I dreamed of my childhood that night. Not my childhood as Caleb though, because in my dreams I was Taelya. They had a clarity that was closer to memory than anything that my imagination could come up with though and I seemed to be speaking Elvish in all of them. Various lessons learned over my childhood as a Yseil'dhraí princess, probably filled in by my skill downloads and associated memories that had rushed through my mind at light speed when I had first attained my new in-game skills.

Mahair and I were in the forest. She had promised to take me outside the Fae Glade to explore the forests a bit and learn about the creatures that dwelled outside our home if I did well during my governance and Kurinshal lessons that morning. We weren’t alone of course, a Yseil'dhraí never goes anywhere without guards of course, but they were keeping their distance and allowing me and Mahair to enjoy this time together.

“That is where the Humans live,” she told me before kneeling beside me and looking me straight in the eyes. “You must never go there, my dear daughter. They are not like us. We must maintain the balance of nature and magick, but humans care only for themselves. In some ways, they are as bad as the monsters that we must keep from getting out of control. Come, let us return to the Glade, it is not safe to be this close to them.”

I was playing tag with Nishalle and Venika in the forest. Venika was one of the Sprite children from the Rosethorn Clan and Nishalle was my sister, a year younger than me. She wasn’t as lucky as me though so she wasn’t born with Yseil'dhraí features. She took after her father, a Tokh'dhraí from the Nightwind Clan. Since we were all so close in age we often played together when I didn’t have my lessons. Playing tag wasn’t easy with a Sprite since they were so small and could fly, but she never flew too high so that we couldn’t reach her and we could climb the trees and run along the branches easy enough to keep up with her if we really needed too.

“Go! Now! We will speak of what you were doing, and how you will never do so again, when I return!” I had never seen my mother that angry before so I did as commanded and returned to the Fae Glade.

I looked nervously at the full moon above as we entered the clearing where tables of mead and food awaited. Most of the adult Fae of the Autumn Court were gathered there, all of them as naked as the Nymphs, but unlike the Human’s in Seamus’ village, we only wore clothes when a situation called for it, like for blending into the forest or special occasions. Humans seemed prudish about such things, as I had learned from my brief and secret meetings with Seamus at the forest’s edge over the years. He had taught me some of the basics of his language, enough that we could communicate a little, and sometimes I would wear some of his spare clothing and a hooded cloak and he would take me into the village to show me the wonders of the human world. The clothes were itchy and uncomfortable, but seeing the Humans in their natural habitat and the interesting traditions in their village well made up for that discomfort.

Tonight though was about Fae traditions. I had turned eighteen autumns last week and had reached my maturity by Fae standards, so tonight I and others would be free to celebrate our passage into adulthood and the mastery of our will over our bodies. Venika had gone through her Jhashaira last year, but she had refused to tell me what to expect tonight, she only said that I would enjoy myself and that I would become an adult like her.

It was the sheer joy that I found that night in sharing my body with others and becoming closer as we learned about one another that really stood out. I experienced sex in more ways and with so many partners or groups that It probably should have become a blur, but it hadn’t. No, each time was different and special as I made new friends, getting to know them as I never could have before. And now I was getting to know Khaenon better. He was a wonderful physical specimen of a Nyiir'dhraí male and as we talked and pleasured one another I found that he was a sensitive and caring soul as well. As thrilling as all of this was though I was getting very tired and I think that my inexperience may have been showing. I couldn’t guarantee that I would be able to look after the needs of any further partners to the degree that they deserved so I decided that Khaenon would be my last partner for the night and eagerly rode him, trying to bring us both to new depths of pleasure, until I was ready to pass out.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t my extremely vivid and somewhat disturbing dreams that woke me. I would have figured that with the lack of sleep the night before and then all the excitement and hard work during that day, that I would have slept well within the safety of the holy barrier that Rei had cast before passing out. Such was not the case though. Sure I needed less sleep as a Fae and usually I could feel fully rested on as little as four hours, but I hadn’t been sleeping a lot on this little foray into the city and had been very active for most of that time. The last time that had I checked the game clock before sleeping it was just after midnight, but it was still very dark outside when I awoke and the game clock stated that it was just before four o’clock and I was still feeling a bit tired. I turned onto my back to try and ease my discomfort as I considered whether I should go to the restrooms and, if so, whether I should bring anyone with me for safety.

It was the cramps in my abdomen that had woken me, but the truth was that I was feeling poorly overall. My breasts were tender and sore, the left one even more so from sleeping on my side on the hard ground, and I was nauseous as well. Between the nausea and feeling like I had some medieval torturer playing with my insides, I was beginning to wonder if it was something that I ate. It was possible since we’d only eaten junk food the night before, and who knew what that could do to a Fae body in the game. I mean we did have that Cold Iron weakness and the allergy to synthetics, so other physiological issues could be possible.

I turned onto my back, groaning slightly from the discomfort it caused. It probably would have been even worse had I tried sleeping in my clothes and armor like I had the night before. Those of us who had been conscious last night though had decided to change into something more practical and comfortable for sleeping since we had Rei’s holy barrier in place to keep us safe. We had found things that could work for us during our travels through Walmart and I had changed into a white and violet sleepshirt that was one hundred percent cotton while Nishalle and Lissany had donned similar sleepwear. We had also snatched a package of three pairs of cotton panties that we had split between the three of us. They weren’t a perfect fit for any of us, but we had figured that they would work well enough for sleeping in.

As comfortable and nice as the silk underthings that we had gotten the day before felt against my body, I had been wearing them for over a day so they had been getting pretty ripe. The bra had been uncomfortable to sleep in the night before as well, though I hadn’t noticed quite as much with all my other clothes and armor on too. The extras that we had scavenged were in the truck though, and since none of us had relished a trip across the parking lot in the dead of night with our reduced numbers we had had to make do with what we could find. I probably would have been more comfortable sleeping naked, since I was getting used to that at the estate, but I wasn’t really ready to parade around in the buff around my friends yet. I wasn’t sure how Daenyss could manage to stay naked in front of all of us since we had met, but I for one was not ready for that step yet. I figured that for her it was probably a combination of the Nymph nature that made wearing clothes uncomfortable and her own lack of memories causing her to lose the social conditioning that tells humans that public nudity is bad.

The discomfort in my innards persisted despite my change of position and I decided that I had better risk a trip to the bathroom, while I still had a choice in the matter. Thank goodness that all Fae are graceful and have keen night vision and other senses or I probably would have been fumbling around in the dark and waking everyone up as I got to my feet. As it was I saw Daenyss shift as well in the near darkness. “Is something the matter Mistress?” the Nymph asked in a quiet voice as she looked up at me from the large nest of quilts and pillows.

I shook my head as I whispered back, “I’m just not feeling well Daenyss, maybe it was something I ate. I was just going to see if I could find any somewhat clean stalls in the restrooms. I have a feeling that I could be a while and I don’t feel like squatting out in the dark parking lot for who knows how long and then fumbling to try and clean myself up afterward.”

“Well, you’re not going alone Your Highness,” Lissany silently admonished me, proving that she too was awake.

“It’s just across the entrance by the McDonalds though, seriously it’s like thirty feet away, and do we really need to go to the bathroom in a herd? Can’t I avoid just one female stereotype in this game?” I argued.

“We’re coming with you,” the Beastkin girl insisted. “I know it’s not that far, but it’s outside the barrier and you’re the one who said that none of us should go anywhere alone. I’m your Guardian and I can’t protect you if I’m not there, besides I kinda need to go too. It’s why I woke up, I just… didn’t want to go alone and this place is damn creepy in the dark.”

I sighed but nodded in agreement. The place was creepy, and it wasn’t just because of the now fully dead undead lying around or the giant dead serpent outside either. Though I did feel it only fair to point out, “You have night vision Liss, all three of us do.”

“It doesn’t make the place any less creepy. This whole city is like a tomb and it’s worse at night, I keep feeling like something is going to jump out of the dark and attack us at any time,” Lissany replied, taking a quick look around and shivering noticeably. “Hopefully, we can find a clean stall or at least one with a full water tank that we can flush after you’re done. It’ll be easier with Daenyss’s light spell as well anyway, I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be fumbling around with a flashlight while doing my business.”

“You’re right kiddo, there’s safety in numbers and I’m not feeling too great so it’ll be nice to have you both watching my back so I can at least try to relax in there. Let’s hurry so we can get some more sleep before the others decide to wake us for breakfast. Did you get any sleep at all Daenyss?” I asked the last as my Guardian and Attendant both got to their feet and we made our way outside the holy barrier and then swiftly toward the ladies’ room.

“No Mistress, I was doing what you suggested and trying to put the discomfort of my body and its urges to the back of my mind with my focusing exercises. It has proven a little difficult so I was also attempting to become more familiar with my memories and knowledge so that I will not be a burden to you,” the Nymph answered in a hushed tone as we quickly padded along.

My eyes went wide and then narrowed as I stopped just outside the restroom door to give her an intense look. “You’ve remembered something?”

Daenyss shook her head sadly and I felt suddenly bad for my surge of suspicion. “No Mistress. I speak of the memories I gained when your mother gave me my new skills. I can remember learning them and I have some limited memories of growing up as a Nymph and learning about Fae culture as a small child. What I am remembering from those skills is helping though. Moira… Her Majesty told me that I would probably never remember who I was before, she was very upset about it. She said that I was lucky that they hadn’t had to remove any language-related skills as well. So I only have my memories of Moira in the real world, the skill-related memories, and the memories that I am making with all of you.”

I sighed and shook my head. Even if she was who I suspected, he hadn’t deserved this. “I am sorry that you have to go through this. It may take us both some time to become comfortable with one another, but I’ll try to help you where I can.”

“Thank you, Mistress, I appreciate that and I hope that we can become good friends and that I can serve you well,” the Nymph said with a smile. Then she shook her head sadly. “Please do not pity me, Mistress, I need to start building a life on who I am now and who I want to be. I am pleased that you will be willing to help me, Her Majesty said that you were a kind person who would likely do so. She said that she and Naerysse would be here in the game to help me if I need it as well.”

“I’m a bit worried about how this will affect you once we’re out of the game though. Were you not male before entering the game? How will developing a female identity and memories effect what life you will have when we’re back in the real world and you’re back in that body,” I told her in concern.

My attendant gave me a slightly uncertain smile, though even in the low light I could see the determination in her eyes as she responded. “I do not wish to live in fear of what the future may bring Mistress, I want to live in the present. And if I must think about the future, then I would rather build that future myself and become a good person so that I can make up for my past mistakes. If it comforts you though Mistress, Moira has assured me that she will ensure that my real-world body is healthy and that I will develop the skills to survive in the world during my time here.”

It was a small consolation, but probably the best that Moira could promise at the moment. In my heart, I knew that she would keep that promise too. I would just have to do my best to help her to adjust in the game and hope that she or he really would be okay once closed beta was done. Regardless, I planned on having a long talk with her about Daenyss when I got back to the estate. I grimaced and may have groaned just a little as my insides cramped up again and decided to worry about my more immediate concerns first.

“I’ll talk with her about it as soon as I can Daenyss, I just want to be sure that you will be okay, but I will try not to worry about it and just enjoy the game.” I pushed open the ladies’ room door and Lissany preceded me inside, checking for threats even though we had already made sure that there were no Tainted in there earlier. Then I followed her inside with the Nymph on my heels and the moment that we were all inside Daenyss activated her light spell.

As soon as that large ball of light appeared overhead and bathed the room in its glow I looked at the stalls with an eye for a toilet that wouldn’t give me the chills to sit on. We did find that two of the toilets were clean enough, or at least the water inside them was, though we still made sure to put a layer of toilet tissue between the seat and our bare flesh. While we did our business Daenyss stood guard and maneuvered the ball of light over the stalls so that we could see clearly.

I had just pulled down my panties and sat down when I figured out what the faint smell was that had had me wrinkling my nose since I woke up. There was a bloodstain on my panties. I just sat there staring for I don’t know how long as all of the clues added up to one very uncomfortable and inescapable conclusion and all of the body dysphoria that I had been holding at bay rushed to overwhelm me. This was all wrong. This wasn’t me, I wasn’t a girl, and this shouldn’t be happening to me.

My vision narrowed, seeming hyper-focused on that bloody spot and I couldn’t breathe from the tornado that seemed to have taken up residence in my chest. Everything else but that wrongness, the red stain on my sense of self, fell to the wayside. “This can’t be… I’m not a girl…” The thoughts kept cycling out of my control as I sat there shaking and crying on the toilet.

“…everything all right in there Your Highness?” a familiar voice asked, but in my current state, my mind barely registered it.

“Taelya? You’re crying, are you okay? Come on! Answer me dammit!” a familiar voice insisted sometime later. The voice was smaller than the first, but whoever the person was they were clearly concerned for this Taelya person, concerned enough that it caught my attention, as did the slight sting to my cheek as the Sprite who hovered into my field of vision blocked out the view of the bloody panties that I was hyper-focused on and slapped me.

Wait… Taelya? That was me… or I thought it was. Things came rushing back to me; the game, the fact that I was stuck playing a girl, what I’d gone through already, and my most recent disturbing discovery. I needed to focus, to push away the dysphoria, and calm myself down. I began working at once, again putting up the barrier between myself and the severe discomfort and related sensations that my body, and its current condition, was generating. I placed the first stone to build the wall. “I am Taelya, my body does not define me. I define myself.” The second stone. “I am in control of my life and how I allow myself to react to the sensations of my body and the world around me.” The third stone. “I can choose what I allow to affect me. I will not allow this to diminish my self-control.” Onward I went, piling mental stone after mental stone, sealing off the dysphoria and discomfort with each progressive affirmation.

I took care to control my breathing, little sniffles, and hiccoughs escaping as I attempted to gain control over my anxiety attack. Then, I finally opened my eyes and took a deep breath to ensure that I was once again in control. I would not let this beat me. I directed my gaze back to the clearly worried Sprite in front of me and attempted to assure her that I would be alright. “I’m okay Venika. I just got blindsided by the sudden rush of dysphoria and had a bit of a panic attack. Thanks for helping to snap me out of that.”

“The girls were really worried when you weren’t responding, so Lissany came to wake me while Daenyss stood guard. Are you going to be okay now?” Venika inquired with her face still wearing a look of concern.

“Yeah, like I said it just blindsided me, I just never expected that I would have to deal with…” I replied, trailing off as I looked down once again toward my soiled panties.

“Try to look at it as a learning experience, seeing things from the other side,” the Sprite encouraged.

“Yeah, I am never going to make light of this again when Jess goes through it. I guess I should deal with this so we can all get a little more sleep though. Mo… Moira told me about it, but I didn’t think that I would have to deal with it so soon. I guess I thought that it still wouldn’t apply to me, that the game couldn’t make it happen to me,” I admitted.

Venika shook her head with a faint grim smile. “Trust me it feels just as bad as in real life, I am so glad that mine is almost over. At least you can use tampons and such to deal with it. Lissany! Could you hand over the boxes of tampons and panty liners that I had you bring for Taelya?!”

“Okay Mom!” the Beastkin teen girl responded before lightly tapping at the stall door. I opened it a bit uncertainly, feeling the blush rising to my cheeks as my Guardian passed me the items. Then I closed it while Venika explained how to use both items and then flitted over the top of the stall to give me some privacy.

“Don’t worry Taelya, these ones aren’t the general ones we got at Costco, they’re organic and shouldn’t bother your allergy to synthetics. Nishalle put everything they had in her cart while we were looking around earlier,” Venika explained from the other side of the door.

I finished my other business in the stall and cleaned myself up as best I could in the light that Daenyss was providing. Then I got down to the serious business of inserting my first tampon and placing the panty liner inside my soiled panties. The first task felt less invasive than I had been fearing, though I still didn’t much care for the idea that I would have to be doing so regularly for the next however many days that my new Aunt Flo decided to stick around. As for the second task, I wasn’t planning on keeping the panties anyway beyond waking up in the morning and there would be no sense in going to try to find another pair, so I would just get rid of both the panties and liner when I was able to change clothes, preferably with fire.

When I finally stepped out of the stall Daenyss surprised me with a tearful hug. “I was so worried Mistress, I did not know what to do to help you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I just had a bit of a surprise is all and it freaked me out a little,” I told her once she had finally released me.

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you,” Lissany said with a dejected look on her face. “I could smell the blood, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up without freaking you out. I thought it would be best if you figured it out for yourself so that you could get used to the idea. Then you wouldn’t respond so I kind of freaked out myself and went to go get Mom.”

“It’s okay Liss, I’m fine now and you were right. I don’t think I would have accepted just being told again, I needed to figure it out for myself. Just our luck though right? Three of us end up going to the ladies' room to discover that it’s my time of the month and every one of us was a guy until recently with practically no idea what to do about this,” I told her before hugging her.

We were heading back to our little nest inside the holy barrier when I thought that I spotted movement in the dark lot outside the glass doors. As the others headed back I quickly peered out into the darkness from the hole in the shattered glass in one of the doors and I saw it again, small forms flitting around near the corpse of the Lindwyrm. I could hear something too, just barely, even with my enhanced elven ears. There was a slight buzzing sound and something that resembled giggling voices. “Great serpent gone now, no need to fear. Perhaps what killed it still is near.”

“Yes! Still close they are. They cannot have gotten very far. I smell Fae and others too. Shall we hunt and make a stew?” another giggling voice suggested.

“Yes! Yes, we should. Food and trophies would be good!” another readily agreed with a spine chilling giggle.

Fear clutched at my throat and I rushed back inside the barrier to join the others. The giggling, the dark shapes that I saw, the speaking in rhyme, and the mention of hunting us for food and trophies all added up to something that I didn’t like in the least with my knowledge of monster lore. “We need to try to wake everyone up and get ready to fight, quickly,” I whispered to the others. There’s something out there, and if I’m right it’s even worse than the Lindwyrm.”

“Worse than a giant flying poisonous snake that breathes fire and can’t be harmed by fire or conventional weapons?” Lissany whispered back, her green catlike eyes wide. “I thought I heard giggling outside when we passed the doors, but I figured that it was just my imagination. Does that have anything to do with this?”

I nodded and started shaking Nishalle and Rei who both protested sleepily, but did start to rouse. Lissany seemed to be having similar success with Grell and Pete as well. Once I was sure they were all awake I started putting my leather armor and other protective gear on over my nightshirt while telling them all, “Get dressed for combat, now!” I was pulling on my boots by the time the others were awake enough to follow my lead. Daenyss and Venika had nothing to change into, while Lissany just summoned her armor and weapons over what she was wearing.

“What’s going on?” Nishalle sleepily protested as she started to get into her gear as well.

“Taelya says that there’s something outside, something worse than the Lindwyrm,” Venika told them all while I put on my belt with the twin holsters for my Colt 45’s.

“What could possibly be worse than that thing,” Grell complained in a tone that was both awed and fearful as he too started getting his battle gear on.

“Tooth Fairies,” I spat. “The fucking little pyros were probably drawn in by the fire at the gas station earlier and now that they’re sure that the Lindwyrm isn’t a threat to them they’re ready to start hunting. Probably starting with us.”

“Tooth F…” Rei, who was looking particularly androgynous since she awoke, didn’t even finish the word before staring at me and then sighing. “Okay sweetie, you’ve had your joke, now please let us go back to sleep.”

“What we all know about Tooth Fairies is bullshit, at least so far as this game is concerned,” I told them all in a tone that that bespoke volumes about just how serious that I was. “My monster lore skill tells me that people actually started placing lost teeth under their pillows at night as an offering so that the Tooth Fairies wouldn’t kill them, so forget about all that bullshit about cashing in teeth for coins. Tooth Fairies are vicious little creatures that won’t snap you up in one bite like the Lindwyrm. They attack in swarms and like their victims to suffer from small painful cuts, bites and burns over time before finally killing and eating them. The reason they are called Tooth Fairies is that they wear the teeth of their victims as trophies. They have nasty claws, razor-sharp teeth, and are particularly gifted with fire magick. Maybe we can hold them off until dawn, they’re nocturnal and supposedly sunlight burns them.”

“Wouldn’t it just be better to wait here inside the barrier then? Monsters can’t get in and it’s supposed to stay in place until dawn,” my fiancée argued.

“No,” I told her in the most no-nonsense tone that I could. “They love to hear people screaming, that’s why they love to make their victims suffer. The barrier may protect us from monsters, but what about a fire raging around us? If they don’t think they can make a meal of us then they will burn this building down around us just to hear our screams and then retrieve our teeth from our charred corpses.”