Melissa walked behind her guard in silence, largely staring at the ground as the dark furred rabbit guided her down a series of hallways. The guard, who looked menacing with a spear in their hands, eventually came to a stop in front of an unadorned wooden door. It was when the guard reached for the doorknob that Melissa noticed something that had escaped notice thus far.

“You have thumbs.”

The rabbit glanced back at Melissa, and tilted their head to the side. “Why wouldn’t I have thumbs?”

Despite the lupine looks, the rabbit’s voice came out as smoothly as any human’s, and with a definitively feminine ring.

“Are you… A girl?”

The rabbit gave a small nod. “Yup yup. I’m Joanie. Nice to meet you, heroine.”

“It’s… Melissa. Actually.” Melissa rubbed the back of her head as she spoke, but Joanie only gestured to the open door.

“You’re supposed to wait in there, Miss Melissa.”

“Until dinner?” Melissa asked, voice trembling from nerves. “By myself? Why are they separating me from my friends?”

“Wouldn’t know. Guess the countess has taken a special interest in you.” Joanie shrugged as she spoke, then gestured toward the doorway again.

“The room won’t eat you, or anything,” Joanie promised. “Bed looks pretty comfortable.”

“Will you… be guarding the door?” Melissa asked. She had the vague thought that maybe she could go looking for Lonna and Talith.

That was dashed when Joanie nodded her head. “I’ll keep you safe, yup yup. Me and Lucinda.” She thumped the butt of her spear as she spoke, drawing Melissa’s attention back to the weapon.

“Is your weapon… Named Lucinda?” Melissa asked, a little taken aback. “Is it a sentient weapon, or something?”

“...Nope nope. Just a six foot redwood shaft and an iron point. You’ll find fifty like her in the armory - none half as pretty.” 

So far, it had been difficult to read Joanie’s emotions; her head mimicked that of an oversized rabbit, after all. When she spoke of her spear, though, her blue eyes seemed to sparkle, and her voice was filled with affection.

“You. Must really like her. To have named her and all.”

Joanie eyed Melissa for a moment. She looked strangely wary.
“Wait inside. Countess Koleff might get mad, otherwise.”

“Mad that you’re talking to me? Or mad that I’m not in my room?”

The rabbit shifted uneasily, looking up and down the hallway. “The countess likes things just so. Said you wait in the room, while I guard the door.”

Melissa frowned for a moment, then walked past the threshold of the door and turned back around. “So. What if we do it like this? With the door open? That way we could talk while we wait.”

“...” Joanie hesitated for a moment, clearly torn. Then, slowly, she shook her head back and forth. “Nope nope. Sorry Miss Melissa. You’re interesting, but if I’m following the countess’s orders to the letter, door definitely has to be closed.”

“But-”

Joanie didn’t wait for Melissa to finish her sentence, but instead slammed the door shut on Melissa, who stared blankly at the wooden surface for a moment.

“...Miss Melissa, huh?” she whispered to herself after a moment. “Maybe I should have told her the truth, too…”

Sighing, Melissa turned to look about the room that she was effectively trapped in. There was a large mattress, on a frame with four wooden posts. Each post was carved to resemble a large squid, with the curved pointed head being the top of the post, and the tentacles clinging to the length of the wood. When Melissa pressed a hand down on the bed, she found it remarkably soft. She was sure if she laid her head down on it, she would be asleep in no time.

Melissa hadn’t even realized it, before, but the meeting with the countess had left her exceptionally tired. The idea of putting her head down on the bed and sleeping was incredibly tempting.

Instead, she took another look around the room, looking for something to distract herself with until dinner. Being in a strange house, locked away from the only people in this world she knew… it didn’t seem like the proper time to sleep.

The only other things in the room, however, were a writing desk, a floor length mirror, and a window - not quite large enough to fit through - currently letting in the light of a late day sun. She peered out of it for a moment, looking over carefully trimmed hedges, before turning her attention to the mirror.

It was the second time Melissa had seen her reflection since coming to this world.

She looked fairly similar to the wanted poster. Not exactly right: her eyes had been a little closer together in the poster, and her nose had been a touch too big. Still, the artwork had done a good job capturing the softness of her face, the roundness of her cheeks.

It hadn’t captured her long eyelashes, or the vibrant green of her eyes, of course. No more than it had captured the fullness of her lips.

Melissa reached up to touch a finger to her cheeks, feeling the soft smooth skin. The mirror image of her did the same.

Melissa reached out toward the mirror, next, fingers touching the cool glass. The image in the mirror reached out as well.

“It really is me…” Melissa whispered. “I look like… Like a girl…”

A half-forgotten memory stirred, as Melissa looked at herself in the mirror. It had been Halloween. She’d wanted to go as a cheerleader. Some of the more popular kids in school had gone in drag the previous Halloween, and it had been a big hit.

Her mom said they’d only pulled it off because they were popular. That Melissa would just get beaten up if she tried, and had outright refused to buy the costume.

Which was why Melissa had saved up her allowance so that she could buy the costume herself.

It had taken months. She’d been… What? Thirteen? And the allowance she’d gotten for her chores had only been about five dollars a week.

She’d managed it, though. She’s gotten the costume. Put it on as a test. Stood in front of the mirror.

She had known she’d look funny. A guy, with a few stray hairs on his chin and a lot on his legs, dressed in a too tight skirt and a too small top, wearing a badly made blonde wig.

She’d expected to look ridiculous.

What she hadn’t expected was for it to hurt. Looking into the mirror, and seeing a man in woman’s clothing.

She’d just broken down crying, on the floor. Where she stayed until her mother found her.

Her mother confiscated the costume. Said that she wouldn’t see her son bullied or beaten up.

Melissa hadn’t argued.

She’d never put on feminine clothes again.

This was just another costume. Just a really good costume. One that would come off, when this adventure ended. One that she’d never get to put on again.

A tear slipped down Melissa’s cheek; then another. She didn’t know why she was crying. She’d known all along that this would one day come to an end. She was going to transform back, go back home, and put this entire crazy adventure to an end. She was going to watch television, and read books, and know better than to dream of a fantasy land.

She was going to go back to how things used to be.

Why was she crying? 

Melissa didn’t understand. She couldn’t comprehend where all these tears were coming from. Did she want to stay so badly? Did she want to live in a fantasy world, in a fantasy body, nursing this fantasy? Of being the heroine, being a girl?

Being Melissa?

Unsure of the answers, Melissa wiped away her tears.

She was still wearing the green dress, with the tiny little tear. She had barely even processed, until now, that she was wearing feminine clothing again. The realization only drove her deeper into confusion, though, and soon she was forced to wipe her tears away all over again.

Eventually, she stopped crying. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The sun was a lot further down, though, and the room had started to darken. It would probably be dinner, soon.

As if on cue, the door to the bedroom opened. On the other side was Joanie. With her was a familiar figure: a slightly chubby lamia, with blonde hair and blue eyes. The shopkeeper’s daughter.

Melissa stared at her for a moment, completely nonplussed to be meeting her again, in the countess’s mansion. “What… What are you doing here?”

The lamia, meanwhile, slithered into the room as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be here. She was holding something in her hands: a white piece of cloth, marked with symbols and lines. Melissa wasn’t sure what it was for, and she took an uncertain step back from the girl.

The lamia only tilted her head to the side, though, as if confused. “What do you mean what am I doing here? I’m here to take your measurements, so mom can try and get through that emergency order on your wardrobe.”

“Emergency order…?” Melissa asked, numbly.

The lamia nodded, firmly. “Yeah. Ten pairs of trousers, ten blouses, three dresses, and a riding corset? In two days? Mom nearly screamed. She’s going to have to get outside help, even with me casting spells…” There was obvious worry on the lamia’s face but when she saw Melissa noticing, she put on a broad smile.

“I’m Clattara, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Heroine.” Saying so, she gripped the white strip of fabric she’d been holding between both hands, and pulled it taut. Between what she’d said, and the markings…

“Is that a measuring tape?” Melissa guessed.

“Uh-hm. Like I said, I can’t do a thing until we have your measurements and we never got around to that during your last visit. Mom’s busy readying the fabric and getting people to help, so she had to send me.” There was an easy grin on Clattara’s face as she slithered toward Melissa. “Put your arms out, please.”

Melissa glanced at Joanie, her guard.

Joanie shrugged, and closed the door.

“Arms please!” Clatarra repeated, more firmly. “If I’m going to pull an all nighter on your clothes, the least you can do is make the measuring easy.”

“S-Sorry…” Melissa muttered, spreading out her arms.

Clattara calmly began to take Melissa’s measurements, humming faintly under her breath as she did so. She measured Melissa’s chest, waist, hips, and more, each time whispering the number out loud before continuing to the next. She did not, however, write a single measurement down.

“Are you going to be able to remember all this?” Melissa asked, frowning. She didn’t want to imagine how the clothes might misfit if the girl forgot anything.

“Don’t insult my memory,” Clattara scoffed. “Now. Off with the dress, if you’d please.”

“W-What?” Melissa shying away from the girl.

“What? I need to get a measurement on your bust for the riding corset. Don’t tell me you’re shy about that sort of thing?”

“Yeah… A little…” Melisa admitted, wrapping a little bit of hair around her finger and tugging softly.

“Seriously?” the girl shook her head, then pursed her lips. “Tell you what - I don’t have time to argue with your modesty right now, so if you’re a good girl and do everything I say I’ll give you a handy little spell to get rid of that voyeur curse on your friend.”

“Voyeur… Curse?” Melissa asked, frowning faintly. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, the spying spell someone slapped on the princess! You couldn’t feel that?” Clattara frowned. “Felt like spiders crawling up my spine.”

“I… I didn’t think there was such a thing as spying spells, though?” Lonna had said there weren’t any, at least.

Clattara just shrugged, though. “Believe me or don’t. I mean, considering which of the two of us comes from a Root with sight-based magic, I know which of us I’d bet the ox on, but. Up to you.”

Melissa frowned for a moment, before reaching down and pulling her dress over her head. That left her in only a pair of boxers and a too small bra.

“You’ll need to take the breastband off, too,” Clattara insisted.

“...Fine.” Melissa knew she was being stubborn. She’d allowed Lonna to see her naked, just a few days prior.

Lonna had known Melissa to be a guy, though. Clatarra was looking at her entirely as a girl. It made Melissa feel both guilty, and entirely too self conscious.

The measurements went quickly from there, though, with Clattara thankfully remaining professional throughout. Before long, the bra was back in place - with Clattara’s help - and the dress went back on after.

“That’s everything I need,” Clattara declared, before slithering toward the writing desk.

Pulling open a drawer, she pulled out a quill, an inkwell, and a piece of parchment. Moving with swift assuredness, Clattara drew a series of symbols, before bisecting them with a circle.

“Just have your friend Breathe through that,” Clattara told her. “I don’t know how the spell is anchored to her, so this is just a one day shielding spell. Should make it impossible for the spell to connect, as long as she casts it daily!”

“Thanks,” Melissa said, reverently taking the paper in her hands.

“Don’t lose it!” Clattara commanded, moving toward the door. “It’ll be worth a lot, once I’m a famous magic user! One of Clattara’s originals!”
She pulled open the door, then turned and waved goodbye, before sliding out.

Melissa waved goodbye herself, and then turned to stare at the paper. She didn’t have pockets anymore, so after a moment’s hesitation she folded up the parchment and tucked it into her cleavage.

Then she sat on the bed, wondering how much time was left before dinner.

She didn’t have long to wait.

EmilieEmber

Big thanks to my editor, Renee Bianca, for the editing she does for structure and plot - and to FallingLeaf for some grammatical fix ups. <3