***** Friday *****

The annoying beeping of her clock woke her. Fumbling around she silenced it. She groaned after managing to look at the clock. The alarm was still set to the earlier time from yesterday. She did get out of bed anyway.

Both her parents were off to work, leaving her alone. Mercy soon stumbled into the first obstacle. Her hair was a mess. Yesterday her mother helped her to tame the long hair that reaches just beyond her shoulder. Today she was at a loss. Spotting the business card of Victoria she admitted defeat and texted her. Thankfully she was awake and willing to help. Teaching her the best ways to untangle hair one text at a time. Before long she was ready to go. To her humiliation, it was with a little more help from Victoria.

Arriving at school Mercy spotted Victoria. She headed over to thanked her, but despite being grateful she had ulterior motives. While talking she was checked out what Victoria was wearing and sure enough, there was another buttplug. Big and black. But her neon pink strips were missing.

*Can I change stuff only for a limited time?* Then she noticed the slightly different shape. *She owns more than one?*

What might she find on Monday? She quickly marked this plug by putting on the same spiral pattern except for in neon green and hurried to her first class.

*****

School was better this time. It was nearly normal. Changing socks helped to keep her compulsions at bay. Though now and then some panties or shorts changed slightly. She tried her best to keep her changing of cloth spell secret. After all, if they knew they might be on the look for it. That surely would spoil the fun. So far only her parents, Al and Brian knew. She hoped that might stay that way for a while.

Lunch she saw Mitch again, but as soon as he saw her he darted away. That was something Mercy could get used to. Lunch itself was spent brainstorming with Brian. Hunched over and whispering they looked like they were up to no good. But then again they kinda were.
Trading ideas what Mercy could do to satisfy her trickster urge. Most landed in her "not yet because of too flashy" mental folder.

The rest of the school day did go by without trouble. Mercy was at a loss if she felt relieved or bothered by it. It was only the second day she attended school as both, girl and trickster mage, and it was already an old hat.

Rumor of a girl outed as a lesbian made the rounds and that was apparently more important. Something Mercy couldn't understand. Live and let live was one of her mottos. But it also prompted her to think about herself. Was she too now a lesbian? Was she still into girls? She knew she still looked at them, but she was also aware that she more and more did so to compare herself to others.

After heading home, she made sure to do all her homework now. After all, she had some plans for the weekend. She might also have more fun than she had on the seemingly dull school day.

***** Saturday *****

Saturday was to be a busy day. But it couldn't start till she got dressed. How do other girls decide what to wear? Back when she had been a boy dressing had been easy. Pants and the next best t-shirt.

Now, however, it did not seem fitting. Only as she thought about today's purpose it came to her. A white summer dress and sandals. That she didn't own a dress only stopped her for a moment. Slipping on an old t-shirt, pre-girl times, she changed it to her needs. After checking, if she was ready, she headed downstairs.

Her parents knew she was up to something. It was after all in her new nature. Mercy promised them she only would do little pranking and wanted to mainly relax in the park. Slipping on her sandals she headed out.

Her mom didn't allow her higher heels than one inch. But she reasoned a higher heel might distract better. Once she was far enough away from home she changed her heels to 3 inches. She only lasted a few wobbly steps till she nearly fell. Cursing she revised her heel length to 2 inches. That worked better. *Baby steps* she reminded herself.

She had to walk for a half hour to reach the park but she knew it was worth it. Cool shade from the trees and a breeze from the lake helped with the blazing sun. It really was warm this spring. She did take out a pencil and block of drawing paper. Then she doodled a bit of what she saw. That gave her a convenient cover to ogle people a bit.

However, this day wasn't for relaxing alone. She planned to spend it testing the limits of her natural spells. First, she studied how far away a person could be for her to be able to focus. The park was ideal for it as it had many wide open spaces. It turned out a case of what you see you can scan. Finding out the maximum distance was trickier. She guessed up to 150 feet was her max. Also, it got really tiring at ranges above 90 feet of distance.

*****

After about 2 hours a voice startled her. "Hey, Mercy. I thought it was you." Somehow Victoria had found her and snuck up.

"Oh hey, Victoria. It is a beautiful day, right?"

"Sure is. Mind if I sit with your for a moment?"

"No. Take a seat."

"Thanks. So how are you doing? I like your dress. Didn't think you would wear one so soon. Not a week ago you were still a boy."

"Hmm yeah. I don't know. I thought about it too. So many things come naturally me. I got so far two theories why."

"Oh, do tell."

"Okay, but don't laugh. Well, the first one is that it is a prank played on me and everyone else by the magic. I mean everyone expects me to freak out right? So does it count that I don't do it as a prank? Dunno. And the second one is.. hmm. Okay, tell me in as few words as possible how do I look like?"

"Victoria studied her for a moment. Hmm pretty and with those big blue eyes kinda innocent. Oh, I see. What better camouflage for a prankster right?"Mercy nodded.

There was a silent moment before Victoria broke it. "So I know every trickster mage has a special ability or spell or so. Any chance you would tell me what yours is?"

"Sorry, no. I kinda want to keep it a secret. I fear if people knew they might falsely claim I did something. Everything points towards that I can now land myself alone into trouble. Don't need others trying to do the same."

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess that's a good reason. Maybe a hint though?"

Mercy was a bit bemused. This was a Victoria she didn't know. Okay, they didn't spend much time together before. But still, it struck her as strange. Normally she was reserved, proper and kinda bossy. Though now she was more curious and actually nice to be around. She definitely liked the current Victoria more.

"Okay. Okay. That's my hint. Whenever I do what I do I can decide if the person notices. At all."

"Uhh, that sounds like a challenge." Mercy gave her a "don't you even dare me" look. Still, Victoria wasn't that easily satisfied. "Okay, some person might not notice it. Say. Did you ever do it on me?" A blush gave Mercy away without a word spoken. "More than once?" Mercy blushed even more. "Interesting. But it's not harmful, right?"

That question gave Mercy a slight shock. She quickly blurted out. "No! No. Not at all. All harmless. I swear. I don't wanna hurt anyone. I feel it deep inside. That feeling that I have to prank and do tricks. But I will not let it control me. It's actually why I am here. I wanna learn the boundaries of it. Finding ways to manage, you know?"

Victoria nodded. "Okay. Sounds reasonable. Well if it is harmless I volunteer."

Mercy looked bemused at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I guess. And maybe I notice the unnoticeable," she said with a mischievous grin.

*By the gods, it's strange to see her grin like a normal girl. Well if she offers ..* Mercy could hardly refuse such an offer. "Okay. Just give me some time. Need to concentrate."

After a short moment, she started her scan. Victoria was kinda girl next door pretty. With slightly wavy black hair that reached just down enough to touch the light gray top. Her legs were slender but mostly hidden under a sandy brown skirt that reached just past her knees. She wore some white strappy sandals with slight tan wedge heels. Below her modest breasts were cupped by a peach-colored plain bra. Of course, she wore matching panties.

What she found next shouldn't have surprised her. Of course, there was a buttplug. Big and black. Still unmarked by Mercy. The curiosity and urge to ask about it grew in Mercy. But she still stifled the motion within her. It would surely give her natural spell away.

But she was in for another surprise. Hidden under her sandy brown skirt Victoria was wearing some kind of leather thighs bands just above her knees. The leather was a nearly-white cream color and pretty thin. It was, however, wide. Covering about 3 or 4 inches. Inside her tights the leather bands had D-rings. Hooked into them were small padlocks that secured both bands with a small chain. It all gave Mercy the impression that it was meant to hobble Victoria.

Quickly deciding she shortened the chain from maybe 10 to 8 inches. Of course, she didn't forget to mark the butt plug. This time with a bright teal spiral. She mused, however, that a black plug wouldn't fit Victoria's light color theme. A moment later she was wearing a cream buttplug with teal spirals.

"All done. I even gave you double the chance to find out by using it twice."

"Victoria looked herself up and down but couldn't find anything different. Feeling mischievous Mercy quickly suggested: "Hey, how about a small walk. I sat here for a while and my legs need a stretch."

Victoria agreed. Though Mercy thought she saw some hesitation. They slowly walked down the lakefront. Now and then Mercy would pick up the pace but Victoria never took the bait. She walked along as if she was enjoying the sun and had all the time in the world. If Mercy wouldn't have known about the hobbling chain she would never have guessed this secret.

They were nearly around the whole lake when Victoria announced that she had to go. "I had fun. Hope we can repeat that. Oh and I still don't know what you did. But thanks for entertaining me. Let me repay you with two things. First I have the feeling we could become good friends so I allow you to call me Vicky. But only in private. Not around school or my parents or such."After Mercy nodded she continued. "And here a little hint: I do know more about hiding behind an innocent face than you."

With that, she gave a small mischievous wink and walked away.

*Well that was certainly something.* Mercy thought and shook her head in slight disbelief.

Deciding that it was late enough she started to walk home too. Halfway back her curiosity got the better of her. Her panties grew thicker and then split into two pairs laying on top of each other. Then she shifted one down. Reforming it into the same leather bands and hobbling chain Victoria had. Taking a few steps she felt quite thrilled. Walking around with a little secret no one knew but her. Each time she made the mistake to make a big step it reminded her that it was still there. She started walking home again. Vowing to keep it till she was on the front steps of her house. However, she couldn't bring herself to try Victoria's other hidden secret.

*****

Mercy's list of strange things to figure out:
- not freaking out about new gender (body feels strangely familiar; no trouble with balance despite new center of gravity)
- Magic (one big and one small natural spell; might have other spells; need to learn about limitations; don't go over 100% or below 15% or bad things happen)
- Spell 1 lets me change clothes (targets don't notice change unless I want them to; others might notice change; Mom, Dad, Al and Brian know my spell; 150 feet and line of sight limit; tiring if more than 90 feet)
- Victoria is wearing a Buttplug!!! (Is she forced?; That thing is huge!; other stuff too; at least three plugs; she is more deviant than I thought and she admitted as much!!)

***** Sunday *****

Sunday was always a slow day. Today Mercy had some fun helping her mom to plant the seed for the flower beds in their garden.

"You seem distracted," her mother noted.

Of course, she was right. Mercy had a problem on her mind and going over and over it in her mind didn't help it one bit. "I am still thinking about me being suddenly a girl."

"You seem to be doing fine."

"But that's it," Mercy said with a sigh. "I feel okay. Great really. That is what worries me. Shouldn't I react differently?"

"So you worry that you are not worried. That does sound like you do indeed worry."

That gave Mercy pause and she needed a moment to figure out how to describe what exactly made her uneasy. "Do you remember the dress I wore yesterday?"

"It looked nice on you."

"Yes, it did. But there is the thing. When I chose to wear a dress I wasn't eager to wear one. Nor was I thinking 'I don't want to wear a dress, but I guess I should get over this hurdle anyway'. I just thought about what might be inconspicuous for someone like me to wear while visiting the park."

"Like camouflage?"

"Exactly," Mercy agreed. "In the moment I didn't think about it. I just reacted. As if I have this instinct. Only later it struck me as odd. Al, the trickster mage from the center, and everyone else told me the trickster magic would make me prank. No one said that it would change me like this."

"I see," her mother said while giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It is less about your new body, but the worry that your mind was messed with. More than expected."

"Yes," Mercy said while her shoulders slumped down. "How do I know that I am still me?"

"You are not. Honey we all change. You are not the same person that you were a week ago. But that past self of you is also different from yourself a year ago. Change is natural. What I taught my son was to not avoid problems. To try to solve them. Despite that, you are now my daughter I still see that in you."

"Thanks, Mom," Mercy whispered while wiping away a few tears with the back of her hand.

"And just maybe this is not a prank," her mother continued. "Maybe it is a gift. A correction of what was supposed to be."

"What do you mean?"

"Did your father and I never tell you about how you threw all our plans out of the window the day you were born?"

"No," Mercy admitted. "You said you planned to have me."

"Oh dear yes. That is not what I meant. Your father and I were excited to have you. We wanted to make everything perfect for you. When the doctor asked after the first ultrasound if we wanted to know your gender we said yes. And you know what he said? He said we will have a baby girl."

"But I am not," Mercy objected. "Well. Was not."

"Yes, but we were convicted. In every ultrasound we did you appeared to be a baby girl. We were so sure of it we bought all the stuff fitting for a girl. Your father even painted the nursery pink. When I gave birth imagine our surprise you being born a boy. It hit us so unexpected we hadn't even decided on a boy name. Only on a girl name."

"So I even pranked you before I became a trickster mage?" Mercy said with a grin. Drawing a chuckle from her mother. "Thanks, Mom. I needed that."

"Don't mention it."

"So, just out of curiosity, what would it have been?"

"What now?"

"My name. If I would have been born a girl."

"Shelby," Mercy's mother said and earned a scrunched face from her daughter. "You don't approve? Well, good thing then you named yourself."

Both laughed and then slowly their talking drifted off to other topics, till they were done with the yard work and go inside to lunch. Their talk had been good to Mercy. Now she kind off regretted switching up the seed packets at the begin of their work. Laying a little bit of chaos to her mother's carefully designed layouts for the flower beds.

After eating lunch Mercy headed over to Brian to play some games. It elated her further that Brian did treat her still the way he used to treat Mark. Though it still sucked that Brian wouldn't let her beat him in "Back Ally Fighter Hyper XD IV Beast Mode Edition Of The Year". Still, she was happy to not have lost her best friend. With lifted spirit, she headed home. Thinking nothing could dampen her good mood. If she had known what awaited her in the next she might have felt differently.