Until recently, Morgan was a perfectly normal high schooler, enjoying an ordinary life with his family and friends, until he discovered he possessed mysterious powers which he doesn't always use responsibly.
His life changes forever when he meets a mysterious woman who tells him what he doesn't want to believe: he isn't who he always thought he was...

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Author's note: Here is my first contribution to Enemyoffun's wonderful DarkRealm Universe, and my first story on this site. The story takes place a few months before Life is Precious. I hope this story will be a worthy addition.
Many thanks to Wren Erendae Phoenix for proof reading and editing this chapter. Have a good read!

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Chapter 1: The Changeling

“How about this one?” I asked Christopher, looking at the girl who just entered the pizza parlor.

“She’s pretty, I suppose. But Morgan, I already told you that I’m not looking for another girlfriend right now. Gillian and I just broke up just two days ago!”

“And you’ve been moping ever since! C’mon, I always told you that you were too good for her anyway. “

“Don’t talk about Gillian that way, please.”

“I’m just saying you shouldn’t let yourself feel so bad over that girl. She’s not yet able to appreciate what you have to give, except for your money, I mean.”

“Dude, I’m warning you…” Christopher said in a threatening tone. Of course, it was more funny than scary. Christopher is a small, scrawny guy, with big soulful blue eyes and shoulder length brown hair. Even angry he looked about as dangerous as an irate kitten.

“Alright, no more badmouthing Gillian, I get it. How about this one? “I asked indicating another passing girl.

“Just let it go, Morgan” Ethan told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I stared at his hand until he removed it. Ethan was a good friend, but I could never stand being touched by another guy apart from my father, my brother and Christopher, but again, he had been my best friend since the age of six. It was one my numerous oddities and it was far from being the worst. I had no problem initiating contact with a guy, but if one touched me, it raised my hackles.

Ethan removed his hand with an apologetic look. He knew me well enough to know about this peculiarity and he didn’t mind it. Ethan is Mister Perfect. He’s smart, kind, tall, handsome, athletic, with dark brown skin and close cropped black hair. He’s a true chick magnet, but most of the time he was completely oblivious to their affections.

My friends and I were sitting at the same table at Mario’s, watching the people passing by, and trying to cheer up Christopher a little. His girlfriend had just dumped him for the guy she’d been cheating on him with and the poor guy was devastated.

“I think Morgan’s kinda right, “Mandy intervened, “the best way to forget Gillian is to find yourself a new girlfriend. I do it all the time, with my boyfriends.”

Mandy is 5’9’’, has gorgeous grey eyes, perfect skin, wavy chestnut hair, and is one of the most popular girls at school. She’s not a bad person, but she doesn’t try to spare other people’s feelings and can be cruel when the mood strikes her.

“It’s not the same. You’re never the one getting dumped.” Christopher answered.

“Of course, I don’t get dumped. Who do you think I am? Being dumped is for losers.” Mandy retorted.

See? No consideration for other people’s feelings.

“Hush, Kitten, we’re trying to help Christopher feel better, not kick him while he’s down.” I said, taking her hand and kissing her fingers.

Mandy pursed her lips, rolled her eyes, but left her hand in mine.

“And shamelessly flirting with Mandy will help Christopher how exactly? “ Anna asked me.

I smiled at her.

Anna was my other best friend. She was an almost evanescent little thing, with wide green eyes, long black hair usually kept in a tight bun, adorable dimples on her cheeks, and the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. She was kind, smart, pretty and brave, but also way to naíve and trusting. We went out for a few months, but for various reasons, she decided that she preferred to be my friend rather than my girlfriend. At the time it broke my heart, but in the end the only thing that really changed in our relationship was the frequency and nature of our physical contacts.

“Mandy is kind enough to help me support the heartbreak of seeing you sitting by Christopher’s side rather than my own. I’m just showing how grateful I am.”

“You know she just wanted to sit near Ethan, right?”

“Is it true, Mandy? You do realize that Ethan wouldn’t know what to do with you even if you drew him a diagram, right?”

“Hey!” Ethan protested.

I saw Christopher’s lips twitch upward. Good.

“C’mon boy scout. You know it’s true. Mandy is just too much for you to handle. She’d eat you up alive.”

“You bet I would,” Mandy confirmed proudly, snuggling against Ethan who was sitting on the other side of her from me.

“Could we go back to comforting Christopher, please?” Ethan asked, suddenly flustered as he tried in vain to put some distance between Mandy and himself.

Mandy had been after poor Ethan for two years now, but the more she pursued him, the more he ran away. I thought it was hilarious. Mandy couldn’t seem to realize that it was her very forwardness that terrified Ethan. He was more used to girls arraying themselves in line and waiting to be picked like flowers, not that he even noticed most of them.

“Hmm, guys? Don’t look, but I think Gillian is coming this way. Steve Rowe is with her.” Carol intervened.

Carol was Mandy’s cousin, a cute, small blonde girl with sparkly blue eyes, an easy smile and perky attitude. She was the nicest, kindest person I knew, and she had a talent for bringing other people’s kindness to the fore. Even Mandy was nicer around her.

“Gillian? Where?” Mandy asked, looking around in a less than discrete fashion.

Christopher’s shoulder drooped, his gaze dropped and his slight smile disappeared instantly. Damn.

I spotted Gillian clinging to the arm of Steve, a member of the basketball team, like Ethan. Unlike Ethan, Steve was a moron, and always had been. When we were younger, he and some of his friends used to bully Christopher, while I used to beat them up every time I caught them at it.

“What a bitch,” Mandy growled, “I only dumped Steve two weeks ago! I can’t believe she already got her claws in him!”

We all looked at her, our expressions going from incredulous to shock.

“What? Why are you all looking at me again?”

“No reason,” I sighed. She wouldn’t have understood even if we explained anyway. “We should probably go before they come this way. I’m beginning to wonder if Steve isn’t dating Gillian just to make Mandy jealous. If that’s the case they’re going to come here, he’s going to say something stupid and I’m going to have to break his two arms.”

Mandy perked up at the idea. She hugged my arm and purred:

“What would be wrong with that? He totally deserves it anyway. Ouch! Bitch!”

Mandy released my arm to rub her shin, while Carol glared at her. Even with the glare, she looked adorable.

“We’re leaving. Now. Come on Chris, get up.” Anna said.

Everybody got up, Anna and Carol each took hold one of Christopher’s arm, Mandy wrapped herself around Ethan’s arm before he could put me between them, and we set to leave the pizzeria.

Unfortunately, Steve spotted us at that moment, and began to make his way toward us, Gillian clinging to his arm. Steve had a stupid grin plastered on his face, while Gillian merely looked smug.

I wondered what kind of pleasure they took hurting Christopher’s feeling like this. He’d never done anything to them, and he’d treated Gillian like a princess while they were together.

My hands closed into fists, and I fixed Steve intently as he walked toward us, wishing something horrible would happen to him right this moment.

And it happened. I felt something falling into place in my head, a tingling sensation in my hands, and suddenly, Steve’s pants fell on his ankles in the middle of the pizza parlor. His feet entangled themselves in the fallen garment; he stumbled and fell on his face, in the most ridiculous way. Suddenly the pizzeria had grown quiet, and it seemed like everybody close enough to see the scene had stopped in their tracks to watch. Then a laughter filled that silence as Mandy began to giggle uncontrollably, quickly followed by all the other customers. Steve tried to get back up, but he kept stumbling because of his pants; Gillian watched him with a horrified expression. Such an easy target.

“Hey, Gillian! The next time you finish playing with Steve, remind him to zip his pants back up!”

Okay, I know it was mean. But I thought seeing Gillian’s face go red and her eyes tear up in shame was totally worth lowering myself to this level. Yes, I can be a pretty horrible person.

For a moment, Gillian looked like she was going to pounce on me, but then she merely turned tail and ran in the opposite direction, followed by the laughter of the crowd. Damn. Now I felt bad for her.

As I watched her go, I noticed a girl, no, a woman with blonde hair and cold grey eyes, sitting alone and looking intently at me, her face showing no trace of amusement. She felt familiar, as if I’d seen her somewhere before. Perhaps a parent or friend of Gillian? I lowered my gaze, feeling a bit ashamed.

Anna gave me a disappointed look.

“That was a low blow. She was already embarrassed enough without you calling her out like that.”

“Are you kidding? The bitch totally deserved it” Mandy contradicted, “Personally, I’d have been much meaner if I hadn’t been laughing too much to be able to talk.”

Emotions warred on Christopher’s face, sadness, compassion, anger. Not a hint of schadenfreude. That guy was way too nice for his own good. Still I did what I had to do. Steve’s anger would now be directed at me, making his taking his frustration and rage on Chris less likely.

“Guys, what do you think happened to Steve pants? That was an incredible coincidence, him just losing his pants and falling on his face at just this moment.” Anna remarked.

“Who cares? That was hilarious!” Mandy intervened.

Anna rolled her eyes.

“Will you still find it funny when Steve and his pals come for Chris and Morgan to avenge his wounded pride?“

“Oh. Well, I’m sure Ethan can talk them down, can’t he?”

“Me? I’ll see what I can do, but don’t expect a miracle. Steve is not known for his listening skills.”

I listened distractedly to their conversation as we made our way to Ethan’s car.

**********************************************************************************
After leaving the pizza parlor, we went back to Christopher’s house and stayed with him for a while, before going back home. He was doing a little better when we left him, but of course it was going to take more time before he would be back to his usual cheerful self.

All in all, things could have been worse.

I decided to walk home, while Ethan drove the girls back home. It would give me some time to think about the recent events.

Humiliating Steve like this had been a mistake, one whose consequences I would have to deal with. I couldn’t let my friend be inconvenienced by my errors. Not that I didn’t have my own problems to deal with at the moment.

As usual, I was the first to come back. My brother, Jason, spent most of his free time after his classes hanging out at the Guardian with his friends, my sister had her piano lessons, and my parents worked late. So I spent most of my evenings alone at home. Like most days, I went straight to the kitchen to prepare dinner before the rest of the family came back. I liked to cook. It helped me take my mind off things, and I loved being complimented on my cooking. Carrie, my sister, was a vegetarian, and my mother was on a diet, so I prepared a green salad for the both of them, while I made lasagna and meat sauce for the rest of us.

Jason arrived a few minutes later, and we spent half a hour playing video games together until Carrie came back from her piano lesson. We ate together without waiting for our parents. They wouldn’t be home before 9 PM, and we were too hungry to wait that late. Carrie insisted that each of us told about our day, so I told them about what happened at Mario’s, minus my part in Steve’s misadventure, of course. Jason told us about his new girlfriend from that weird sorority which Carrie said was full of creepy girls, and she told us about this girl from the same sorority as Jason’s girlfriend that she had caught flirting with her boyfriend. Now we understood why she didn’t like those Delta Beta Zeta people. Jason teased her mercilessly, while I argued with her that her boyfriend was just as much to blame than the girl. A typical evening after such a weird day.

Afterwards, I went to my room to study. Unfortunately, I really wasn’t in the mood. Usually cooking has a calming effect on me, but today it didn’t work.

Lying on my back on the bed, looking at the ceiling, I kept thinking about what happened earlier at Mario’s.

A month ago, I’d discovered I possessed some mysterious abilities. I had no idea what they were, exactly, but I found I could change the world around me in minor ways, like I did earlier that day when I made Steve’s pants fall off. I had no idea where these abilities came from, but I loved them. I couldn’t do anything big, at least not yet, but I’d been practicing, and I was getting better. I could make flowers bloom or wilt, change an object’s color, or move small ones by telekinesis. Every day I discovered a new aspect of these abilities. I’d also discovered that their use had a cost. Each time I used them, my own body changed in some way, then the change reversed itself after a few hours.

Once my eyes changed color, another time, my hair grew to reach down to my butt.

I looked at my hands. They were smaller and more slender than they’d been before I caused Steve pants to fall off. Damn it. Those secondary effects were annoying, but fortunately they were temporary. My siblings didn’t seem to have noticed them, which was fortunate. I don’t know how I would have explained that.

“Does it happen often?” a voice asked just behind me.

Surprised, I sat down and turned, to see the woman whose gaze I’d crossed after calling out Gillian, sitting on a chair near my bed.

“Who are you? What the hell are you doing here?” I shouted.

With the noise I’d made, I hoped my brother would hear and come to see what was happening. I wasn’t the kind of person who got scared easily, and when I did, the fear quickly turned to anger. But for some reason, I could feel that something was wrong with this woman, and I’m not ashamed to see that I was not feeing particularly brave at the moment.

“Does your body often change when you use your magic?” she asked again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. Now get out before I call the police,” I said, rising from the bed slowly, careful not to make any sudden movement that might make the crazy lady get violent and pull a gun or something.

“Stop.”

A single word, but the command it carried was so compelling, so powerful that not only did I stop moving, I also stopped breathing. Around me, the world itself seemed to have stopped moving. And suddenly the surroundings changed completely. My room and everything in it had disappeared, replaced by a small clearing in what appeared to be the middle of the thickest forest I’d ever seen.

Goodness. What did that mean? Who was this woman? Where were we? My heart beat so fast and so hard I thought it was going to hammer its way out of my chest. I was terrified.

“Breathe, “Ordered the woman, “and answer my question: does your body usually change when you’re using magic?”

I tried to think of a way to get of this ridiculous situation. Perhaps if I played along and answered her questions, she’d let me go?

“Magic? I always thought it was some kind of psychic powers…yes, there always seems to be some sort of physical change when I use my gifts. But it doesn’t usually last more than a few hours.”

“How long have you been able to use magic?”

“The first time was a month ago. I made my mom’s roses bloom while watering them.”

The woman smiled, or at least, her lips curved upward, but her eyes remained cold as she looked at me.

“I see. You should be careful in the use of your magic, at least if you intend to conserve the shape you are wearing now for a while longer.”

“What do you mean, the form I’m wearing now?”

“Your awakening magic is interfering with the glamour that hides your true shape. The more you use it, the weaker the glamour becomes. Soon, it will fade completely, and your true self will be revealed for all to see. This is… unusual. You should not be able to use magic so soon, not until the glamour dissipates on its own, in your 18th year. “

The woman sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You are going to be trouble, aren’t you? Powerful, willful, and rash. You have barely begun to awaken to your true self and you are already giving me a headache.”

“Err, sorry? But, who are you, and what do you want with me?”

The woman gave me long, analytic stare, examining me as if I was some rare bug she’d just stepped on.

“I am Lena. If we ever meet in public, this is how you will call me. Otherwise you will call me Princess Lena, or your Highness.”

“What? Who the heck do you think you are?” I spouted without thinking. Seriously, one day my mouth was going to get me in trouble.

“Willful and rash,” Lena repeated, shaking her head slowly, as if disappointed, “I really did not need that. Stop breathing. “

Once again, my lungs stopped functioning, and I found myself in apnea.

“Child, I hold your life in my hands, you should be smart enough to know that angering me now is a bad idea. Or are you really that stupid? With your magic half awakened like this, you are going to attract things you have no chance to defend yourself against. I am to keep you safe until the day of your 18th birthday, but I fear that you may make this difficult. I do not enjoy babysitting, child. So if you make my work more difficult than it has to be by your own stupidity, I will make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?”

I nodded frantically. I was suffocating. My lungs were burning and I could see little dots of light dancing before my eyes.

“Breathe.” Lena ordered.

I breathed deeply, gasping for air. I shook like a leaf. I couldn’t recall being that scared ever before. That woman was insane. Who did that kind of things to people?

“What is this all about? What do you want with me?”

Damn it. I was trying to keep my voice firm, but it still sounded terrified and whiny. That pissed me off.

“Me? I want nothing to do with you. But I was given a task by my lady, and I will not fail. That means that I will have to teach you how to use your powers properly, and how not to be noticed. I was not supposed to do this, but since you seem to be precocious, the burden of your education falls to me.” Lena answered.

“What education? What are you talking about?”

“Morgan Dupray, you are not who you think you are. You are not your parent’s child. You are not even human. You are a Changeling, a Fae child exchanged at birth for the human child who was born to your parents sixteen years ago. “

I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but certainly not this. Fae? Changeling? Child substitution? What the heck? Did she really expect me to believe something like that? On the other hand, she was able to order me to stop breathing at her whim. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I was my parents’ child. I knew this. I even looked like my mom; I had the same green eyes, the same pale skin and dark brown hair. She had to be mistaken. Perhaps she’d confused me with someone else.

“You doubt me? It’s natural. I just told you that all of your existence is but a great lie. Get over it. You need to accept what you are, if you are to learn how to keep what you have. Even your appearance is a lie, and one that you won’t be able to maintain much longer with your power manifesting already. You’ve seen it yourself. Whenever you use your magic, your true nature tries to reassert itself. It is only a matter of time, now. In a few days, a few weeks at most, you will be stripped of the glamour that hides your true visage from the world. What will you do, then? “

I didn’t know what to answer. This was too much. My mind refused to process this information, to accept these words as truth, even as some part of me thought it would explain where my powers came from. After all, people weren’t supposed to do the kind of thing I could do. So, what if I really wasn’t human?

“Am I supposed to believe you like that, without any proof? You just kidnapped me, what reason do I have to trust you? Release me, and then we can talk.”

“Did you hear anything I just said to you? “

“RELEASE ME!” I screamed. I felt something surging inside me, growing, pushing against the force that held me in place. My face felt like it was on fire. And suddenly I was free.

I lurched forward, so suddenly that I fell on my knees.

Lena stared at me with wide eyes, surprise manifest on her delicate features.

“You broke my enchantment? Fool, didn’t you really hear a word of what I was saying? Your whole face is transformed now. I’ll have to restore your glamour for you. “

She took a step toward me, arm extended to touch my face, and I took a step back to avoid her contact.

“What now? Do I have to immobilize you again? “She asked, exasperated.

“Don’t touch me. Leave me alone. I want nothing from you.”

“Your wants matter little to me. I didn’t choose to be your guardian. All that matter to me is to make sure you stay safe. Right now, you need your usual face back. You cannot go home with this face, and waiting outside would be dangerous for you.”

“What is wrong with my face?”

“Too much for you to handle. Let’s just say you don’t look anything like your usual self, right now. Now let me fix you, and stop acting like an idiot. I have other things to do, other people to see. You’re not my idea of good company either.”

I touched my face. Unfortunately I didn’t have a mirror or anything, but I could feel some changes by touch. My nose was smaller, my lips fuller, my cheekbones higher, my jaw more narrow. Goodness.

My shoulders slumped in defeat. She was right; I couldn’t go home like this. Besides, if she worried about me getting my appearance back, it meant that our stay is this strange forest was temporary. I’d go back home, and forget about all of this madness.

I looked at her, still not wanting to let her anywhere near me; still she was my only chance to go back to normal, so I’d have to obey her, at least for now.

“Good boy. Now let me work.” She said, walking up to me and cradling my face in her hands with surprising gentleness.

And then pain exploded in my whole body, like a fire burning me from the inside out.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, my body thrashing uncontrollably. I didn’t even realize I was falling before I hit the ground. I looked at the sky, noticing with incredible clarity how it fast those dark clouds were gathering, and how suddenly.

It began to rain.

I blacked out.

**********************************************************************************
When I came to, I was laying in the most comfortable bed I had ever been in. The covers were warm and silky, the mattress both soft and firm. It felt like being wrapped in a solid cloud.

I stayed like this a moment, eyes closed, listening to the rain outside and hoping that when would open my eyes, I would be home, and I would discover that everything had merely been a particularly vivid nightmare.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Lena’s face. She looked concerned, almost afraid. This was a strange expression to see on her. She’d appeared so strong and confident; I didn’t even imagine she could look scared.

Looking around, I discovered I was lying in an enormous canopy bed, at the center of a very large bedroom. The walls were made in a marble like stone, with while the vanity, bookcase, nightstand and exquisitely carved wardrobe were made in a kind of reddish wood I’d never seen before. There weren’t any windows, and the only light came from the candles of the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, that filled the air with the scent of honey. Sitting by me was Lena, on a chair of the same wood as the vanity and wardrobe.

So not a nightmare then, was my first thought. I would have liked if all of this had just been a banal, normal nightmare. But no, I couldn’t be so lucky.

“What happened?” I asked.

My whole body ached, my skin was awfully sensitive.

“Do not move. There was a… complication with my glamour and the consequences were as severe as they were unexpected. It seems that you instinctively tried to reject my magic with your own, and that you actually succeeded. Unfortunately this accomplished exactly what I was warning you against. The glamour that kept you looking human almost totally disappeared, but fortunately, I have managed to keep it from fading completely. It is almost back to normal now, apart from a few details. You should look like your normal self again in a few hours, which should give me enough time to teach you some of the basics of what you will need to survive. ”

I looked at myself in the full length mirror standing near the wardrobe. I was mostly normal, except for my hair, which was now blonde and reached down to my waist, while my eyes seemed to be bigger and almost glowing, my skin was a darker shade, olive instead of the pale white I normally was. As for my ears… they were pointed. Not longer, but they were pointed. I was also much thinner than I should be. Could I really doubt Lena’s story anymore with such evidence corroborating it?

I tore my attention away from my reflection to focus on Lena once again. Somehow, I knew that taking my attention off her for any length of time was not a good idea.

“Teach me? You’re expecting me to just stay here with you and take lessons from you?”

“If you want to survive, then yes. Now that your powers have awakened, you will begin to attract the attention of other Fae, and perhaps other creatures as well, who may not have your best interests at heart.”

“Oh you mean creatures that will appear from nowhere, and try to suffocate me to death?”

Lena’s lips curled upwards, in a cold smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Sarcasms. How droll. When an Ogre sniffs your nascent magic out and tries to devour you and yours, I hope your wit will stay as sharp. You might become a pet instead of a snack.“

“Ogre? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, are you curious now? Does it mean you are willing to learn what I have to teach you?”

“You said Ogres would come to eat me. You weren’t serious, were you?”

“Accept my teachings and you will know.”

“What it is that you want to teach me so much?”

“I merely want to teach you how not to reveal yourself for what you truly are, as well as a few useful tricks. Your survival may well depend on it. Besides, I saw what your true appearance was, when you passed out. I am not sure you would enjoy shifting back to this form.” Lena answered.

I could have sworn she sounded amused when saying that last sentence. It made me wonder what my supposed true form was like. Probably some sort of ugly leprechaun or something along that line, if it amused her so much.

“How long is this going to take? My brother and sister must have noticed my disappearance, by now, and they’re going to wonder what happened.”

“The first lesson should only take a few hours. Time flows differently here, so you should be back home a few minutes after the moment I took you to Faerie. Nobody in the mortal world will notice you are gone, I made sure of this before I even showed myself to you.”

“What do you mean by that? Did you do something to Carrie and Jason?”

“They are sleeping, and won’t wake up before a few hours. Now, can we begin the lesson? “

I glared at her and nodded, biting my lips not to lash out verbally at her. The way she casually spoke about putting my brother and sister to sleep, as if it hardly mattered… It was both frightening and infuriating.

Lena didn’t lose any time after I agreed to begin learning from her. She took me to another room, quite different from the elegant bedroom I’d woken up into. This room was very large, mostly bare except for an impressive collection of weapons hanging on the walls, a few chairs and a chandelier.

“This is the room I usually use for training. From now on it will also be where I will teach you about yourself and your abilities,“ Lena began, almost as soon as I stepped in the room.

I sat in the closest chair, and tried my best to look attentive and interested. Who knows what this crazy witch might do if she thought I wasn’t listening to her?

“The first thing you need to learn is how to disguise yourself, in case you return to your true form once again. This is important, so I will ask you to pay me the utmost attention. “

“Yes ma’am.” I answered, with just the faintest touch of sarcasm. After all, being able to look normal if I turned into an elf or whatever could be exceedingly useful to me. I had no wish to have to explain my parents why I suddenly looked like a reject from the Lord of the Ring.

“Good. Fae disguises are based on two different abilities: the first is shapeshifting, the power to change your body into that of another creature, or even into an object, for those with enough talent. The second is illusion, the power to change the perceptions of other people. The best disguises often include both of these elements, shapeshifting and illusions, for the good reason that Fae shapeshifting is always flawed. There is always something indicative of a Fae true form in her new shapes, and illusion can help, hiding whatever it is that could give away a transformed Fae true nature. On the other hand, while illusions do not have this kind of weaknesses, they are less practical. Being perceived as a bird, won’t make you able to fly, for example. The glamour that gives you your mortal appearance is one of those disguises, mixing together illusion and shapeshifting. I will teach you how to sense it, and how to reinforce it so it won’t fade so easily in the future. I will also show you how to craft an illusion around yourself, in case your glamour ever disappears completely.”

She did just that. For the next few hours, she taught me how to sense magic, and how to dissipate or reinforce an active work of magic. She showed me how to craft an illusion and how to change my shape, but she didn’t let me try to do it myself, as it would probably make me change back into my Fae form. Still, she made me observe her until I was pretty sure I could do it too, should the need arise.

Since I began to use my powers, I’d only ever done pretty minor things, and already I was addicted to the sensations it gave me. Now I’d seen Lena turn into a horse and then a tiger before my very eyes, and I couldn’t wait to be able to do the same kind of thing. I could now feel her power as she flowed from one shape to the other, I knew exactly how she did, and I was eager to do it myself. Except I couldn’t, not if I wanted to keep my human appearance. That really sucked. I had incredible magic powers, but I had to refrain from using them. That was the worst temptation I’d ever been submitted to.

Lena also took some time to tell me about the Fae in Ravencrest. Apparently there were dozens of Fae impersonating humans, living and working among the mortal population. Some of them did it because they liked living this way; others were agents from the local Fae royal couple, making sure their existence stayed secret and that the Fae living in the mortal world stayed safe. Others yet lived among the humans because it was more convenient to prey on them from there. It seemed that some Fae didn’t have a very high opinion of mortals, considering them to be no more than playthings, or even food, in some cases. While most Fae weren’t predatory towards mortals, few would care to protect a human from those Fae who were.

She also told me about Faerie. It was something like a parallel world, in which the Fae ruled supreme. They could move from one world to the other at will, and could even create some sort of gates through which others could cross from one world to the other. Lena was very serious when telling me about Fae society.

“Every Fae has a place in or out of our society. There are nobles, commoners, and outcasts. The nobles protect the commoners, the commoners serve the nobles, and the outcasts just want to be left alone. Your place is the one you have the power to keep. So, even if a Fae is born to noble parents, she will only have the rank she is strong enough to hold. It is also common for some Fae to seek out and challenge young Changelings to figure out what their place in the hierarchy will be.” She told me.

Why couldn’t this people have a democracy? I was not looking forward to a bunch of freaks with magical powers challenging me to duel or whatever to know if they were going to be the boss of me.

“You do not have to worry about it right now. Until you are able to make it on your own, you are under my protection. Unless you are unlucky enough to attract the attention of a major noble, it should be enough.“

“What about you? You said you were a princess, didn’t you?”

“Indeed I am. But it does not make me invincible. I would rather avoid a fight with anyone with a power close to my own, if I can. I have nothing to gain, and everything to lose from such an encounter.”

I thought I was beginning to understand Lena a little. She had fought her way to the top, only to find herself having to babysit me, who would perhaps be a threat to her position one day. I would be grumpy too, in her place. Of course, that didn’t mean I forgave her form almost choking me to unconsciousness or frightening me almost to death. It made no doubt in my mind that I would pay her back for this in the future, on general principle.

After several hours of training and lessons, I could barely stand. I was exhausted. Who knew that magic could be so tiring?

I began to doze off as Lena was saying something about the Unseen or whatever. The next thing I knew, my alarm clock was ringing. I was so surprised, I fell from my bed, and only there did I realize I was back in my room, thanks to the clothes and books lying on the ground.

I blinked stupidly, watching the familiar surroundings as if I was seeing them for the first time. When did I come back? I didn’t remember anything after Lena’s lesson.

Had it even really happened? How could I be sure? Didn’t I already have that same thought yesterday?

I touched my face, my hair, my ears, watched my skin. They all seemed to be back to normal.

I sighed in relief, and crawled back in my bed. It was the first week of summer vacation, sleeping in wouldn’t hurt.

I didn’t want to confront the world. I didn’t want to see my family. Knowing what I knew now, how could I face them? I’d taken the place of their child, and lived among them like some sort of cuckoo chick.

It was at that moment that the thought came to me for the first time: What had become of my parent’s true child?

I couldn’t believe I only thought about him now that it was too late to ask. Was he even alive anymore?

I wished I could ask Lena about him, but where could I find Lena? Yesterday had been the first time I’d even seen her. I didn’t even know if what I had seen was the human form she usually wore.

As I was thinking, someone knocked at my door.

It was my mother, Grace Crawford-Dupray, coming to see me before going off to work. My dad had probably already left.

Well it looked like I was going to have to face her, whether I wanted or not.

“Morgan? Honey, are you awake?”

“I’m awake, Mom. Good morning.”

“Good morning honey. Did you sleep well?”

For some reason, she looked really nervous. Worried, even.

“I guess. Is there something wrong, mom? Did something happen?”

“I spoke with Lena yesterday. She told me what had happened. I’m worried about you.”

I stared at her, eyes wide with surprise, too shocked to talk.

Mom knew Lena? What the heck was going on?

“Mom? How do you know who Lena is? What do you know about her?”

She stroked my hair with a heavy sigh.

“Honey, we need to talk.”

Fairy Tale: the Changeling's Story - Part 2

Author:

Anteros

Audience Rating:

Mature Subjects (pg15)

Publication:

500 < Short Story < 7500 words

Genre:

Character Age:

Teenage or High School

TG Universes & Series:

The DarkRealms Universe by Enemyoffun

TG Themes:

Identity Crisis

Other Keywords:

Permission:

Posted by author(s)

Fairy Tale: the Changeling's Story - Part Two

By:

Anteros

***

Author's note: Here is the second installment of Fairy Tale: The Changeling's Story. The story takes place a few months before Life is Precious. I want to thank Enemyoffun for creating the DarkRealm Universe and letting me write in it, Wren Erendae Phoenix for proof reading and editing this chapter and you all for taking the time to read it.
Have a good read!

***

Chapter 2: The Monster Under the bed

“Honey, we need to talk.”

I don’t know about other people, but in my experience, those words never announce anything good. The last time Mom told me this, it was to tell me why I couldn’t go spend the summer vacation in Barcelona with Christopher and his parents. Now I wondered what kind of catastrophic news those fateful words would herald.

“I’m not going to like what you’re going to say, am I?

Mom smiled in a way that should have been reassuring, but that merely made me more worried.

“Honey, I know Lena told you the truth about your origins. You may have had a hard time believing what she was telling you, but it was all true. We didn’t give birth to you, but we raised you, and we loved you as our own child. We loved you from the first time we saw you, and we always will. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you the truth ourselves, but we promised…“

Mom’s voice faltered a bit. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. Seeing her like that made me feel as if someone was crushing my heart. I hugged her tightly and she hugged me back with surprising fierceness.

“Mom? I swear I’m not mad at you or anything, please don’t cry.”

“She released me slowly, and smiled at me, wiping away the tears she’d begun to shed.

“Thank you. It means a lot that you aren’t angry at me. I hope you won’t change your mind when I’ve told you the whole story.”

I merely nodded, not sure I could talk right now. I really wasn’t angry at her, but I didn’t know whether it was because of the shock to discover she’d known about my true nature all along, or if I really didn’t resent the fact that she’d hid this from me all this time. All I knew was that she was my mom, the person I cared the most about in the whole world, and that she looked so sad.

“I had a car accident while I was pregnant with my third child,“ She told me, “ and I was severely wounded. I gave birth to my child that night, two months too soon, and unfortunately the accident had caused damage that the doctors couldn’t handle. My son was dying and I was too weak to do anything to help him, but pray. So, that’s what I did, with all my heart. Someone heard me, and answered my prayer. One of the Sacred, the princess Anelia, came to me as I was lying in my hospital bed, and offered me a way to save my child. It was the first time I’d seen one of the Sacred, and at the time I thought it was the Goddess herself who had sent her to my help. She perhaps did. Anelia told me that she could save my baby’s life in exchange for a favor. I would have to let my child in her care until his 18th birthday and during this time, she would give me her own newborn child to raise as my own.

It tore me apart to accept this bargain, but your father and I saw no other way to save our baby, so we did. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, but we all swore to love the child we would raise as if it was our own. And we did. Your father and I couldn’t help but love from the time we first laid our eyes on you, and I know that Anelia loves my son as her own. Every few months, Lena reports to us about his life in Faerie, just as she reports to Anelia about your well being.

“How can you be sure she tells you the truth? This woman is crazy.”

My mother looked at me severely. She disliked it when she thought I didn’t show proper respect for someone. I thought respect was something people should win and not wait to be granted without having done anything to deserve it; she thought every living being was worthy of respect by virtue of existing. Mom was always very respectful and considerate of people, and she expected them to treat her in kind. Lacking respect to my mother was never a good idea, whoever you were.

“Young man, you will not speak that way about your sister.”

“My what?” I screeched, horrified.

I almost fell from the bed I was sitting on in shock. Sister?

Mom looked at me sternly.

“Your sister. Don’t tell me you didn’t wonder why a princess was given the task of watching over you, and by whom? Lena is a very important person among her people, and being important among the Sacred always equals a tremendous amount of personal power and a perfect integrity. Lena swore that her reports were truthful, and the Sacred cannot willingly break their oaths. Besides we have been exchanging letters with him for the last six years.“

“Why do you call them, or rather us I guess, the Sacred?” I asked curiously.

“Because honey, that’s what witches call your people.”

“Wait, what? Witches? You’re a witch?”

“As are Carrie, Grandma Agatha, and your cousin Mary Alice. Ravencrest has a very influent witch community. We keep our existence a secret and have done so since many generations.”

“Carrie too? Does she also know about me?”

“No, she doesn’t, though we’ll have to tell the truth to your brother and sister now that it is out. I don’t want them to learn it by accident or by someone else.”

I sighed. This was so much to take in at one time. My own family was a family of witches?

“I guess I shouldn’t have offered Mary that Voodoo doll and those pins, then?”

“When did you do that?” asked Mom, frowning dangerously at me.

“Uh, for her birthday. I also gave her a pair of earrings. She really liked the doll, you know?”

Mom sighed.

“Morgan, I thought you’d stopped with those pranks and jokes of yours. You know that few people enjoy being teased that way, right? You are lucky that Mary tolerates your antics.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

She smiled at me.

“Sometimes it reassures me to see that you never change. As if you were going to stay my little boy forever. But that’s not how the world works, and we all have to change and grow eventually. You should try to move beyond such childishness, at some point.”

“I know, Mom. “

“Good. One last thing. From today on, Lena will take a more active part in your life. I know you two didn’t exactly get along during your first meeting, but she really is trying her best to keep you safe, so try to see past your differences, okay?”

“Keep me safe? Mom, she suffocated me! Twice!”

“You can’t really die from lack of air, honey. She was a bit impatient, but she never put you in any danger. Just forgive her, okay?”

I sighed. That meant I wouldn’t get to pay Lena back for what she did to me. Mom would be disappointed, and I hated the look she gave me when she was disappointed in me. Yes, I’m a momma’s boy. So what?

She kissed me on the forehead and rose from my bed.

“I have to go fix my make up before going to work. We’ll talk more tonight, alright? Your father should be there earlier too. Oh and hurry up and get dressed. Lena will be by soon to resume teaching you. ”

“What?”

“Morgan…”

“Alright, I’ll be good. Have a good day, Mom.”

Lena came for me an hour later, as I was washing the dishes. She didn’t even let me the time to finish what I was doing, she just materialized behind me, grabbed me, and whoosh! We found ourselves in the training room we’d used previously. There was now a large desk in the middle of the room.

I felt a bit awkward around her. How was I supposed to treat her, now that I knew she was my sister? I didn’t feel any closer to her, and she sure didn’t act any different than she had yesterday.

“Today, you will learn about curses. They are our primary mean of offense and defense, more than any other form of magic. They are also the most likely to turn against us and those close to us, so we must learn to master this power as soon as possible, if only to protect ourselves from it.”

“Why would you teach me about that, since I must not use magic anyway?” I asked.

I was trying my best, but I still came off as somewhat sulky. Mom was right; I definitely needed to grow up. I just didn’t seem to be able to.

“Indeed, you must not. However you will do it anyway, for it is your nature. I am not teaching you to use magic. Any Fae can do it instinctively, without any need for training. My goal is to teach you not to use it without meaning to, and how to control your power instead of being controlled by it. An untrained Fae can cause untold catastrophes, because she will be unable not to use her magic.”

“What do you mean? I’ll spoil milk or tangle people’s hair by accident?”

Damn, I hadn’t actually meant to say that. Fortunately, Lena didn’t react to my sarcasm.

“Do you remember the rain, yesterday? You got upset, and suddenly, the clear sky was filled with black clouds, and it began to rain. This is what I am talking about. You did it without even realizing what was happening. You could have caused a thunderstorm or a tornado just as easily as a mere rain. What if it happened while you were at home? Affecting the mortal world that way isn’t as easy, but once your power completely awakens, you could destroy your house and kill your whole family without ever meaning to. This is why I must teach you how to control the destructive and chaotic side of your magic.”

That shut me up. How was I supposed to sass the woman who was teaching me how not to destroy everything important to me?

I felt… ashamed, somehow. I hated the feeling, but for some reason it wasn’t going away.

“Now that you understand why you are here, let us resume where we left off. A curse is an enchantment destined to cause harm to something or someone. An uncontrolled curse will hurt everyone and everything it can reach, including its caster. Casting a curse is easy, and can even be an unconscious act. Sometimes, all it takes is to have too much animosity toward someone, and not enough control over one’s magic. It is even possible to curse one’s self.

Curses come in two forms: direct and indirect. A direct curse will affect its target in an adverse way. It can weaken, transform, or destroy its target although other effects are possible. By opposition an indirect curse will affect its target’s environment. For example cursing someone to be shunned by others is an indirect curse, as is warding off a place against intruders, or transforming all those who wear a certain ring into toads.”

“We can really transform people into toads?”

“We are Fae. Of course we can. I would advise you not to do such a thing however. Curses are unstable on the long term, and there is always a way to undo them. Much like your glamour, in fact. We do not want mortals claiming to have been transformed into animals by fairies or witches. “

“Oh. Well, it’s not like I intended to actually do it.”

“Of course.” Lena said, looking dubious.

I got the feeling she didn’t believe me. I wondered why. I wasn’t that vindictive. Seriously.

“You will first learn the simplest and most commonly used curse: the Elf Shot. It is a direct curse, which targets a living being and can cause all sort of adverse effects from seizures and partial paralysis to strokes and heart attacks. The lethal version of this curse is what we use to get rid definitely of inconvenient mortals. We will have to practice on living beings, unfortunately.”

“What? So we’re going to torture some defenseless animals? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”

In fact I was pretty sure I wasn’t comfortable with it at all. I liked animals.

“We are going to practice on insects. I will show you how to use an Elf Shot to paralyze them, and you are going to try and do the same.”

She waved her hand and a swarm of butterflies appeared out of nowhere and immediately scattered around the room.

Lena pointed a finger at one of them and it suddenly stopped moving and fell. I picked it up, and realized that only its wings had stopped moving. The insect’s legs and antennae were still moving perfectly.

I could feel the magic she’d used, still acting on the little creature. I slowly weakened it, as she’d shown me the previous day, until it disappeared. The butterfly’s wings flapped, and the little animal took flight once again.

“Very good. You were indeed paying attention yesterday. Now try paralyzing one of the butterflies like I just showed you.”

Despite her words, Lena’s voice was still flat, emotionless. It kind of creeped me out, to tell the truth. That woman was eerily cold.

Unlike the previous day, my attempts to mimic Lena didn’t go well. I didn’t manage to paralyze a single butterfly. Every time I pointed my finger at one of the butterflies, it fell dead. Not paralyzed, just dead. The worst thing was just how disturbingly easy it was. I pointed my finger, and bam! A living, moving creature fell dead at my feet. It made me nauseous.

After a dozen tries, I was trying my hardest not to cry. Why did this happen? I didn’t want to kill those butterflies. Okay, they were merely insects. I wasn’t even sure that they were real, given the way Lena had summoned them. But I hadn’t wanted to harm them. Just stop them from moving. What if it happened with a person? I didn’t want to kill anyone. I was frightened, frustrated and angry.

There was a clap of thunder, really loud, as if lightning struck somewhere really close. I realized then that it was raining outside. I could hear the wind howling and the frenetic drumming of the rain on the roof.

I looked at Lena, expecting to see her glare at me with her annoyed look once more. She wasn’t though. Instead she looked pensive. When she saw me looked at her, she sighed.

“You can stop for now. I think we just made an interesting discovery.”

“What, that I should think about a career in pest control?”

Damn, why couldn’t I stop with the sarcasm?

“If such is your wish, yes” answered Lena, impervious to my sarcasm. “But more importantly, I think we found out what aspect of nature you are tied to.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Each Fae is tied to at least one aspect of the natural world. It can be anything, from wind or metal to plants, beasts or even light or sound. I think you have an affinity for the weather, and for death.”

“An affinity for death? What do you mean?”

“Yes. Your enchantments were correctly done, but the insects still died. It shows a predisposition for magic of a more lethal orientation. You will have to work twice as hard not to kill when using offensive magic, I’m afraid. It makes your gaining perfect control of this aspect of your magic even more important.”

“Lucky me. It could have been anything, but it had to be death. That sucks. Does it mean I’ll become some sort of psycho killer or something?”

Who would have thought that being an uncontrollable killing machine wasn’t an attractive prospect? My childhood dream about how cool being Godzilla would be was crumbling. Godzilla didn’t have a family and friends to worry about during his rampages.

“Not if you do not want to. You could use this affinity to stave off death as well as to inflict it. You merely have to make sure that you have the necessary control to actually make a conscious choice.”

“I get it. I’ll do my best.” I answered with determination. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. I will even answer if I judge it appropriate.”

“What kind of affinities do you have?”

Lena looked at me for a few moments, her face showing no emotion, as usual. Then she held out her hand toward me, palm up. At the center of her palm, a small blue flame danced, teased by a soft air current. Despite its diminutive size, I could feel its heat from where I stood. Lena closed her hand and the flame disappeared.

“Let us go back to work.” She said simply.

We worked on the Elf Shot for a few hours, until I eventually succeeded in paralyzing a butterfly. It took a lot of concentration and even at the end, I only succeeded one time out of two, but I was in much higher spirits than I’d been earlier. And I also became familiar enough with the curse to be sure I wouldn’t use it by accident.

Of course, using so much magic weakened the glamour that made me look mortal, so I had to wait a few hours for it to return to normal.

The last part of the lesson was a lecture on Fae society, and some of the most powerful clans and individuals present in the Ravencrest area. There were a surprising number of those. At the top were the King and the Queen, beneath them were the Princes and Princesses of the high nobility, and beneath those came the Lords and Ladies of the low nobility. The commoners were at the bottom, while the outcast were on the fringe, and were mostly Fae too powerful to be easily forced to submit, but not wanting to be part of the nobility. Most of the more predatory and dangerous Fae were outcasts, although many nobles and commoners were just as dangerous and a majority of outcasts were peaceful.

I don’t know how long I stayed at Lena’s house, but when I came back home that day, the sun was already setting.

**********************************************************************************

I wasn’t home soon enough to make dinner this evening, so we had to order something. Carrie pouted until I promised her I would cook something good just for her the next day.

“You spoil her too much, Morgan. Every time you do something like that, she expect me to do the same.” Protested my brother.

“Oh? So if I stop the treats for Carrie, does that mean I don’t have to do your laundry anymore, big bro?”

“I don’t see how it is related.” He had the gall to answer.

Carrie elbowed him in the ribs.

“You should be ashamed to take advantage of your own little brother’s generosity like that you big hairy ape!”

“You can talk, you skinny nerd! He does your laundry too!”

They started to bicker to decide who was wrong to let me do all the chores. In truth I didn’t mind. I liked taking care of the house and of my family. They were mine, so it was only natural. Besides, Carrie helped me whenever she could and often forced Jason to give a hand too, so it’s not like I was doing everything.

Mom and Dad were home soon after. We all ate together this time, which I thought wasn’t fair since for one time I hadn’t actually made the food.

As we finished eating, my father stood and addressed us, in a rather formal fashion.

“Kids, your mother and I have several important things to talk about with you tonight. Our family has always kept numerous secrets, but we feel that tonight is the proper time for those secrets to come to light. We feel that you are all old and strong enough to know and accept the truths we are about to share. More than anything, don’t forget that whatever you learn tonight we are a family, and whatever the difficulties, we will always have each other to rely on.”

Jason, Carrie and I all looked each other apprehensively. I thought I already knew most of what Dad was going to say: Carrie is a witch, Morgan isn’t actually your brother, but a Fae impostor. I wondered if Jason also had some kind of supernatural secret.

“Jason, Carrie. You already know some of our family’s secret history, but Morgan doesn’t know yet, so we will tell it once again for his benefit.” Mom continued. “Both the Crawfords and the Duprays are family of witches. Their power is mostly transmitted through their women, but no woman was born to the Duprays in your father’s generation, endangering the Dupray clan’s very survival. Carrie is now the only Dupray witch in Ravencrest. This was our first secret, although only Morgan didn’t know about it by now.”

“How come? Jason isn’t a witch either, is he? Why did he know and not me?” I asked. Not that I was jealous or anything, but I guess the news about my true origins made me a bit sensitive about differences between me and my siblings.

“Usually, every Dupray boy is told the truth about our family the day after his 16th birthday. That’s in December for you, so you are actually learning all of this sooner than you should.”

“Yeah, why is that exactly? “Asked Jason, looking at me curiously.

“The reason for this is our second secret. Jason, Carrie, your brother Morgan is not a mortal. He is one of the Sacred. Almost sixteen years ago, I had an accident and I gave birth too soon to a dying son. A princess among the Sacred proposed us to save our son if we would give him to her for the next eighteen years. In exchange, she gave us her own child to raise. That child was Morgan.”

“You mean Morgan isn’t really our brother?” exclaimed Jason, looking at me with wide eyes.

“Morgan is one of the Sacred? Really?” intervened Carrie. I couldn’t put a word on the expression she made as she asked that question, but it was some sort of mixture of amusement, wonderment and incredulity.

I stopped breathing, afraid of what they were going to say next. My heart beat so fast I thought it was trying to escape from my chest.

“Morgan is your brother and our child. We raised him and we love him as much as if he was our own flesh and blood. I hope learning his origin doesn’t change the feelings you have for him.” Dad declared firmly.

Carrie and Jason looked at each other, and then Carrie rose from her seat, walked up to me and hugged me tightly. I hugged her back holding back tears. I’d been so afraid they would reject me.

“Morgan will always be my little brother.”

Jason nodded.

“Same for me. I don’t care if he’s a Sacred One or a giant hamster from space.”

My brother grinned and winked at me.

“What did our other little brother become, though? Are we going to meet him?” asked Carrie.

“Normally we should meet him in two years. Anelia sends us regular reports about him, and we’ve been exchanging letters with him for a few years now. His name is also Morgan, and he seems very happy. I’ll show you all his letters if you want.” Mom answered.

We all wanted to see the letters, so Mom sent Dad to fetch them, and we all spent the next hour skipping through them and talking. It warmed me up inside to know that despite me not being exactly what they thought I was, my brother and sister still saw me as their little siblings. I felt so privileged to have them all as my family. I didn’t know the Fae who gave birth to me, but I felt that I could never thank her enough for giving this family to me.

When I went to bed, I felt better than I had since I had discovered my Fae heritage. It felt a bit weird to have it out in the open like this, at least among my family, but I was happy that I wouldn’t have to lie to them. Sleep came easily to me, a sweet, dreamless darkness that came to take away the weariness of the day. And then of course something had to spoil it.

I was woken up by the feeling of something brushing against my leg. Still, not completely conscious, I kicked reflexively, hitting something hard and furry.

That woke me up completely. I sat on the bed, trying to distinguish whatever I had just hit when something grabbed my ankle, and pulled me to the ground.

I fell with a loud ‘thump!’ noise, and felt my second ankle being seized too. I immediately went from surprised to furious and kicked furiously to free my legs from whoever had caught me. It didn’t seem to amount to anything, though, and my captor began to drag me under the bed.

That’s when I began to scream, threatening and insulting whatever that thing was.

I could feel magic at work around me, but I couldn’t discern its purpose.

Magic? The thought reminded me of my lessons with Lena. I pointed a finger toward the darkness beneath the bed, where the thing was dragging me, and unleashed the most powerful Elf Shot I could. From under the bed, something cried out in pain, and the hold on my legs disappeared.

I scrambled to my feet and ran to the door of my room, but it just wouldn’t get open. I turned the light on and turned back toward the bed, in time to see my attacker crawling out from underneath. It was a big, hairy, befanged and beclawed humanoid that looked like it escaped from some primatologist’s nightmare.

I didn’t give it the time to completely get out from under the bed. I threw curse after curse at the creature, each one making it roar in pain, but not slowing it down in the slightest. My body felt like it burned as I exhausted myself throwing the nastiest magic I had at the monster.

Soon, it was standing in the middle of the room, enormous, all fur, muscles, fangs and claws, its red eyes glowing like embers, his opened jaws letting escape a fetid stench.

The monster took a wobbling step toward me, its head brushing the ceiling. I immediately threw another curse at it, putting all my anger and fear into it. Outside, the wind was howling, and the noise of the rain made me think about the frenetic stomping of a thousand hoofs on the roof.

The creature howled in agony and fell to one knee.

It raised his arms over its head.

“I surrender,“ it growled. “I recognize your superiority. Please, spare my life.”

I think hearing that thing talk shocked me even more than its sudden attack.

Breathing hard, heart beating like mad, I leaned back against the door, watching the monster carefully in case it tried anything, and pressed my ear against the door. Not a sound. Weird. With the commotion we caused in there, my parents should have come running, but I couldn’t hear any sign that there was any kind of movement beyond the door, which remained stubbornly closed.

I focused back on the monster. It was looking fearfully at me, as if I was the giant predator that crept from under its bed to grab its ankles in the middle of the night.

“Who are you? What are you? And by all that is holy, what did you think you were doing?” I asked, only half expecting an answer. There was something wrong with my voice. It sounded too high.

“I am Dorian. Dorian, the Monster Under the Bed, your greatness. I learned that there was a newly awakened Changeling here, so I came to fight you and gain status by defeating you. But you were too fierce, and I don’t wish to die.” The creature said in its rumbling voice. “I am your humble servant. Please don’t hurt me anymore.”

Sincerely, I had no idea how I was supposed to answer this request. A part of me wanted to try this transformation into a toad thing. I guess I really am this vindictive after all. Another part of me found the creature pitiful. I mean, what kind of monster attacks someone in their sleep, only to have its ass kicked and begged for mercy afterwards? Yet another part of me now thought that Dorian, the Monster Under the Bed was rather cute in a terrifying sort of way, and wanted to keep it as pet. I wondered where that part came from.

“Okay, I won’t hurt you if you remove whatever magic you cast on my room.” I said, my voice still sounding strangely high. And rather melodious, now that I thought about it. Weird, weird.

Oh, of course. I had used so much magic, my glamour must have almost completely faded, if it was gone for good. That meant I was probably in my Fae form right now.

“Done, your greatness.” The monster said quickly.

I couldn’t believe he was that scared of me.

I felt the magic disappear, and some of the tension drained from me, as the door finally opened.

“Good, thank you. Now, keep your claws were I can see them, and don’t move from where you are.” I ordered.

I ran a hand through my hair, wondering what to do with Mister the Monster Under the Bed, here. As expected, my hair had grown; I could feel it cascading down my back.

As the adrenaline subsided, other details sneakily crept at the forefront of my consciousness.

Like the fact that my whole body ached. Or the fact that something felt very cramped an uncomfortable in my back, under my shirt. Or the more troubling fact that my arm had brushed against something soft and sensitive on my chest when I raised it.

I looked down.

I had breasts, sticking arrogantly from my chest, and mercilessly straining my pajama shirt.

Automatically, before I could even think, my hands flew down to grab my crotch.

My eyes widened in horror.

“Nooooo!”

My wail of despair must have been heard on the moon.

“That’s not possible it’s a nightmare, it has to be, things like that don’t happen, they just don’t!”

“Is something wrong milady?” enquired Dorian.

I whirled to face him, pointing a raging finger on him and growled.

“Don’t call me that! I’m not a lady! I’m a man! Do you hear me?”

The monster whimpered and groveled pitifully.

The lights went on, and I heard footsteps approaching.

Panicked, I slammed the door of my room shut. I didn’t want anyone to see me like this.

How was I supposed t explain that? Even I had no idea how it happened.

At that moment, I remembered something Lena had said to me. I would not enjoy shifting back to my true form. It was the one time she’d looked amused when talking to me. Now I knew why.

“Morgan? Are you alright in here?”

It was the voice of my father.

“Yes, I’m fine! Sorry to have bothered you! Go back to bed!”

“Morgan? Your voice sounds strange, son. Are you sure you are alright?”

“Yes!”

“Morgan, open that door, please.

“Uh, no?”

“Young man, you will open that door this instant!”

Without thinking, I opened the door. My father rarely raised his voice, but when he did, people listened and obeyed. Unfortunately I wasn’t an exception.

I found myself looking at my father’s bewildered expression, as he found himself facing a young woman in his son’s pajamas.

“What…? Who are you, young lady and what are you doing in my son’s room?”
“Dad, it’s me, Morgan.”

“What? What do you…?”

Dad looked at me, then past me and his gaze fell on the monster kneeling on the floor of my room.

He looked back at me.

“Morgan?”

I nodded.

He looked back at Dorian, then again at me.

“Graaaace!” he hollered.

I burst into tears.

The next hour was a chaotic whirlwind of tears, consternation, interrogation and general confusion.

Mom ran to my room when Dad called for her, and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of me. Somehow, she immediately recognized me, and she took me in her arms until I stopped crying and shaking.

When I calmed down, she turned her attention to Dorian, and believe it or not she scolded him until the poor thing begged for my protection. As if I could have protected him from my mom’s outrage even if I’d wanted to! Nothing could stop my mom’s righteous fury. Dorian had to be the most pathetic monster ever.

Jason and Carrie were there, awakened by all the noise. Jason watched the whole scene with a look that said he wasn’t sure he wasn’t still dreaming. Carrie sat me on the bed, and stayed near me, glaring daggers at Dorian while mom was chewing him out.

Then Mom realized that something was wrong with Dad and Jason. They couldn’t stop looking at me. Mom was forced to magically snap them out of the kind of trance seeing me had put them in and send them back to bed. Dorian seemed to be similarly affected, but since mom wasn’t done with him, she let him stay in my room.

She questioned the monster thoroughly. Who was he? What was he doing here? How did he know about me and how to find me? How did he bypass the warding spells around the house?

Dorian repeated what he’d told me, and added a few details.

While nobody specifically sent him after me, there were rumors about a Changeling whose powers were only starting to awaken and who should be easy prey to anyone wanting to improve their status. The rumors had started a few weeks ago, and he’d spent all this time searching for me, in the hope I would be easily defeated.

Without Lena’s training, it was probably what would have happened.

When Mom was done interrogating him, she bid the monster to leave, which he did with almost comical relief. I wasn’t even disappointed to see him get away without further punishment.

I was too distraught over my own fate. I was a girl! And for some reason, I couldn’t stop crying.

“It’s alright, I’m sure everything will be okay, don’t worry,” my sister was whispering soothingly while rocking me softly back and forth like a baby. I clung desperately to her, I don’t know why. I just know that I needed comfort and that she provided it.

Mom joined us on the bed and hugged us both.

I don’t know how long we held each other like this, but in the end, I stopped crying and began to think about the situation. Mom and Carrie released me from their embraces, and they led me to Carrie’s room, so I could get an idea of my new appearance.

The sight was beyond anything I would have imagined. The person that looked at me from the mirror was one of the most beautiful young women I’d ever seen. She had an oval shaped face, long, wavy golden hair so fine it seemed to be made of spider silk, immense glowing emerald eyes, smooth olive skin, a small straight nose, high, delicate cheekbones, pulpous pink lips and pointed ears. She had a body that could only be described as voluptuous, with a hourglass figure, long slender limbs that moved with feline grace and nervous strength. Even with puffy eyes, still red from all the crying and the mess on her face, she was magnificent. She was me.

It was horrible.

“Morgan you’re gorgeous.” Breathed my sister. She produced a tissue from somewhere, and gently wiped my face clean.

I think she meant it as some sort of reassurance. It only made me tear up again.

“We need to get you out of this shirt,” my mom said.

“What? Why?” I asked.

What was going on, again?

“Because of your wings, Morgan. You are going to hurt them, otherwise.”

“Impossible, I can’t have wings under my shirt. There isn’t enough place…”

“No there isn’t. It’s doing something really weird, back there. I can’t even describe it. I think they’re growing. ” My sister intervened.

My mom took a pair of scissors and ordered me not to move. Then she cut my shirt open with the scissors, and the cramped feeling disappeared.

It felt a bit like I was spreading my arms after having them being constrained for a long time.

“It’s beautiful” whispered Carrie, “your wings… they are unfurling. Like the frond of a fern.”

I looked behind me and here they were, two enormous golden feathered wings, each one larger than I was tall, spanning the entirety of Carrie’s room, almost from wall to wall.

I touched one of them tentatively, the feathers were incredibly soft, and I could feel the contact of my hand on my wing. That thing was really a part of me.

I tried to move them, and I knocked over Carrie’s nightstand.

“Sorry,“ I said, between two sobs.

“It’s okay, no permanent damage. How do you feel?”

How did I feel? I felt like I was going to lose it any second now. There was a flash of lightning and the claps of thunder, so close, too close, making the house tremble slightly.

I had to calm down, get my emotions under control.

I tried to regain control of my breathing first, but I was hiccupping too much.

“Shhh, it’s alright, honey. We’ll find a solution.”

A solution? How were we supposed to find a solution to the fact that I was really a girl?

The very thought was so absurd, that I began to laugh, while still sobbing and hiccupping.

I think I kind of broke down at this moment. I just couldn’t stop laughing and crying and sobbing.

In the end, I wailed like a banshee, felt the world shift around me, and then I felt nothing but the peaceful embrace of oblivion.