A cool evening breeze brushed across Eve’s face. She slowly opened her eyes. She was back in the physical world, crammed high up in a fir tree, sitting on the remains of a broken down treehouse. Why was she up here? The sun had set and it was getting dark. Another breeze blew through the tree and she shivered, realizing that she was drenched in sweat. Nestled in the crook of her arm was Sybil, who began to stir as well.

Slowly, realization dawned on her just what had happened while they were sleeping. She remembered the garden, and the memories, and Sybil being big. She remembered the labyrinth, and the beast, and the horrifying ordeal she had to endure to defeat it. She remembered nearly going braindead. And most of all, she remembered the truth that she had fought so hard to uncover, one which felt so natural she didn’t even realize she used to think she was a boy.

She took an inventory of her body and physical parts. Still a boy on the outside.

Dammit.

Sybil opened her eyes drearily. She shook out her head, stood up, and stretched, before walking out onto Eve’s knee. She turned around and their eyes met. A look of deep understanding was shared between them, and Eve almost couldn’t believe it was over. Was it really that simple? Had they finally figured out the source of all of the problems that had plagued them for years?

Slowly, smiles slid onto both their faces. They grew bigger and bigger, happier and happier, until eventually Eve’s cheeks were sore. Sybil let out a giggle, and Eve found herself giggling in return. Sybil laughed some more, which made Eve snort, which made Sybil laugh harder in response. Their reverie accelerated more and more until eventually they were belly laughing at full volume, and their whoops and hollers echoed through the forest. Sybil launched herself into the air and latched onto Eve’s forehead, hugging her as tightly as she could.

“I’m a . . .” Eve started.

“You’re a girl!” Sybil squealed.

“Yeah!”

Sybil let go and zipped into the air, flying in spirals. “I can’t believe it!” she shouted. “I mean, you still look like a boy, but there has to be something that can change that, right? Betcha anything there’s a spell that can change genders!”

Color was returning to Sybil, and she was glowing brighter.

“I’ve always wanted to be bonded to a girl!” she exclaimed, shining vividly. “It’s like my wildest dreams come true! So what’s next? Ohmygosh can we try dresses?”

“Yes, absolutely!” Eve proclaimed. “And can we braid my hair?”

“You’re on!” Sybil landed on a branch, hugging a twig that grew from it. “Oooh, what about sitting on our beds late at night and gossiping about boys!”

“Blegh, no. I hate boys!”

“Fine, fine, girls then.”

“Deal!”

Sybil was brighter now than any time Eve had seen her before. In fact, Eve herself was happier now than at any other time she could remember as well. She was smiling bigger than ever before, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t stop. Waves upon waves of joy washed over her, and it seemed like everything in life suddenly had purpose. She wanted to do things, and try things; she wanted to actually live for once. There were still setbacks, for sure, but none of them seemed insurmountable. Honestly, for the first time since before Eve could remember, she saw her future and felt hope.

“Oh my god, I can’t wait to see what you’ll look like as a girl!” Sybil dropped down, hovering in front of Ev’s face. “You’re gonna be so cute!”

Oddly enough, Sybil hadn’t stopped getting brighter. In fact, she was so bright now that she was getting hard to look at in the dim light.

“Uh hey . . . “ Eve said.

“And what about mom? And Mabelyne and Julianne and Naomi and Trevor and Lucas! What’ll they think? Oh I hope they’ll be cool with it!”

The glare from Sybil’s shining was so intense that it was beginning to hurt Eve’s retinas. Still, she radiated more and more, brighter and brighter.

“Hey Sybs . . .” Eve tried to interject, raising a hand to shade her eyes.

Sybil was now vibrating with energy, and Eve’s hair began to stand on end. Dazzling rays of light lit up the whole interior of the tree, and Eve started to feel heat wafting off of Sybil, something pixies were definitely not supposed to do.

“Ahaha I’m so happy right now!” Sybil yelled, grabbing Eve’s hand in a hug.

Krak-KOOM!

Eve’s hand erupted with white-hot energy. A seismic tsunami of force shot through Eve’s body, ricocheting back and forth through her ribcage and spiralling through her extremities. Tingles rippled up and down her spine, bouncing around like hockey pucks. Her skin felt like it was turning inside out, her bones felt like they had been put on backwards, and her stomach felt like it was where her left foot should be. She tasted cinnamon, then intensely hot chili pepper, then sour citrus before her tongue went completely numb. She could smell colors. She opened her eyes and everything was inverted, blacks were white, light was dark, and she saw through the tree itself, into a field of dots and blips. Her vision expanded further and further, and she saw white mist enveloping the whole earth. Hundreds, no, thousands, no, millions of pixies danced around her, chanting and laughing. A presence, perhaps the very mist itself, smiled at her.

Eventually the pressure began to fade, leaving Eve’s whole body feeling pins and needles in its wake. Tastes and smells reverted back to how they should be, and her vision returned to normal, mostly. Everything still looked pretty hazy.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Sybil pulled herself away, covering her mouth.

Eve tried to shake out the pop-rocks bouncing around in her head.

“Sɐʍ ʇɐɥʍ--” she cleared her throat and tried to flip her words rightside up. “W-what was that?” she asked, shakily.

“I don’t know, all of the resistance from before, like when we used to try casting spells? It was just gone! Like the conduit between us was wide open! It felt easier than pouring water down a drain!” She inspected the contact point on Eve’s hand, which was now red and somewhat tender. “Geez I’m so sorry. Are you ok?”

“Feels like I got grabbed by my ankles and shook for loose change.”

“Sorry again! Seriously!”

Eve sat up and immediately felt light-headed. Something was missing. She was forgetting something. When her vision went crazy, she saw something important, but no matter how hard she scraped her brain for information, she came up empty. What was it? She knew it was significant, and yet she couldn’t remember a thing.

After taking a moment to recover, she arduously started the process of lowering herself from the treehouse. Perhaps drinking the potion up so high wasn’t that good of an idea. As she made her way down from branch to branch, she noticed that the bark of the tree looked healthier and the pine needles were greener. Not only that, but was the tree slightly bigger, or did she get screwed up in the head from the shock?

Stepping onto the roof, she tiptoed across back to her attic window, Sybil nervously trailing behind. She squeezed her way back inside her room, landing on the floor with a thump. Another wave of lightheadedness washed over her, and she had to grab hold of her desk to steady herself.

A cheerful knock clapped on the bedroom door. “Dinner’s ready!” her mom called out.

Eve found it hard to speak. “I’m not feeling super good right now, can I pass for tonight?” she strained to say.

“Alright well just come on down if you’re feeling up to it later!”

The words barely registered as Eve felt herself falling towards her bed. She flopped onto the covers, and the last thing she saw was Sybil worriedly flitting around her head, before passing out.