None of us was particularly looking forward to getting poked and prodded but I thought it best to save myself some frayed nerves and get it over with. I’m not sure if Jess was thinking along the same lines or if she was trying to spare me and show me it wouldn’t be so bad but we both ended up saying, “I’ll go,” at the same time, causing both Carmen and her mother to laugh. Melody just gave us a strange look and shook her head, trying not to smile.

“Well, let’s go in alphabetical order and start with Crystal then,” Dr. Diaz offered once she had finished laughing. Then she pointed to the room across the hall from her dorm room and told me, “You can go right in and undress Crystal. There are some paper gowns for you to change into, or if you feel more comfortable you can go without. We have all kinds here, and I know that Nymphs, Huldra, and Succubae are more comfortable naked, so things are a little more relaxed than at my practice.”

I nodded, tried to swallow the lump of fear in my throat, and headed into the room that Carmen’s mother had indicated. Inside was a fairly standard-looking examination room with an examination table covered in a paper sheet, various medical tools laid out on a countertop, a supply cabinet, and a door that led to the room’s bathroom. There was also a curtain along the back that hid the rear of the large room. I could feel Divine magic coming from behind that curtain and it piqued my curiosity as I shed my clothes.

I didn’t bother with the gown. I would be more than happy to be without clothes, and the anxiety they caused me, during my examination. Besides, it wasn’t like she wasn’t going to be seeing everything anyway if this was a full physical. So when Dr. Diaz walked in a few minutes later I was sitting naked on the exam table waiting for her.

“So, Crystal, do you have any questions or concerns before we begin?” she asked.

I asked the only question that came to mind at the moment. “Ummm… what’s behind the curtain?”

Dr. Diaz laughed and looked toward the curtain in question. “I meant about your health, but that is a fair question. It’s an emergency operating room, and it’s kept sterile with Divine magic. I’m not a surgeon but I do have a few who work with Paranormal patients on call if anything happens to any of you that I can’t heal or I’m not qualified to patch up.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said thoughtfully as I tried not to freak out about what was coming.

The doctor reached over to put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “You can relax Crystal, your mother let me in on the real story. She thought that I should know as your doctor, and I won’t be telling anyone else. Doctor-patient confidentiality and all that.”

I let go of a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in relief. “Umm… thanks, it’s a little embarrassing and awkward.”

“I would imagine so, Crystal. You have a lot of adjustments to make and there’s a lot about your new self that you’ll need to get used to. Has anyone talked to you about what you can expect?” Dr. Diaz asked with a concerned look.

“Yeah, I know all about the allergies and compulsions and stuff,” I quickly affirmed.

“That’s not exactly what I meant, Crystal. Has anyone talked to you about sex and what that means for your new body?”

I felt my face turning that bright red again. “Well, yeah, I know that as a Nymph I’m going to be craving sex pretty much constantly.”

Apparently, that wasn’t what she meant either as what followed was a very long birds and bees type talk as it applied to me now. It was the most humiliating, uncomfortable, and embarrassing long awkward moment in my life, though it didn’t stay in the top spot long. That crown soon belonged to the physical that followed that lecture. I won’t bore you with the details of that since she checked about everything that my old doctor would have and a few things that I’d never needed to be checked before. I will tell you that the metal monstrosity that she used to check between my legs was uncomfortable on so many levels. At least it wasn’t cold, but that could have just been because I don’t feel the cold.

Once Dr. Diaz had finished the exam and pronounced me to be in seemingly perfect health she told me, “You can probably expect to get your first period within the next few weeks and I want you to get this prescription filled while you’re out this afternoon. As sexually active as Nymphs are I want you on birth control starting today, even if you don’t plan on having sex. Your urges could become too much to resist and it could happen suddenly. You should also use condoms whenever possible. I’m not worried about you catching any STDs I can get rid of those with purification spells, I can’t magic away an unexpected pregnancy though so I want you taking precautions.”

“Yes Ma’am,” I mumbled, wishing that I could turn invisible again. It would seem that I wasn’t panicked enough though and it probably wouldn’t have stopped the serious look she was giving me anyway.

“You’ll be fine, Crystal. If you need any advice or have any questions about anything, my door is always open. Now, I’ll let you get dressed and then we can send your sister in,” Dr. Diaz said before leaving me alone in the room.

While Jessica and Melody were left to Dr. Diaz’s tender mercies Carmen guided me back down the hall but instead of taking me to the common room to wait like I figured she was going to she stopped to knock on one of the doors. The door was answered several minutes later by Rhissa, who was wearing only a satin bathrobe. It looked like the pretty blonde Huldra had put it on in a hurry but she smiled when she opened the door. “What can I do for you, Carmen?” Then she noticed me. “Oh! Hey, cousin! I was hoping that we’d get a chance to talk away from the chaos that is breakfast here.”

“Cousin?” I asked, my eyebrows rising in interest.

Carmen apparently had a purpose in mind though so she quickly answered Rhissa’s question. “Hey, Rhiss, since you offered to take the twins and Melody shopping today, I thought I’d leave Crystal with you. Mom is still looking over the others but Jessica mentioned doing something with Crystal’s hair since it grew quite a bit when she Manifested.”

That was an understatement, my hair was thick, wavy, and down to the middle of my thighs and it was constantly getting in the way. I was used to having really short hair and, though I liked how pretty long hair made me look, having it that long was a pain in the ass unless it was braided like it was at the moment, and even then it felt heavy. The Huldra turned her smile on me and nodded, “That is a bit much, Crystal. Come on in and we can get to know each other a bit while I get ready. I know the best hairdresser in town for Paranormals and some of the best clothing stores for us Fey types too.”

“I’ll leave them in your hands then, Rhiss,” Carmen said with a nod. “I’d go with all of you but I promised Sorcha that we could take Ashe out for some exercise today, and we’re two of the only people she will let get physical with her. I’ll see all of you when you get back.”

With that, Carmen left and Rhissa practically dragged me into her room. “So, you only Manifested recently? A bit of a late bloomer, huh? Ice isn’t really a common element for Nymph’s though so it’s no surprise. At least Huldras are all aligned to Earth so we Manifest pretty early. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to your new self soon.” She hardly gave me a chance to get a word in edgewise as she chattered along.

She stripped out of her robe with no shame whatsoever and then started to look for something to wear. Except for her cow-like tail swishing behind her playfully she looked very human and had a very nice body, though I couldn’t help but wonder if she was taking her time so I could get a good look. She had long sexy legs, wide well-rounded hips, a perfect heart-shaped bottom, a slender waist, large firm breasts, and as I had noticed at breakfast, her face was as pretty as my own.

Between her taking her time and the very familiar scent in the room, one that had filled my own room that very morning, I found myself biting my lip and clamping my thighs tightly together from the fast-growing flames of desire being fanned within my loins. I tried to focus my mind on something else, anything else, and jumped on her earlier greeting. “So… uhh… why’d you call me cousin, Rhissa?” I asked as I carefully tried to control my breathing.

Rhissa looked over her shoulder from where she was bent over her dresser looking through her panties thoughtfully. Oh my God, I was so damn horny and I was wondering if she was intentionally teasing me or just that open as she pulled a bit of hair aside to reveal a pointed ear and replied, “Well we’re not really sisters yet but the main reason is that Huldras are an offshoot of the Nymph species, didn’t you know that? We have tails, we’re all aligned to Earth, and we don’t share your compulsion to be close to our element, but everything else is basically the same. We have the same issues and needs.”

The way that she smiled and winked as she stressed the last word made me flush. “You are evil,” I told her as she finally slipped into her panties and looked for a bra to go with it.

To my surprise, she came over and hugged me and I thought that my nipples were going to explode out of my bra and dress as her breasts pressed against mine and she admitted, “Maybe a little. But I also wanted to make sure you can restrain yourself before I take you out in public. I know how hard it can be after you first Manifest and while you are still getting used to your new nature and the constant need for sex. I didn’t have someone to watch over me and ended up doing something stupid, so I don’t want the same thing happening to you. You should be fine though, at least for short outings. I’d recommend trying to take the edge off whenever you can though, and if you ever need me then my door is always open, Cuz.”

“Umm… thanks, Rhiss,” I managed to say without sounding too much like an obscene phone call. “Why are you taking us shopping though? I would have thought Mom and Aunt Merry would be doing that.”

“They thought that you and Jessica might be more comfortable shopping with someone closer to your own age,” she admitted as she let me go and started putting her bra on. “I only turned nineteen in November so we’re pretty close in age. Plus, it’ll give us time to get to know one another better since when Tiffani and Pandora get married you and Jessica will technically be my sisters.”

I stared at her as she reached back to fasten her bra straps, my desire now somewhat lessened by the shock and confusion. “What do you mean we’ll be sisters?”

The Huldra shrugged as she stepped into an ankle-length black cotton skirt and offered, “Pandora is my adoptive mother. I never knew who my father was and, with my mother being a Huldra too, I guess it could have been anyone. My mother had no living relatives, so when she died when I was eleven I got put into foster care. The family I was living with were normies and when I Manifested when I was thirteen they didn’t take it well. They hid me away and wanted to have my tail surgically removed but I ran away.”

I frowned and nodded. “Melody had to run away from her foster parents when she manifested too.”

“That’s a danger of being a kid of a Paranormal who isn’t registered with the PDA. If my mother were registered and they knew about her then the PDA would have gotten involved and made sure I was placed with people who were Paranormals, or at least familiar with them,” Rhissa said with a sigh.

“So, what happened?” I asked, though not sure if I should have, as she pulled an emerald silk blouse over her head and then straightened her hair.

Rhissa had a pained look on her face and a haunted look in her deep brown eyes as she replied, “By the time I ran away I was going near-crazy from the need to have sex and I fell in with the wrong crowd, a Paranormal street gang called the Nightkin. They whored me out and I didn’t even know that I had gotten pregnant until I miscarried. It broke me, and I hated myself. I was fourteen and addicted to more than just sex when Pandora found me and took me in. She and your mom helped me come to terms with who and what I am, taught me self-control, got me off the drugs, started me back in school, and Pandora officially adopted me when I was sixteen. When I turned eighteen they let me start working at the club.”

I found myself unable to resist the urge to hug her and wrapped her up in my arms, squeezing her tight. I didn’t know what to say though. Finally, she was the one who broke the silence as she hugged me back. “That’s why I don’t want you going out unless you can handle it and why I’m going to keep an eye on you while we’re out, Crystal. I don’t want you repeating my mistakes. Now, are you going to be ready to go out when the others are ready, or do you need some alone time first?”

“I… I think I’m good,” I told her honestly. To be fair, her story had killed my desire for sex for the moment and I thought it would be a long time before I was ready to give in to my urges with someone other than myself or maybe Melody. When that thought popped into my head I once again found myself flushing in embarrassment. “Yeah, I’m good to go, do you have a car though? I can’t really drive mine legally yet.”

As much as I wanted to I couldn’t drive the Charger again until I got proper Alberta plates for it and I couldn’t do that until I could take the new ownership and registration papers to the government offices the next day. They would be closed today since it was Sunday. I could buy the insurance for it while we were out, but I figured that I might as well wait for Monday to get winter tires and a security system installed. That meant that we only really needed to concentrate on buying clothes and necessities while we were out today.

“I have one but it only seats two,” Rhissa said before shrugging. “I’m sure our mothers won’t mind if we use the truck though. It’s one of those crew cabs with a canopy, we use it to get stuff for the club that our suppliers don’t carry or stuff that’s easier to get at the source like Lana’s sewing stuff. It’s hard to find good Paranormal suppliers for businesses like this. The kitchen has no problems since there are a lot of Paranormal restaurants and cafes but we only recently found a good place to order our alcohol from. Most clubs like this for Paranormals are pretty sleazy and operate illegally but we’re a high-class place and the business is registered with the PDA so that everything is above board.”

“So, that’s why we’re not allowed in the club during business hours?” I guessed.

“Yup,” she agreed as she led me to the door. “When you’re eighteen you can, but not until then or we could lose our license. Once you’re of age you could choose to work in the club part-time until you finish school. You don’t have to be an entertainer like me, there’s always room for kitchen help, wait staff, or bartenders. If you do want to do what our moms and I do, one of us would be happy to teach you what you’ll need to know. It’s a good gig for our kind, we get paid to get naked, we’re naturally graceful, and we have the option of having sex in a safe environment and getting paid for that too.”

We stepped out in the hallway but we hadn’t been talking for long so Melody was still waiting down the hall for Dr. Diaz to finish with my sister. “I… umm… don’t know about that. I’ll admit, a lot about that sounds good and I probably wouldn’t have even considered that before Manifesting. It kinda feels like I’d be giving in to the Nymph stereotype though. Taking off my clothes, dancing, and having sex for money isn’t exactly what I pictured myself doing with my life. I’m not really even comfortable living here knowing what goes on downstairs,” I admitted to Rhissa as I looked at the floor.

“You need to let go of those hang-ups and preconceptions about what we do, Crystal. You’re thinking like a human,” the pretty blonde Huldra advised as she led me down the hallway. “You’re a Nymph now. Like me, your Mom, Pandora, and half the entertainers here you have needs and talents. Speaking for myself, I’m very good at what I do and I feel very fulfilled doing it.”

Seeing the look of doubt on my face she stopped, put a hand on my shoulder, and looked me right in the eyes sympathetically as she said, “Crystal, there really aren’t many regular jobs that girls like us can handle comfortably; working all day in clothes, fighting our urges, and being around a bunch of judgmental normies while wanting to get naked and give in to those urges would drive you crazy and you probably know it as well as I do.”

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, she was right. The few times that I had spent among large groups of normies I had just wanted to get naked and have sex the whole time and having to do that for some minimum wage job would leave me miserable, and probably too distracted to do the job well. The Dicken sisters had told me that the only time they actually had to wear clothes in the club was while on stage, and that was only to take them off. That was very appealing, given the anxiety that wearing clothes caused me. There was nothing saying that I had to offer sex either, but I would probably enjoy it once I got used to the idea.

The last remnant of the old Seth in my head was screaming out that the whole idea was wrong and dirty. A stripper and a whore, of all things. I was starting to realize that the old me was a prude though, and that just didn’t mesh well with my Nymph nature. This might be the last profession I would have ever thought of taking up while I was still Seth, and I probably wouldn’t have even considered it a possibility before my morning exercise, but then I had never given any real thought to my future before. Sure, I thought maybe I could work on cars, but nothing was stopping me from pursuing that in my spare time. I was torn as I actually considered the possibility.

Rhissa seemed to understand, or at least suspect the turmoil in my mind. She reached out to hug me again and when she let go she advised, “What you do for a living doesn’t have to define you. Stop focusing on how other people might view being an adult entertainer as a bad thing and start thinking about how it could be a good thing for you. Sure, some people see what we do as immoral but those same people would probably want to kill us just for being different, so why should what they think matter? What other people think isn’t important only how you feel about yourself at the end of the day, and nobody who comes into this building is going to look down on you for doing something that you enjoy and have a gift for.”

“So, you think that I should do it?” I said, still conflicted.

She shook her head and started us down the hall again. “No, Crystal. I think it’s a good option for you but you need to decide what you want to do for yourself, just like I did. All that I’m saying is, don’t discount the possibility just because you’ve been given a negative impression of what we do, find out for yourself. It would be foolish to turn away from something that could be fun and make you happy because some people see it as wrong. We’re a legal club, staffed by good and honest people, and we all take care of one another. Anyone who thinks that’s wrong needs to take their head out of their ass.”

I sighed in resignation as I turned to look at her, feeling like I was in a catch-22. “Okay I see your points, but the only way to really find out for myself would be to do it.”

“Not necessarily,” Rhissa said with a shake of her head. “Once you’re eighteen you can come to watch some of the shows and get a feel for what we do. Sex you can experience for yourself, so long as you’re responsible about it. And if you’re interested in finding out whether you’d be good at dancing and enjoy it, you can always ask one of us for dancing and pole dancing lessons while the club is closed. You wouldn’t even need to be eighteen for that and it’s really good exercise. There’s no reason for you to commit to doing anything unless you feel like it would be a good fit for you.”

She was right, and I felt kind of stupid for not seeing that before as I said, “You win, I’m still a little unsure about all of this but I’ll try to be open-minded about it, even if I decide that it’s not the right career for me.”

“That’s all any of us can or will ask, Crystal,” she said, putting an arm around me as we entered the common room where Mom, Pandora, and Sukoha were still watching TV. Then she called out, “Hey, Mom! Can we use the truck when I take the girls shopping? Crystal shouldn’t use her car yet and with as much clothes and stuff as they’re going to need we could probably use the space.”

Mom and Pandora both looked up and the latter quickly nodded. “The keys are where they usually are, Rhissa. Remember that Merriwynd hasn’t had time to start training Melody yet though, so we want you Jessica, and Crystal all carrying para-mace. We thought of getting someone to make you all pendants to cast glamours over you but that much active Divine magic on a group of four girls would just attract more attention from other Paranormals so you’ll be better off using more mundane ways to hide your non-human features.” I couldn’t help but notice her glance at my mother when she mentioned getting someone to make glamour pendants.

“Stay together and at the mall, and don’t go anywhere else, we don’t want any snatchers trying to grab you and Crystal for a quick sale to the Chimera Syndicate or some seedy whorehouse in the Caverns if they figure out what you are. We might never get you back,” my mother added with a concerned frown. It wasn’t hard to see that as much as she wanted to not crowd us, she was worried about our safety.

I knew what para-mace was, of course, it’s basically a type of pepper spray that contains garlic, vervain, sea salt, silver nitrate, holy water, and wolfsbane, and it’s enchanted with Divine magic to give it a little extra punch. It might not kill or cause permanent harm but it’s extremely painful for any of the nastier Paranormals aligned to Death. I also had a general idea of what the Chimera Syndicate was since Melody had enlightened us and I wanted nothing to do with them. However, I had no idea what or where the Caverns were. “Ummm… what are the Caverns?” I asked uncertainly, not liking at all the venomous way that my mother had spat out that name.

“It’s where Mom found me,” Rhissa admitted. “The Caverns is an underground city under the heart of downtown Edmonton, built by Goblins. The really nasty Paranormals and criminals live there, and the gangs and the Chimera Syndicate rule. It is not a place that you want to visit. We’ll be careful and stay in public places.”

“See that you do,” Pandora said with a grim nod as she searched her purse and then handed Rhissa a gold-colored credit card. “Use the card for any purchases over fifty dollars. Crystal, don’t take too much of that stash of cash that Merriwynd mentioned with you, maybe a stack of twenties each. We’re going to see about getting a friend of ours to take that cash and write you checks to open bank accounts with tomorrow. Opening accounts or shopping with that much cash would draw too much attention to you. Dannick might be a scoundrel, but he’s an honest one and he’s done this kind of thing for us before.”

I made a mental note to wait until the accounts could be opened to buy my car insurance as I said, “It sounds like you have a lot of friends like that. Melody had twenty thousand in cash of her own saved up, could this Dannick do the same for her?”

“Of course, my little snowflake,” Mom said, making me flush in embarrassment.

“Moooom!” Wait, why was that in stereo? Oh, it seemed that Jessica had chosen that moment to show up. She smirked at me and teased, “At least it’s not me getting the cutesy pet name and being embarrassed, that shade of red is cute on you though.”

I tried to give my sister a dirty look, but I was probably too pink-cheeked to make myself look at all threatening as I warned, “That can be arranged, Sis. Just wait until the next time I catch you in bunny form. I will name you George, and I will hug you, and pet you, and squeeze…”

“Okay, stop. I get it. That got old when we were like fourteen and it gives me the heebee jeebees when you do that and stroke my fur the wrong way,” the Púca grumbled, cutting me off. I returned her smirk from earlier, satisfied that I had won this round.

“Snowflake, Honey-bunny, you should both get ready to go. Remember that Rhissa and Melody are in charge, so don’t leave their side for any reason and stay in public places.” Mom’s voice was teasing at first but there was definite concern written all over her face as she stood up to wrap Jessica and me both up in a big hug as we both once again gave an exaggerated ‘Mooooom’ in unison. Still, as embarrassing as these new pet names were, it was nice to know that she cared and was worried for our safety.

Twenty minutes later when Dr. Diaz had finally set Melody free we were ready to go and just had to give Melody a stack of twenties to add to her massive purse, to join whatever other items she stored there to be prepared for anything. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know what half the stuff she kept in there was, given her former occupation. We just needed to wait on her since the rest of us were ready to go.

Jessica and I had changed out of our overly sexy and possibly age-inappropriate dresses into our clothes from the day before to blend in better and both had our ears carefully hidden, mine under my powder blue beanie and Jessica’s under her black beanie and the hood of one of her oversized hoodies. The hoodie would have been a bit tight in the chest but she kept it unzipped and aside from having the hood it was also long enough in the back to cover the slight bulge of her cottontail in her jeans since the hem went as far as her thighs. She also had her contacts in, though she planned on looking for a lighter blue pair to match my eye color while we were out.

Rhissa had her tail hidden by her long skirt of course, and she was wearing a wool winter cap that covered her ears nicely. She also wore a bulky winter coat that she planned to shed when we hit the mall, but she wanted us to think about winter jackets and stuff too. I didn’t really need one, but it would make for good camouflage since, even though I couldn’t feel it, winter in Edmonton is supposed to be cold. For the moment I wore the leather jacket that Jessica had gotten me for our birthday.

Soon we were all piling into the white extended cab truck and ready to go. Inside our purses, Jessica, Rhissa, and I all carried para-mace cans and a large stack of twenty-dollar bills. The moment that we left the illusion that encased Pandora’s Box, Melody was on alert, her eyes searching everywhere for possible threats. In her cute little Chinese human form, it was difficult to remember that she had grown up on the streets and used to kill people for a living. I felt safe with her though as we shared the back seat, she wrapped her arm protectively around me, and we drove off toward what would be a very interesting shopping trip.