Slowly, Tiberius is getting the hang of things.
One year ago he joined the adventurers Conway, Debtar, and Sinea as a freshly baked mage.
His new friends had been generous with their advice and friendship.
But when the topic of Shroom Dungeon is brought up, they are unusually mum about any details.
They agree on one thing quickly. It was time for Tiberius to delve into Shroom Dungeon.
A dungeon yet undefeated. A place to lose yourself.

It's tempting to blame it all on my mother; haul out some psychobabble about how I was raised and childhood trauma and such. Tempting, sure, but anyone who has stayed awake through biology class knows that it's really all due to my father. Four sisters, one lone male - me. It's a biological fact that the male determines a child's sex at conception, but you try growing up as the last child with four sisters.

On and off that day, I thought about that Missing Child poster I’d seen and what Mom and Dad were feeling and thinking about all this. Did they know I was trans by now? They almost certainly knew I’d venned into a girl body at least once; they’d have heard from Tim’s parents by now, even if the police hadn’t told them about the details of their investigation and what they’d learned from Meredith and Sophia.

Kitty huffed, a little impatiently, and explained, "Claus has this silly joke about a clone factory..."

"—in Omaha," Claus threw in.

"Why Omaha?" Dad asked.
 

Chapter 3.16

June 9th, 2023

Chatham Yardworks, North Pole

2:46PM

The office building was half a block off the main drag in North Pole, but there was a large sign that was placed at the corner, pointing down the cross street letting people know where they were. Beside the office was a salon on one side, and Ross’ Diner, the same fast food joint where Chet had finally realized how he felt about Mage, on the other.

Bob pulled the car he and Mike were driving into the parking lot. They’d called ahead and found out that it had been a busy day at the office, so when they got out of the car, they went to the diner and ordered some burgers for the office staff, which consisted of Rick and his wife Carla.

Ari brings a friend to poker night, but what's her real game?

One of the trans guys at the meeting announced that he’d finally figured out his permanent name (he’d been trying out different ones, like me). That reminded me again that I needed to think more about my name. Amanda was nice, but it wasn’t quite right, any more than Natalie, Amber, Isabella or any of the others I’d tried on for a few hours.

“Stop whining, Alex,” she said sternly. “it is unseemly for one whose veins carry the blood of Zeus himself. I was celebate for almost 500 years before you were conceived. Surely you can manage a week between strumpets?” Alex ground his teeth. Athena sighed again and added, “Alright, fine. You can’t. How about two days?”

“I should be able to make up my mind by now, I’ve tried out like ten different girl names either online or in person.”

“Can we talk without the police listening?”

This is a short part.

As we entered, I saw what was laid out on the bed. Shirley must have done this while I was getting the dinner.

It was a dark blue silk teddy. One piece with spaghetti straps and 2 inches of black lace around the bust and legs. It looked like it was made of liquid. I knew I loved the silk knickers I was wearing. How would this feel? Next to it was a matching silk negligee.

"I hope you like it. I got it for Susan last year. She never wore it."

Said Ken.

"Why wouldn't she wear it? It looks amazing."

I had trouble at first holding the pages of the trade paperback open with my little hands, but after a few minutes of trial and error, I managed to get the hang of it, and started reading.

Delphine waved her hand dismissively. "He went to look for that idiot Amber."
After a quick glance around, she leaned in. "Listen to me, Max!
Do you want to know who Oswald is? Do you want to know why he's Amber's plus one?"

I suppose this is all my own doing really. I had been working as Mr. Owen’s assistant for 6 months now. I loved the job he was a nice guy. Very generous to his staff and if the company was doing well we all got bonuses. Yes, Owen tech was going places. My dream of buying a narrow boat and living free on the canals of Britain could be realized before I was too old to enjoy it.

No map ever drawn, on earth, on sea, or in outer space,
has ever presented a cartographer as daunting a challenge
as the seating chart for a wedding reception.

I felt like Mom had suddenly developed X-ray vision and was going to see through my pants at any moment.

“Cool. So do you want me to turn you into something today?”

 

“Yeah, Sophia and I talked it over and we thought: dragon sisters!”

Which reminds me: I had a third reason for feeling nervous. My dad was coming up for a visit.
Vivianne had planned for it, though I didn't expect it to happen so quickly after Nessa's wedding.

A couple in their forties went in the machine just as we got in line, and they came out again a few minutes later; the woman was younger and prettier, wearing a much more expensive-looking outfit, a dark blue dress that Meredith said looked like silk. The man was a wolf or wolfhound; the woman put a collar and leash on him and led him out toward the parking lot, probably to avoid trouble with the mall cops, police and animal control until they got home.

"Speaking of Lorelei's resemblance to Elliot..." Claus intoned,
"Did you know that Amber sincerely believes that Lorelei is actually Elliot?"