Coming home can mean a lot of things, some of them are frustrating. Events unfold including but not limited to: Sarah not actually being present AGAIN (no exceptions this time, she's just being lazy) And Hannah faces her rematch with the shower monster by thinking tactically.

I survived my war on the shower monster victorious!.. just about..

Then I topped it off by having a really nice salad dinner on the balcony with mum and we settled on the sofas to watch some garbage TV shows.

The first sign of trouble came when we turned off the TV and went upstairs.
I went up to my new room quickly to get ready for bed but when I came out of the bathroom mum was sitting on it with a bundle of pink in one hand and a warm smile on her face.

That smile looked almost innocent at first.

“We got you a new nighty at the store Ari”
Her wave of the pink bundle made me freeze for a moment.

“It’s okay mum, I normally sleep naked honestly”
I always have.

She used to make me wear shorts to bed as a kid but I moved out over eight years ago!

Even though I shared a flat with Sarah for a while we both aren’t exactly big on body shame around each other, if anything I wore my pyjama’s to breakfast for comfort rather than shame.
My pyjamas are REALLY comfortable for lazing around in on a day off.
I’ll have to get Sarah to drop them around soon, they will be a bit big on me now but that’s okay, they’re pyjamas after all.

When I looked back up at her, Mum’s face was pretty red for some reason.

“No daughter of mine is going to be so indecent under my roof”
For a moment I went to argue but cut myself off at the last second.

I’ve just managed to get peace between us.
Do I really want to stir up trouble now?
We had a really nice night so far, I can pick my battles..

“Sure mum, thanks.”
She gave me another warm smile and passed the nighty over to me.

It was very… pink.
Pink, and fluffy and.. it’s not TOO bad..?

..Who am I kidding?..

It’s a monstrosity!
It looks like something you would dress a very tall, three year old in!

“Thanks mum”
My cheek twitched with the effort of maintaining my smile.

My brand apparently considers saying ‘thanks’ for the monstrosity as ‘lying about my feelings’ judging by the slight twinge of warning pain I got for saying that.

Mum smiled, ruffled my hair a little and made her way out of the room to go to bed herself.

I feel kind of dirty for caving so easily.
It’s like all she has to do is rub my head and I’ll let her do whatever she wants now.
She’s treating me like an obedient puppy!

“I just know Sarah had something to do with this..”
I’ll get revenge on her someday.
She’s enjoying this whole ‘me being female’ and ‘me being younger’ stuff far too much to not get some kind of retribution!

I sighed loudly and fluffed the monstrosity out.

It would hang down to my knees.
The ruffles and the lace are going to be annoying.
I don’t know what material it is but if it didn’t have several layers to it, it would probably be a bit too see-through to be considered ‘clothing’.
My fingers found the shoulder straps from the bundle and I could finally shake it out properly.

..Is peace really worth it?..

I could totally go for all-out cold war between us again..
At least I wouldn’t have to put this.. thing.. on.

“Come on, just do it. Putting on something this ‘girly’ isn’t going to kill you, it’s not like it’s the first time you’ve had to wear something this bad, there was that swimsuit with the little modesty skirt that Sarah got you into after all..”
My pep-talk trailed off as I focused on the swimsuit incident for a moment.

I never got Sarah back for that one either!

She’s going to PAY for this.
I’ll put hair remover in her shampoo!
I’ll call Tor and beg him for sex in her voice from her landline phone!
I’ll order fifty pizza’s to her flat online and pay using her credit card!
I’ll.. I’ll..

“I’ll do nothing”

My shoulders slumped and I dropped my towel to put the nighty/monstrosity on instead.
“I always do nothing..”
Feeling a bit defeated I slipped under the covers and tried to get comfortable in the new bed, with new sheets, in a new room, with a new body and a new stupid nighty.

“The day was going so well too..”
I rolled over to face the window and sighed again.

At least my heads a bit clearer.
I still have that to add to my plus column..

“Tomorrow better be good or else..”
I knew it was an empty threat to no-one, but it felt nice to pretend for a second.

“..This sucks..”

=======

“Rise and shine!”
I almost jumped out my skin in fright.

Instantly I could feel a wet spot forming underneath me.
For one heart-stopping moment I thought I’d actually wet the bed, then my brain caught up with reality and I growled.
..STUPID ICE MAGIC!..

“Don’t growl at me Ari, you can’t waste the day away sleeping.”
My head swung up to look at mum.

She had her hands on her hips authoritatively but it was kind of undermined by the flowery scarf she had tied in her hair like a bandana.
“Come on, UP. We’ve got a lot of housework to do today, the Martials are coming around later for dinner.”
I groaned and flung myself back down onto the bed.

“Oh, don’t be like that. You like the Martials..”
I couldn’t dispute that fact, the Martials have been our neighbours as long as I can remember, their practically family at this point.

When dad left Mr Martial took over all the heavy lifting and garden work for us until mum could get herself back together.
Mrs Martial is practically mums best friend, they have tea and coffee mornings whenever they’re both off work.. well they used to at least, no idea if they still do now.

The only bad thing I can associate with the Martials is that they didn’t have any kids that me and Sarah could hang out with when we were younger.
I get the vague feeling that there’s a reason they haven’t got kids, or maybe ‘can’t have’ might be more appropriate.
We don’t talk about it obviously, but that’s just the impression I got when I was younger.

“.. Their nephew is visiting for the summer.. he’s very cute. You never know what could happen if you dress nice?..”
My mouth dropped open with shock.
Her voice was teasing but she seemed genuinely hopeful that I would hit it off with the Martials new nephew.

I didn’t even know they had other family?
They never seem to visit at least..

“Maybe you can take some of my borrowed cookbooks back over to Lily later and ‘accidentally’ introduce yourself?”
She gave my unmoving shoulder a nudge and winked deviously.

“I don-”
I cut myself off with a heaving breath.

I DON’T NEED HELP GETTING A DATE!

I especially don’t need one NOW of all times!
What the hell is wrong with her?!

“Oh come ON Ari, you’ve shut yourself up in this house since you got here. The only time you leave is when Sarah turns up”
My throat bobbed awkwardly.
Obviously her new ‘life story’ includes a whole backstory of my actions since I got here too.

..This could be bad..

“I understand that your hurting..”
My head shot up to look at her with wide eyes.
She can’t POSSIBLY know, can she?

“Your father is an ass, turning up out of the blue and leaving you here with barely the clothes on your back like that..”
She leaned forward and took my hands in hers.
“Not all men are like your father though sweetie.. you don’t have to hide from boys just because of him, I was your age once, I know you must have noticed them by now”
She squeezed my hands a little and gave me a really warm smile.

I squinted my eyes down tight and groaned.
I think I’m getting a headache..

This new life story is so convoluted!
I’m apparently mums long-lost, tomboy, teenaged daughter who has daddy issues to such a bad degree I’ve become a social pariah who’s afraid of men in some major way..

At least it’s an excuse for why the neighbours haven’t seen me around.. I guess?
Who knew mum had such an active imagination.. and why did I have to find out about it now!?

“Give him a chance Ari. He seemed very charming when I met him, you could do a lot worse than him”
Her superior smile is getting on my nerves!

“With Sarah virtually married to Tor at this point, don’t you feel even slightly jealous?”
I choked on my tongue for a moment.
Mum seemed to take the sound as my attempt at a denial of being jealous from the look on her face.
In truth, I was feeling a bit punch-drunk.

She thinks Sarah and Tor are practically married..
She thinks I’m a lost cause in desperate need of some maternal matchmaking..
She..
She..
SHE READS TOO MANY ROMANCE NOVELS!!

That’s GOT to be it!

No sane mind could come up with a story like that from the information I gave her!
She must have spent the last few years filling her head with paperback drivel about ‘my boss is also my father’s best-friend but isn’t he gorgeous and amazingly young looking and completely willing to throw me up against a wall and-‘

GAH! I’m doing it now!

Damn Theodora and her nasty perverted mind..
I’d never even think about something like that normally!
Who’d enjoy being held against their will by a guy’s strong arms while he kisses them and takes liberties and smiles his stupid charming sharp grin that makes my knee’s weak and-

DAMN IT THEODORA, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

My breath was coming in frustrated pants.
Mum was giving me a really odd look.

“..I worry about your imagination sometimes Ari”

My eyes went wide and I blushed to the tips of my ears.
“MUM!”

She brought her hand in front of her mouth and giggled a little.
“.. at least we know you’ve definitely noticed boys..”
It felt like my face couldn’t turn any redder.

“Mum! It’s not like THAT.”
She shot me her superior smirk and shrugged as she turned towards the door.

A step away from leaving the room she turned, her smile was warm and just a little teasing.
“It’s not THAT cold in here Ari.. come down to breakfast when you’re ready..”
She sounded so amused for some reason.
I watched her leave in confusion.

Slowly my muddled brain came to a conclusion on what she meant.
My head dipped down and with a yelp I folded my arms over my chest.

..STUPID NEW BODY!..

As if having pocket thermometers weren’t bad enough, now they act as pervy thought alarms too!
I HATE this new body.
It’s inefficient, its awkward, its soft, its short, its.. I just hate it!

With a lot more effort than necessary I launched myself out of bed and staggered to my feet.
The pink monstro-nighty swished around my legs.
I don’t want to admit it’s comfortable but I got a surprisingly good night sleep wearing it.
Maybe I can blame that on the new room or new bed instead?

It’s a workable theory at least..
I glanced at the bathroom door and sighed.

Time for round two.

======

The bathroom door slammed shut behind me and I let out another sigh.

I shrugged out of the monstro-nighty and kicked it into a corner.
Maybe if I treat it badly enough it will become unwearable quickly..

It took a bit of fiddling to get the taps right and make the shower useable.
I noticed yesterday that it took a bit more heat to make the water comfortable now.
I’m not sure if that’s related to my new body or the whole ‘suddenly being an ice-type mage’ thing.
It’s not much of a bother but it threw me off a little at first.

With a held breath I slid under the water and shuddered as it cascaded down my body.
Like yesterday, I focused on just getting used to that feeling first.

Showers are a weird thing for me.
While I have memories within easy reach from multiple lives as a women, all of the ones with relevant experiences that come to mind are from times before the concept of a ‘shower’ was a realistic idea.
One or two of them used waterfalls as very rudimentary showers at one stage in their lives but even that isn’t very helpful.

I’ve tried to desperately not think about what happened when I tried to clean down below without looking by moving the showerhead down there.

I have no idea why this bathroom has a pulsing power-shower with such a disturbingly well designed showerhead, and quite honestly I don’t want to find out why either!
..I’m safer in my ignorance on that one..

“This is ridiculous”

I couldn’t look down!
I couldn’t touch myself in any way!
I couldn’t relax!

That’s the whole point of having a nice morning shower, to relax!

My eyes feverishly shot around the bathroom through the shower curtain.
There has to be something I can..
.. I could..
..yeah.
That would work.

With a dangerous wobble I leaned out of the shower and grabbed the pack of toothpicks from the shelf over the sink.

I angled the shower head low and away from me for a minute.
It will only get in the way for this.

I hope mum doesn’t come in and see this.
She’d probably have some kind of over-the-top reaction like fainting or calling an ambulance.

My hand waved over the toothpicks with a quick enchantment.
They don’t need much, I’m only using them to hold my blood while I draw the runes.
With a grimace I put my knuckle in my mouth and bit down hard with my canine.
The blood came easily and I let it drop onto the tips of the toothpicks.

When I figured I’d gotten enough on them I pushed a small amount of power to just touch the line I use to circulate blood magic through myself for healing.
The little cut stopped bleeding and sealed over without leaving a mark pretty quickly.

It would have been near instant if I could trust my magic to behave properly but instead I have to take the long way around at the moment.

I started sketching out the runes on of the bathroom wall tiles, reading them off for added power and stability because of how messed up my magic is currently.
“Aversio.. Nebula.. Corpus.. Mentir”
That’s the first rune cluster done.

I put an ‘Aversion’ rune tied in reverse to a ‘Cloud’ rune with a ‘Body’ rune as its focus and a ‘Mind’ rune as the control.
When I activate it my body should be obscured by a cloud of condensed fog, handily generated by the shower.

“Sensum.. Torpens.. Mentir.. Corpus”
The second one done.

This one is a bit weirder.
Usually I would put something like this directly on my body but that’s not a good idea at the moment with my magic as it is, especially when I don’t want to keep it permanently.

It’s a ‘Sensation’ rune tied to a ‘Numb’ rune with a ‘Mind’ rune as the focus and a ‘Body’ rune as the control.
When I activate it I should temporarily lose all sensation of touch from my body.

With these two rune clusters I should be able to get through my showers a bit easier.

I hovered my hand over the bloody runes, giving just a gentle push of magic to set and charge them.
If I’d used much more then that I’d probably have overloaded them with how much power I’ve got built up.
The runes glowed dark red for a second and then faded back to just being normal blood.

I grabbed the shower and washed the blood away carefully.
The runes stayed behind, in the form of barely visible lines etched into each tile that can hopefully be easily ignored as some kind of persistent water-mark.

I took one deep breath and tapped the top left corner of each tile where the control runes were placed.

In seconds I could tell they’d worked.
My body felt numb all over.
The feeling threw me off for a moment but after staring at my hands and getting used to locating them with my eyes only, I felt a bit better.
The cloud took a little longer to form up but I could see a steady stream of mist traveling from the showerhead to curl around my body like a fluffy moving towel.

“That’s better..”
Without another thought I started scrubbing myself down like I used to.
It was awkward, not being able to tell if I was touching my body or not, but I quickly got used to just pressing my hands on to my body with more force than usual and moving in a grid-like pattern until I felt sure I’d covered everywhere I could.

Once all I had left to do was my hair, I reached out and carefully tapped the second tiles control rune again.

A moment later and sensation returned to my body.
I could feel my feet pressing on the bathtubs wet floor.
I could feel the warm water hitting my back and trickling down my body.
I could feel-

“..oww..”

I could apparently feel my poor abused new boobs, along with my roughly scrubbed skin, slightly bruised ribs and what felt like carpet burn between my legs.

My hand came down to my left breast and brushed a nipple, I couldn’t resist the hiss of pain that came with it.
Without a moment’s thought I pushed a small surge of energy along my healing line and sighed in relief as my aches eased away into nothing.

Okay, so the runes aren’t perfect.
Maybe if I added a collision ward to my skin?

Actually that’s probably not a bad idea in general.
It would be a good way to protect myself from quite a lot of combat magic.
Basically anything that uses solid projectiles or requires some kind of secondary liquid targeting to be effective would be completely countered.

I wonder if anyone’s thought of that before?

From what I can remember Native American, Asian and Indian mages definitely have their own kinds of body modification runes but I’ve got no experience with their systems in any way, shape or form.

My Celtic incarnations, specifically the warrior women, used a really painful process where they took dyes and copper fragments mixed into a paste, and cut themselves open to create surprisingly clear tattoos of different color depending on where they lived.

As tempting as it is to get myself a set of permanent ‘good fortune’ and ‘fair combat’ symbols on my new body, I don’t think I could handle the pain of turning myself into one big full-body scar.

Even worse, unless I can find some research on it by someone else, I’ve got no actual proof that doing something similar with a modern tattoo gun would actually work.
The patterns and symbols involved in Celtic warrior-mage tattoos are pretty complicated and only really work if another mage is the one to put the runes on you.

Most of the historic patterns I’ve seen in books are completely wrong.
They’re the type that were painted on normal warriors for a mental edge, nothing more.

Although a lot of books say they used some strange plant mix commonly called ‘Woad’, it doesn’t look like the stuff I remember people using.
I don’t actually know what our paints were made from honestly, making paints and herbal concoctions tended to be the job of the druids, we just called it ‘Misneach’ because it represented our warrior spirit and the pride of our clan.

======

A knock on the bathroom door shocked me out of my thoughts.

“Ari don’t stay in there too long, you’re going to get wrinkles before your twenty”
I grimaced and ran a hand through my still unwashed hair.

“Love you too mum..”
She didn’t hear my mutter but seemed happy to leave me to get out on my own.

I considered my options for a whole ten seconds.

I can spend another fifteen minutes carefully shampooing and conditioning my far too long hair.. naked, in this awkward shower.. or I can cheat?
..yeah.. it wasn’t THAT much of a choice..

In less than half a minute I was out of the tub and wrapped in a nice warm towel that hid my body from view pretty well.
I settled myself in front of the bathroom mirror and let out a long breath.

This isn’t a spell I’ve cast regularly.
I used it once out of curiosity and ended up with a rather annoying curl to my hair for a week.

There’s a reason you rarely see ugly mages.
One of the most popular books, the only one with a three month waiting list in place to borrow it from the Hub’s mage library, is ‘Magical you, a guide to magical grooming in all its forms’.
..Mages are still human after all..

It helps that, on average, most new non-awakened mages looking for knowledge tend to be young or insecure.. or both.

Not that I can gloat, I read it too after all.
In my defence, there happens to be a few really useful things in there.

I picked up my clothes drying spell from there with Fena’s help.
There’s ones for makeup, clear skin, sparkling teeth, good breath and pressing clothes as well.

The most relevant spell from the book at the moment is ‘Artius Capillatio’, a low level starter spell on page fourteen, the rough translation of its name being ‘perfect hair’.

It’s only a three line spell.
Even with my current overflowing magic I’d have to do something seriously stupid to mess it up.
There’s no point in even vocalising it!

Plus casting new spells using just your lines is an excellent way to boost your overall control.
It’s pretty much the only way that I know of to boost control actually..

I put my hand on my head and opened my inner-eye.
The lines were easy to find but harder to trace.

My whole body is still singing with too much power, if anything it’s gotten worse since I last checked.
Putting that aside for now, I just need to prod my core a few times and lead the power trails..

Three prods, three trails of power following three separate lines.

It’s like juggling to keep it all going the right way.
Finally I reached the end of all three lines and dipped partly back into the real world to finish off the spell.
My hand trailed from the top of my head and slid down my hair to the tip.
That last gesture is a key component of the spell, most of its power is coming through the lines in my hand so it’s un-skippable sadly.

Just before my hand left the back of my head with a flourish I felt it.
A spark of greenish-purple wild magic jumped from one of my other lines and hit directly on the second active one for the spell.

“no!”

There was no point in even trying to stop it.
My hand had already left my head.
With a cringe I froze up expecting.. well, just about anything honestly..

It’s called ‘wild’ magic for a reason.

Slowly my scalp started to warm up.
My hair smoothed out flat with my fringe falling low enough to touch my eyelashes.

For a second it seemed to stop at that.
“.. luckyyy..”
My reflection agreed with me.
With that much power and wild magic I’m amazed it stopped at-

My hair twitched.

-damn it! I had to open my big mouth didn’t I?
My hair twitched again and my scalp started becoming slightly hotter.
With explosive force my hair grew a good five inches longer than it had been before.

“Damn it!”

As if my words were a catalyst the heat spiked again and my hair gained another handful of inches.
I took hold of a piece that had settled on and draped slightly past my boobs for inspection.
The hair was sleek and shiny, absolutely perfect.

To add insult to injury the hair in my hand decided to curl at its tip in a wide barrel curl.
The rest of my hair decided to join suit a moment later.

One glance in the mirror told me everything I needed to know.
I looked like I’d just spent three hours in a salon!

“..stupid beauty magic..”

I was still feeling a bit lost, staring at the strand of hair in my hand and watching the rest of it settle perfectly into place around me as if blown there by a gentle breeze, when mum knocked on my bathroom door and came walking in.

“Ari, what’s taking so.. oh..”
Her eyes went a bit wide and her hand came up to cup her mouth a little.

I awkwardly picked up the brush someone had left by the sink and tried to look like I hadn’t just monumentally messed up a basic hair fixing spell.
“..wow.. Ari, honey.. I know I said to dress nice for him but..”
She seemed a bit lost for words.

Her eyes seemed a bit glazed too.
If I’m any judge, she’s few moments away from dipping back into her trance-like mental fog over this!

Time for more damage control.

I plastered a weak smile on my face and pretended to primp in the mirror a little.
“It’s nothing mum, you know what my hairs like, it’s got such a subtle curl to it normally, people don’t tend to realise how long it really is”

Please buy it, Please buy it, Please buy it..

Her face scrunched up a little but the glaze seemed to drift away over the course of a few painful seconds.
Finally she settled on a smile and came over to hug me.

“I know Ari, it’s just been so long since I saw your hair maintained properly, you should take care of it like this more often..”

I cringed a little but tried to cover it when I met mums eyes in the mirror.
She seemed to buy my weak excuse for now but I’ve most likely just set myself up for more hassle down the line.

..I hate magic sometimes..

“Sure mum, maybe you can show me some new things to do with it at some point?”
Mum’s eyes lit up at that suggestion and she gently patted the top of my head with a smile.

Technically I’m just adding fuel to the fire here but if she can show me ‘officially’ how to braid my hair then half my problems with it are solved.
I can cope with long hair for now, as long as it’s practical.
I’ll find an excuse to cut it as soon as I can get a free moment in town.

From the look on her face, I’m pretty sure mum would do anything to stop me from cutting it short at this point but it’s MY hair.
I’m not THAT far under her thumb yet!

..stupid magic..

“Come on, let’s get a quick breakfast and we can sort out the chores.”
I let her guide me out into my bedroom and split off to my new wardrobe while she carried on into the hallway.

After a moment considering all the new options I grabbed a pair of the short-shorts Sarah chucked into the cart yesterday.
Pairing them up with a long T-shirt and some sandal’s should be casual enough to get the cleaning done while being cool enough that I won’t melt by lunch time.

She MAY have bought them as a joke but I’m perfectly happy to use those shorts when the situation fits.
It’s going to be far too hot today to wear jeans while cleaning.
Only mum and me are here anyway, it’s not like anyone else is going to see me.

I pulled open my dresser and got undies, plain cotton, I made an effort to ignore all the frilly, lacy satin stuff Sarah got me yesterday.
I’m sure someday I’ll run low enough to actually use them but my draws are fully stocked at the moment.

“Toast’s getting cold Ari”
The long T-shirt flowed over my head and settled around my thighs, just long enough to hide the shorts if I stand straight.
It’s a cute look, very comfortable too.
“Coming..”

Hopefully cleaning won’t take too long.
I want to relax after all.

======

“pheeww..”
My butt landed hard on the sofa and I flicked my legs up so I could lay out across the whole chair.

Bonus number two of this new body, my legs are short enough to lay flat out on the sofa without dangling over the edge.
It’s not much of a bonus I’ll admit, but I’m taking my victories where I can!

Cleaning went well, it could have been a lot worse.
Mostly mum just got me sweeping and mopping the floors.

She had all the nasty jobs.
I didn’t argue.

I can’t stand getting cleaning fluid on my hands, it makes them really rough and disgusting.
I’m not sure if that is a leftover from one of my past incarnations or just me being fussy but the smell of cleaning fluid puts me off these days.

My eyes flicked lazily over to the clock on the wall.
One-thirty.
The Martials and their new ‘cute’ nephew are due over at about six, that’s when Mr Martial should be home from work.
Four and a half hours to kill..

I could watch TV.
I could meditate.
I could go for a walk.
I could do practically anything.. or I could lay here and take a nap until mum wakes me up to get ready?

It’s such a nice day.
Mum’s already gone outside to read her book on the balcony.
This sofa’s a lot softer then I remember too..

A little nap won’t hurt.

I stretched out like an overgrown housecat and groaned as my back did the closest thing it could manage to 'clicking' delightfully.
A little nap definitely won’t hurt right about now.

======

“Ari, time to get ready honey”
I groaned and rolled about on the sofa a few times before giving up.
One last push, I managed to roll to my feet.

Mum watched me with amusement.
She’d caught the sun a bit from sitting outside.
A glance at the clock again told me I’d slept for a solid four hours.

Not bad.

Mum followed me up to my room and when I opened my wardrobe she was there, ready with a ‘suggestion’ of what I could wear.
..It was a dress naturally..

I was feeling mellow enough though to not argue, for once.

It’s not a bad dress.
A flowing white, cross-backed beach dress that ended just past my knees with nice blue detailing along the edges.
If I was any taller or better built it would be a problem but it should fit nicely about my, now slender, neck and more importantly it feels light.
It should be comfortable when I get it on, especially in the afternoon heat.

I’d have to skip wearing a bra with it but that’s not exactly a bad thing.

After sleeping in one for the last few hours I’ve come to realise how annoying bras can be.
It’s lucky I can still use my healing blood magic, otherwise I’d have some nasty red marks on my back at the moment.

While mum left to get herself ready I pulled my long T-shirt off and slipped into the dress.

For a second I considered changing out of the short-shorts but a look in the mirror told me that no-one would be able to tell I had them on underneath.
I felt a bit more secure knowing that there was an extra layer of clothing between my new genitals and the open air.

No matter what mum said, it’s still very plausible that the Martials new nephew is a perv.
I know its stereotyping but if mum thinks he might be a good match for me then he’s probably about my age.

Well.. my ‘apparent’ age, it’s a lot creepier if you consider that he could be my mental age instead..
Anyway, teenage boys aren’t known for being mature or even-minded around girls.

Not to be a narcissist but in this dress, with this stupid flowing perfect hair, petite but well developed body and far too cute face.. I’d date me.. if I was a teenaged boy again at least.

I eyed the makeup case sitting on my dresser.

Mum will expect me to do something with it.
If I don’t she’ll probably just make me come back and do it anyway.
If I do it myself, she might even let me get away with barely anything.

I popped open the tube of lip-gloss and gave my lips enough to be visible.

After a moments consideration I grabbed the eyeliner pencil and carefully did my eyes too.
Just enough to make them ‘pop’.
I’ve always been a sucker for pretty eyes and the eyes on my new face just beg for a little something extra.

While I inspected my work in the mirror I had a moment’s pause.

My new eyes are green..
I could have sworn that when I checked the mirror at our hotel in Bolivia they were more of a purple-y blue?

It must have just been the poor lighting..

Hotel bathrooms in the middle of nowhere aren’t exactly known for having the best internal lighting after all and my eyes are definitely green.
A nice muted green that seems to suit my complexion quite well actually.

I turned away from the mirror and almost walked into mum.
She was giving me a fond look.
Her hand came up and cupped my cheek a little.

“You’re getting really good at that, understated but pretty.. I approve”
My belly felt warm for a moment with pride.

It’s nice to have mum praise me even if it IS about my makeup skills.

It seems mum had a similar idea to me.
She’s put on a light blue, ankle-length, halter-neck patterned sundress.
This kind of weather just begs you to wear floaty, light clothes.
The style really suits her too.

“If you set the table, I’ll finish up dinner before they get here. Lily’s always early.”
I nodded and got to work.

It turns out mum never did move the dining table from its little viewing tower.

With the windows open I actually enjoyed setting the table.
The breeze was nice.
I discovered the joys of a cool breeze while wearing a dress a long time ago, it’s not changed since the last time Sarah talked me into wearing a sundress on a hot day.

I moved back into the kitchen to get a jug of juice from the fridge when someone knocked on the front door.

We shared a look but mum had her hands full with dinner so I trudged off to go answer it.
It felt weird walking down the hall to the front door.
We don’t tend to use it that often, the back of the house is the REAL front door.
Most people we know use it instead.

I’m guessing the Martials are using the street-side front door because their nephew’s with them.
It would be kind of rude to bring someone new in the back door like that.

I reached the door and pulled it open with a smile.
“Hi Uncle Jim, Hi Auntie Lil-”

My mouth froze.
The rest of me followed.

“Arista sweetheart, it’s been SO long”
Lily Martial rushed forward to hug me tightly but I was a bit busy gaping at the person standing behind her.
He looked a bit younger than usual, at a guess maybe eighteen or nineteen now, probably just a minor illusion..

His sharp little smile made me want to punch him in his, oh so perfect, teeth!

“Ah, sorry. I completely forgot.”
Aunt Lily let go of me and turned to my side so we were both facing the same way.
“Arista, meet my sister’s son Max.”

His smile took on a lot more amusement from Lily’s introduction.

He stepped forward and reached out a hand to shake mine.
I glared at him for all I was worth but it didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest.
Fully aware of our audience I reluctantly reached out to limply shake his hand.

He grasped my hand gently, in one smooth movement twisted it and planted a kiss on the back.
I almost slapped him right there!

Only the watchful eyes of the Martials held me back.
My face burned red in frustration and suppressed rage though.

My eyes were drawn to the brand mark on his left cheek and I felt my lips twitch a little in amusement.
He seemed to understand what I was reacting to because his smug smile slipped a touch with annoyance.

He covered it quickly enough for most people’s eyes but I know him too well to miss something THAT obvious easily.

“Arista, a beautiful but unusual name, it suits you.”
His smug smile was back in full force.

“Max, short for Maximillian or the more interesting Magnus?”
His smile became a bit strained again.

Two can play the name game Johnny boy..

While I’d been busy having a stare off with John, mum came to see what was taking so long.
I caught her and Aunt Lily sharing a knowing look which annoyed me to no end.

I’m taunting a hated rival, not flirting with the new boy damn it!

“Maxarimus actually, it’s a family name.. from the old country”
My eyes rolled back to him and he got the full blast of my annoyed look.

Mum made her way inside and led the Martials in behind her.

John finally let go of my hand so we could follow them.
We walked side by side into the house, despite every nerve in my body screaming at me to just shove him backwards and slam the door in his face instead.

“Why are you here Johnny?”
I carefully kept my eyes forward and kept my voice at a low mutter, for his ears only.

He turned to me with a blindingly bright false smile.
“I’m visiting my beloved Aunt and Uncle for the summer, why are you here?”
I growled low in my throat.
“I’m living with my mother because some asshole decided to use old magic to fulfil his sick desires and left me looking like a bloody teenager!”

The footsteps in front of us came to a stop.
I glanced up and let off a nervous laugh when I found all three ‘adults’ looking at us curiously.

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend. I tend to be a bit shy around girls my age”
My head swung back around to John.
He gave me an amused eyebrow in response.

Dreading what I’d see, I slowly turned back to the ‘adults’.
Mum and Lily were looking far too amused.

At least Uncle Jim was giving John a warning look.
He’s always been protective over Sarah, I guess that’s carried over to me now too.

We reached the dinner table and before I could move far away from John everyone else had already claimed a seat.
My moment’s hesitation was enough for John to pull my chair out for me like a gentleman.

No matter how much I glared he didn’t seem willing to accept that his help was neither needed nor appreciated.

I carefully sat in the seat and allowed him this victory.
If I did anything else it would only get a bad reaction from mum later for ‘not acting like a lady’ or something equally stupid.

“I’ll go get the starters”
Mum made her way to the kitchen.
“I’ll help”
Lily joined her.

For one awkward moment I realised what they were really doing.
I think John did too.

Uncle Jim seemed cheerfully oblivious at least.
He leaned a bit closer to me and ruffled my hair like a little kid.

“It’s been so long Ari, I’m surprised you remember us. You were barely out of diapers the last time I saw you, how have you been?”
My face pulled into a pained smile.

I would pay ANYTHING to be somewhere else right now.

“It was always funny seeing you trundle along, we used to call you ‘Sarah’s little shadow’ you know? you seemed to follow her so much..”
My ears felt hot and a trickle of either sweat or water rolled down my back.

John carefully hid his laughter from Jim but I could see it.
“You still are her little shadow”
His voice was so quite I’m almost convinced he was using some form of weak telepathy on me instead of talking.

Under the table my hands clenched into tight fists.
I was so tempted to hit him for that one!
Instead I plastered a sweet smile on my face and gave Jim an encouraging look.

This meal is going to be beyond hell!

======

At some point in the meal mum cracked open a bottle of wine.
Naturally I wasn’t offered any of it, although everyone else seemed happy to consume some.

“Where DID the name ‘Arista’ come from anyway?”
Mum didn’t even hesitate before answering.
Her hand reached across the table to pat mine.
“She’s named after my family’s ancestral guardian.”

..what?..

“The family lore says that long ago a beautiful, powerful young woman let several of our family free after their unfair imprisonment by a ruthless baron. I know its superstitious nonsense but my grandmother was a great believer in it all, she told me the story for years before she died and the name stuck with me.”
Her hand moved up a little to stroke my arm fondly.
“The moment she was born I knew that she would be my little Ari.”

..Seriously..
..WHAT?

I’ve never heard anything about this sort of thing before!

Did the memory modification do this?
How weird has mum’s life story become in her head!
She never mentions her extended family normally.
The only person I’ve ever met from mum’s family is Uncle Joe and we can all tell that he’s a special case..

“That’s so weird, my sister has a similar story with Max’s name.”
My head turned slightly to look at him out of the corner of my eye.
He seemed entirely too amused by the conversation.

“In our story Maxarimus was a roman general considered the bravest, most handsome man in the entire empire.”
Lily smirked over at John and drunkenly nudged mum with a giggle.
“He was meant to be the greatest lover too, his wife must have been a lucky lady.”

I almost dropped my fork when I felt John’s hand come to rest on my knee.

The bastard didn’t even react at all!
If I didn’t KNOW him I’d assume it was someone else from his innocently blank face.

“He helped our family escape from Pompeii the day that the volcano exploded, my mother was told his story from her mother and she told us. Tasha always liked his story and talked her husband into giving him the name without a second thought”

His hand slid slightly higher up my thigh and I flinched visibly.

“Are you okay Ari?”
Mum looked at me with some concern through her tipsy eyes.

I quickly faked a shudder and stood up, letting Johns hand fall from my leg in the process.
“Yeah, I’m fine mum. Just getting a little cold, is it okay if I shut the windows?”

Mum glanced out the windows at the last few rays of the setting sun that still crested over the mountains with some surprise.
I didn’t think she was THAT drunk yet but she wasn’t the only one who’d seemingly missed the sun going down.

“Sure Ari, we should start clearing up anyway.. us old people have work tomorrow.”

Lily gave a drunk giggle and waved her finger at me in some kind of false scolding sign.
“One day you’ll be stuck to the job grindstone and know our pain!”

Mum put her hand over her mouth but it did nothing to hide her laugh.
Uncle Jim seemed amused too but he was definitely not as drunk as they were.

Things started breaking up quickly.
After a few minutes of cleaning the Martials were standing at our front door, ready to walk the few meters across the road to their house.

Lily gave me a soppy drunken hug and mumbled something about missing me.

Jim helped her stay upright and kept a firm grip on John’s shoulder.
Judging from the looks he kept shooting John, his little thigh stroking episode earlier didn’t go as unnoticed as I’d thought.

Boy is HE in for a fun conversation when they get indoors!

Uncle Jim once made one of Sarah’s boyfriends publicly beg for forgiveness in the street because he deemed his treatment of her to be ‘ungentlemanly’.
I can only imagine how protective he’s going to be of me now, even if he DOES think John is family.

When they finally left mum shut the front door and leaned heavily against it.
She offered me a wan smile and giggled to herself.

“Sorry honey, I didn’t think I drank that much. It’s gone right to my head for some reason. I’m going to go to bed early, will you be okay on your own?”
I smiled at her and nodded that I would.

I’m kind of glad she’s going to be sleeping honestly.

It will give me more time to set up the protective enchantments I need to put on all the doors and windows.
Now I know that John is living LITERALLY next door I need to block his magical signature from entering the house, FAST!

======

“ugg..”
I rolled onto the sofa and considered just staying there to sleep.

It took me a good few hours of work to enchant all the entrance’s to block out John.

I’m feeling a bit light headed.
That’s one of the downsides to blood magic.
Your body can only make so much blood at a time, unless you use some really dark lich-level rituals to change that of course..

With the ring of blood I had to draw out around all the doors and windows in the house, on top of the runes I needed to add to each ring AND the fact that I had to cycle my blood magic through my body to heal faster which uses some blood up as well, I’m pretty sure I’ve made myself slightly anaemic..

My limbs feel heavy and it’s kind of hard to breathe right.
Hopefully some sleep will help me get some strength back but I’m probably going to feel lousy for a few days after this.

It was worth it though.

Every entrance to the house is now warded against John!
Like an uninvited vampire at someone’s home, he won’t be able to step over the threshold or even climb in through a window.

I’m glad I did mum’s bedroom windows first.

She’s completely out of it at the moment but the way I’m feeling now I’d have probably just ended up tripping over something in the dark and waking her up.
That would lead to awkward questions that I’m REALLY not up to answering at the moment.

My back felt nice on the slightly warm sofa’s material.
I didn’t resist snuggling tighter into it this time.

I’ll have to get to work on a ward-stone for the house at some point.

They can give a lot better protection and it’s harder for anyone to get past their defences.
Maybe I can slip some ‘ill intent’ wards onto it, to stop most baddies from even coming near the house.
I can probably break ground and fit the ward-stone in the elevator shaft by the kitchen.

It’s roughly central to the building and who’s going to look underneath the lift that we aren’t meant to use anyway?

My head drooped a little more.
I feel a little woozy..
Remind me to not use this much blood magic in one go again?

I hate this feeling.

Hopefully I don’t puke.
The last time this happened I had to tell people I had the flu I was so pale and sick.
That’s going to be a hard sell in the middle of July.

My head tucked tightly into the sofa and I sighed.
..There are worse places to sleep then here I guess..

======

“You didn’t stay up all night watching TV did you?”
I groaned and tried to push myself deeper into the nice comfy bed.
“Come on Ari, let’s have breakfast before I go to work.”

My stomach grumbled in joy at the idea of food.

It takes a lot for my body to recover from this much blood-loss.
I need some vitamin C and Iron supplements honestly.

“We got orange juice?”
My mouth felt nasty.
Another annoying side effect of my body trying to recover, a lack of fluids.
Orange has liquids and vitamin C, two birds with one stone.

“Yes, I’ve got a bottle of fresh OJ in the fridge..”
Mum sounded a little confused but didn’t ask why I was asking.

With a groan, usually reserved for the undead hordes of a zombie movie, I shoved myself off the sofa and staggered to my feet.
My balance is a bit off, to add to the fun.

This morning sucks!

“Are you okay Ari? You look pale..”
Mum came over and rested her hand on my forehead a little.
I leaned into her touch without thinking about it.

“You’re not warm, that’s strange..”

It took all of my willpower to not lean into her for some help standing up.
“I just feel a bit ill. I’ll be fine in a while”
Mum didn’t look convinced but she didn’t push me on it either.

“If you’re not better by tomorrow I’ll get Sarah to take you to Doctor Carson for a check-up.”
She took hold of my arm and helped guide me to one of the chairs around the dining table.

“Stay there, I’ll go get you a big breakfast and some OJ, okay sweetie?”

I leaned forward, rested my head on my hands and nodded lazily.
I feel like crap..

Mum took a while making breakfast.

She ended up nudging me a little until I lifted my arms enough to fit the food under them.
For a moment I almost planted my face back down into the plate but managed to keep myself awake enough to avoid that embarrassing mistake at least.

“Are you going to be okay on your own today?”
I slowly shoved a piece of bacon in my mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
When I managed to gulp that piece down I looked up at her and nodded.

“I’m probably just going to sleep a lot, that usually helps when I’m ill..”

Mum nodded and gave me a tender smile.
I tried not to stare at it too much, shifting my focus to the glass of orange juice instead.
With a slightly shaky hand I managed to lift it to my lips.
After the first gulp my eyes perked up a little.

The juice tasted amazing!

Without a thought I started gulping down the rest of the glass, going so far as to tilt my head back so I could get the last few drops quickly.
Mum was watching me with some amusement.

“Thirsty?”

I gave her a weak smile and looked back down at my breakfast.
I hadn’t even registered before that mum had made so much.
It’s been a long time since I last had mums version of a full breakfast.

I’m surprised she had time to make it, she said she had work this morning?

A glance at her told me that she was completely unconcerned with the time at the moment.
As if reading my mind she smiled reassuringly and picked up her own fork again.
“I called in to the office so they would know I will be a little late, I’ll make up the hours later in the week.”
My head nodded to her and I focused back down on the food that my hand was busy shovelling slowly at my mouth.

It seems that mum’s job hasn’t changed much.
They have this ‘flexi-time’ thing that lets them build up overtime and then use it when they need it.

I dunno the actual rules involved, it was kind of useful when we were kids though.
Mum used to take us to doctors and dentists appointments in the morning and be back to work by eleven, a few long lunch’s later, she would be back to working normal hours without a fuss.

When we got older she used to go in an hour early and get herself an afternoon off on Fridays.

I think she really enjoyed that option.
That was the most common day I’d come home to find her chatting on the balcony with Lily Martial over a cup of coffee.

“Are you finished?”
I glanced up at her and back down at my plate.

..Huh.. apparently I am?

I must have been shovelling the food in mindlessly while thinking.
I didn’t know, I knew how to do that?.. Learn something new every day I guess?

Mums hand came up and stroked my cheek.
“Go to bed Ari, you really need some sleep.”
I couldn’t argue with her on that one.

With a lot more effort than I thought necessary I got my feet under me and shambled into my room.

I’ve got to find a new type of magic to specialise in.
Blood magic works with my sympathetic magic and runes really well, with a fair few added bonuses of its own on top, but the after effects are really not worth it sometimes!

======

A knock at the door woke me up.

I tried to ignore it for a while, I figured if it’s the postman he can come back another time.
After almost five minutes he hadn’t stopped casually knocking on the door in random bursts.

Feeling grumpy and just a little off balance still I made my way down the hallway to the front door.

With a sigh I pulled it open.
I could already guess who was on the other side.
He stood there in the mid-day sun smiling at me warmly.
“Arista”

His smile turned slightly smug but he didn’t make a move to approach me at least.

“My names Hannah, I told you that already.”
He frowned at me and folded his arms as if I’d offended him somehow.
“That’s not what your mum said..”
I glared at him and huffed loudly.
“Someone already got to her, Hannah’s my middle name as far as she’s concerned..”

His eyes seemed to twinkle a little in mirth.
“Great minds think alike, as far as Lily and Jim are concerned my name is ‘John Maxarimus Jones’, they just know I prefer to go by Max these days”
He gave me a smug look as if he’d managed his little deception better than I had.

My teeth grit together slightly, it doesn’t help he actually HAD done it better than me.
People actually call HIM his name, I still get called Ari by mum as soon as we’re away from the public eye!

It took me a moment to remember why I couldn’t just step out there into the bright sunlight and punched him in his stupid, perfect teeth.
When my sluggish mind caught up with reality, the reason left me struggling not to smile.

“This isn’t a conversation to be had on a doorstep, why don’t you come in? We can be civilised about this..”
John looked almost pleased at the invitation.
“That’s more like the Ari I know. Decorum above all else, tea can mend any wound..”

I didn’t answer him, just left the door open and started walking back into the house.
In my head I was counting the seconds until he would follow.

It was obvious when he took the bait.
I heard a footstep or two and then the sound of a gong being struck.
As quick as possible I whipped around to watch him sail out across our driveway and bounce a few times before coming to a stop in the middle of the street with a stunned look on his face.

HA!
THAT felt good.
That’s what I needed.
I feel a bit better already!

As a bonus, it also proved neatly that my blood runes are working as planned.
He can’t enter the house even if I invite him!
If anything it’s BETTER than the natural magic’s that block vampires from entering most houses.

“..ow..?”

I grinned at him as he slowly made his way to his feet.
His arm seemed to have some road-rash on it from how fast he was pushed across the rough cement of our driveway.
He seemed kind of stunned still too, as if he wasn’t sure why I would do something like that to him.
..stupid bastard..

“You turned me into a bloody girl John! Did twenty years of friendship mean nothing to you?!”
His face went slack in surprise and he squinted at me.

I don’t hear an apology.. just looking at him is pissing me off even more!

“You get it into your head that I’m the next version of your ex-girlfriend and suddenly you treat me like some kind of prize to be won!”
My foot stamped hard on the floor without conscious effort from me.

“I was the one who taught you how to burp the alphabet! I was the one who showed YOU how to throw a punch! I was the one who listened to you mooning over my sister for years!”
My foot stamped again in frustration.

“Get it through your thick head! I. AM. NOT. ARISTA! My name is Hannah, if you can’t handle that I’ll even accept being called ‘Al’ again as long as no-ones around to hear you!”

He didn’t react.
His mouth was gaping open and he was watching me with a small amount of fear in his eyes.
With one final authoritative stamp I glared at him and slammed the front door.

I want to go back to bed.. I’ve got a headache.
Stupid John, Stupid MAX, stupid, stupid, STUPID!

“Why can’t he just leave me alone..”
I made my way back into my new room, curled up in my new bed and collapsed in exhaustion.

The next time something like this happens I’ll give up all pretence of normality and just let my new ice-talent loose on him!
Let’s see how he likes being the world’s biggest ice-cube for a week or two!

“Stupid John”

I rolled over and grabbed a pillow to hug to my chest.
Maybe if I close my eyes and hope really hard then life will go back to normal again!

No more bipolar mum.
No more annoying new body.
No more unstable emotions.
No more magic troubles.
No more.. No more JOHN!..

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and opened them a moment later.

My hand came up for inspection.
It was still slender with delicate little nimble fingers and smooth hairless skin.

“Figures..”

I rolled back over one more time and tried to get some more sleep.
..I hate magic sometimes..