It was a long and awkward moment after Merriwynd knocked on the farmhouse door that it was opened, and once it was I was immediately attacked. I barely saw it coming and had no time to react before the woman who had answered the door squealed in delight and practically flew past Aunt Merry to half tackle me as she wrapped me up in a hug. For a moment all that I could do was stand there in stunned awe and confusion as this stranger held me tight and refused to let go.

Finally, I was released as the woman pulled back, keeping her hands firmly on my shoulders as she looked me over, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh! My baby! Just look at you! You’re all grown up, and a Snow Nymph! You’re so beautiful!” It was as she gushed at me that I realized who this must be. It was my mother. I took a moment to drink in the appearance of this stranger who had given birth to me and then sent me and my dad away so that I would be safe.

She was beautiful, her face appearing much like the one that I had yet to get used to seeing in the mirror, right down to the pointed ears. She looked a few years older but the family resemblance was obvious, making her look almost like an older sister. Where my hair was a stark white, the long wavy locks that cascaded down to her waist were an aquamarine hue and her eyes were a bright azure, darker than the pale ice blue of my own. She had a killer body with an hourglass figure and she wore clothes to show off that body, a skintight sea-green silk halter top that flaunted firm breasts slightly larger than my own and a short black leather miniskirt and three-inch stiletto heels that displayed her long and shapely legs.

I found myself unable to speak as I looked her over, not knowing quite what to say. My heart was pounding like a jackhammer in my chest as my throat tightened and for some reason I found myself fighting back tears. Was it because of my new girl body and all of those hormones, everything that had happened since I got the call about Dad being in the hospital suddenly catching up with me, or a combination of both?

Whatever the cause, I couldn’t hold those tears back and I found myself suddenly bawling and sniffling as I hesitantly stammered, “M… Mom?”

She merely nodded her head, her own eyes filled with tears, and then she wrapped me up in her arms once again. She held me for a time, stroking my hair and making soothing and comforting sounds as we both cried. Finally, she spoke softly in my ear, “Shhh, everything is going to be okay, my little snowflake. You’re here with me now and I’m not going to let anything happen to you or your sister.”

When she finally pulled away, giving me a tender kiss on the forehead, I noticed that the others were trying to give us some space on the porch. Mom surprised me then, and probably Jessica too, by reaching out to embrace her as well. Once she had given Jessica a similar kiss on the forehead she stepped back to look over the Púca. “Jessica, it’s good to finally meet you as well. Dairen was so proud of both you and Seth in his letters and it feels like I’ve gained two daughters today.”

Jessica flushed but I could see the relief written all over her face. She had been so afraid that my mother wouldn’t accept her and take her in and that we might not see one another again. She broke down in tears too as all the stress of our situation over the last couple of days caught up with her. Mom just held her too until she had cried herself out. “Th…thanks Mrs…” Jess started to say before realizing that she wasn’t sure how to address my mother.

“Shush, none of that, you and Crystal can both call me Mom,” my mother clarified. “In fact, it’s probably best that you do with the new identities that Jimmy is working on for you.”

“Yeah, I kinda thought that’s why we were here, not to meet you,” I commented before quickly adding, “not that meeting you was bad. It was just a bit of a surprise.”

Mom smiled at me and replied, “I was going to wait for you to come home, but I couldn’t wait any longer to see you. So I came here to help Jimmy with your new identities and giving you a general background that will pass PDA scrutiny. Besides, I wanted to meet this half-Demon girl who has been accompanying you before deciding whether it’s safe for her to know where we live.” She turned to give Brianna a long and wary look.

Brianna shrugged and nodded her head. “I would probably feel the same in your place. I can… leave now that I know everyone has gotten here safely. I’m used to making my own way.” I barely noticed her slight hesitation as her eyes turned ever so briefly to look at me.

My mother seemed to notice as well and, though she looked like she was still feeling cautious, I thought I could see her resisting a smile as the corners of her lips twitched slightly upward. “I am not asking you to leave, I only wish to have a conversation with you. A conversation where only the truth can be spoken.”

“A truth spell,” Brianna guessed. She seemed uncertain, but not totally against the idea.

“Yes,” my mother agreed. “You are a Paranormal, so you would have to consent for the spell to work properly. I just want to get a better idea of who you are. In return, once I am satisfied that you mean us no harm, I will allow you to ask me two questions. I am sure that you know how difficult it is for my kind to lie.”

“Difficult, but not impossible,” Brianna countered as she turned to look at Aunt Merry.

“I swear that if I am satisfied with your intent and allow those two questions, that I will answer them completely truthfully and I will not try to deceive you in any way,” Mom promised. I could feel the tingling of magic as she was bound by that oath.

Brianna was still looking at Merry uncertainly when I told her, “Fey are bound to oaths, Brianna. There is no way for her to escape that promise now that it has been given, except if you mean us harm and she doesn’t have to allow you those questions.”

The moment that the words, “I consent,” passed from between Brianna’s lips I could sense my mother’s spell being cast and taking hold. Brianna apparently felt it taking hold as well because her eyes widened slightly and she sighed. “Let’s get this interrogation over with.”

“Let’s start with something simple, what is your name?” my mother began.

Brianna flushed slightly as she muttered, “Melody Brianna Sòng. I usually go by Brianna when I’m not using another name for work though. I got teased in school a lot about my name before I Manifested and ran away.”

“I kinda like the name Melody, it’s pretty and it suits you.” I blushed brightly as I realized that I had said that aloud.

Brianna’s blush deepened and I looked away, determined to keep my mouth shut until they were finished. Mom asked about her childhood, whether she had any connections to the Demons hunting me, what kind of work she did, and whether she was using us to try to get her hands on a Muse. Except for her actual name, Brianna had been really honest with us it seemed and she had no interest in Muses except general curiosity.

Finally, Mom asked, “If it’s not finding a Muse, what brought you here? You could have left them and found a safe place for yourself easily with your background.”

Brianna sighed and replied, “There are two reasons. First, I don’t like to leave things unfinished and I wanted to keep the girls safe. Second, I like them… especially Crystal. I… from the moment I first saw her at the safe house I haven’t been able to get her out of my head.”

I felt myself blushing again. I shouldn’t have been surprised since I was a Nymph now and I knew exactly how hot I was. She had been showing off for me a lot during the fight at the safe house. Hell, I’d want to fuck my brains out too. Mom seemed to be thinking along the same lines as she asked, “And what exactly is my daughter to you? A conquest? A notch on the bedpost?”

“No!” the half Demon shouted, her face bright red. “Yeah, there’s attraction, a lot of attraction, and I’d love to find myself sharing a bed with her. I don’t want to push anything because I know how hard everything has been on her and she has a lot of adjusting to do. There’s more than just that though. I… I never believed in love at first sight until I saw her. The more time we spend together the more I like her as a person, and I want to keep her safe.”

My heart fluttered wildly, my breath caught in my throat, and I think that I may have been blushing even worse than Brianna was. I wasn’t really sure how to take what she had just said, especially since I knew that she was telling the truth. The whole attraction thing wasn’t a big surprise, but knowing that there was more than that made me feel both elated and extremely self-conscious. Then the elation itself made me feel even more self-conscious, not to mention confused, as I wondered why I should be so happy that she was interested in me, at least for more than just sex.

Unsurprisingly that just got me thinking about sex again and since Brianna was the subject of those thoughts, and the only one nearby who I didn’t see as a relative, I found myself watching her. I bit my lip and brought my thighs tightly together, absently twirling a strand of my long white hair around my finger as I tried to keep myself under control. Jess elbowed me and when I turned to look at her she rolled her eyes and whispered, “Being obvious much? Control yourself, Crystal. Never show that you’re interested, make her work for it. Just be cool, it should come easy for you as a Snow Nymph.”

I frowned and clenched my fists. I was just surprised by her admission and horny dammit, which shouldn’t have been surprising to anyone since I had been fighting with that for almost two full days by this time and had no release yet. I had been half ready to fuck Grundle the Gnome into a coma. I just might have if I hadn’t been so distracted by the excitement of driving Dad’s old Charger, driving down the backroad, and then finding so much snow at the farmhouse.

How could Jessica think that I could possibly be interested in Brianna that way? She should know me better than that. Sure I was growing to like Brianna as I got to know her. She was kind of hot, she could be sweet at times, and she was protecting us but she was also impulsive, reckless, and I was still kind of pissed at her over my bike. I crossed my arms in a huff, not even dignifying my sister’s comment with a reply.

I was fuming so much that I barely noticed my mother asking the half Demon, “And what are your plans now?”

My heart skipped a beat, my eyes widened a bit, and my ears twitched as I leaned forward to listen and Jess elbowed me again. “I told you, don’t be so obvious. You have so much to learn about being a girl,” she whispered.

I crossed my arms under my breasts and turned to glare at my sister as Brianna answered my mother’s latest question. “I’m not sure. I just wanted to get them here safely and I didn’t really think too deeply about what would happen after that. My job is done so I should probably leave. I guess that I could go back to what I was doing before in a different city. I’m not really qualified for much else.”

For some strange reason my heart fell at that and I firmly kept myself from looking at Brianna, snorting indignantly and clenching my fists as I turned away. “Did you misplace your brain when you Manifested?” Jessica hissed in my ear. “I told you not to be so obvious. Geeze, you’ve got it bad.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whispered back, keeping careful control of my voice. “I was just worried because unlike us, she has no place to go now. If she wants to leave anyway, that’s her decision. Why should I give a shit if she decides that she doesn’t want to stick around? It’s not my problem.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and muttered, “You can be so thickheaded sometimes.”

During our exchange, my mother was looking very thoughtful. Suddenly I felt the magic of the truth spell dissipate and Mom turned toward Aunt Merry to ask, “What do you think?”

Merriwynd looked pensive for a moment before nodding her head. “She already knows about your secret, or at the very least suspects, but she seems a good sort and she pulled our asses out of the fire at Mitchell’s place. We could use an extra bouncer since Arand left. I would have to train her to fight without relying on a gun, brute force, or Fire magic, but I was thinking of giving Jessica some more lessons anyway and I could train them together.”

“Wha…” Brianna began to ask in confusion.

“We’re offering you a job and a place to live,” my mother cut her off to explain. “You can handle yourself in a fight and Merry has been after us to hire a second bouncer for a while. You would work and train with her on a schedule that she will determine, and accompany the girls when they go out on their own to ensure their safety. Merry looks just a little too old to be hanging around with a pair of teenage girls all of the time.”

I looked toward the conversation with renewed interest and a smile, my heart pounding as I waited to hear Brianna’s response. “You’re hopeless,” Jessica muttered beside me.

I barely paid attention to my sister as Brianna looked from Aunt Merry to my mother in stunned silence. The look on her face was hopeful, but as if she were waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Ummm… why?” she asked.

My mother smiled. “That counts as the first of the two questions that I promised you. You and the girls are familiar with one another, you seem to get along, and your desire to keep them safe is genuine. Also, despite your difficult childhood and living on the streets, you seem to be a good person and don’t want to see others used or mistreated. I believe that you deserve the opportunity. What is your second question?”

“Are you really a Muse?” the half Demon asked without hesitation. I could tell that the curiosity was killing her.

“Yes. My only elemental alignment is to the Divine element, though being aligned to the Divine allows me to use the magic of the other elements, except for Death, to a limited degree. Any Nymph who is aligned to the Divine element is a Muse, even if it isn’t their primary element,” she explained with a look in my direction. “My current identity is a River Nymph though, which is why I magically alter my hair color every day to what it is now. A Nymph’s hair color is a reflection of their elemental alignment and, just like Snow Nymphs have white hair, Muses usually have golden hair.”

“And you think that if people find out the truth about you that they might try using Crystal and Jessica against you, like that jackass Mitchell and his pals?” Brianna asked with a frown.

“Yes, which is why we have to keep my true nature, and Crystal’s, a secret,” my mother agreed stoically. “Only Jimmy, Grundle, my partner, and those gathered here know what I really am and we must keep Crystal’s dual alignment a secret as well. Though some people might try to go after Crystal just because she’s a Nymph too, it’s rare to find one of us who can spend much time in a city. This is why the girls will need a capable and dedicated bodyguard.”

“I’ll take the job,” Brianna said with a grim expression and a quick glance in my direction. “Your secrets are safe with me, Ma’am.”

“Please, Brianna, call me Tiffani. Now, let’s go inside and introduce you all to Jimmy,” Mom said with a smile. I almost didn’t notice her sigh of relief because I was so happy that Brianna was going to be staying. You know, because I didn’t want her living on the streets, or on the run, or something.

~ * ~

Jimmy was a tall and handsome man of African descent. He was muscular with deep brown eyes, dark chocolate skin, a shaved head, and a well-maintained goatee. I was expecting some old hermit, not a delicious-looking piece of chocolate beefcake like him. I probably would have jumped him right there if my mother hadn’t whispered, “Calm down, Crystal. You’re not going to get anywhere with him, he’s gay.”

I was so disappointed. I really needed to get laid soon. Luckily by this time I was starting to get used to finding guys attractive, so my spike of desire when I first saw Jimmy wasn’t too unexpected, or even unwelcome. The first time that I had started noticing that I was attracted to guys at the hotel in Vancouver I kind of freaked out a bit. Well, I wasn’t just attracted to guys, like all Nymphs I’m now pansexual and that took some getting used to.

After the introductions had been made, Jimmy made sure that we were all comfortable in his living room and then explained, “I’m a psychic and I work with the PDA office in Edmonton. Most of my work consists of what I’m doing for you, helping people to change legal documents or create new identities after Manifesting in unexpected ways. Usually, that includes registering them with the PDA for support and services as well, but in cases like yours that can be dangerous because that change, your former identity, and the reason that the change was required is kept in the client’s PDA file, allowing anyone working with the PDA to access that information.”

After giving us a moment to absorb that information he continued speaking. “In the case of, say… a Muse or an innocent person with a price on their head that could be dangerous. The people who work at the PDA are generally good people but they are people, so there is always the chance of greed or lapses of judgment. So, in cases like that, I use my contacts and skills to create new identities under the table, without registering them with the PDA or doing any of the official paperwork. That way, when you do register with the PDA the only information in your file will be the identity that I’ve given you, and both you and your secrets will be safe.”

With his explanation complete he took a long look at Jessica and asked, “Are your two forms static, or can you change your features? Can you look the same every time you become human?”

Jessica shrugged. “Technically, my bunny form is my real form, so it’s always the same. I don’t really have a set human form, though I play with various looks. I have trouble with my ears, tail, and eye and hair color, but other than those and having to be female I can look however I want. The more often I use a specific look the more comfortable it becomes and the easier it is for me to shift to it without consciously imagining the features I want. I’ve been using this form for about six months except for when I made myself look like Crystal to go clothes shopping for her.”

“So, except for the ears and such, you could make yourself look like Crystal’s twin then?” Jimmy pressed.

“Yeah, it helps that we both have white hair,” my sister replied with another shrug. Then her brow furrowed in concentration for a moment before her facial features began to shift to demonstrate her point. With her ears still covered and her contacts in she looked just like me except for slightly darker blue eyes, though she had kept her body shape the same. “I could have copied her body shape too, but my clothes would have been way too tight in places.”

“Perfect,” Jimmy said with a grin. “I was worried about Tiffani wanting you to be sisters with you looking so close in age but you could easily be twins. How old are you both?”

“We don’t know for sure about Jess, but we think that she’s roughly the same age as me, or maybe a little older, and I recently turned eighteen,” I provided.

“You look sixteen or seventeen but with you both being Fey the PDA should believe that you’re older than you look. I could make you eighteen unless you’d like to be a bit younger,” the handsome psychic said thoughtfully.

“And have to go through an extra year or two of school? No fucking way,” I grumbled. “We just became adults, we don’t want to be kids again.”

With that decision, Jimmy took Brianna and me to another room with a camera where he took pictures of us for our driver’s licenses. He took two of me so he could use one for Jessica’s license as well. You’re not allowed to wear hats and stuff for official government photos and her ears would have been a problem. My ears were easier to cover with my hair fluffed just right.

We spent a few hours getting everything sorted out, and he gave us temporary fake IDs until the real ones could be rushed to us in a few days. Apparently, his government contacts were used to doing this kind of thing for him and the PDA in general. I just stared at my new birth certificate and sighed. I couldn’t believe that Mom spelled Tiffani with an ‘I’ at the end, and our last name was so embarrassing.

Jessica and I were now twins born to Tiffani Cummings, though our eighteenth birthdays wouldn’t be until the first week of January. My new name was Crystal Lumi Cummings and Jess’s was Jessica Marie Cummings. Jess’s name didn’t sound too bad but Mom and I both had names that made us sound like strippers. At least she didn’t have Jimmy spell Crystal with a ‘K‘.

I was curious about my new middle name though. After I asked, Mom told me that it was the perfect name for me. In Finnish it means snow, but the same name in Italian or Spanish means ‘to shine’ and is synonymous with light. I decided that my mother was right, it suited me and I liked it.

The background that Jimmy and Mom came up with was that Mom and our father, who was a Púca, had a messy divorce when we were seven and split up. Mom had moved to Edmonton to start a business with a friend while our father, Richard, had custody of us in Calgary until he died in a tragic apartment fire a week ago. While we were practically identical in appearance, Jessica had taken after our father and Manifested at thirteen while I took after Mom’s side of the family and had only recently Manifested on a ski trip, which was why Jess and I weren’t home to get caught in the fire. It was close-ish to the truth and Jessica was planning on us both practicing a lot together to get into our new ‘roles’.

I had to give Jimmy credit though, he had all of the bases covered. A lot of what he did was changing computer records in government databases or adding new ones but he had put together a complete background for not only us but our fake father as well for us to memorize. There were school records, immunization records, medical histories, and marriage, change of name, and divorce records for Mom. He had even sent an obituary to the Calgary Herald and somehow paid off a coroner with connections to the PDA to ‘identify’ a previously unidentifiable body in a Calgary fire last week as Richard Cummings, father of two.

Jimmy had also been kind enough to create paper trail, including a bill of sale and several false previous owners with registered paperwork of their own, to change the registration for Dad’s old Charger to my new name and address. I would have to go pick up the plates and buy insurance soon though. He was certain that our identities, documents, and even our temporary fake IDs would pass government scrutiny should we encounter the police, need to start a bank account, or register with the PDA. Mom had yet to do the latter but there were reasons that it could be a good idea for all of us.

It turned out that Brianna was going to need a new identity too. Jimmy didn’t have any government contacts or user access in British Columbia so he wouldn’t be able to get in and change any of her records, at least not easily. She was also twenty years old but Mom wanted her to be seventeen or eighteen so that she could go to school with Jessica and me and watch over us there.

I was not happy about having to go to school when Jessica and I were both used to homeschooling but Mom said that this was a private school for Paranormals, where we could all learn to control our abilities and magic in addition to the normal lessons. Brianna was just as unhappy about that prospect as Jessica and I were since she had been forced to drop out of school when she Manifested at fourteen. She was not looking forward to having to study for the entrance exams that we would have to take in January.

She had promised to take the job though so she was determined to do it. At least she didn’t have to remember a whole new life and completely change her name. Jimmy managed to create a similar background to her real life, just in a different city. Brianna’s new identity had just turned eighteen, her mother died when she was a baby so she didn’t know much about her, and she grew up in foster care up until the point that she had Manifested and ran away. Now, after over three years of living on the streets, she had been offered a job and a place to live and was going to be starting school again too.

Jimmy was able to insert her into the provincial foster care records as well as creating her birth certificate and other documents and records but before starting he had suggested that she change either her middle or first name, at the very least. I think that all of us were expecting her to change her first name to Brianna now that she had the chance to essentially start her life over with a name she was comfortable with. To my surprise though, after a long and thoughtful look in my direction, her cheeks flushed and she said, “Let’s go with Melody Alanna Sòng.”

I found myself smiling and my heart fluttered. As much as her playing musical names was starting to get annoying, she did need a new identity and I liked that name. It was pretty, it suited her. While she and Jimmy worked out the details Jessica dragged me off to borrow the only other set of clothes that I had at the moment so she could change into my new twin. I would have happily given her the clothes that I was wearing, mostly because wearing them was driving me crazy, but Mom, who hadn’t let us out of her sight since we arrived, thought it best that we both wore clothes for the drive home.

It was starting to get dark, so as soon as Brianna… err Melody was done with Jimmy we all piled into the Charger with Mom. Mom ran her fingers over the roof of the car before stepping inside and sighed. “Your father was driving this when we first met. I’m glad that you were able to reclaim it, my little snowflake.” She cast a quick illusion to make it look like the car had license plates with proper insurance stickers and then she climbed into the front passenger seat to give me directions while Aunt Merry, Jessica, and Bri… Melody sat in the back. It was a pretty name, but it was going to take a little while before I could get used to calling the half Demon that.

I started the engine and turned the knob on the radio until I reached a radio station. It turned out to be an oldies station and as we drove into the night the sounds of Carry on Wayward Son by Kansas filled the car. It was so ironic, and yet so appropriate, that it brought a smile to my face. I think that Mom felt the same because when she looked at me she was smiling and I thought that I could see tears in her eyes as she said, “Let’s get you girls home.”