The council had gathered and were waiting for me. Two acolytes opened the door, and I smiled brightly at them as I entered the revered hallways.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

Tom, Dick and I, Harry had been best friends since primary school. How we had been teased for our names over the years. We stuck together through middle and high school. We hung out together. Got into trouble together. Somehow Tom always managed to extricate himself and I managed to shield Dick from the worst consequences. In high school we usually triple dated. We also stood together against the bullies. We were unfortunate in that we were considered to be “cute” in a girly way. Unfortunately that also invited some unwanted attention from the gay community. We weren’t. Gay that is.

It’s not a disease
With apologies to Matchbox 20

I found Dad’s keys to his BMW, and I drove up to the Landcaster’s. It was silly to remain in that house when a perfectly serviceable wardrobe was available. I went into Desde…my bedroom and shucked off the horrid robe. How had I allowed myself to stoop so low?

Sighing, I spread cold cream over my face, and moistened then set my hair in rollers. The old motions felt both familiar and strange. I donned one of my black silk robes, then relaxed on the divan where I mixed up an Irish coffee.

Every now and then
The darkness tries to chase me
And my legs are getting tired of running
Ohh, please don't,
Please don't let it get to me
Ohhh, I don't want to give up that easily
But the darkness keeps chasing me, me

“I guess I just don’t understand,” I said, sipping some white wine. We all were a few drinks in and both Desdemonia and Ernest had relaxed a bit more.

“Consider the nature of the Universe. We are only one plane and exist here.” Desdemonia laid out a bony hand. “On top of us, is another dimension but it’s not at exactly the same time. There are dimensions that line up perfectly with our timeline, but there are also some that line up in in a perpendicular fashion.” He held up a hand straight up and down.

Saved By The…….

I was in that strange time, between sleeping and waking. I had the feeling that I had been in a deep and dreamless sleep. A thought struck me.

“Wanda doesn’t want to be my girlfriend, any longer.”

Before she unpacked any more of her stuff, she looked over Jada’s things, including me, but didn’t touch anything — except me. She petted me gently before going back to her side of the room and finishing unpacking.

Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Hammerstein is at the cusp of finishing high school in his hometown of Los Alamos, NM. He has a seemingly ideal life and is blessed with loving parents, a cute baby sister, and great friends. Nicholas is a gifted student and martial artist who has dreams of leaving for college at the end of his senior year. But, living in a world of Emergent humans, he will soon find his life turned upside down as his life and the fate of a kingdom hang in the balance. His future and theirs will be determined by how he navigates the drastic changes in his body and the magical and superpowered Mergent population he joins.

I took a bath in the downstairs bathroom. Usually this was reserved for guests, but since Dad was…gone, and I was stuck in this older woman’s body, I decided to relocate to the guest room. It felt strange being in my old room anyway.

Mom had decked out the guest bathroom with bath bombs, robes, and candles. I filled the tub, dropped in a lavender bath bomb, then lit a few candles. Removing my clothes, I stared into the mirror.

Author's note: I have been asked by several of my readers to continue on with this story. I went through my old documents and found the notes I had made for chapter 2 before I lost all motivation to do anything. I started writing this at the beginning of my deepest depression. I just couldn't focus on anything or find the motivation to do anything. I am in a better place now and I hope that I can complete this story that so many people liked.