He was woken a bit before sunset by his mom knocking on the door. Despite the cause of his nap it was refreshing; he had a dream, but he didn't really remember much of it besides his sister. Setting aside Skie, he stood up and changed into some freshly laundered clothes he found sitting at the foot of his bed. A pair of jeans, and t-shirt from some show he remembered watching when he was younger. Placed there by his mom no doubt.

“Hey mom, I'm going to the liquor store,” he said, poking his head into the living room.

“Ok, sweetie,” she said, though the look on her face begged him not to get alcohol.

Grabbing the spare house key from the rack, he locked the door behind him and started walking to the store. It was only a few blocks away, and he felt like stretching his legs. Even though it had been less than a day, being home was nice, and he found himself wishing that he could stay here for longer than a few months.

The way to the convenience store was so ingrained in his memory that he didn't even have to look where he was walking despite not having been this way in several years. He frequently went this way after school being only four blocks away. As he walked he recalled events from his childhood. The park he'd play at;riding his bike through the streets; the alleyway that a pack of dogs once chased him down. When he was halfway passed the alley a shiver ran down his spine.

He whipped his head up and looked around. He thought he saw something moving at the end of the alley. His mind was on alert as he listened for any sounds. Despite straining his ears all he heard was the usual noises of the suburb. He stayed like this for a solid minute before resuming his walk. Though he felt like someone was watching him now. His hackles were raised the entire way to the convenience store and even while inside he could still feel a gaze on him. Picking his favorite tea and a bag of chips, he made his way to the counter. 

“Hey, you're the Vale kid, right?” asked the elderly man behind the counter. He owned the store and had worked here for as long as he could remember.

“Yea, I’m staying with my parents for a bit.”

“Yea, I heard ‘bout what happened to you. How’re you holding up?”

“It's rough, but I’m getting there,” he replied with an uneven smile.

He continued to talk with the owner, telling him about his work, and hearing stories about what he missed. By the time the two had finished catching up, night had fallen. As he left the store, replacing his now warm tea with a cold one first, he could still feel eyes on him.

The night had an eerie quality to it. A building tension, straining; threatening to snap and unleash some cosmic horror into the night. Cars rumbled in the distance, animals scurried through the empty streets but nothing came and the eyes continued to follow him. The streets were emptier than he remembered. The distant sounds of the city were strangely muffled. And the air felt stifling, like there was a warm blanket draped over the neighborhood.

Then something happened and a feeling of cosmic terror washed over him. Something was clawing its way towards him. He spun around but didn't see anything. Though something deep inside him could feel the thing, its hunger, its desire to feed. Then, without warning, the world twisted, everything he thought about reality shattered. A dark tear in space formed in front of him, and something stepped through. He took several steps back and fell as it stared at him. 

Then everything turned blue and the world seemed to freeze.

Then, whatever that thing was glared at him. It was fundamentally wrong. It stood on all fours like an animal but its proportions were all off. Its legs were too long, too spindly to support its bulk. Its back curved unnaturally, the bones of its spine visible through its skin. And the eyes, orange, malevolent, filled with an intelligence that belied its bestial appearance. 

“That's a big one,” a small, high-pitched voice said from his shoulder. 

He turned his head and saw a small baby blue fox sitting weightlessly on his shoulder.

“Who…? What…?” 

“Hello, I am a nameless fairy, and I'm here ‘cause you are special.”

“Special? What…” he said, more than a little confused.

“Sorry, we don't really have time for that,” the nameless fairy continued on, interrupting him. 

“What is it?”

“An outsider, but you should be ready to run.”

“But it's frozen?”

“Not for long.”

He stood up and began to run away, heading instinctively back to the park that he played in as a kid. Behind him, he could hear the thing start to move. It made unholy noises as it began to search for him, lumbering in the direction he ran. He managed to get into the park and hid underneath the slide, still panicking as he tried to get his breathing under control. It didn’t take the outsider long to catch up, stopping at the entrance to sniff around. 

“Why are you here?” he asked, trying to be as quiet as he could. He knew it was a risk, but he needed to know.

“To find special people like you to help the humans.”

“Special people like me?”

“Yes, you are special and one of the few who can fight the outsiders.”

“Fi…fight?” 

“Yes,” she beamed, her cute ears twitching.

“How? That thing looks like it's made of darkness,” he said, waving his hand 

“Because it is,” she replied.

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

“I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but first we make a deal.”

“Deal?”

“Yes, I want your help to deal with these outsiders.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are strong in the magic that can fight them. You are pure and innocent. I can give you the power to help people. To save others from them.”

“What are they?”

“They come here, and feed off the emotions of sentients. Draining their life in the process. We fight them, defending worlds from their evil.”

“And you want me to fight them?”

“Yes, you are one of the strongest I have seen. I believe you can help a great many people.”

“And if I decline?”

“Then you’ll not be able to defend yourself from it.”

“So I don’t really have much of a choice then,” he said. “What do I need to do?”

“Simple,” she said, clapping her hands together, “you must give me a name.”

His mind began to race for a name, but nothing that he could think of really felt right. Though there was one he liked, Iris. The Greek goddess and the flower, which was incidentally his favorite flower. And then another came to his mind, the words easily forming. “Your name will be Juno,” he told the blue fox.

He felt something take hold the moment he finished uttering her name. A warmth formed in his core, quickly spreading outwards and threatening to consume him as it intensified. Somehow, she knew that it was her power, a blessed power.

“Call your name, and take your place. Fight against the evil that threatens to consume your world. First of the magical girls!”

Caught up in the power, he failed to notice her words as he said, “I am magical girl Iris, and with my powers of faith and hope I bless this world. With my strength, I will vanquish the darkness that threatens to consume us.”

He floated upwards, his body enveloped by a radiant blue light. His form dissolved, the light swirling violently as he was remade. His body was reconstructed, with magic as its base. The light resolved into the form of an eleven-year-old girl. Her soft hair reached down to her waist. Her eyes stared at her small, delicate hands. She grabbed her hair and brought it around, staring at its light blue color. Tears fell from her eyes as everything fell into place, her hopes, her dreams, her wishes. 

Faith.

Hope. 

Her new form.

Her power.

Everything made sense in a way she had never been able to place before. Her feelings were obvious in hindsight. The uncomfortable awkwardness in her old body. The now obvious dysphoria.

The light continued, forming an outfit. A short pleated bell skirt, with ribbons on her hips. A blouse that had a large bow on her chest. Her hair bunched up into twin ponytails, held up with a pair of iris themed hair clips. A tiara wrapped its way around her head, set with diamonds and a large sapphire gem in the shape of a snowflake. A pair of gloves enveloping her arms, and thigh high socks on her legs. Her whole outfit consisted of blues and white, with pink, and gold accent colors.

She stood proud, her fingers held up in a salute.

“Perfect,” Juno said, a smile on her face. “You look amazing. How do you feel?”

“I feel strange, but whole. Like I was never really me before,” she said with a giggle, before becoming more serious. “How do I defeat the outsider?”

“You need to summon your weapon.”

“How do I do that?”

“Hold out your hand and call for it. You should feel it in your soul.”

She held out her hand and focused. And after a moment a staff appeared in her hand. It was patterned with a pair of intertwined snakes wrapped around the stem of an iris, a blue crystal flower set in its top. Holding on to it, she felt the knowledge come to her of how to use her power. The basics at least.

“You should have an understanding of your powers. This outsider is big but not very strong, so it should be easy to best. As they get stronger, though, you’ll need to refine your technique and come up with some special moves. But you’ll have plenty of time to practice later. For now, just blasting it with your power will be enough.”

Iris lifted her rod and focused on the light. Gathering it into the gemstone, she pointed it at the outsider and shot a blast of icy blue light, the beast letting out an unearthly howl as it exploded in a flash of light and smoke that quickly dissipated. 

“That was… easy,” she said with a frown.

“It was mostly just a scout. Stronger ones will come eventually,” Juno explained as she landed on her shoulder again. “I'm glad you accepted.”

“Would it have been bad if I hadn’t?”

“No, there are others, but not enough. We need everyone possible to help defend the world from them.”

“What exactly are they?”

“Do you have a place we can talk?”

“My parents, but they won't recognize me like this,” she said, spreading her arms wide. “How do I untransform?”

“You just think about letting your battle form drop. It will also drop once your magical power gets too low. You don't need to worry about people learning your identity, but it would still bring awkward questions if they saw you transform.”

“I don’t,” she said, focusing on dismissing her battle form she was enveloped by a flash of light again and her outfit was replaced with a light pink t-shirt with a snowflake on it, a skirt with lace trim, and a pair of white flats with a pair of blue socks with white lace trim along the top.  “Um, I didn't go back to normal.”

“No, magical girls have a perception filter to hide their identity. And you did,” she said, tilting her head in confusion.

“No, I mean, I'm still a little girl,” she said, gesturing to herself. 

“Well of course, you’re a magical girl after all. Did you want to go back to being a grown man?”

She shivered at the thought. While she wouldn’t mind being a grown woman, the thought of going back to that body repulsed her. Her eyes widened in shock as she caught up to her thoughts. 

“No,” she said softly. “But my parents.”

“I can help you with that. Though they won't be able to see or hear me.”

She stood up, grabbed her shopping and made her way back to her house. The trip, which originally took her a half hour, passed by in ten minutes. Her endurance and stamina in her new body far exceeded that of a normal little girl. Walking up to the front door she stared at it, unsure of whether she should put her keys in and open it or not. After a moment she settled on knocking and waited until the door opened. Her mother looked down at her, surprise etched on her face before she composed herself into a gentle smile.

“Hello? Are you lost sweetie?” her mother asked. Before scrutinizing her for a moment. “Timothy…?”

“Ho…how'd you know?”

 “You think I wouldn't be able to recognize my own … daughter?” 

Her eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. Relaxing her grip as her mom bent down and held her crying daughter.

“Your mom is very sharp,” Juno said. Iris nodded.

“Is this what’s been bothering you, sweetie? Did you want to be a girl?”

“I think I was always one,” she sniffled, “I just didn’t realize it.” 

“How’d this happen? Humans don’t just suddenly change gender and become younger.”

“Would you believe me if I said it was a fairy?”

“A fairy? That would make sense. Is she here?”

“Yes, but she says that only I can see her.”

“What are you going to do about this?”

“I can help with documents and some memory modification. You can continue to live here if you want, or I can set up something else.”

“I’d like to live here if possible,” she replied, looking at her partner.

“What did she say? And how did this even happen?”

Iris explained to her mother everything that had happened since she had left the house, finishing up with what Juno just told her. 

“You’re more than welcome to live with us, sweetie, I'm sure your brother and father will be thrilled to spoil you. Come, let's go introduce the family to their new little girl. Before that, though, you need a new name.”

“I already have one, I’m Iris Vale.”

“That's a wonderful name,” she said, taking her daughter by the hand and opening the door. Leading her inside, the sounds of the TV carrying through the threshold as Iris worried about her family's reaction. “Let's go sweetie.”

“Ok,” she said, smiling at her Mom and crossing the threshold confidently.