WARNING: ABORTED SUICIDE ATTEMPT

“Discipline, discipline, discipline.” Valin repeated this mantra in his head, over and over as he prepared himself for the practical exam. He was sure that he had gotten a perfect grade on the written portion, not that he expected otherwise, as he had been training himself for it almost his whole life. Not that he hadn’t done the same for the practical, it’s just that the practical required certain innate qualities that Valin didn’t have.

Born into a famous family of mages, Valin’s first and only wish was to join them, to take his place alongside his brother, sister, parents, uncles, aunts and cousins as a part of their clan. But from birth it was apparent that the spark of magic that burned so brightly in the rest of his house was but a bare flicker in him.

That never stopped him though. He had trained himself, every day and every night, for as long as he could remember. One of the first things he learned was that he had an affinity for water magic, unlike the rest of his family, who were fire oriented . This at least made practicing easier- it was much less likely that he would destroy anything as a weak water mage than a weak fire mage.

And so, he had slowly built up his ability to manipulate water up to a point that he was rather proud of. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but he could shatter bottles with a thought now, and even managed to hold in place a fifty-foot wide, ten-foot-deep river for about ten seconds, though it had taken every ounce of mana that he had.

The practical didn’t gauge any specific skill set, it was just meant to determine how much power and control a prospective student had. The written exam was the part meant to judge the hopeful’s ability to learn and their discipline. All one had to do to pass the practical was to demonstrate a sufficiently impressive spell, usually in the form of a loud bang and a puff of smoke. Sometimes the test took as little as five seconds.

Valin was ready. He didn’t have much magic, but he had honed what little he had to a point where he felt he could impress anyone. He jumped slightly when he heard one of the proctors call out “Valin Alethea!” in a dry, bored voice.

He took a deep breath and strode up to the door. He pushed it, and went in.

It was a room typical of any training area meant to handle serious magical use, marble, engraved with runes to help soften the inevitable accidents that cropped up when large amounts of young mages were trying to perform under stress. It looked like there were, at most, five other hopefuls in the room at any given time. Valin took a look to his left and noticed a young, black haired mage, her face turning purple with effort before she produced a loud, neon green bang, and was quickly ushered into the next room, where she would receive her grade.

“You may begin when ready,” Valin’s assigned proctor said to him in a monotonic voice. He didn’t hesitate.

Launching himself into his performance, he began by condensing the water vapor in the air around him. He did not have the power to create water, so he had mastered the ability to pull it from the environment around him. Before long he had gathered a 5’ sphere of water in front of him. The proctor was staring at the ball of liquid with more interest now. Apparently, it was rare to see anyone do anything more than strain really hard to produce a sufficiently loud noise.
Valin took no notice of that. Now that he was using his magic, everything else fell away. He began by gently manipulating the water into a series of basic shapes, slowly becoming more elaborate as time went on, culminating with a series of delicate snowflakes of various sizes. He then returned the water to sphere form before starting again, this time constructing a natural landscape, complete with a mountain, forests, and frolicking wildlife.

He continued like this for an hour, methodically constructing everything from an exact replica of the campus of Cascades, the college that he was hoping to go to after he passed the test, to a water sculpture of his girlfriend Ariadne studying at a desk.

Through it all, he was dimly aware of the crowd that was gathering him. The examinations had come to a record scratch halt- most of the waiting students and proctors had gathered around him in mesmerized amazement. It was only after he had exhausted his strength and finally let the water fall to the ground that he realized the size of his audience.

The crowd burst into riotous applause, and Valin jumped slightly. He had honestly never considered how his art might be perceived by others, besides a way to get the judges to give him a passing grade. He had never shown it to anyone, not even Ariadne. He was never sure exactly why. Maybe it was the fear that it would be judged inadequate, just like everything else magical about him. As he looked at the crowd, praised for his magic for the first time since birth, he felt tears start to well up in his eyes. He wiped them away. Discipline, discipline, discipline. He gave the crowd a wave, before confidently striding into the next room, followed by the thirty-odd examinees who had finished their tests before they had been suspended.

The exams were evaluated by nine judges, all of whom were eminent mages in their own right. Despite the apparent boredom of the proctors, the exam was considered a very serious thing, as it basically determined the future of the magical world and approving someone unsuitable could have dire repercussions. Consequently, being appointed as an examinee panel judge was considered a great honor.

Valin tried to get a read on the judges from their expressions, but they were unreadable. They probably spent years training their poker faces, he thought to himself. He made his way over to the teleport dais and automatically mumbled the coordinates to his home, or at least to a spot close by. Teleporting directly into homes was frowned on, and in the case of his home, completely impossible anyway.

—

It was a week later that he got the news. These types of correspondence always came on bright yellow official stationary, so it was immediately obvious what the letter was. He’d been running out to the mailbox every day in order to check for it.

His heart was hammering a mile a minute as his clammy, trembling hands gingerly peeled open the envelope.

FAIL

Written 100/100

Control 100/100

Power 29/100

If you turn 19 before the next scheduled exam, a representative will be at your place of residence within 24 hours to perform the extraction.

One point short. ONE FUCKING POINT SHORT!

He should have known that it was too good to be true. Why did he assume otherwise, just because he had enchanted a few people in the exam hall? In the end, all he was was a carnival act, juggling balls of water in the air. It was ridiculous to think that it would impress anyone past a few easily distracted teenagers.

Valin could have lived contentedly, if not happily, if failing the exam merely meant that he would be denied entry to magical higher education. But it didn’t. Anyone who failed to pass the entry exam by their 18th birthday would have their magic stripped from them, willingly or not. That was what terrified him. He may have been weak in power, but he truly loved magic. The times when he felt most at peace were when he was carving delicate shapes in the air with water. The thought of that all being snatched away was heartrending.

And so Valin slowly walked towards the house, his head in a fog. He was still in his own head when he opened the kitchen door. Both his parents were there, waiting anxiously. He didn’t meet their eyes, he couldn’t. Not that he needed to. One look at his face told them everything. His mother opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

“I’d like to be alone.” He said, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

—

The tears streamed down his face as he stared at the ceiling of his room. He thought he had prepared himself. But how can you prepare yourself for losing your only dream? It was the only thing that he ever wanted. From birth he had idolized his parents, his siblings. He was so proud to be part of his family’s legacy. It would have been one thing if his mother and father had pressured him, had expected him to join the family trade. But no… He remembered a moment from his childhood, one of his first waking memories. He wasn’t sure what had prompted it, but he had said to his mother, a big smile on his face, “I want to be like you, mommy. I want to do magic.” She had smiled back at him, but something was different about it. There was a sadness in her eyes, which he recognized even at that age. More and more memories came flooding back. Begging mom and dad to train him whenever he got the chance. Endless nights sneaking out to practice down at the river. And all for what? Nothing. Nothing.

What was left for him now? The mundane world. He thought of all the ordinary colleges that his father had dragged him to, in the hopes of distracting him from his inevitable failure. The thought of going to one of them, of being completely cut off from the world that he so desperately wanted to join made him feel ill. Not that he had much choice in the matter. Tomorrow a member of the Sodality would be here to strip his powers and leave him as banal as any other average human.

He sat up. No. No. Never. He would never allow what little of the sublime that he had managed to achieve to be taken from him. He glanced over at his dresser where his Swiss Army Knife lay. He could feel his heart beating frantically in his chest as he stood up and retrieved the knife. Was he really going to do this?

Was he really going to do this? Yes. Yes. He had no choice. He wouldn’t, couldn’t live a life without his dream. This was the only way. He raised his right hand high over his head and steeled himself for the pain. He had to keep quiet, or he might be heard. It would be simple for them to rush in and…. He imagined the scene tomorrow morning, his corpse in a pool of blood on the floor as his mother rushed in, and he brought the knife down as hard as he could.
He buried it in the mattress, and let out a long, strangled cry, then fell to the ground, his head in his hands. He sobbed for what felt like hours, tears pouring onto his shirt and down to the floor. He couldn’t do it. Beyond the pain that he’d cause his family, he just didn’t want to die.

“I’m sorry.” He heard a soft, feminine voice. He looked up, expecting to see his mother’s
comforting presence. In his grief, it took him a few moments to process what he was seeing.
His bed faced the door into his room, and it was in that direction he was looking. But instead of seeing the front of his bedroom, he saw a forest, blending seamlessly with the walls and floor. He could feel the wind blowing on him and hear the sound of birds chirping, but he barely noticed either. All his attention was drawn to the woman that was striding towards him.

Or was she a woman? From the waist up, she certainly was. She was very shapely, delicate, but not emaciated. She was wearing no clothes, as far as Valin could tell, and no jewelry. He felt a familiar stirring between his legs as he stared at her large, pendulous breasts topped with prominent chocolate nipples. Her skin was a light pinkish brown. Her face was an immaculate oval, framed by her voluminous chestnut hair which flowed all the way down to her lower half. All this was typical… well, maybe not typical, but certainly within the realm of possibility for a human. The only unusual thing about her upper body were a pair of long, pointed ears that poked through her brown locks. It was her lower body that was the real wonder.

From the waist down, she wasn’t human, but had the body of a deer, on top of four skinny legs tipped with even toed cloven hooves. Her fur was a subdued red with white spots running across her lower body’s back and sides, with a little tail at the end. Valin had never seen or heard of anything like her in his life.

His thoughts immediately turned to the earliest warnings that his parents had given him about magic, about the devils and their realm. But this creature was nothing like the descriptions of devils that he had been taught or read about. Devils were completely alien, made up of animated non-living matter, like rocks or water, and never formed human shapes. Their realm was a wasteland, completely inimical to organic life. The very air there would kill a living creature within moments. Volcanos dotted the landscape, and hypercanes flitted across the oceans daily. In other words, nothing like the idyllic scene that the deer-woman was striding out of.

She was staring into his eyes as she moved towards him, a gentle smile on her lips. “I can feel your despair… your longing.” Valin nodded, and he felt a few more tears flow down his cheeks.
She had reached the threshold that separated her reality from his, and as she did, her body started to change. Valin gasped as he saw her forelegs thicken, while her back half wafted away into nothingness. Soon she had the lower body of a human, a pert butt and shapely legs. She seemed momentarily surprised by this, breaking her eye contact to examine her new body. She nodded, as if in approval. All that was left to suggest she was anything but a human girl was the pair of pointed ears, which seemed to have diminished slightly.

She sat on his bed and patted the spot next to her, as if to invite Valin over. He hesitated, but only for a moment. This may have been a bad idea, but short of running into an alien world he knew nothing about or jumping out a third-floor window, there was nowhere he could escape to.
He sat on the bed next to her, blushing slightly as his gaze momentarily fixed on the spot between her legs and her breasts. She seemed to expect this and giggled before placing a delicate hand underneath his chin and gently moving his head so that his eyes were staring into hers. For the first time he noticed that her eyes were amber-gold, another otherworldly quality.
“Your desire… Your craving called me here. Tell me… What is it you lust for so desperately that it can reach all the way from your world and into mine?” She asked. Valin didn’t question howthis extraplanar visitor could speak his language.

“Magic. I want magic.” He said it without hesitation.

“Very well.” She replied, and before he could react, she leaned forward, pressed her hands to his chest, and kissed him on the lips.

From the moment of contact, Valin could feel something being pushed into him. He recognized it as magic, but it was unlike the little dribble that he had spent 18 years building up. This was a flood, a torrent, a waterfall. He couldn’t have produced this much if he had a hundred lifetimes, and she was pouring it into him in seconds!

Before long they were rolling around on the bed, passionately making out, the woman stuffing him full of mana all the while. Normally, filling a vessel with more magic than it could handle would result in a large explosion and glowing pile of ash. But as the energy penetrated Valin, he felt it transmuting, reshaping, expanding something deep within his soul, a place he had never noticed before. Every cell in his body felt alive, set afire by his extradimensional lover.

Eventually, the deluge started to subside, and their ardor cooled off. The woman rolled off of Valin and gave him a mischievous smile.

“Was that good for you?” She asked playfully.

Valin found himself staring at the ceiling again, but this time he was crying tears of joy. He had never felt more vital, more awake in his life. The woman’s energy was throbbing, pulsating inside of him, and now it was his energy.

He was so enraptured from the woman’s gift that it took him a while to notice that his clothes had somehow evaporated! He blushed deeply, and reached down to cover himself. He was completely soft; It had been a different sort of lust that wracked his body as he’d made out with his new friend.

“It only seemed fair,” She said with a giggle, lazily waving a hand to indicate her nude body. Valin couldn’t help but stare at it, but she didn’t seem to mind. She was doing the same to him, in fact.

Valin felt his cock starting to stir again, when the woman shook her head, as if to throw off a daze.

“Not that that doesn’t sound like fun, but don’t you want to try out your new gift?” She asked. She seemed genuinely curious about it.

Valin nodded. He didn’t want to cheat on Ariadne anyway. He waved his arms like he had a hundred times before, and attempted to produce a ball of water.

Naturally, it did not happen like a hundred times before. Instead of the usual ball, a massive torrent of water erupted from a vertical plane the size of Valin’s room. It was as if someone had connected a portal from his room to the nearby river.

It was glorious, but at the same time, terrifying, especially when it didn’t stop when Valin turned off the magic. Luckily, he wasn’t the only mage in the room. The woman jumped up, made a few motions of her own, and the water was soon disappearing as fast as it was being conjured.
It wasn’t too much longer before the deluge stopped, and the portal disappeared. Valin sat on the bed, open mouthed, while the woman was now standing next to him with a satisfied expression on her face. Neither of them were wet, but there was a yard wide strip in the center of the room that was absolutely drenched.

“Well, I’d say that that was a success, don’t y-“ The woman spoke, but she cut off as she turned to Valin. She stared at his hair curiously.

Valin was just about to ask what the matter was, when he felt something strange. A sensation on his skin, as if someone or something was gently pouring water over his body. The feeling started to turn inward, and as it did, he began to change.

The first thing that Valin noticed was a tickling on his neck as his hair started to grow. He reached up to grab a handful of it, and he noticed to his shock that it was a vivid purplish blue.

That must have been what the woman noticed, he realized. It wasn’t stopping, either, it was getting longer and longer until it started pooling in his lap. It was lustrous, shiny and beautiful. The color of it changed as it flowed downward too, starting with an almost purple color at the root, and shifting to a glacial pale blue at the tip. It was absolutely gorgeous, though Valin would have appreciated it more if it was on someone else’s head.

Next, the feeling spread out over his skin from his head downwards, like a little wave spreading over the sand at the beach. Valin watched in horrified fascination as his skin softened, all the little bumps and imperfections smoothing out and disappearing. As he watched the change spread down his body, he noticed that his skin was lightening a few shades, from pink to pale. As it traveled down his arm, he watched his freckles evaporate into nothingness.

When the change reached his toes, he felt it rebound and start back up his body. As it moved up his calves to his thighs he noticed that the hair on his legs was disappearing, leaving them completely smooth. He snatched his new hair off his crotch and stared as his pubic hair receded. He shivered slightly as he felt the cool air of the room waft across his penis and scrotum. It felt kind of nice. Soon the change reached his stomach, chest, arms, and finally his face. He didn’t have to shave much; His hair was fairly light colored and fine, but it had been a long time since he had had a completely smooth face.

Through this all, the woman was watching as intently as he was. Valin looked up at her, and she looked back.

“What’s happening to me?” He asked, his voice shaking. He was trying not to let his panic show.
Her eyes snapped up. She stared at him piercingly for a few moments. “I-“

She cut herself off again, and Valin instantly knew why. He could feel a pressure surging behind his face as it started to shift. Valin’s face was unquestionably masculine. He had a strong jaw and a large forehead. But not for long.

The first thing that changed was his nose. He couldn’t help but reach to feel it as it shrunk down, becoming dainty and slightly upturned. His forehead was next, the prominent ridge of bone slowly receding into nothing. He felt a small tickle as his hairline crept forward, leaving his forehead small and feminine. The reshaping of his face made his eye sockets shallower, and his eyes look larger and more expressive. His eyebrows tickled slightly as they thinned and moved slightly higher on his forehead. They were now the same purple color as his roots.

Valin’s cheeks were the next to change, swelling from their original, slightly gaunt shape to round, feminine plumpness. His lips puffed up slightly, forming a sexy pout. As he was experimentally smacking his new lips together, his jaw shifted, becoming rounder, the angles gentler. His chin reshaped, becoming slightly more pointed and narrow. He was now blessed with a delicate, beautifully feminine face.

Desperate to see what it now looked like, he crawled across the bed toward the full length mirror on the right wall. As he did so, he could feel the changes surging down his throat. His Adam’s apple shrank away into nothingness. His vocal cords started to tighten, as if an invisible hand was tuning a guitar in his larynx. When he finally wiggled his way in front of the mirror, he let out a gasp, and his mouth formed a perfect O of surprise.

His face was beautiful. Soft, sensual and erotic, it literally took his breath away. He blushed deeply as he felt his cock come to life. He was getting aroused by his own reflection! His eyes had changed color as well; They had taken on a glacial blue, just like the end of his hair.
The next thing he felt was a coolness on his ears. He reached up to brush his new hair away and noticed that they were shrinking slightly… but also that the tips were narrowing into points just like the woman who’s magic was presumably transforming him. He could see her reflection in the mirror- she seemed just as surprised as he was.

The magic was surging more intensely now within him. The waves were cresting, piling up, one on top of the other. It felt as if every atom in his body had come to life. It was heady, almost exhilarating. He would have enjoyed it if he wasn’t in the process of becoming a girl.
Because that was surely what was happening to him. He was changing sex, becoming female. He felt his whole body being compressed as he watched his reflection in the mirror shrink smaller and smaller. He was fairly tall for a guy, but he soon realized that he wouldn’t be as a girl. He lost one inch… three inches… six inches… He started to feel dizzy as the whole world shifted out of its usual perspective. In the end, he lost more than a foot in height.

The magic turned inward next. Valin watched as it moved down his arms, the toned muscles that he had built up becoming barely noticeable. His hands became small and delicate; The nails became longer and more rounded. It moved to his torso next. Valin half expected to feel boobs ballooning out of his chest, but apparently that was for later. His upper body became daintier, and then his waist started to cinch. The six-pack he had been working on withered away until all that was left was a smooth tummy. His taut butt came after that, becoming round and heart shaped, and one again losing the muscle it had had. His hips widened nicely, giving him a lovely hourglass figure. The only thing left were his legs, which became shapely and beautiful. Just like his arms, the muscle on them disappeared into supple softness. His feet shrank down until they were delicate and dainty.

Valin’s heart started hammering as the magic disappeared from his toes. There were only two things left to change. He had seen plenty of breasts and pussies before, though almost all of them belonged to girls on the internet. He never imagined that he’d have a set of his own.
Sure enough, he felt the energy start to pool behind his newly shrunken pecs. The first thing to change were his nipples, which became larger and darker. He couldn’t help but reach up and touch them. They surged with arousal as they became erect. He let out an involuntary moan of pleasure, then turned a deep shade of crimson as he heard his changed voice for the first time. It was so melodic and sensual! He briefly wondered what it would sound like if he tried to sing, but was soon distracted by the flesh behind his nipples slowly filling out. He watched in awe as they swelled bigger and bigger underneath his newly delicate hands. When they finally stopped, they were large and pendulous, but still in proportion.

Immediately, the energy poured from his breasts to his penis. Valin immediately spread his legs and stared in wonder as his cock rose to its full length. He watched, both horrified and enthralled as it slowly started to shrink. He could feel it more clearly than he ever had in his life; Every air molecule seemed to stimulate it as it got smaller and smaller, until all that was left was a tiny nub of a clitoris. Below his new clit, he could feel his scrotum and testicles pull closer to his body. His balls withdrew completely, and it was a decidedly odd sensation feeling them wiggle around through his abdomen until they happily settled in place as his new ovaries. A shiver ran down his spine as he realized that he had truly become female. What was left of his former scrotum split down the middle and formed a pair of soft lips that completed his new vagina.

Finally, it was over. Valin lay there on the bed, still staring at the spot where his cock had once been, where his pussy was now. It took him a few moments to shake himself out of his reverie. He slowly pushed himself off the bed and got to his feet, fighting off another wave of dizziness from the change in height. He had stood in this same spot before, countless times. His brain expected one thing, but her eyes told her another. He turned to the mirror, and finally got a good look at his reflection.

He was stunned. He had become an otherworldly vision of feminine perfection. His long purple blue hair flowed down his back and tickled his ass and the tops of his thighs. His large, rounded breasts jiggled gently on his chest. His deliciously curvy hips flowed into lovely, shapely legs. He was beautiful, sexy, erotic, and whatever other synonyms you could think of.

He stared into the mirror for what seemed like hours, enraptured by his own reflection. It was only when he heard a noise behind him that he remembered that there was someone else in the room.

Valin turned around to see his transformer staring intently at her own hand. Valin tilted his head curiously at the other woman, before the otherworldly intruder turned to Valin, gave him a small smile, and said, “You might want to cover yourself.” And just like that, she faded out of existence as suddenly as she appeared.

Valin had only a few seconds to blink before a massive fiery blast obliterated the wall in front of him.

Valin couldn’t help but let out a scream as half of his room was reduced to rubble. Luckily, whoever or whatever had cast the spell was concerned for the safety of the occupants, for there was another spell being cast; Some kind of absorption/portal type of thing. Even as he watched his clothing, his computer, his television and half his books sucked into oblivion, he couldn’t help but be impressed; To coordinate and cast such powerful spells in succession took incredible skill. It soon became apparent why the spells were so skillfully cast; As the rubble disappeared, it revealed Valin’s entire clan, in full regalia, arrayed outside what was left of his room.

There was complete silence as he and the collected Alethea clan stared dumbly at each other. It was only when Valin noticed his brother Edrin gaping openly at his bare breasts that he turned beet red, before jumping back on his bed and pulling the blanket around him. It was like a caricature of a nightmare; Here he was, surrounded by his whole family, clad in gleaming crimson living metal, while he was completely naked.

He didn't have much time to be embarrassed. Before he could blink, all his immediate family was surrounding his bed, glaring down at him.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?!” His father bellowed. He was a powerfully built man, about Valin’s former height, with the trademark flame red hair of the Aletheas. His face was a mask of fear and rage. Valin would have been touched if he hadn’t been so terrified.

Valin didn’t know what to do. How could he possibly explain this? Transformation magic was forbidden, and far beyond what he was capable of before he changed. Not knowing what else to say, he replied in a small, quavering voice. “I-I am y-your son!”

Valin heard his mother let out a small gasp, accompanied by looks of shock and confusion from the rest of the gathered crowd. Whatever they expected to hear, it wasn’t this.

“That’s impossible.” His mother said bluntly, but there was a twinge of doubt in her voice. Come to think of it, why had the whole clan gathered outside of his room in the first place? There must have been something preventing them from getting in, something that they detected. Some kind of barrier? A barrier strong enough to repel his entire clan put together?

If that were the case, it was no wonder that they had all gathered here, trying to break through it. Valin hadn’t studied much of the theory or history of magic beyond what had been required to pass the exam, but he knew that barriers were hard to create. So if creating such a barrier were possible, surely this strange transformation was possible too? That’s what he’d have to convince them of.

“My name is Valin Alethea. I was born on August 9th, 20XX…” Valin continued to rattle off everything that he could think of about himself. The faces of his family softened as he continued, he even managed to get a giggle out of his mother as he mentioned “the papaya shaped birthmark on my left… Well… I don’t know if it’s there anymore….” And twisted his head around to try and take a look at his butt.

“Well…I think that’s enough to be going on with for now,” His father said. He looked relieved and tired as the tension drained out of him. “I’m not entirely convinced of all this, but there’ll be plenty of time to nail down all the details later.”

Just then, one of Valin’s many cousins, a small, mousy haired girl, pushed her way into the room, looking breathless and panicked. “T-The Guard! They’re here!”

Everyone turned to stare in the general direction of the front door. There was muffled shouting, followed by a sudden bang and a small shockwave that everyone felt. At this, there was a sudden commotion as the assembled clan charged out of the house to meet this new threat.

Valin stayed huddled in bed for a moment, before shaking his head. Why shouldn’t he go down and see what’s happening? He grabbed a t-shirt off the floor. It looked like the only article of clothing that had survived the incursion into his room. Thankfully, since it was made for a much larger body than he had now, it covered all the important bits.

He pulled it on and stepped softly over the wreckage and down the stairs. The shouting seemed to have  started again. He could make out his parent’s voices and a few others. One seemed to be the person his side was yelling at, a deep voiced woman. There were a few more that he couldn’t recognize, but one stood out: His uncle, the senator.

He got to the front door. It was wide open. As quietly as he could, he slowly inched his head around the doorjamb. What he didn’t take into account was his new hair. It fell across the threshold, catching the light.

He heard a gasp and someone yelling, “There! What is that?” and then the sound of about two hundred heads turning to look at something. He caught the eye of his mother, who visibly sagged.

“THERE!” The deep female voice bellowed, pointing directly at Valin. “THERE! Evidence of whatever deranged experiment you people were performing here! Turn it over now, or we will open fire!”

Valin’s heart caught in his chest. Had the guardswoman seen his pointed ears? He watched as the air started crackling from the power that the two sides were summoning. In all his life, he'd never felt such power. The feel of two groups of tremendously powerful mages was as enthralling as it was terrifying. The thought of watching his whole clan fighting a full scale battle against the Guard sobered him up quickly though. He couldn’t let his family fight this fight. Not because of his mistake.

“WAIT!” He yelled.

“I-I’ll go with you,” He said nervously. He walked through the crowd of his relatives, staring after him. He saw his mother embrace his father, quietly weeping into his shoulder. His father looked pale, as if he was fighting to keep it together. 

Too late to think about that now. The instant he made his way past his family a pair of manacles flew to his hands, followed by fetters for his feet. Then it was a gag, a mask, and a set of earplugs. They must have been ensorcelled, for he had lost all his senses, save touch. He felt two pairs of hands grab his arms roughly, and shuffle him off. He had no idea where he was being dragged off to. Soon enough, he felt the telltale tingle of teleportation, and he was whisked off to who knows where.

—

Valin looked around. The restraints had been removed in transit, it seemed. The room, or rather cell, he had been teleported to was a small rectangular box that couldn't have been more than 10x10 feet. It had a bed, a desk, a sink, a chair, a toilet and a mirror. It was well lit by spell, as Valin couldn't see a light source. He noticed a sliding switch on one of the walls, most likely for raising and dimming them. There were no doors or windows to speak of. It was perfectly silent.

Valin knew about these rooms. They were luridly described in movies, books, television shows, as one of the cartoonishly evil methods of torture inflicted by or on villains. Confine someone to a small inescapable prison, supply them with food and water, then watch them slowly go insane from the isolation.

Valin’s mind raced. Was that what would happen to him? Were they going to leave him here until he died of old age? Would he die of old age? He had no idea what had been done to him by that … being. Who knows what kind of changes might have been inflicted upon him? He sat on the bed and hugged his knees, shivering with fear.

—

Two hours later, nothing had happened. Valin had checked all the stuff to see if it worked, tossed and turned on the bed for a while, and stared at his reflection in the mirror. For a while, he examined his new body, even knowing that he was probably being watched.

It was endlessly fascinating, this new female body of his. The smoothness of his skin. The curve of his hips. The way his breasts jiggled when he moved. Even the loss of his penis and testicles, and the attendant gap between his thighs was interesting its own way.

But even this couldn't distract him forever. His shivering had gotten worse. At this rate, he really was going to go insane. He didn’t dare use his magic, he had no idea if he could control it enough not to drown himself.

He was just about to turn off the light to try and sleep, when he felt a very familiar sensation. Or was it familiar? Instead of being doused, it was like he was being dried. Soon he felt a shifting sensation in his abdomen as his organs started to rearrange themselves. He watched, fascinated as his crotch started to tingle, and before long, his clit was swelling up, his ovaries were pushing out of his slowly sealing vagina, and then he was male again, his penis and testicles dangling between his smooth thighs.

From there, the transformation he had experienced a few hours earlier played out in reverse. His breasts shrunk and receded into his chest, his body expanded back into its usual proportions, his face reshaped, and his hair retracted back into his skull. He watched as his normal, masculine body reasserted itself.

Or had it reasserted itself? He looked in the mirror and was surprised to see that his hair hadn’t changed back to its usual light brown. It was purple, just like the base of his female form’s hair! He looked down and blushed as he noticed that his pubic hair had assumed that same purple color, along with the rest of his body hair. He idly wondered what Ariadne would think of this change the next time they spoke.

He was so distracted by the hair that he almost didn’t notice that his ears had changed as well. They were slightly smaller than before, but they still retained the same points that they had when he had been a girl.

Valin felt a tingle again, but this time it was another teleportation. He found himself bound to a cold metal chair, blindfolded, though not gagged or deprived of hearing. It wasn’t long before a loud, distorted voice boomed over the interrogation room he had been transported to.

“PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.” The sound of it jarred his ears. It was almost painful.

Valin squirmed in his chair. He had seen enough crime dramas to know that you shouldn’t say anything when being interrogated by the government.

“PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD,” The voice repeated. The sound saturated his brain. Before he knew it, the words were pouring unbidden from his lips.

“My name is Valin Alethea,” he spoke in a dull, flat tone. It was getting harder and harder to think.

“WHERE WERE YOU AT 9PM ON MAY 21….” The voice droned on, but Valin wasn’t conscious of it. He was vaguely aware of the strange, hypnotic voice, and the fact that he was replying to it, but he seemed to be in some kind of drugged stupor. He had no idea how much time had passed when the fog clouding his brain started to lift. He was just starting to get his bearings when he was grabbed roughly, and all the restraints from when he had been brought in returned: He was blind, deaf, and mute again. He was manhandled off to some other place, then once again he felt himself teleported off to who knows where.

When he arrived at his new destination, his bindings had been removed. He looked around and saw that he was on a teleport dais. There were two guardsmen standing on either side of it, trying not to stare at his strange appearance. He was pleased to see that he was wearing pants now.

There was the sound of a door opening, and another guardsman came in. Of higher rank, it looked like, though Valin wasn’t sure. “If you’ll come with me, Mr. Alethea?” The guardsman asked.

“Uh… sure.” Valin replied, nonplussed. He was pleased that he was no longer being treated like a laboratory specimen, but he was more confused than ever.

He was led into a spartan windowed room, with a desk and a couple of chairs. It was dark out, but was it the same night that he’d left his house? There was no way to tell. He sat down, but he didn’t have long to wait. A minute later, the door opened, and someone he recognized walked into the room.

“Arcturus?” he asked uncertainty. Arcturus was his cousin, the son of his uncle Talin, the senator. He didn’t know him very well, in fact, he doubted that they had ever said more than two words to each other, but it was still nice to see a friendly face.

Arcturus nodded. “It’s good to see you alive, and… mostly yourself.” He glanced up at Valin’s ears and hair for a moment. Valin blushed and looked down.

“First things first. Hold out your hand.” Valin did so, and Arcturus held out a small, pen-like device and held it to Valin’s fingertip.

“This will sting a bit,” Arcturus said, and he wasn’t wrong. Valin jumped slightly as a needle shot out and pierced his finger, producing a small droplet of blood. Arcturus quickly swiped a test strip across it and inserted it into his smartphone. It beeped a few seconds later

A few seconds later, he smiled grimly. “We’ve got them.”

Valin blinked, curious. “What?”

“They used some kind of hypnosis magic on you: I’m guessing to interrogate you. Did you lose a long track of time while you were imprisoned?” Arcturus asked.

“Um… yes.” Valin shivered. He knew that such things were highly illegal: it could get one thrown in prison for life, or stripped of your magic, or both. There were always rumors and conspiracy theories that the Sodality used such things, but he never thought that he’d be subjected to them himself.

“We’ll be able to use this to secure your release. It was inevitable anyway: once we found out that you had changed back, they’d have to let you go eventually. I’m guessing someone wanted to wring as much information out of you before you were let go.”

Valin didn’t bother to ask how his family had found out that he’d become male again: He knew that they were well connected. He was more interested in the reasons behind his abduction.

“How did they find out about my… uh… incident?” Valin asked.

“It looks like they detected a devil incursion on a scale hither to undreamt of, and scrambled the Guard. They weren’t expecting anyone to be alive at the scene, and you know what happened next.”

Valin paused to consider. The woman he had met didn’t seem anything like a devil, but apparently there was an incursion detected the moment she appeared in his room?

“So… it was a devil that did this?” He asked, gesturing to himself.

Arcturus shrugged. “If it was, it’s unprecedented. Devils have never been able to make barriers, or perform any type of magic as we know it, beyond making portals and using their specific element.” Valin nodded.

“I need to get back to the capital. I should have an update for you tomorrow. If all goes well, we’ll have you out of here in no time,” Arcturus said, flashing a reassuring smile. A moment later, he had gotten up and left.

Valin didn’t have much time to consider their conversation, as a guard immediately came in and led him away to what looked like a low budget motel room. He was surprised, he expected to be in another cell. Though given that the door was locked behind him, he supposed that it was. Not that such a door would be much of a barrier to a mage. They must not expect me to make a run for it, Valin thought to himself.

Valin jumped on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He was going to get out, apparently. For the first time, he allowed himself to enjoy his gift. A smile broke out on his face, and soon he was laughing, sobbing tears of joy. He had gotten what he wanted. This magic… this gift… He could feel it inside his body, still as a calm lake, and as deep as the ocean. He wanted to call on it again, let it pour out of him. Even as disciplined as he was, it was hard to resist the desire to let it free, especially considering how little there was to do in here.

He yawned. Suddenly he was struck by how tired he was. There had been so much adrenaline pumping through him that he’d forgotten that he’d been up for… How long had he been up for? He still had no idea, and they had declined to give him a clock. At least he had a window. He looked out and saw a half moon soaring over a vast, trackless desert. “Figures they’d use a place like this,” He said, before rolling over and falling asleep.

—

He awoke to a loud knocking sound, and someone opened his door. Light was pouring into his room from the window. “Your friend is back,” the guard said in bored monotone, before leading Valin back to the little conference room he had been in before. Arcturus was there, looking very tired. Had he been up all night? Valin was touched by the effort he was putting in to obtain his freedom.

Arcturus smiled when he saw Valin. “It’s done. You’ll be out of here as soon as we get your consent to the deal we struck.”

Valin sighed with relief, then slumped down onto a chair. “What kind of deal?”

“Basically, the government wants to study you. Only for about four hours a week, mind.” Arcturus said, catching the expression on Valin’s face. “The PM made it very clear that she was willing to accept the consequences of keeping you locked up if we didn’t grant her this much. It’s a good idea, in any case. We have no idea what’s been done to you, after all, and the government will have access to resources that we don’t.”

“I suppose I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Not as such, no.” Arcturus smiled apologetically. “Don’t worry. It’ll be in a place that we control. They won’t be able to pull a stunt like last night a second time.”

Valin nodded. He supposed it was a small price to pay for his freedom.

“Also, we got access to the record of your interrogation. From your answers, the nature of the questions that they asked, and from information we’ve been able to glean from other sources, we’ve been able to piece together what happened.”

Valin nodded, waiting for Arcturus to go on.

“One of their dimensional monitoring stations detected a metaphysical incursion from your home. It was of a pattern and power they had never seen before. They thought it was an error, so they ignored it. Then a second monitoring station detected the same thing. That's when they scrambled the Guard. Between that and the transformation you described, the government is very intrigued,” Arcturus said.

“What was wrong with the transformation?” Valin asked.

“You know transformation magic is forbidden, but do you know why?”

Valin froze. In all the excitement, he hadn't even considered that aspect of his change. Arcturus must have taken his silence as a no, because he launched into an explanation.

“It's incredibly difficult to do correctly and incredibly dangerous for the subject. To do what that creature did to you would normally take a team of about twenty experts, working in concert for half a day. That kind of intuitive transformation magic just doesn't exist. There's also the fact that your magical capacity has been expanded. People have been trying to expand a human’s innate magical capacity since it was discovered that we all had one, and it's never been done. Until yesterday. Add to that the ridiculously powerful barrier that the being created and you can see why everyone’s freaking out.”

Valin stared at Arcturus. He was starting to get the sense that his life was going to get much more interesting.

Arcturus and Valin were escorted to the teleportation dais, and in a few moments, they were whisked off home, and he was promptly set upon by his immediate family. There was much exchange of hugging and kissing and tears, as well as questions firing off all over the place. But eventually, Valin got to the question that he really wanted to ask.

“Has anyone told Ariadne yet?”

There were a few questioning looks between his parents and his siblings, before they arrived at the answer, no.

Valin sighed deeply. “Well, I guess I’d better get on that. Can’t put it off.”

He was nervous. How would Ariadne react to this? He unconsciously reached up to touch his newly pointed ears.

He took a deep breath. Sure, this kind of thing was unusual, in fact, completely unprecedented, but that wouldn’t really affect their relationship, would it? What was he thinking? Of course it would. How could it not? They had bonded over their relative lack of magic, after all. And now he had this massive reservoir of it inside him, planted by some kind of extradimensional goddess. Not to mention the weird physical changes that he’d gone through.

He gulped. He was never one to put off unpleasant things, but this time he was getting the urge to. But no. It wouldn’t help anything to delay.

Valin went inside and grabbed his smartphone. He texted Ariadne: [I need to see you ASAP. Can we meet in the usual spot?]. After a moment’s hesitation, he took a selfie of his new appearance, and sent that too.

Her reply came a few seconds later. It was just one word, [yes].

Valin gulped again. She obviously typed that in a hurry. What did that mean? Only one way to find out.

A few moments later he was on the teleport pad, punching in a set of coordinates, and he was off. He felt the world shift around him, and soon he was standing on an old, worn stone dais in the middle of a forest. It was their own private oasis, away from all their problems. He set out, walking towards a nearby meadow and settling under a familiar tree. Or at least he tried to. He got back up and started pacing, his nerves a bundle of energy. Luckily there was a curious golden flower that caught his attention. He’d never seen one like it in this meadow before. He picked it, examining its curious triangular shape.

It wasn’t that long before he saw Ariadne striding across the field toward him, looking gorgeous in a pink spaghetti strap tank and a pair of cutoffs. His heart was pounding in his chest as she walked closer and closer to him. Then they were face to face, Ariadne staring curiously at his pointed ears and violet hair. He allowed himself to appreciate how beautiful she was, with her olive skin and shiny black tresses. She reached up to touch his left ear. She ran her fingers across it and said one word. “Wow…”

Their faces drew closer and closer, and then they were kissing. For the first time, it felt like there were no worries, no weight in Valin’s heart as he wrapped his arms around Ariadne. Then they were tearing each other’s clothes off.

Ten minutes later, they were cuddling beneath the trees, gloriously naked, basking in the afterglow. Valin looked up at the swaying branches as he felt Ariadne’s hair tickling his chest and sighed happily. She reached up to stroke his ear again.

“So, you gonna tell me how this happened, babe?” She asked with a giggle.

Valin regaled her with the whole fascinating story, while Ariadne listened with rapt attention. When he was finished, all she could say was “Wow…” again.

“Soooo… Can I see some of this amazing magic?” She asked after a few moments.

“I thought you’d never ask.” Valin summoned up his magic for the first time since that fateful night. He went as delicately and as slowly as possible, not wanting to summon a huge deluge like last time. He was able to condense the water like he usually was, but it was hard to shape it when he wasn’t used to his own strength. Ariadne watched patiently as the globes of water moved back and forth through the air. Until…

“Val, what’s happening to your hair?” She asked.

Valin jumped. Distracted, the water he was manipulating fell to the ground. It was happening again! Valin squirmed, and Ariadne watched, fascinated, as he became a she once more.

He ran his hands over his changed body. It was the same as before, a bit smaller than average for a woman, curvy, with the same otherworldly hair and eyes.

Ariadne reached out to touch him. “Is that really you in there?” She asked.

Valin jumped. “Y-yes… Ooo!” He had quite forgotten his new, melodious voice. Looking at Ariadne, he realized that he was now smaller than her! He shivered slightly. It was weird being smaller than his girlfriend. “Why is this happening?” He asked plaintively.

“Hmm….” Ariadne said, eying Valin with a clinical stare. “Well…. Both times you had just used magic right? So maybe whenever you use magic, you turn into a girl?”

A blush spread across Valin’s face. If that were true, then he’d need to be a girl for like, half his life from now on. He shook his head. Was he really ready for that? It would mean taking all his college classes, or at least the practical ones, as a girl.

Well, he supposed he had no choice. If that was what it took, then that was what it took. Having breasts occasionally was a small price to pay for being able to live his dream.

“Hmm… I guess that makes sense.” Valin looked over at Ariadne. “So… what’s being a girl like?”

Ariadne scratched her head. “You know… I never really thought about it that much. I just sort of… went with the flow. I mimicked what the other girls did, and it just fit? I guess it’s something you don’t notice unless you’re specifically looking for it.”

Valin nodded. It made sense; He had never really considered what being a guy was like. He supposed he’d have to now, considering he’d be spending half his life as a woman.

“Everything’s just so… jiggly now.” Ariadne snorted with laughter.

Valin pouted. “Well, it is!”

“That’s what we have bras for.” Ariadne thought for a second. “Come to think of it, we’ll probably have to get you some…”

---

Valin and Ariadne were standing outside a shopping mall. It was a nondescript building in a city they’d never been to before. Mundane, naturally. Mages didn’t bother to manufacture things when the mundanes could do it just as well.

The country they were in at present was called Lemuria, which dominated the continent whose name it shared. It had, until about 80 years ago, been one of the imperialist powers struggling for dominance among the nation states of the world. Those days were long past, but they still had the world's largest economy, and one of the places mages most liked to go when interacting with the mundane world.

One of them was looking very uncomfortable… and not just because it was Valin’s first time in public as a woman. He was wearing some of Ariadne’s old clothes. The bra was too small, the panties were too tight, and Valin never thought that he’d be this eager to go shopping for underwear.

The pair of them strode in together. Ariadne had put a glamour on Valin’s ears, but she hadn’t bothered to do one for his hair. As a result, Valin was turning heads the moment they set foot in the place.

It was… disconcerting. Valin had never really been aware of whether or not other people paid attention to him, but now it seemed like every other man, woman and child in this mall was staring at him. Twice he caught a guy leering at his body, and he had to fight the urge to hide behind Ariadne.

Valin looked up and noticed that they were passing Talia’s Secret. “Can’t we go in there?” He whined.

Ariadne blushed. “You don’t want slutty underwear, do you?”

Valin pouted. “It’s not like anyone’s going to see it!” But Ariadne dragged him off just the same, and in a few minutes, they were standing in a department store changing room.

“Strip.” Ariadne commanded.

“Not even going to buy me dinner first?” Valin said with a wink, but Ariadne just rolled her eyes. Valin hastily started to take his clothes off.

Ariadne rapidly measured every part of Valin’s body she could get her hands on. Not just for underwear, but for anything that he might want to put on. Valin noticed that she seemed slightly uncomfortable touching her naked female body. It made sense, it was probably the first time that she’d ever touched another girl like this, Valin reasoned.

After Ariadne was done, Valin waited patiently as she went out into the store to find some clothes for her. It wasn’t too long before she returned, laden with tops, bottoms, and underwear. Valin noticed that none of the clothes that she brought back were very revealing, which he appreciated.

“Ooo!” Valin squealed happily as he slid the panties up his smooth legs and across his butt.

“What?” Ariadne asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing… It’s just, I wasn’t expecting them to feel so… soft.” Valin replied, blushing.

“Sounds like someone likes her new panties! C’mon girl, try the rest of this stuff on, or we’ll be here all day.”

Valin blushed deeper. It was the first time someone had actually referred to her as female.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to… It’s just when you look like that, you’re just so…” Ari said with a blush of her own.

“No, um… It’s ok. It just makes sense to treat me like a girl when I look like this, doesn’t it?”

She hastily got to work trying on the bra.

---

Thirty minutes later, they were at the checkout counter. Valin was wearing a simple unisex white T-shirt and a pair of jeans. All the stuff had fit. Valin especially appreciated the way the bra cradled and protected her breasts, though she had saved her reddest blush of all when she had seen what size it was. Her boobs really were perfect: Nice and round, just large enough, while not entering fetish territory. Even wearing just a T-shirt, they were impossible to miss.

They walked out of the mall together. Valin was still turning heads, but she was starting to get used to it. It wasn’t long before they were standing on a teleport dais. They were usually concealed in subway stations or other types of mass transit when a mage needed to enter the mundane world. A few moments later, they were whisked back to Valin’s home.

They stood in front of Valin’s front door. As she usually did, Valin leaned in for a kiss, but to her surprise, Ariadne pushed her away.

The look of hurt on Valin’s adorable face immediately made Ariadne feel horrible. “S-Sorry,” she said, “I just… It’s weird being romantic when you’re like this. I’m not… you know…”

Valin nodded. Of course she wouldn’t be into her when she was female, but it still hurt to be rejected like that. She managed an awkward smile. “Well, um… see you soon, I guess!” She opened the door and dashed inside, leaving Ariadne looking pensive. She almost didn’t notice the swirling lights of an aurora shimmering above her house. When she asked her mom about it later, she mentioned that it’d been doing that since the incident.

---

Valin stared at the ceiling of his room, his favorite habit when in emotional turmoil. The transformation had worn off a few minutes after he had gotten in the door. Luckily, he managed to strip down before his swelling body had ruined his new clothes.

He kept replaying the scene outside the house over and over in his mind. He had no idea why he found it so… upsetting. It was only natural, after all. Ariadne wasn’t attracted to women. If he was in her position, if she had turned into a man, he would have reacted the same way.

It was just… She had never done that before. Maybe that was the reason. She was treating him differently when he was a she. But he didn’t feel any different, at least on the inside. Or did he? Come to think of it, it was bizarre how at peace he was when he was a girl. He would have expected to feel uncomfortable, or something similar.

He thought about his brother, Edrin. He remembered vividly when he had come back from his gender reassignment surgery as the tall, strapping man he was today, and the way he described what being trapped in a female body felt like. He had described it as “existential torment.”

Valin hadn’t felt existential torment when he was a girl. He hadn’t felt any torment at all. Sure, the difference in height and proportions was disconcerting for a few moments after the change, but only for a few moments. He felt the same way after he changed back too.

It wasn’t like he felt any existential torment when he was a guy, either. In fact, the last few days, despite all the craziness, had probably been the happiest of his life. He had no idea how the weight of his desire to become a mage, and the fear of not achieving it, had dragged on his soul. When he woke up this morning, he was smiling. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Hell, he wasn’t sure it had EVER happened.

Was it that simple though? He thought back to what Ari said about going with the flow. Is that what he’s been doing all this time?. The all consuming desire to be a mage had taken up so much of his bandwidth that he’d never thought about his gender much. When he’d hit puberty and felt the pangs of desire for women for the first time, he put himself in the “heterosexual male” box automatically. Training his body, like training his magic, became second nature to him. After all, that’s what women liked, and Valin was nothing if not disciplined.

But being a girl was… different. There was a curiosity there. An urge to explore that didn’t exist when he was in his male body. He liked looking at himself in the mirror when he was in his female form, as opposed to the disinterested numbness he felt whenever he had to shave. Valin had always found femininity enticing. He loved it when Ari got dressed up, did something interesting with her makeup, or painted her nails different colors. He’d always chocked that up to his “natural heterosexuality.” What if there was something more there? He imagined himself in girl mode, making herself beautiful, and shivered.

Bah. Sexuality is too complicated. He shook himself out of his reverie. All this self reflection was going to give him grey hairs.

---

Valin was eating breakfast the next morning when he heard a knock at the door. He didn’t pay any attention to it until his mother came in, a slightly worried look on her face.

“I’m afraid it’s time for your first ‘appointment’,” dear.”

“Appointment?” He asked, confused.

“You know, the government study program we agreed to to get you out.” His mother said, a dark look passing over her face.

Valin gulped. He had completely forgotten that aspect of his release in the excitement of the last few days. He had planned to pick Edrin's brain about the finer points of gender dysphoria this morning, but apparently that would have to wait.

Apprehensively, he made his way to the front door. He had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping when he opened it.

Standing outside was a beautiful young woman, dressed in a lab coat, a scarlet blouse, a black pencil skirt, stockings and black heels. Her long honey blonde tresses framed a passionate face, brimming with youthful enthusiasm. Valin was completely disarmed. He wished he’d had a chance to shave. His facial hair was much more noticeable now that it was purple.

“Uh… are you the… um…” He stammered. He wasn’t usually caught off guard like this.

“Yes, I’ll be the one liaising with you and your family. The agreement was for only two people from the government to have access to you, and I was the lucky pick. I’m Electra. Electra Kalasonde.” She extended a hand and Valin noticed that her nails were painted a bright cherry red.

He shook it. He made a mental note never to mention Electra to Ariadne.

They walked over to the teleport pad together. As Electra walked in front of him, his eyes were drawn to the way her long legs moved in her perfectly aligned stockings. He shook his head. Keep your mind in the game! Valin noticed that the coordinates on the pad were already locked in. That’s right. He remembered Arcturus saying something about being studied at a location his family controlled. He heard the sound of the front door open, and saw that his mother was standing there, watching Electra, a cold, suspicious look in her eyes.

A second later, Valin felt a familiar tingle, and they were off. He found himself in a towering hall. It was airy, spacious, and well lit, with sunbeams glittering in from the walls and ceiling. It was not what he expected for a research lab, that’s for sure. There was a short, stout woman with greying hair that looked to be in her 50s sitting behind several monitors. Valin vaguely remembered that Electra had mentioned that two people would be studying him. She gave a lazy wave, then went back to work.

“Your family generously provided this space for us to use,” Electra said. “I figured we’d need a large, open space for you to test your magic. That’s Doctor Tymat, she’ll be monitoring and adjusting the equipment. Now, if you’ll come this way…”

She led him to a door, which led to a hall, which led to a room that looked like a hastily constructed doctor’s office.

“Take off your clothes, if you please,” said Electra while setting up what looked to be a recording device.

“Uh…” Valin said as he watched her making adjustments.

“Sorry,” she said apologetically, “But you agreed to let us record you for these sessions.”

Valin blushed but started stripping down. He’d never had a female doctor before or been videotaped naked.

What transpired next was a typical physical, save for the fact that he was being examined by a drop dead gorgeous girl. When she was examining his testicles, he tried very hard to think about the weather. Eventually though, she had whacked his knees, looked in his ears, listened to his heart, and they were done.

As Electra was cleaning up, Valin asked innocently, “Do you want to examine my female body?”

“What?” She replied, dropping the lens cap.

So Valin explained all that he had discovered over the last few days about his magic, and the fact that whenever he used it, he turned into a woman.

Electra seemed quite fascinated by this. “I guess we’ll still need this.” She said, quickly setting up the camera again.

Valin did what he usually did when he needed to transform, manipulating the water in the air as delicately as possible. Electra stared avidly as his hair grew, his body reshaped, his breasts swelled out of his chest, and his penis shrank away into a pussy.

Valin tilted her head as she looked at Electra. The other woman seemed oddly flushed. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes!” Electra said. “I’ve just… never seen something so incredible before. I mean… that’s supposed to be impossible, right? Like… you need to have a bunch of surgeons to do all the alterations and it takes hours and…” She cut herself off, blushing.

Valin blinked. Electra sure was acting weird.

The examination that followed was basically the same, except for a few obvious differences. She winced as she was speculumed, and blushed as her nipples hardened when her breasts were examined, though not as much as Electra. She supposed that being this close to a naked woman was pretty uncomfortable for her, just like it was with Ariadne. Weird trait for a doctor though.

“Oops!” Valin said after they were finished. “I completely forgot to bring my female clothes. Oh well… At least I can wear my T-shirt.” She leaned over to pick it up, not noticing how Electra couldn’t keep her eyes off her perfect ass.

Valin hummed to herself as she walked through the hall, back to the auditorium where they first entered. Electra followed, trying as best she could not to be distracted by Valin’s adorably innocent manner or her heavenly body. Doctor Tymat, for her part, barely seemed to notice them, engrossed as she was in her equipment.

Electra produced a questionnaire for Valin to answer. There were a ton of questions; Everything from her psychological state, past and present, to her use of magic over the last week.

Valin then proceeded to demonstrate her newfound wellspring of magic, while Doctor Tymat measured her abilities with various devices she had brought along. Valin was happy to learn that she had a magical capacity that far outstripped any previously recorded, and Electra was happy to have anything that could distract her from ogling Valin.

“It’s going to be so embarrassing going home like this,” Valin said with a blush after they were finished. She looked up at Electra. The doctor was taller than Ariadne, making her about six inches bigger than Valin’s female body.

Electra thought for a second. “Hang on, I’ll get you something to wear. Probably won’t fit very well, but it’ll be better than those male clothes you have.”

About five minutes later, Electra came through the teleport pad, holding another lab coat. “This’ll be a little big on you, but it’ll cover everything.”

“Thanks!” Valin said cheerfully, and bounded up to the teleport dais. Electra sighed deeply. This was going to be a lot more stressful than she thought.

---

After Valin got home and into some proper clothes, she looked around for Edrin. She found him lounging languidly on the couch in their airy living room on the first floor. He was idly scrolling through something on his phone, and let out a bored yawn. He smiled gently as Valin nervously waved to get his attention.

"How're you doing, 'lil bro? I can't imagine this is easy for you," He said, lazily indicating Valin's female body with a wave of his phone.

"Well, that's the thing..." Valin paused for a second. "It's actually... not what I expected. I remember you describing what your went through before your GRS, and I figured that I'd feel something like that but I just... don't."

Edrin raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes... Ariadne called me a girl yesterday when we were shopping for panties," Edrin snorted back a laugh, "and I didn't mind it."

"Well, that's probably for the best, considering your condition. All the magic in the world isn't worth it if you're going to be dysphoric whenever you use it."

"But what does that say about me?"

Edrin laughed and ruffled his little sister's hair. "It means you don't mind being a girl, silly! And there's nothing wrong with that. If that's how you feel, that's how you feel. It's not like Mom or Dad or the rest of the clan is going to give a shit if you embrace womanhood."

Valin blushed deeply, and Edrin laughed again. "Seriously, Valin, I know how hard you've worked, and that it hasn't been easy for you. You've held yourself back for so long. Why not enjoy yourself a little?"

"As a girl?"

"Well, you're in the unique position to pick your gender at the moment. Just... consider where your mind went when asked you that question."

Valin just blushed deeper.

Valin was doing his morning routine. It had been an uneventful week since his first appointment with Electra, and now he was getting ready for the next one.

He looked at his face in the mirror to see if he needed to shave. He’d only had to do it once since the incident, and judging by his smooth face, he wouldn’t be doing it today either.

Valin had done some experimenting over the past week. He had tested his magic to see how long it took for him to change back. It didn’t seem to matter how much magic that he used, he always changed into a girl. It took about two hours from when he last used magic for him to transform back into a man. It was a relief to confirm this, for he didn’t relish transforming back in his new clothes.

As he walked down the stairs to breakfast, he thought back to the conversation he’d had with his parents about the college he would go to. Now that he had all this magic inside him, he could get into any place he wanted. Naturally, his parents wanted him to go to the place that the clan had been sending their best mages since time immemorial. Heathglint University was the perfect picture of traditional magical austerity: A desolate castle in the middle of nowhere, with no amenities to speak of. It was only ten years ago that they had expanded the dining hall menu beyond the traditional nutrient paste, referred to sarcastically by all the students as “fossil fuel.”

Valin had wasted no time in informing his parents that he had no intention of participating in the time honored self-flagellation considered proper for young mages. He was going to the college that he originally wanted to go to: Cascades. It was considered wildly liberal and extravagant by conventional standards, what with its “internet access” and “central air conditioning”. There had been some grumbling from his family, but as he had no intention of doing anything with his life that required him to go to a prestigious institution like Heathglint, he didn’t see any need to subject himself to such misery. Besides that, he suspected that his pointed ears and vibrant hair would draw way too much attention at a place that prided itself on churning out conformity.

---

“Your initiation is this week,” said Valin’s mom the next morning.

Valin’s heart leapt, and he couldn’t keep a smile off of his face. It wasn’t a surprise to him, but every reminder that he was a proper mage now gave him a thrill. He wasn’t sure when this euphoria was going to wear off.

“We’re going to have to fit you for a robe in girl mode, the unlocking cipher will require your magic.”

Valin nodded thoughtfully. Naturally, just about every interaction with the magical world was going to involve his female form. His mother, father, and the rest of the clan had taken everything in stride, not that he’d ever been worried about that. They’d spared no expense in getting Edrin the best transition money could buy, after all.

The cipher was essentially a password that could be inscribed magically into a door or threshold to keep unwanted visitors out. Combine that with a way to detect the identity of the approaching individual and you had magical two factor identification that was very difficult to break.

“I’m looking forward to it. The uh, initiation, not the fitting,” Valin said with a blush.

Mom just giggled at that.

He heard a knock on the front door, signaling Electra’s arrival. “Be careful with her,” Valin’s mother said. Valin tilted his head quizzically.

“Doctors don’t normally wear stockings to work. Or stiletto heels. Or show that much cleavage,” She continued. Valin blushed at the idea that his mother knew exactly where his mind was at. “There’s almost certainly a large team going over every bit of information that you give to her. The only reason that they’ve sent someone that young to conduct these tests is that they’re hoping she’ll charm you into opening up.”

Valin nodded and got to his feet. He opened the door to see Electra, as immaculately dressed as last time. He wondered if Electra had been ordered to dress so seductively. The people who subjected him to illegal hypnotic spells wouldn’t even think twice about doing something like that. He resolved to keep his wits about him in the future.

---

Despite his best efforts, however, he couldn’t help but open up to her, especially since Doctor Tymat was conspicuously absent this week. She was the only person outside his family and Ariadne that he had interacted with in the past week. The subject they landed on was the subject that he’d been thinking about all week: College.

“I went to Everard,” Electra said, “Which was exactly as fun as it sounds.” Everard was a traditional university in the vein of Heathglint.

Valin giggled, then blushed. She still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that she giggled now; She was always taken aback by how cute she sounded.

“And medical school on top of that?” Valin asked, and Electra nodded in reply.

“Damn, that’s rough. Well, I’m going to Cascades for art,” Valin said.

At this, Electra perked up. “Yes, they told me about what you did on the exam. Can you… show me?”

Valin nodded enthusiastically. She never passed up a chance to show off her skills, especially now that she didn’t have to throttle her magic to keep from running out. Thus, she spent the rest of the four hour session practicing her art, while Electra and the cameras watched avidly.

“That was beautiful…” said an awestruck Electra as Valin let the water fall to the floor. Valin blushed from the compliment.

“I’d love to show you more, but my family might do something drastic if I’m not back at exactly noon,” Valin said with an apologetic smile.

Electra seemed torn for a second, before simply saying “See you next week.”

---

Valin had a habit of practicing her magic before bed, a habit she had discontinued after her transformation. She wasn’t sure about trying to sleep in her female body, but that night she decided to bite the bullet and give in a shot.

After a vigorous round of training that involved doing unspeakable things to the nearby river, Valin went home, soaking wet from a very invigorating thunderstorm. Valin had always loved the rain, especially the feel of the raindrops on her bare skin. It helped that she could dry herself in an instant if she wanted.

She came in the back door and went up the stairs to her room. It was still strange to her to have everything seemingly in the wrong proportions. It was especially acute when she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She couldn’t help but notice the foot of height she had lost when looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Her male T-shirts were the perfect size for her petite female form to sleep in, so after a long, luxurious bath(her favorite guilty pleasure) she put one on and got into bed. Valin usually slept on her side, but she quickly noticed that with her new breasts, it was more comfortable to sleep on her back. It wasn’t long before she was fast asleep.

Valin had an especially vivid dream. Maybe because this was the first time she had fallen asleep as a girl? She dreamed of Ari, but unlike her usual dreams of her girlfriend, where she was a he, this time she was female. Ari was towering over her cute little body. She leaned Valin over and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. Valin felt wonderful, so soft and light in the taller woman’s arms. She melted into her girlfriend’s embrace. Suddenly, she felt a push, and she fell backwards onto a bed. Her clothes had disappeared, and so had Ari’s. Valin was biting her lip with anticipation. Then Ari was on top of her, kissing her neck, then down between her breasts, lower and lower now, past her belly button, past her waist, and then-

Valin awoke with a start and a gasp that carried equal parts arousal and frustration. She just missed the best part! Then she turned about as red as can be as she remembered what that best part was. It had felt so nice just letting Ari take control like that, steering her body, looking up into her eyes while she gently guided Valin the way she wanted her to go.

It was then she noticed how turned on she was. Her nipples were poking through her T-shirt and she could feel a wetness between her legs. This was the first time she had gotten aroused as a girl. She hesitated for only a moment before pulling off the T-shirt. Now that she was all wet and ready, she could admit how intensely curious she was about how her new body worked. She reached up to touch one of her hardened nipples and moaned as it tingled pleasurably from the contact. No wonder Ari loved it so much when she touched and sucked on them!

Her pussy pulsed excitedly as she imagined Ari suckling on her tits, which reminded her of the other place that she had yet to explore. She eagerly slid her other hand down her tummy and spread her legs. When she touched her folds for the first time, she let out a little squeal of pleasure. She was so wet! She let out another excited squeak when she accidentally brushed her hand against her clit.

She took her other hand off her breasts and sent it down to join the first one between her legs. She was panting lustily now, completely enchanted by the wonderful new sensations that her changed body was giving her. She took a sharp breath, then eagerly started stroking her pussy in earnest.

She quickly built up a delightful rhythm, rubbing her lips back and forth with one hand, while her other hand played with her clit. Her mind turned to her dream as she imagined Ari’s head between her legs, tongue lapping away at her sex. She finally came with a scream of pleasure, the orgasm rolling over her small body in sensual waves. She had a giddy grin on her face as she basked in the afterglow of her first orgasm as a woman.

---

“Is it just me, or have you gotten a lot better at that?” It had been two days since Valin’s first erotic explorations of his girl self. They were both lying on a tropical beach, with no one for miles around. This wasn’t a completely private spot, like their meadow, but private enough that they were confident that no one would interrupt them. Valin had just been putting his newly acquired knowledge of the female body to work on Ari’s pussy. Judging by her moans and screams of pleasure, it had worked like a charm.

Valin blushed and looked away. “Well, I…Um… Last night I played with… my vagina… for the first time. It was very enlightening.”

Ari couldn’t hold back a giggle. “I guess having a boyfriend that can turn into a girl has its benefits. Did you have fun?”

Valin turned even redder. “Y-yes.”

Ari giggled some more. Then her eyes trailed downward and she tilted her head quizzically. “Have you been shaving your legs?” she asked.

“What?” replied Valin, taken aback. Where had that come from?

“Your legs are all smooth. Hell, I wish I could get mine that smooth,” Ariadne said, running her palm across the newly silky smooth flesh of her boyfriend’s right calf. Valin blinked and looked down. His legs were, in fact, quite hairless.

Just like they were in his female form.

“It’s not just your legs either,” Ariadne continued, “Your chest is smooth as well. And your arms. And when we were… I noticed…” To demonstrate, she gently tugged down Valin’s trunks to expose his cock. Sure enough, his pubic hair was thinner, though it wasn’t completely gone.

They both stared at it for a minute, lost in thought. A chill went down Valin’s spine as he considered the possibilities. Come to think of it, he still hadn’t shaved since that one time a few days after his transformation.

“Must be a side effect of my… condition.” Valin hadn’t taken his female form in front of Ariadne since their awkward parting after the shopping trip. They’d come to an unspoken agreement not to bring it up. “I’ll talk to Electra about it.”

“Electra?” Ariadne asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s the doctor that does my government mandated examinations,” Valin said quickly.

“On a first name basis, I see,” Ariadne replied. “What does she look like?”

“Uh… Young. Blonde.” Valin didn’t have it in him to lie to his girlfriend.

“How young and how blonde?” Ariadne asked, her eyes narrowing.

---

Five days later Valin was standing in front of his house, greeting Electra for another session, with the added addition of Ariadne, who was burning a hole in Electra with a smoldering stare.

Electra, for her part, was trying her best to ignore Ariadne’s presence. This was made difficult when Ariadne strode confidently up to her and held out a hand for Electra to shake.

“I’m Ariadne. I’m Valin’s girlfriend.” Electra met Ariadne’s piercing gaze rather well, Valin thought, as he tried not to smile. It wasn’t the first time he had witnessed Ari marking her territory like this. He found it kind of endearing.

Electra said nothing in reply to this, and after giving her hand a good squeeze, Ariadne let it go and turned on her heel to go back into Valin’s house. Valin quickly got onto the teleport dais. This uncomfortable encounter couldn’t end quickly enough.

“Sorry about that,” Valin said immediately when they were safely teleported. “Ari can get kind of… possessive.”

Electra giggled. “It’s ok, I understand. I was just a little surprised,” She hesitated for a moment then added, “She’s pretty cute.”

“Yes, she is,” Valin said with a smile, completely missing the implication. “Oh, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about. Apparently, I’ve stopped growing body hair. Everywhere, except on my… genital area. And even that’s gotten thinner.”

“Well, let’s take a look then,” said Electra, switching to doctor mode. “Take off your clothes.”

Valin still wasn’t entirely comfortable getting naked in front of Electra, or of having pictures of his bare body recorded for all time to be stored in a government vault, but he was curious enough about this strange change that he didn’t hesitate to strip.

Electra took a close look at all the places that Valin had noticed a lack of hair. She then had him transform into her girl self for a comparison.

“What do you think?” asked Valin anxiously when Electra was finished.

“It looks like your male skin is becoming more like your female skin, If I had to guess,” answered Electra. “I’d like to take a more thorough look at the data before I make any definitive judgments.”

“Data?”

Electra pointed over to the camera. “This thing records more than pictures.”

“Oh,” Valin said.

“Here’s my cell phone number in case you notice anything else unusual happening to your body,” Electra said at the end of the session. “Maaaybe don’t tell your girlfriend you have it,” she continued with a giggle.

---

It was the day before his initiation that Ariadne once again noticed a change to Valin’s male body. The pair had just shared a kiss when Ari got a strange, concerned look on her face.

“What is it?” Valin asked.

“N-Nothing,” Ariadne stammered.

Valin blinked. It wasn’t like Ariadne to prevaricate. “C’mon, what is it?” He asked.

“I think you’re getting… shorter,” she said, looking away.

“What?” He asked, staring blankly.

“When we were kissing, I noticed that… well… it seemed like you weren’t reaching down as far as you usually do.”

Valin didn’t know what to say to that, so he just sighed. Now that she brought it up, he did notice that Ari seemed to be taller than she used to be relative to him.

“Maybe you should bring it up with that doctor?” Ari suggested tentatively.

Valin was surprised that Ari had brought up Electra when they had both been carefully avoiding the subject. She must be really worried.

“Yeah… I’ll do that next time we meet,” he said, not mentioning that he would be immediately calling Electra the first chance that he had. The rest of their date was kind of awkward, the changes to Valin’s body hanging over both of their heads.

---

The first thing Valin did that night when he got home was call Electra to tell her what was happening to him. Valin thought about sending a text to her, but he really wanted to hear a comforting voice.

Electra picked up after the fifth ring. Valin could hear music thumping in the background, and as well as excited voices. It was unmistakably a club of some kind.

“Valin? What’s going on?” Electra asked. She unsurprisingly sounded distracted.

“I’m shrinking!” He blurted out without preamble.

“What?”

“I’m shrinking!” Valin repeated.

“C’mon, now’s no time to be taking work calls!” came a happy female voice from the other end.

“Sorry, this sounds like an emergency,” Electra said apologetically, “So, what do you mean by shrinking? Like, are you shrinking as we speak, or?”

“Uh, no, I just noticed today that things seemed slightly larger than they used to be. Ari noticed it too,” he said to reassure her that he wasn’t imagining this.

“Oh, ok.” Electra sounded relieved. “Have you noticed any other changes?”

“Not that I’ve seen,” Valin replied.

“I’d like to examine you, if that’s ok,” Electra said.

“Now?” Valin was taken aback.

“Right now.” Electra said. “Can’t be too careful. Meet in the usual spot?”

---

Five minutes later, Valin was standing in the examination hall, waiting for Electra. Unlike when they usually met up in the morning, it was dark out, so he had to use his phone’s light to find a switch. The harsh fluorescent lights gave the room a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere. As he’d been standing on the teleport pad when he’d called her, he’d gotten there almost instantly. He was nervously fiddling with his smartphone when he heard the hum of the teleport pad turning on. He turned to the door to see Electra come into the room. She had obviously come straight here from the party she was just at, judging from the little black halter dress she was wearing. Trying not to stare at her cleavage, Valin stammered out an apology for messing up her night.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” she said soothingly, placing a hand on his shoulder. “No one has ever gone through what you’re going through right now. It’s ok to freak out when you notice something like this happening to your body.”

“Thank you,” he said, looking at the ground.

“Let’s get started then. I think I know what’s going on, we’ll just need to get a picture of you with the camera so I can see your body’s resonance image,” Seeing the look on Valin's face, she giggled and continued, “No need to take your clothes off today.”

She took the picture and hooked up the camera to her phone. “How long have you spent as a girl since the last exam?” she asked. It was one of the questions that he’d been answering on the questionnaires she’d given him each visit.

Valin thought about it for a moment. Lately he’d been practicing his magic about six hours a day: four in the morning and two at night, so with the two extra hours of girl time after he cast his last spell, he spent at least ten hours a day female.

“Hmm…” Electra’s brow was furrowed in concentration as she rapidly tapped on her phone. Finally, she looked up at him. Taking a deep breath, she said, “From the scans that I’ve taken in your examinations, I’ve noticed that your male body’s resonance has been changing little by little over time. It’s becoming more like your female body’s resonance image. Also, the rate of change directly correlates with the amount of time you spend as a girl.”

Valin’s stomach did a little flip. “You mean…”

Electra nodded grimly. “I’m afraid so. The more you use your magic, the more your body will change. Eventually, you’ll become a woman permanently.”

Raina hugged her knees and sobbed quietly at the foot of her bed. The pain of the black eye she received from her stepfather was still fresh and sharp.

“I can feel your pain… Your desire… Tell me, my dear, what is it that you want?” Raina’s head snapped up to see a naked woman with pointed ears and the lower body of a deer stride into her room. Behind her was a forest from another world. As she stepped further in, her lower body became human.

“I want, I mean I am… but…” Raina struggled to get the words out. “Make me a girl… please…”

“A wish easily granted.” The otherworldly woman gave Raina a gentle kiss on the forehead. Raina’s face broke out into a smile as the magic flowed through her body and she felt herself start to change…

---

Valin lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He was glad that no one had been downstairs when he came home from his meeting with Electra because he was sure that the turmoil he was feeling was showing on his face.

He had come to terms with the fact that he would be spending a lot of time as a girl in order to be a mage. He was surprised how easily he had taken to it. But the idea that he would eventually become a she permanently if he kept on using magic was a harder thing to accept.

Or was it? The more he rolled the idea around in his head, the more he realized that if it came down to a choice between being a man without magic, and being a woman with magic, he would choose the latter all day, every day, without hesitation.

But there was more than that. Being a girl was affirming in a way that being a boy couldn’t match. It had been slowly dawning on him since this whole thing began that perhaps the single minded devotion he had cultivated toward becoming a proper mage had been his unconscious way of dealing with deeper issues. Being so close with someone who had been so deeply uncomfortable with his body as Edrin had been, he’d never considered the possibility that he might be a she. 

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The discomfort he felt with his changing body as he went through puberty that assumed all boys went through. His increasing depression as he grew older and taller and more masculine, that he'd chocked up to anxiety over his increasingly stressful magical education and the dread of failing his approaching exam.

He concentrated, letting the magic well up in him. He cast the first spell he had ever learned, condensing a tiny sphere of water and watching it float free above his head. As he felt the magic gently ripple within his body, the change came over him once again. He felt his body become smaller and softer, his hair grew out into a long, silky pool behind him, his pectorals swelled into breasts, and between his legs, he felt his penis shrink away into a tiny nub of a clit, and finally his testicles retreated back into his body to become her ovaries. She was a woman again. By taking this step, by deliberately transforming even knowing it would accelerate her changes, she felt as if she had walked through a door and locked it behind her.

As the new woman watched the little sphere of water dance over her head, she realized that she didn’t have a name. Valin was the name of the man she once was and would be again for at least a while longer. She would treasure it always, and treasure him as the person who brought her so far in life with his discipline and passion, but she wanted a name for herself. Her mind went to her parents, who had given her her male name. She had never asked them what she would have been called if she’d been born a girl. That’s the first thing she would do tomorrow morning.

The nameless woman rose to her feet and giggled slightly as she felt her oversized male jeans and underwear fall to the floor, leaving her legs and feet bare. She thought for a moment, then pulled her shirt over her head. She stepped naked over to the mirror, looked at her bare body, and smiled.

“This is me,” she said with a smile. The last time she had looked at herself like this was just after her first transformation. She had ogled her body like a voyeur that time, and there was still a bit of that now, but she also felt something else. Pride. She had felt proud of her male body too, but that was a different sort of pride, bound up in the way women, particularly Ari, looked at him with attraction. While her male body had been large and strong, her female body was delicate and cute. “You know what? I’m pretty damn hot!” She said with a grin.

She thought back to her shopping trip. She remembered the guys that had stared at her. That was something that she’d have to get used to, being an object of desire for most of the male sex… and not much of the female one, she realized. She thought back to her erotic dream, and her toes curled as she got lost in the fantasy. She imagined her body entwined with Ari’s, kissing her, touching her, loving her.

“Ari…” She said softly to herself. It would be the end of their relationship, she realized. If there was one thing that she regretted about this choice, is that it would mean losing Ari. Even if they did maintain a friendship, things would never be the same between them.

She closed her eyes. The first thing that I’m going to do tomorrow, she thought, is go downstairs and tell my parents. The second thing I’m going to do is tell Ari.

She walked back to her bed and hopped in. She thought about putting on one of Valin’s T-shirts but resolved to only wear clothes of her own from now on, even if that meant sleeping naked for tonight. She spent a long time turning the events of the day over and over in her head, but eventually she fell asleep and faded into a dream…

---

“OOF” Valin let out a loud groan as the red rubber ball hit him hard in the leg. He was out. He walked over to the padded wall and sat down. Valin stared off into space blankly. It was a month into his first year of high school.

High school was unusual for the children of mages, because it was the time when a mages magic training started in earnest, and it was the only time in their education which they shared with mundanes.

This was to both to prepare the mage for interacting with the mundane world, and to test their ability to juggle many responsibilities at once. In addition to the full slate of traditional mundane education, the young mages would be expected to learn the magical curriculum as well, in preparation for their examination in four years time. It was as brutal as traditional magical education typically is, and unlike college, there was no way around it. To even be granted a seat at the exam table, you had to maintain your grades in both worlds.

These high schools generally masqueraded as high end prep schools, so as to keep out what snooty mages termed the mundane hoi polloi. The result was a rather awkward melding of cultures, where half the students had no idea why the other half shunned them. The occasional memory wipe when someone saw something they shouldn’t only deepened the uncanny valley found in such schools.

Valin had been dreading going to high school, and his fears were proved correct. The Alathea name was famous. The first day of classes, there was a buzz of whispers when his surname was announced. He would never forget the humiliation of the first time he called on to demonstrate his magic, and that tiny splash of water came out, followed by whispers and barely suppressed giggles. He was marked from that day forth. He was the dud, the black sheep, the ugly duckling.

All that was on his mind as he sat with his back to the wall in gym class. They had been playing dodgeball. In a culture obsessed with “character building” through artificial hardship, dodgeball was a particular favorite. Valin had the physical abilities to be quite good at it. But today was a day when gym just happened to be directly after his practical magic class.

He was vaguely aware of someone sitting down next to him, but he didn’t pay them much mind until he felt a delicate hand on his.

It was Ari. He looked at her, and she looked at him. He recognized her from their practical magic classes together. He didn’t pay too much attention to the other students during those classes; He tried to spend as much time daydreaming in them as he possibly could, but he vaguely remembered her being one of the weaker students. He recognized the pain in her eyes as the same pain that he had.

No words were exchanged between them that day. In the days and weeks that followed, they slowly opened up to each other. Before they knew it, they were in love. They became each other’s emotional support through those miserable years, practicing together, picking each other up when the rigors of that school beat them down.

---

Valin woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. He remembered dreaming vividly about the time he and Ari first met, and all the events of yesterday came rushing back to him.

He briefly wondered why he was naked, then remembered his decision not to wear his male clothes anymore as a girl. He shut his eyes, took a deep breath, then cast the same spell that he had last night. He felt the change come over him, and the unnamed woman emerged.

This was the first time that she had transformed so early in the morning. She padded over to her bathroom to take a shower. The hair tickling her butt reminded her that she had never had to wash it before, and that it was suuuuper long now.

She pondered for a moment what to do. As her hair regrew and retracted every time that she switched forms, she decided to simply rinse it. Normally she liked hot showers, but today she decided to tone it down a bit. The lukewarm water felt wonderfully refreshing cascading over her breasts and body. She was struck by a desire to go swimming in this body. It was something she loved as a boy, but somehow she felt it would be even more fun like this. After having fun soaping up her body and washing it off, she stepped out of the shower, dripping wet.

She grinned, and with a little buzz of magic, she was instantly dry. One of the advantages of being a water mage.

She put on her jeans and a T-shirt and went down the stairs to breakfast. She felt a little thrill run through her body. She was going to get her name!

It was a surprise for her parents to see her in girl mode at breakfast, something she had never done before. It was even more of a surprise when she asked them, quickly and directly, “What would you have named me if I had been born a girl?”

Her mom blinked for a second before saying, “Naia.”

Naia smiled. “Naia.” She sounded it out, letting it roll off her tongue. It sounded playful, airy, and fey. A perfect match for her new body. “Thank you! It’s perfect.”

Slightly taken aback by his daughter’s curious behavior, Naia’s father asked, “What brought this on?”

So Naia explained to them the events of the previous day to her parents, and her decision to embrace womanhood. Her mother smiled, and her father said, “If you’re comfortable with this, I’d be glad to have a daughter.” After some hugs were exchanged, Naia reminded herself of the other thing that she had to do today.

Naia sighed heavily. “Well, I’m off. I have to tell Ari about this.” Her mother smiled sadly, and her father made a little gasp of realization. They both understood what this would mean for their daughter’s relationship with her girlfriend.

“Wait. You’ve got your initiation in an hour!” Naia slapped her forehead. Of course! In all the turmoil of last night, she’d completely forgotten. It probably wasn’t a good idea to have this painful heart to heart on a time limit.

“I guess that’ll have to wait then,” Naia said. She hated having to postpone something like this, but she wouldn’t miss her initiation for the world. 

—

Naia was seated on the stage in the Alathea clan’s air conditioned Grand Hall. The Alatheas, while being a very old clan, were thoroughly pragmatic when it came to their own residences and gathering places. This was appreciated by everyone in attendance to this particular initiation, since it was 120 degrees outside. 

The Hall was in the middle of a particularly inhospitable desert, the kind that only gets rain once a year or so. It was well warded against both mundanes and mages as well. This kind of thing was pretty standard fare for any clan stronghold.

Naia was proudly wearing her clan robe. Black, with an enchanted trim going from purple at the shoulders to blue at her feet to match her hair color. While not all members of the clan had red hair, owing to intermarriage, adoption, and so forth, her coloration was definitely unique. Naia took some perverse pride in the looks of curiosity she was getting. She’d always stood out for all the wrong reasons. At least now she wasn’t an object of pity and scorn.

Naia smiled at her parents and Edrin in the front row. It had been a pretty crazy few weeks, but somehow they had all come out of it ok, despite the interdimensional visitor and subsequent abduction. 

Naia looked down the line at the four other initiates. Three boys and one girl. They all looked  younger than her, which wasn’t surprising; they probably took their entrance exam as soon as they were old enough. Naia didn’t recognize any of them; she’d never bothered with the Alathea’s social gatherings, figuring she could make friends after she’d become a proper mage. Had she failed, losing them would’ve been heartbreaking. 

To her immediate right was a tall, deeply tanned boy with shoulder length black hair and delicate features. He was talking animatedly with another boy who had the standard flame red/ruddy combo that most of the Alathea’s had. This one was stockier, and by his muscle tone it looked like he worked out. The third boy was next to him and the other girl was on the far end. Both of them looked supremely bored.

Then, Talin came out from the little entry door behind the stage, and the assembled crowd quickly quieted down. He was Naia’s mother’s brother, the senator, and the de facto head of the family. Naia was close enough to him that she never really thought of him as a politician though. She also got the feeling that he considered his job an unhappy familial duty. But mostly she thought of him as her friendly, outgoing uncle. Slightly cynical from years of hobnobbing with the worst people on the planet, but totally devoted to his family.

“Today, I get to perform the happiest duty that any senator can ask for, the induction of five deserving young men and women into Clan Alathea, forging a bond based not on the tawdry transactionalism of political advantage, but the highest virtues of fellowship, fidelity, and love.”

Naia was having difficulty controlling her emotions. Talin had probably given this speech a million times before, but sitting here, listening to it, about to finally join her clan after years of desperate yearning and pain, moved her like nothing ever had before. Still, she figured she should probably not start sobbing with joy until after the ceremony.

Talin’s speech barely lasted five minutes, which was for the best. Naia didn’t know how much longer she could hold it together. Soon enough, the five initiates were being called up to the stage one by one. Naia was last. Blinking back tears, she held out her hand to receive the cipher from her uncle. 

“Do you, Naia Alathea, agree to join Clan Alathea, and serve it from now until death?”

“I do,” Naia said, her voice shaking.

“Then accept this cipher and badge of office as a symbol of your eternal commitment.”

Talin held Naia’s hand for a moment to transmit the cipher. Naia felt it flow into her. It was easy to pick out the subtle strains of it, the harmony that would identify her to any other clan member. And more importantly, doors. The badge of office was two pairs of amaranth that instantiated on her shoulders and chest. “The flower that never fades,” the symbol of her clan.

And it really was her clan now. She’d finally done it. 

Everything was a blur now. Naia vaguely remembered making her way back to her chair while Talin concluded the ceremony. Somehow she managed to hold herself back until she made it to her family. Then she fell into their arms, weeping freely, knowing that all her years of striving had not been for nothing. She was finally, truly, a member of her clan.

—

“We have a council meeting,” Naia’s mother said softly as they were making their way back to the teleport dais.

“Oh, uh, see you when you get back then,” Naia said distractedly. She was still absorbing the fact of her initiation.

“‘We’ includes you,” her father said with a chuckle.

“Huh?” It took a while for that statement to penetrate Naia's happy haze.

“We’re discussing the circumstances of your transformation. And other related matters. It was decided that you should be there.”

Naia blinked. She’d never had any ambitions towards joining the council before all this happened, not that she'd had much of a chance before her empowerment. She’d been perfectly content to develop her art and leave all the stormy stuff to her clan’s heavy hitters. It was slowly dawning on her that this wellspring of magic she’d been gifted might come with actual expectations. 

Her parents caught the slight grimace on her face. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to take very long. From what Talin’s said, there’s not much actual information to go over.”

Naia’s mother punched in some coordinates on the dais and off they went.

Naia found herself in a windowless, well lit room with walls of marble. She got the distinct impression that she was underground. Her parents immediately debarked from the teleport dais, and she followed them through a door, then through a hall. After a minutes walk through said hall, they entered a pair of carved red wooden double doors into a large gathering chamber. There was a large circular table surrounded on all sides by chairs, with a silvered projecting lantern in the middle.

The assembled crowd of Alathea bigwigs ceased their conversation upon Naia’s entry. Apparently she was the last person they were waiting for, because they immediately took their seats. Her parents led her to a chair and sat down on either side of her.

Naia heard a familiar voice from directly across her. It was Uncle Talin. There was a conspicuously empty chair to his left. “We’ve convened this emergency meeting of the council to discuss the recent events that resulted in the transformation and empowerment of one of our clan members, Naia Alathea, née Valin. As you’ve no doubt surmised by the change in name, Naia has very recently chosen a female gender identity, so please be respectful of that.” 

Talin paused for a moment before continuing. “The hard facts are these. There was a dimensional incursion. It definitely did not come from Gehennom, the energy signature was completely different. So we’re looking at a brand new alternate reality that’s starting to interleave with our own. Further, unlike Gehennom, this dimension has at least one sentient being in it. A sentient being that’s capable of breaching the walls between realities at extreme divergence.”

Gehennom was the devil or demon dimension. In earlier times, before the two realms diverged to the point where contact between the two realities was virtually impossible, the mundanes referred to it as “Hell” or the “Underworld,” and not without reason. It was a place of extremes, of elements taken to their furthest degree. It was also very mutable. One week a portal opened in a specific place might be habitable for humans, the next week it might be 1000 K. Or 0. When the dimensions were aligned enough that portals could form independently, this could make things… unpleasant.

A tall, willowy woman with red hair a few shades darker than was typical for the Alathea, seated to Talin’s immediate right, spoke up. 

“The powers that this being displayed are disturbing in their implications. The rapid and intuitive nature of Naia's physical transformation, as well as the massive increase in her magical capacity are things that we’ve never seen before. Further, Naia's rapid acceptance of her new body, complete enough that she's taken a new name to match it, suggests that either this being has the ability to discern unconscious mental characteristics, or that she can alter minds at will.”

Naia blinked. She had never considered that the reason she was so accepting of her female body was that her mind had been messed with.

“She seemed as surprised as I was when I, well, turned into a girl,” Naia piped up in a small voice. 

“That doesn't necessarily mean-”

“That will do, Elena,” said Talin, cutting her off.

“As you all can see, we have a lot to consider, and precious little hard data to go on. Everyone’s flying blind here. Lots of wild speculation. There’s been a slight uptick in abnormal weather events. A tiger leapt out of its enclosure in west Lemuria and mauled a guy. Is it related? Who the hell knows, but it's not stopping anyone from making the most ridiculous assertions imaginable…?”

Suddenly, the red double doors behind Naia burst open. Arcturus, looking out of breath, barged in before exclaiming, “There’s been another incursion. Same being, same MO. Only this time, she transformed a mundane.”