a sigh. But after a few seconds, I admitted, “It just feels…weird being back.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I wasn’t sure how to put what I was feeling in words, but I tried anyway. “It’s just…the way everyone treats me. I mean, the way guys keep looking at me now…and the way they were acting in the comic shop…”

Julie gave me a blank look for a moment, then her eyes widened in understanding. “You’re not used to having people treat you like a girl…”

I nodded at that. “I thought I was getting used to this, but now I’m back in the real world and its suddenly like I’m having to start all over again.”

“Yeah,” Julie said with a sigh, putting down her hamburger. “There aren’t any guys in Val Halla, so you got to skip out on all this lovely social interaction until now. You know, it isn’t going to go away. You are a girl now so you’re going to have to get used to being treated like one.”

“I know,” I admitted with a sigh. I looked around the food court, noticing that even now, there were two guys who were staring at me…though they were trying hard to appear as though they weren’t. “It just feels weird to me.”

Julie and I ate for a minute in silence, then she gave me an odd look and asked, “Would you go back…I mean…if you could? If you could give up being Val Kyr and become a normal guy again, would you?”

My first impulse was to say, “Of course,” but I hesitated and actually considered the question. There were definitely a lot of bad things about my situation, though at the moment, I thought that the worst one was definitely having a period. Having people treat me differently was annoying, but nothing that I couldn’t live with and even get used to in time. I missed the real world, but that no longer even felt real to me. I’d gotten a look behind the curtain, and instead of a harmless con man, I found something much scarier. And of course, I missed my dad, but I hadn’t really seen the dad I knew and loved in quite some time.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, trying to think about what I’d gained by becoming Val Kyr.

I had new friends, ones who’d already proven that they had my back when it really mattered. Sure, I’d lost some of my old friends when I’d become Val Kyr, but Julie was the one I’d always been closest to, and she was still with me. In some ways, our shared experiences had made us even closer than we’d been before. I was stronger, tougher, and more powerful than I’d ever thought I could be, and I was part of something amazing. I was Val Kyr…a being out of myth and legend…and I had a purpose to my life…to protect the world from being overwhelmed by monsters.

When I’d gotten a look behind the curtain, I’d been both amazed and terrified by what I saw. Reality wasn’t what I’d always thought it was, and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like, going back and trying to pretend it was. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like, knowing that daemons were out there and that I had the power to fight them…and I’d given it up to hide my head in the sand because it was more comfortable. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to walk away from all this, both the good and the bad, and to pretend that none of it existed. And then there was my training… I’d put a lot of time, effort, and pain into learning how to fight, just as Lindrell had put the effort into training me, and there was no way I could simply walk away from that and let it go to waste.

“No,” I finally answered Julie, in a tone so firm that I even surprised myself. “I wouldn’t go back.”

I was a little startled to realize that even if I could undo this and change back, I wouldn’t. I might have lost a few things, but they were nothing compared to everything that I’d gained. And though it might be nice being a guy again, I wasn’t sure I’d really be comfortable that way anymore. I was still trying to adjust to being a woman, but I didn’t really think of myself as being a guy anymore either. This was an uncomfortable realization, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it.

“Then what’s the problem?” Julie asked me with a grin.

I hesitated a moment, then shook my head and let out a sigh. “I guess there isn’t one.”

“Great,” Julie told me, looking rather smug. “In that case, once we’re done eating, let’s go drop these bags off at the rental car, do another sweep of the mall, then go get some makeovers…”

“Makeovers,” I blurted out in surprise.

“Of course,” Julie responded with a smirk. “We have full bank accounts and half a day to kill. What else are two hot girls supposed to do?” Then her smirk faded and her expression softened as she gave me a hesitant look. After a few seconds, Julie quietly admitted, “I’ve never had a makeover before, and I really want to try this but… But I don’t want to do this by myself.”

I stared at Julie for a moment, trying to ignore the puppy dog eyes she was giving me. I finally let out a sigh and grumbled, “Fine… But you’ll owe me…”

Julie jumped up and threw her arms around me in a hug, exclaiming, “You’re the bestest best friend ever.” However, all I could think about were her breasts pressed up against me and how I still wanted to be more than just her best friend.