The enchantress returned a minute later with a small shoulder bag. It was a simple beige canvas bag, but a soft purple flower was stitched into the flap.

“These clothes should fit you. I generally keep a small pile of donated clothes and things for the young trans people that come through my home unprepared for the new body they leave in. Feel free to keep them and the bag; every girl needs a purse or some manner of bag after all, dear. Unfortunately, women’s clothes often have a distinct lack of usable pockets. You will need to get clothes that better suit your styling elsewhere, though. Before you leave, however, I do have some warnings for you about that necklace and your new form.”

I took the bag from her and felt a burst of euphoria at suddenly owning what felt like such a feminine item. I had to shove that down to listen to Iridia, though. 

“First of all, this isn’t like the other lesser enchantments. This new form you wear will age, it will grow. You need to take care of it. You will find that it functions just as any woman’s body, with all that entails. By all measures, that is the new you. Whereas the necklace you wore before merely overlaid an image of the programmed form over your old body, this enchantment essentially destroys the old body to build the new one. An imprint of the old is still within the necklace should you need it, but it is no longer physical. Because it changes you on such a deep level, it takes much more power to effect the change; you will not be able to go back and forth as easily as you could with the other necklace. That is the limitation of these more advanced charms.

“Do not worry about wearing the necklace at all times, either; you can remove this necklace and not change again because the change has already been made. That is not to say that you should lose it or let it be destroyed, however. If you do so, you will lose access to your other form and if it is destroyed, it will not be possible to make further modifications to the spell. Only one such enchantment can be bonded to a person at any given time. You will simply be as you are until your body grows old and you pass into the next life.

“The pendant will passively gather natural mana to itself to fuel the change should you need it. This will be doubly useful for you since you do not possess the magic as of yet to force the change yourself. Gems such as moonstone and amethyst are quite good for storing mana, thus their use in necklaces like these.”

I sat through the explanation quietly, taking mental note of it all and nodding at the appropriate times. I found the mechanics of it all to be quite interesting. Magic was an incredible thing to me and I wanted to learn as much as I could about it.  This was not to be, though.

“I believe that is everything I have to tell you about for now. I am always here if you have further requests or questions. Get changed, I’m going to go discuss a few things with your friend in the waiting room.” 

She flashed me a suggestive look. “And please don’t take too long. I know it's all new to you still, but do your real explorations later, rather than here, alright?”

I blushed and nodded, unable to speak through the embarrassment or the still brimming joy at being in a body that felt so good. Madame Iridia simply smiled at me and walked out the door, closing it behind her. 

I gave a few moments before I started pulling off the now seriously ill-fitting clothes Grace had loaned me. I was now shorter than her and what had been oversized lounge clothes for her I was swimming in after my change. I did have a quick moment of waving my arms, giggling at how the sleeves of the hoodie flopped loosely around them. I stopped myself after a moment, though, chiding myself on the childishness of the action.

From the bag I pulled a pair of rather simple looking canvas shoes that reminded me of Converse, a pair of blue jeans and a comfortable but plain-looking grey sweater along with a packaged set of underwear. It was incredibly basic, but it felt important to me. My first women’s outfit. 

Getting redressed was both completely normal and entirely exotic. I knew what I looked like, and the feelings were similar to my temporary form, but at the same time, I was feeling all of this for the first time. Despite the odd descriptions from some of the stories I had read before (and boy was I dense back then to not realize why I liked them), putting on the underwear wasn’t really difficult. Sure, the sports bra was uncomfortable until I got it adjusted a bit, but it’s not like such things are rocket science.

I did find myself surprised by how tight the jeans were across my butt and hips. And the provided sweater was cut much differently than anything I had worn before. There was no mirror in the room, however, and I had to just hope that I looked decent enough to be out in public. The comparatively tiny shoes slipped on easily over my socked feet. 

Borrowed clothes stashed in my new bag, I forced myself to take a few deep breaths before I opened the door again. Only a dozen or so steps took me back to the waiting room where I could hear Madame Iridia and Grace talking quietly. 

The door opened silently as I pushed it open, nervous for reasons beyond explanation. Did I look okay? Did I sound okay? Was I about to embarrass myself? All manner of questions ran through my mind as the sounds of conversation stopped.

“Aaah!! Jaylyn! By the Lady of Magic, you are gorgeous!”

I stumbled forward and found myself encased in Grace’s arms. 

“I told you that you would be fine! Oh, goddess! You look so good! And so much more comfortable! Wow, I can’t wait to get you into some proper fitting clothes! Look at you! I love the hair, and those eyes! Wow! Congratulations, girl!”

I flopped round in her arms like a badly confused fish with legs. I had no clue how to handle the excited woman and it was all I could do to just stand there limply as she fussed over my new look. I was excited too, of course, but the compliments on my appearance were a foreign concept to me. I could hear Madame Iridia chuckling quietly from behind her as Grace finally let me go. 

“So,” Iridia asked. “How does it feel? No, odd feelings, pains, out of place body parts?”

I did my best not to give the woman a strange look as she asked her questions. I had to wonder to myself how common such issues really were in this kind of ritual. I settled for shaking my head slowly.

“No, ma’am. Everything seems to be in order, though I haven’t actually been able to really look in a mirror yet. It feels incredible so far. Thank you very much for the clothes as well. They fit much better than the ones I borrowed; no offense, Grace.”

“None taken! You are even smaller than me now! I gave you those clothes because I knew what would happen when we got here and really didn’t know how you would turn out. I can’t imagine that my old oversize lounge clothes would fit you very well anymore at all. Gosh, you must have been swimming in that sweater. The girls are going to have a lot of fun with you at the mall later.”

Oh yes, a reminder I definitely needed. I was going to be subjected to the whims of a pair of young girls while clothes shopping. I was thrilled. And, despite the sarcasm implied by that thought, I actually kind of was too. I'd never enjoyed clothes shopping before, but now I had the opportunity to try all of the things that I had always been so envious of. 

With Grace’s first comment finally registering in my euphoria hazed mind, I took a look at her. Sure enough, my eye level was a good two inches below hers. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I had been told that this type of enchantment used genetics in part to create the new form. My mother and aunts were all rather petite. 

I smiled at Grace. “I think I am looking forward to it. I’m sure that between the three experts by my side, I’ll be kitted out properly for a small wardrobe.” I caught a glimpse of something like surprise in Grace’s eyes, but it was smothered by a mischievous grin. 

“It ought to be an enlightening experience for you. We should get going, though, it’s already past noon and we need to get some lunch before we grab the girls for our shopping expedition.”

The voice of the enchantress cut in from behind me and I turned to see her standing there with a clipboard in hand, a small packet of official looking papers already on it. 

“I do hate to cut off such sweet conversation, but there is one last bit of official business to conduct before you leave. Miss Jaylyn, this paperwork is my official recommendation to the authorities for a change of name and gender marker. I understand that the situation you are in is rather complicated, but this will help make sure that any identification and documentation they issue you is under the correct name. 

“I have already signed it as a certified enchantress, certifying that I produced an enchanted item for you for the purpose of gender affirmation. Do make sure to give this to them before they issue you any documents.”

I took the offered packet from her hand. The thing was all very official looking with a lot of legalese that I couldn't really understand printed across a dozen or so pages. 

“You’ll need to sign those with both your old name and your new, chosen name. It is an unfortunate necessity, but if all goes well, this will be the last official action you need to do under your former identity. Of course, I say that concerning this world and not your own. Feel free to deal with that in any way that you can, however. If you decide that you require help in removing certain unaccepting or troublesome aspects of your governments, do let me know. I have some experience in such things.” 

Madame Iridia gave me a look that reminded me of exactly what Kitsune really were in much of mythology: tricksters. I had to wonder how many governments had fallen to the hands of this powerful woman. It scared me to realize that I had no clue if she was joking or not.

“Thank you, Madame. I’ll make sure that she fills it all out before we drop off the packet in the morning. I just received confirmation that a representative from the council wishes to meet with her in order to remedy her official status here.”

I gave Grace a concerned look. All of that was news to me after all. “Wow, the council moves quickly. I wasn’t expecting them to have already gotten all of that figured out. I just hope they aren’t going to be throwing me in a dark cell somewhere.”

She smiled at me. “Well, considering that the representative is my father, you should be fine. I would expect someone from the federal government to be there as well, though, so keep your guard up. For now, just relax. That isn’t until morning. All you need to worry about today is girls’ day out.”

It took a few moments of quiet for me to calm the anxiety that had spiked when I heard about the meeting. I had never gone through a visa process back home and I had no clue what to expect. These were people who had every power to throw me into a dark pit and lose the key. It was terrifying to me. 

“You have friends in high places, Miss Jaylyn. You are very fortunate in that. It seems that the Will of Magic is with you in this. Never underestimate the forces which are beyond understanding. Meeting Grace so soon after entering our world may have been quite the coincidence to you at the time, but it plays into a much larger picture. Be at peace in this moment. Let the future unravel as it will and deal with it when the time comes.”

The dichotomy between the mischievous trickster and wise councilor within the kitsune was striking. I couldn’t begin to guess at her age, but the years of life she had lived had obviously not worn her thin like they had me. I could only hope I still maintained so much of my humor and intelligence later on in my life.

“Thank you, Madame Iridia. This has been an incredible experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I realize that this isn’t uncommon here, but back on my world, this sort of thing is nothing short of a miracle.” 

“It was my pleasure, dear. I am here to help people such as yourself after all. The fact that you are not native to this realm is merely an added curiosity.”

I wasn’t able to stop the few tears that tracked down my cheeks as I moved forward and hugged the enchantress. It was likely highly inappropriate, but in the moment, I really couldn’t help myself. She was incredibly sweet and had such a friendly and calm presence. It took a couple moments, but I felt arms wrap around me in turn. 

I pulled back again another moment later, not wanting to make things awkward. “I’m sorry, that was wrong of me.”

“Nonsense. I was merely surprised. Quite often the young trans women that come to me for enchantments, especially the human ones, are rather touch-starved due to the odd belief that males don’t need such things. It would be good of you to remember that not everyone is so willing, however. For now though, I must beg your leave. I need to prepare for my next appointment.”

“Of course. I need to get us back home so I can pick up my daughters anyways. Thank you for your time, Iridia. Jaylyn looks happier with herself already.” Grace then hugged the madame as well. “Come on, Jaylyn. Let’s get out of her hair.”

“Take care, ladies. A pleasant day to you.” 

“Bye, Madame Iridia!”

The woman waved at us as we left. She was right. The future could wait. I had rituals to participate in in the meantime. Namely, clothes shopping.