Cautiously, Ella approached Jana slowly, still trying to come to terms with everything that had happened. “Is it over?” She spared a small moment to stare at the lamp before turning her attention to where it was really needed. “Are… Are you ok, Angel?”

Jana let out a breath she had been holding and waved her hand at a small overturned table out of habit. When nothing happened she gave a small laugh and righted it with her free hand, putting the new lamp down on the flat surface. “It should be over as long as no one rubs that,” Jana said, glaring at the lamp, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m in no shape to replay that particular boss fight right now.” She took Ella’s hand and smiled at her. “But I’ll be okay... Once I get used to... this...”

“What’s going on?” the prepubescent voice of David asked as he emerged from the door to the basement. He now had all three of the wolves-turned-squirrels sitting on his shoulders, apparently having freed them from the dog cage, which he still held in his arms. Amanda the dog still lay quivering inside her prison, not wanting to leave and having to face the squirrely wrath of Farkas and Vilkas again.

“Where’s Karen? Did you stop her?” David asked, rushing over to his sister. He then noticed the lamp on the table in its new modern style, before looking at Jana. It didn’t take much of his magical skill to notice the difference in Jana’s aura, and how she now seemed almost completely… human.

“Isn’t it obvious, Prospero?” Rhea said, having returned to her more natural form of the good natured old woman since the fight had ended. She was smiling, but looked about as tired as the former genie, “Jana used the old genie’s ace in the hole. Freedom through substitution.” 

“You mean…” David said hesitantly.

“I don’t have magic any more,” Jana confirmed. “I’m completely human. No immortality! No forced service! I’m not bound to anyone!” Her smile was growing bigger as the truth of her freedom was finally sinking in. 

“Well, I’d say you’re only about half right on that, my dear.” Rhea said as she examined the former genie critically with the eyes of an industry professional. “For one thing, it’s going a little too far to say you have no magic at all. Remember the talk we had back in my cave? There’s certainly still great potential here. You’ll just need to learn to use it the slow way like most mortals. And for another… I’d say you are still very much bound to someone.” The crone cackled as Ella put her arms around Jana to kiss her. 

Somehow Jana’s lips felt… Warmer than they had before now. “You aren’t getting rid of me any time soon, Angel.” Ella whispered softly.

Jana held Ella tight, starting to cry as all the emotions of the last few hours had the chance to be felt. “Oh Ella… I was so scared I’d never see you again…”

“Shhh, it’s ok Jana…” Ella spoke in hushed tones, stroking her long red hair as tears soaked her shoulder. “You know I would have done anything to get you back. Nothing would have kept me from you.”

As the lovers held each other close, David turned to Rhea, who grinned down at her apprentice, enjoying the chance to be taller than him for once. 

“So… is my mother…? Is Karen… in the lamp now?” David asked, as he set the dog carrier down. Farkas and Vilkas leaped down to the floor, and started to circle the cage, ensuring that Amanda didn’t try to make a run for it. Lupa still hid inside her boyfriend’s shirt, more out of comfort and warmth than any other reason. 

“Yes, David.” Rhea said, ignoring the wolfish rodents’ behaviour. “She’s become the new genie of the lamp, and she’s gonna stay that way ‘til someone decides to free her.” She paused, before placing a hand on the young wizard’s shoulder. “You alright, kid? It’s fine if you need a moment to take this all in.”

David shook his head, smiling at Rhea’s rare display of genuine sympathy. “I’ll be fine.” He noticed his staff lying under an overturned chair. “We should probably sort this mess out a little…” he said, picking the stick up and preparing a basic housekeeping spell.

Both David and Rhea started the process of magically cleaning up the damage to the house, returning furniture to its original place and form, as well as fixing the various broken pictures and crockery. Ella and Jana were too lost in each other’s embrace to notice little things like pieces of furniture flying through the air, or shattered plates piecing themselves back together. 

After some time, Jana felt ready to speak again. “I’m sorry it had to end up like this, Bunny. You had so many wishes you didn’t get to use.”

Ella put a hand to Jana’s cheek. “Oh, Angel… What else could I want now I have you back?” She allowed herself a small laugh before continuing. “Gods, I’m getting schmaltzy! We have each other, we have a home, we both have a plan for the future. What more could I want? I don’t even think I could have come up with a single wish right now, let alone another ten!”

“Well, it would’ve been eleven now, after coming to help me… Or was it twelve? I don’t know…” Jana’s eyes widened and she began laughing at a sudden realization. “I… I don’t know! I don’t have to think about that stupid lamp or it’s rules again!” She was laughing so hard now she had to lean against Ella to stay up right, and it took a moment or two to recover herself. “I… I’m sorry. I think I’m going to be dealing with a lot of odd mood swings like this for a while. Lots to process.”

“That’s alright, Angel. I know this is a lot to deal with.” Ella smiled along with her girlfriend. “You deal with it in your own time, and your own ways, and I’ll be here through all of it.” 

Taking a breath to calm herself, Jana continued. “Of course… Although... There is one way you could potentially get your wishes back…” Her gaze moved to the new lamp on the table and lingered there for a moment.

“Your contract is with the lamp, not the genie… At least I think that’s how it works… Your situation might be unique in the history of magic. But if you rubbed the lamp, you might get at least another three wishes from Karen if nothing else.” It was strange how quickly the details of the lamp’s contracts became hazy in her mind, but she couldn’t make herself care very much. She’d never need it again after all.

“Absolutely not.” Ella said without hesitation. “I’m not letting her out of there for at least a few weeks. Maybe longer. Give her time to think and watch and learn, even if she doesn’t want to.”

“Especially if she doesn’t want to.” Jana added, agreeing with her girlfriend.

“Right!” The girls looked up upon hearing Rhea call out. “That’s everything cleaned up and repaired. Thank you, Prospero. Now it’s time to start getting the rest of you back to normal.”

Ella walked up to Rhea, hand in hand with Jana. “Thank you so much for helping us Rhea. Is Karl ok?” 

Rhea looked up at the girls as she cracked her knuckles, preparing for more spells. “That old coot is the one you kids should really be thanking. I stay out of fights unless a member of my pack gets hurt. That flips my… What’s the term? My kill switch?” She shrugged. “He’s perfectly fine. Mostly bruises and light burns. He’ll be on his feet again before dinner time now that Markus is looking after him. But it’s been so long since any of my pups were injured by anyone, I might have gone a little extreme.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Rhea.” Jana said, with a small laugh. “Your intensity was probably the thing that made Karen realize she was in over her head, at least for long enough for me to trick her.” 

Ella looked for anything else that was a new addition to the original house, her eyes eventually falling on the still 10 year old David and his squirrel friends as the obvious suspects. “How did you convince Karl and the others to join in on our family drama?”

David gave a shrug, “Well, me and Lupa were in on this from the moment you disappeared. We had to ask for Karl’s help to use the portals to get us to the house, and the twins… Well they heard us talking to Karl and insisted on coming along for the fight. Sofia and Logan wanted to come along too, but we convinced them to stay behind and distract Markus and Laura, just in case they tried to stop us from running off with only half a plan.”

“You ran off with almost no plan at all, dumb pup. Hold still.” Rhea muttered, turning her gaze and powers upon David.

“Wait! Not yet!” David squeaked out, but too late. The magic had already hit him. In an immediate flash of magic, David was back to his normal age and size… but so was Lupa. The squirrel that had been hidden away in the front of his shirt, was now a full sized wolf, stretching the fabric with her head sticking out of the neck hole of the garment as it too magically grew to accommodate David’s return to his original size. 

Seemingly untroubled by the tight fit, Lupa gave Rhea and appreciative bark and lovingly licked David’s face. David groaned as they both fell to the floor, Lupa’s full weight on top of him, her tail wagging with excitement.

“Yes yes! I’m very happy to see you too, hun!” David laughed, happily accepting the canine kisses, and glad that his voice and body were back to normal. “Now for Farkas and Vilkas...”

Everyone in the room looked towards the pet carrier on the floor, and were surprised to see that it was empty! Apparently, in the commotion caused by David and Lupa changing back, Amanda had tried to make a run for it, only to be chased off by fearsome squirrel brothers.

“Crap!” said Rhea, looking around for any sign of the escapees. “We’d better find them before they try and talk all the local rodents into forming an army.”

“I think they’re still chasing that little dog we saw earlier,” Ella turned to ask Jana, “Is that who I think it is?”

“Amanda,” Jana nodded in confirmation, “You were right about her; not the nicest person, but she has been having a very bad day since she broke into our house.”

“So that’s how Karen got the lamp. Maybe Amanda won’t try something so stupid the next time.” Ella looked up as she heard a high pitched whining bark and the scampering of little paws on the hardwood floor. In came Amanda the dog, wild eyed with terror and running frantically from two chittering fuzzy demons. 

With surprising agility, Rhea grabbed both of the twin rodents, one in each hand, and held them up to eye level. “Oh, will you two half-wits give that poor woman a break?! She’s been through quite enough today!” 

The squirrel in Rhea’s right hand chittered and tilted his head. Rhea, seemingly understanding him, rolled her eyes. “No she isn’t a hellhound or a demon familiar, Farkas! Didn’t you notice her screaming for help the whole time?” The left hand squirrel gave a slightly subdued chirping, “Couldn’t understand her accent? So what, you assumed she was channelling dark forces for her evil master? Of all the…” Rhea grumbled and handed both squirrels to Jana. “Here, hold these idiots. I need to see what kind of trauma they gave this Amanda woman...” She swiftly exited the room to search for the frightened dog.

Lupa had pulled herself out from David’s shirt and reverted to her human form, finding a towel to wrap around her body for modesty. She smiled as Jana handed her squirrely siblings to her.

The she-wolf smirked down at her brothers. “I swear, you two...” she laughed, “Half-wits is too generous for you boys! People would think you have one working brain between the two of you. If grandma was here I’m sure she’d call you quarter wits. Two halves of a whole idiot!” The squirrel’s glared and chittered crossly at their big sister, who seemed to get the message. “Ok, I’m sorry! I was on a roll, but I’ll stop now.” 

Rhea reentered the room, having found the small black dog, who was tucked under the witch’s arm. “Wow, she certainly did a lot to you, didn’t she?” Rhea murmured softly, trying to comfort the canine.

Amanda barked and tried to squirm out of Rhea’s grip in response. Rhea flinched a little at the volume of the dog’s barking. “Indoor voices please, ma’am. Yes, I’m sure you’ve had enough of magic for a while. But if you don’t let me help you, I’ll be forced to send you to a shelter. Now please hold still unless you’re prepared to live off kibble for the rest of your life.” 

This grim promise managed to calm the quivering ball of black fur just enough for Rhea to set her down on the floor and cast a complex spell to reverse Karen’s magic. There was a puff of smoke around Amanda which soon cleared to reveal… a confused looking black cat?

“Mother of me!” Rhea huffed, looking down at her hands in mild disbelief. “How strong was this magic for it to resist my counterspells!?”

“It’s not you, Rhea.” Jana said, trying not to laugh at Amanda’s discomfort. “Karen changed her a whole bunch of times before deciding on the dog.”

“Oh, well that’s different.” Rhea breathed a sigh of relief and cast the spell again. Poof! The cat became a squawking parrot. Bang! The bird reverted back into a pretty young woman. Rhea was considerate enough to even recreate the outfit Amanda had been granted by her last wish.

Amanda looked down at herself in shock, checking to make sure she wasn’t still part bird, cat or dog. Slowly, a mad grin spread across her face. “Ha! I’m back!” she yelled as she punched the air. “In your face, Karen!”

“Hmm, almost back to normal.” said Rhea, analysing Amanda with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Please hold on, Amanda. One more spell should do it...” 

“What?! No wait!!” Amanda cried out, trying to throw her hands out to stop the spell, but it came a second too late. One more magical puff of smoke, and Amanda had reverted to her original plain-looking self; exactly the way she had looked before her third wish. 

“Noooo!! What have you done!?” She screamed, looking at her middle-aged unkempt form, and dull clothes. “Change me back! I demand that you change me back right now!” 

“Change you back? Well, if you insist...” Rhea said with a shrug and waved her hand one more time. Poof! Amanda the pomeranian had returned!

Rhea actually smiled as the tiny dog barked furiously, in a way that even Ella could almost understand as, “That’s not what I meant, you idiot!!” 

“Sorry, sorry!” Rhea said, not sounding sorry at all. “But after a day of dealing with genies, you should know that it’s very important to be specific when handling magical requests.” She waved her hand again, and Amanda had returned to her young beautified form. 

Amanda looked ready to scream, to cry and fight anyone who looked at her funny. But after the day she had had, she did the smart thing and ran for the door before she could get herself into any more trouble. A second later, they could all hear the squealing of her new car’s tires as she drove away from the magical madness as fast as she could. 

“Well, that’s another problem solved, at least for now.” David said, walking to the front door and closing it behind the fleeing woman and watching her ill-gotten money blowing about the sidewalk.

“For now?” Ella asked, though she thought she knew what her brother meant.

“Well, if she decides to tell anyone about today, it could complicate life for all of us. Genies, werewolves, witches, and a very active member of the local homeowners association sucked into a magic lamp. Needless to say, it will raise a lot of questions, regardless of if anyone believes her or not.” David paused, looking down at the magic lamp that now held his mother. “Have we thought about how we are going to explain this to everyone? Or, more importantly, explain this to dad?”

“I’d recommend telling your father everything.” Rhea suggested. “If you still want your old man involved with your life, then now might be as good a time as any to break the news.” 

David and Ella exchanged a nervous look. Explaining all that had happened to Jerry would be especially awkward for both of them. It was hard to say which of them had the more unbelievable story. The wizard IT technician who had become a werewolf? Or the shapeshifting trans girl who dated a genie?

“You don’t think all of this at once will be too much for him to handle?” Ella asked her brother. “It won’t fry his brain or anything like that?”

Jana smiled. “You learned about genies, werewolves and mermaids within a few days and your brain didn’t fry. You… We humans are stronger than you think.” The former genie smiled as she caught herself.

“Yeah, but learning David was one of those werewolves was still a bit of a shock that took me a while to accept..” Ella pointed out. “Dad’s about to find out that his wife, daughter and son have all become magical creatures he didn’t know existed yesterday. Not to mention all the other stuff that’s happened!” 

“Well to be fair, you did mention that dad wanted a divorce…” David pointed at the lamp a little awkwardly, “This is a pretty ideal situation for a painless separation. At least from his end...”

Jana wasn’t sure if Karen could hear them from inside the lamp. It had taken her a while to learn how to do that when she had first become trapped. But if Karen had been listening in on the conversation, Jana hoped that she was now screaming and huffing at what David was saying, with no way of being heard.

“I suppose that’s one way to look at it.” Ella agreed, with a nervous laugh. “But this still doesn’t help us with what we’re gonna say to the neighbours. Amanda’s story may sound crazy, but people are gonna notice someone like Karen mysteriously disappearing...”

“If it helps, I could just blow this house up?” suggested Rhea, casually. “Point me to the gas main and I can make our friend’s disappearance look like a tragic accident.” She conjured up a small flame with a snap of her fingers, to illustrate her point.

Ella and Jana both gaped at Rhea, shocked by her sudden pyromaniacal streak. David, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. “This is no time for joking, Rhea! We need serious suggestions!”

“Bah!” said Rhea, extinguishing her flame. “Spoilsport…”

Trying not to get too distracted by the wannabe arsonist, Ella started thinking of a better, less destructive cover story. “Maybe the easiest thing is to tell everyone in the neighbourhood that Karen ran away with someone, and left us holding the bags? I bet more people would believe that over Amanda’s story.” 

“Can we at least make the person she ran off with some rich, gross old man or something like that?” Lupa added gleefully, still salty after her time as a squirrel. “She deserves a little mud slinging after putting us through all of this.” 

“As much as I’d love to, it’s probably better to keep the story simple.” Jana added. “No specific person or destination for them to go looking for her. Make it sound like no one knows just where she ran off to.” 

“I think you need to decide on what to do fast.” Rhea said, having paused to listen out for something. “I think… Yes, there’s a car coming this way… One man in it. His scent is very similar to you two.” The witch pointed at the Grant siblings.

“Jerry’s coming!” Ella gasped. It was much faster than she had expected, but it was better to take advantage of the opportunity. “Rhea, Lupa, thank you all for helping us. But I think this conversation might be better between the four of us.”

“Um, I think we’re forgetting something…” said Lupa, as Rhea started conjuring up a portal for them to return to the village. The she-wolf held up the two squirrely forms of Farkas and Vilkas, who’s indignant squeaking and chittering had simply become part of the background noise in the room.

“Hm? Oh right!” said Rhea, finally remembering the other two victims of Karen’s magic. “Hold still boys…” She waved her hand, as Lupa let go of the squirrels. By the time they hit the floor with a loud thud, they had both changed fully back to their regular werewolf selves. One of the wolves glared up at Rhea and gave an indignant bark, as his twin reverted to human form (David swiftly provided the teen with a towel.) 

“Watch your tone, Farkas!” Rhea said, unperturbed by the giant angry beast. “Karl has probably already told your mother about you kids getting bested by a middle-aged human. If you’re not careful, I’ll turn you back into a squirrel to provide her with a demonstration!”

“Weren’t you almost beaten by the same human though?” asked Vilkas, as he wrapped the towel around his waist. “From what we could hear, it sounded like she had you on the ropes before Jana and Ella…”

The teen suddenly realised what he was saying, and made a frantic effort to backtrack, but it was too late. Rhea glared at him with piercing eyes and poked a crooked finger in his direction. Within seconds, Vilkas had once again become a tiny grey squirrel, his pleas reduced to squeaks and chitters.

“I’ll change you back later.” Rhea said, staring down at Vilkas. She then summoned a portal as she turned to Lupa and Farkas. “You kids better hightail it back to the village. Your parents will be wanting to speak with you.”

Farkas looked ready to bark out some other protest, but he was quickly shoved through the portal by his big sister. “Thank you, Rhea.” Lupa said quickly, scooping Vilkas up in her hands. “Sorry about Vilkas. He’s usually the smarter one.”

David kissed Lupa on the cheek. “Don’t worry hun, I’ll be home before bed. Why don’t you get dressed and stay by the mirror for a bit? If Dad takes all of this well, and doesn’t pass out, it might be a good time for you to meet him.”

“Ok babe. But I’m holding you to that.” She smiled at David, ignoring the aggravated noises her brother was making. “Have a good talk for as long as you need, and come home when you can to tell me all about it if you can’t call me in.” She looked up at Ella and Jana. “That goes for both of you too. You girls are going to be my sisters after all. If you don’t want to sleep alone tonight, you know where to find us.”

Ella was especially touched to hear Lupa call her that. She had always wanted a sister! She ran forward to hug Lupa, who happily accepted the gesture. They then noticed Rhea impatiently tapping her foot as she gestured towards the portal. Lupa smiled, and turned to head back to her village.

“One more thing!” Jana said, trying to stop them before they left. She moved towards the lamp, throwing a blanket over it and quickly wrapping it up till no part of the magical item could be seen or, more importantly, touched. Cradling it gently, Jana handed the bundle to Lupa. “Please, take this with you, at least for now. We don’t want this thing left around this many humans until we have a better idea of what we are doing.”

“Of course.” Lupa nodded her head, suddenly very serious as she accepted the small ball of blankets holding the dangerous prisoner. “I swear by the moon that no one will touch this lamp until you say.” With that somber promise, Lupa stepped into the portal, closely followed by Rhea. The mystical gateway closed as the witch passed through it, leaving Ella, Jana and David alone in a very silent living room.

“Might as well make ourselves more presentable…” said David, as he tapped his staff on the ground. His tattered robes changed into a simple white t-shirt and denim jeans. “It’s about the only transformation spell I can do well, but it’s useful here,” he explained.

Ella looked down at her own attire, and realised that she had unconsciously shifted her outfit back to the oversized sleep shirt she had been given that morning. After all the transformation chaos caused by Karen’s magic, Ella must have defaulted back to her previous attire without thinking. 

“I… should probably change too…” Ella mumbled. She quickly focused her abilities, and within seconds she wore a simple pretty sundress and sandals; a perfectly comfortable feminine outfit to help her feel at ease.

Finally, Jana gave her own apparel a quick check. She still wore the skinny jeans and t-shirt combo that she had conjured up to annoy Karen, and it still looked pretty good on her. This was a good thing, because Jana had realised that she could no longer change her outfits at will anymore. She was still finding all of this so hard to process, but said nothing to Ella or David at that moment. After all, there were more pressing matters to attend to...

The quiet in the house was so complete they even heard the faint sound of a car pulling into the driveway, followed by Jerry stepping out and fumbling with his keys, as he opened the front door.

 “Dad?” Ella called out to him, not really knowing how to start the conversation. “It’s me, Ella…”

“Ella?” Jerry called back as he moved briskly to the living room. He seemed taken aback by Ella’s appearance, and she suddenly remembered that he hadn’t seen her like this before. The last time they had seen each other, Ella had assumed a slightly less feminine form to avoid suspicion about her shapeshifting ability. However, she had forgotten to do anything of the sort this time, so she was now facing her father in her 100% female form!

“You’re… Is that…?” Jerry looked back and forth between Ella and Jana, recognizing the former genie, but struggling with the young woman claiming to be his daughter. 

After a few seconds of gaping, Jerry suddenly snapped to attention. Seemingly recognizing his daughter, and remembering why he had rushed in, he started speaking very quickly. “What the hell is going on here!? I was just at your house! A window was broken, the door was unlocked and someone vandalized your flags! And now you’re here, looking like…!?!”

“We know Mr. Grant! It’s all fine...” Jana said in what she hoped was a calming tone, all the while wondering how many others had already seen the damage to the house. If the cops had been called to deal with the vandalization it would complicate matters very quickly. 

“What happened? Did you call the police? Where’s Karen?” Jerry asked, more concerned and animated than either Ella or David had seen him in a long time.

“Dad, calm down,” David cut in, putting a hand on his father’s shoulder. “There’s a lot to explain and it might be better if you sat down first.”

Jerry stared in shock at his son, not having noticed him when he had first entered the room. “David!?! What are you doing here?! Is everything alright?”

“We’re fine, dad.” David replied calmly, walking Jerry over to his favourite armchair and sitting him down. “It’s just that… Well, a lot’s happened, and…”

“What’s happened?!” said Jerry, not really sounding any calmer. His eyes continued to dart between Ella, Jana, and now David. “Wait, Ella! Does your brother know about…?”

“Yes dad, I know everything,” David said, trying not to sound exasperated. “I know she’s dating Jana, and how she’s transitioned so fast. But there’s still lots more to talk about.” He sat down in his mother’s old chair while Ella and Jana took the sofa. “Who wants to start?” David said, looking over at the girls.

“We could start you off either from the very beginning, or with our most recent developments.” Jana volunteered, taking Ella’s hand in hers for support. “Which would you prefer?” 

“I… I’m not sure…” Jerry admitted, still utterly bewildered by what was going on. “Where is Karen?” He asked, looking around the room for her, “Is this something that she should hear too?” He seemed a little afraid to include her in whatever this was, and equally confused about why she wasn’t here. 

Ella let out a sigh, “I think that’s a sign we should start with more recent events first then… She… She’s gone dad.”

“Gone? What do you mean gone?” Jerry asked, looking over his shoulder where through the window he could just see her car still sitting in the driveway. “Where did she go?” 

“That’s… a very long story, dad…” Ella said softly as she looked from her father, to her brother, to her girlfriend. “Maybe it is just better if we start from the beginning…” 

__________________________________________________________________

It took what felt like days to explain… But together, Jana, Ella and David told Jerry everything concerning the magic lamp, the werewolf village, even David’s teacher, the immortal witch in the woods of deepest, darkest Canada. Jerry struggled to believe any of it at first, but David managed to make him a believer with a quick display of his powers.

David was careful not to overload his father’s brain by showing off too many magical abilities, so he kept things as simple as he could. The first time he changed his face to become more wolfish, Jerry thought it was some sort of trick, but after shifting it back and forth a few times, David was able to convince him otherwise. Making the sofa cushions levitate only helped to seal the deal.

Some events of the last few days were a little more difficult to discuss. Jana and Ella had let David do most of the talking when it came to Rhea and the village, though this had meant that they were unable to tell Jerry about Tellonna and their underwater adventure. That would have to wait until later…

Instead, when Ella and Jana’s turn to talk came, they had the difficult task of recounting the morning's chaotic events to Jerry. At first, Ella was worried that the sheer insanity of the last few hours would sound too ridiculous for her father to believe, but Jerry nodded along silently as Jana bluntly told him everything about Amanda’s wishes, Karen’s magic powers, and the fighting that had escalated to include wizards, werewolves and an all-powerful witch all under the same roof.

Eventually, after what felt like far too much time, Jerry was finally caught up on everything he needed to know. His expression seemed to indicate that he believed the story, despite its utter lunacy. There was silence in the room for a solid minute, before Jerry finally opened his mouth...

“So…” He said, speaking very slowly and softly after so much sitting in silence. “My wife figured out Jana’s secret, sent Amanda to rob you, got magic powers of her own, went mad with power, and… in order to stop her before she hurt anyone else, you trapped her in the lamp yourself?” He asked, voice cracking as he tried to clarify the bizarre story.

“That’s about the size of it, dad…” Ella said, a bit lamely. She wasn’t sure what else to say. Jerry seemed to realise that the story was too crazy for any of them to have simply made up. In fact, in a strange way, it actually made more sense than anything else he had anticipated.

“I… I think I might need a moment…” Jerry eventually said, staggering up from his chair and walking towards a nearby cabinet. He opened it and pulled out a bottle of bourbon that was about half empty. He unscrewed the cap and let it fall to the floor before upending the bottle and taking a big swig. 

Ella and David exchanged a concerned glance. They both knew their father usually enjoyed a drink at the weekend after a long week at the bank, but they were not used to seeing him drinking this heavily!

Jerry flinched and shook his head violently at the strong, burning liquid searing his throat and making his eyes water. “Karen always preferred this stuff over scotch...” He said, his voice a little raspy, “But it will do.” He had meant to drink the entire bottle in one go like in the movies, but it was much stronger than he had thought and he only managed a mouthful of the liquid. He set the bottle down on the counter for later.

“Uhh… Are you ok, dad?” Ella asked cautiously as she watched her father. Ella had never seen him drink so heavily before and was worried how he’d hold his booze.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Jerry muttered, “Just a little confused... and conflicted? I mean, I’m relieved you are all safe, and I suppose this will make the divorce go much smoother.” He gave a small laugh that didn’t seem very sane. 

“I… I just didn’t come home expecting any of this you know?” Jerry was quiet for a moment before grabbing the bottle and taking another big gulp of booze, handling the taste and sensation better the second time.

David, Ella and Jana shared a look. This could take some time for him to adjust to. “Why don’t you and Jana go home?” David suggested in a softer voice. “I’ll stay here with dad tonight to make sure he doesn’t snap. You can come over and check with us again in the morning, ok?”

Ella nodded, looking at her dad. “See if you can get something heavy in him to eat before he decides to open a second bottle.” She got up from her seat and gave her brother a hug before walking over to her dad. “Dad, I know that this has all been a lot tonight. Jana and I are going to go home to see about the damage from the break in, ok? We will come back over for breakfast tomorrow.” 

“But feel free to call us for anything you might need, okay Jerry?” Jana added, having walked in close behind her girlfriend. “Day or night, big or small. We can be right over in a moment.” 

“Yeah… Yeah I’ll remember that.” Jerry gave his daughter a hug, glad to know that she was still real and solid after all of this. Everything in his world had changed today. He hesitated as Jana held out her hand, but he still took it and shook it. A small part of his mind wanted to blame Jana for recent events, but he couldn’t find reasons to be upset with the former genie. All she had done was make his daughter happy. After all, she wasn’t the one who brought magic to the family anyways if David had been studying to be a wizard for years. And she had been through as much as the rest of them. “Be safe, both of you.” He eventually said once he let go of Jana’s hand.

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For the second time in a week, Jana and Ella were walking together away from the Grant family home. And yet, they weren’t the same women as before. Both of them were finally, and truly free. Ella reached out her hand and held Jana’s tightly as they walked down the street, unashamed and unapologetic if any of the neighbors saw them. They didn’t care what anyone thought of their love anymore. (Though, in actuality, any neighbors that were outside at that moment were too concerned chasing down the many $100 bills Amanda’s wish and rapid retreat had left blowing in the wind to notice something as trivial as two girls holding hands.) 

Jana breathed deeply and gripped Ella’s hand tighter. “You know, before I didn’t technically have to breathe if I didn’t want to? Now I can almost feel my lungs working! My heart pumping! The sun is brighter! The air is fresher! Bunny, I'm really human! I can’t believe it!” She stopped mid step to hug the smaller woman to her chest, not caring that they had stopped in the middle of the street. Ella could feel happy tears hitting the top of her head. 

Ella held the woman she loved for as long as Jana needed. Nothing else in the world mattered in that moment. Said moment was quickly interrupted however by a truck honking its horn for them to get out of the way. After flipping off the driver, without even checking who it was.(They deserved it regardless, just for interrupting when she was trying to comfort her girlfriend!) 

“Come on Angel. We can kiss and cuddle and figure out what to do next once we are home.” Ella still stole one quick kiss from her girlfriend now because she couldn’t wait.

Jana smiled, but paused as her stomach growled loudly. She gave an awkward laugh. “I don’t suppose we could file ‘get some dinner’ under the category of what to do next?” She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this hungry! Sure she had eaten as a genie, but food had served no purpose besides tasting good! Now her body would need to eat, to sleep, to… things-you-need-to-do-after-you-eat, for the first time in over 200 years! (The more Jana thought about that last part, the more happy she was that toilets had gotten much nicer since the last time she was human.)

“Of course we can have dinner babe.” Ella said with a chuckle. She was pretty hungry herself, having skipped breakfast and spent most of lunch fighting her mother, so even if it was too early to call this dinner, she agreed that they both needed this. 

The girls walked the rest of the way to their house in a companionable silence. Ella saw the broken window Amanda had smashed to make a way in and the tattered remains of their pride flags. In all the craziness she had forgotten hearing that they had been the victims of an amature breaking and entering.

“If that...that woman hadn't just spent the last few hours trapped as a dog, getting bitten by squirrels, I’d be very pissed off about all this… Watch the glass, babe!” Ella warned as she pushed open the front door, which Amanda had left unlocked. “First things first, Janny. Could you sweep up the glass while I look for something to cover up the broken pane?”

Jana nodded, as Ella went off to find material. The former genie looked around the foyer at the glass scattered across the floor in large shards and tiny bits of dust. “Right, clean up is easy!” she said with a wide smile and a snap of her fingers.

Nothing happened. “Oh… Right.” The former genie muttered, glad that Ella hadn’t seen her doing something that stupid. Her lack of powers might take some getting used to. Eventually Jana managed to locate the broom and dust pan and started cleaning up the old fashioned way, which involved a lot more bending over and squatting about than the former genie had expected. 

“How’s it going hun?” Ella said, having come up with a few small boards and a hammer from the basement.

“It’s going.” The genie said with a smirk. “Doing things the human way takes a lot longer than I remembered. Hmm...” Jana paused, looking at the tiny bits of glass dust still left on the floor, “Maybe I should grab the hoover for this too?” Jana stepped aside for Ella to get to work with the boards and nails as she went to grab the vacuum cleaner from the closet. 

As Ella heard the sound of Jana rummaging through the supply closet, a thought suddenly occurred to her. “Huh… Has she ever actually used a vacuum cleaner before..?”
__________________________________________________________________

Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for Jana to get the hang of using modern cleaning technology. It would take a lot more work to get the house completely back to normal, but with boards covering the hole and the window, and the broken glass cleaned away, the main problems were solved for now. 

“We can deal with the flags tomorrow.” Ella said, noticing how tired Jana was already looking. “I don’t know about you Angel, but I don’t feel like cooking today. Want to order a pizza? We could relax, cuddle and play video games until we’re ready for bed.”

Jana smiled and kissed Ella, holding her head in both hands. “Gods, you know me so well. I think that sounds like a wonderful night!” 

“You go up and get comfy and I’ll get the game set up for you ok? Then we can order together.” Ella chuckled, kissing Jana on both cheeks as she moved to the living room. 

“Can do!” Jana called after her as she all but ran up the stairs, only pausing briefly to close the windows Amanda had left open on the way up to the bedroom and the walk-in closet… only to hit a bit of a snag.

“Angel? You ok up there?” Ella called up the stairs when Jana seemed to be taking her time.

“Yes and no,” Jana responded before moving down into sight, wearing a set of sweat clothes that were clearly at least two sizes too small. She was grinning like an idiot and laughing to herself as she showed off her extra short sleeves and leggings, “A bit of a flaw in my plans for the dressing room that I didn’t realize until now. All of the clothes in there are in your size! Up till now I’d just magically created all of my outfits!”

“Oh! I’m sorry, babe!” Ella said, trying to be supportive no matter how cute Jana looked in her own undersized clothes.

“I’m not, it’s hilarious! Besides, it means we get to go shopping together and you can help me pick out a few all new looks!” The former genie winked at her girlfriend as she took her seat on the sofa beside Ella. “Speaking of needing new clothes, how much food do you think we should order?”

__________________________________________________________________

In the end, between their shared hunger and Jana’s excitement, the pair ordered three deluxe pizzas, garlic knots, cheese fries, mozzarella sticks and two share-size sodas. A ridiculous amount of food for two medium sized women (even if one could magically shapeshift at will into something bigger), but they had planned to save about half of the food for other dinners during the week.

That plan had… failed pretty badly. After a few hours of cuddling and killing Draugr with Kratos and his boy, both girls were bloated and aching with only half a pizza and no appetizers remaining. Even slightly greasy and stuffed full of bread and cheese until it hurt, both Ella and Jana were happy and content. 

“I think I might have finally had enough.” Jana said with a yawn as she paused her video game. Now that her hunger had been quite significantly sated, her mortal body was paying extra attention to just how tired she was after this very long day. 

“I know what you mean.” Ella said, matching Jana’s yawn as the console was turned off. The shapeshifter got up from her seat first to help Jana. “Let’s get you to bed, princess. You must be exhausted.” She walked hand in hand with Jana, helping her up the stairs, both out of a need to be close to her, and the knowledge of how being tired could mess with a person’s balance and coordination if they weren’t careful. After so long of her body not requiring sleep, or walking, unless she wanted to, Ella felt it was better to help Jana through all of it the first few times. 

Jana realized what her love was doing and was actually grateful for the assistance. “Thanks Bunny,” she said with another massive yawn as Ella helped her to the bed. “It’s like everything in the world is brand new to me today.” She winced as she fought not to have another massive yawn in the middle of her next sentence. “Brand new and wonderful.” She said softly, almost to herself. 

Ella smiled at Jana and helped herself to an early kiss good night. “I’ll be here to help you through all of it, darling,” She said as she got herself ready for bed. “It’ll be great fun for…” Ella trailed off with a wider smile when she turned back to see Jana had already drifted off to sleep the moment her eyes were closed. 

“Oh, you poor thing...” Ella said, unable to get over how cute her girlfriend was when she was sleeping. She kissed the redhead’s forehead and pulled the blankets up over her exhausted body. “Sleep tight, my love...” Ella spoke in a whisper as she closed the blinds of the bedroom to make the space as dark as she could in the twilight before crawling into the bed herself. “Tomorrow, the world is whatever you want it to be my love…” She wrapped her arms gently around Jana, and slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the future they could build together, now they both were truly free…