When I woke up in my dorm room, Lilith was standing over me; she covered the lower half of her face with both hands making it hard to read her wide-eyed expression. “Good morning,” I said in an uncharacteristically high voice. I sat up in my bed and rubbed my still adjusting eyes. For some reason, I felt different. Actually, different wasn’t quite the right word; this feeling was familiar, just different from normal. What the hell, that doesn’t make sense. Wait a second, my voice! “Lilith?” I called, testing the waters of my modified voice box. I looked down and saw that the changes from the other world had carried over to Earth. My mind was at odds with my eyes, unable to believe the sight before me. I looked to Lilith for confirmation. “Am I--”

“Yes,” Lilith managed to choke out while simultaneously nodding with the enthusiasm of a metalhead fully appreciating their favorite song. An absolutely giddy smile covered her face and the faintest hints of tears played in the corners of her eyes.

After everything finally managed to click, I scrambled off of my bed and nearly dove in front of the mirror. I was Rose. I mean, obviously I was Rose, but now I WAS Rose. My mouth was hanging open in utter disbelief. “H-- how?”

“Dear, I’m a witch. I thought we’d been over this before.” Lilith half-laughed smugly. “You see, when your beautiful, smart, amazingly talented lover says she’ll grant your greatest wish, she delivers.” Well, duh, should have seen that one coming a mile away; even so, seeing amazing feats in the other world was completely different from witnessing something like this in my own plane of existence.

Lacking the vocabulary to come up with words to properly express my gratitude, I opted for action. I jumped at Lilith, my love, and she caught me gracefully. My arms were wrapped around her neck as she carried me by my buttocks before depositing me back onto the bed I had just gotten out of. Lacking the self-restraint necessary to disentangle and get undressed, the two of us began tearing off and tearing apart each other's outfits. We rolled around as much as the queen-sized mattress allowed us to, completely entranced by one another. All that existed at that moment was Lilith, her perfect lips, her gorgeous body, the sweet melody of moans escaping her lips which seemed to harmonize perfectly with mine.

“I love you, Rose,” Lilith managed to say between instances of using her tongue to teach me the magic of my new anatomy. The world erupted into sensation like I’d never felt before. My body was no longer under my control. Between the quaking, the squirming, the squealing, and the shivering… oh god, the shivering, I felt more like a passenger along for the greatest ride of all time. Even my responses to Lilith’s perfect moves were done purely on impulse. My mind had left the building and was on a beach somewhere enjoying the most pleasurable time of its life.

At the end of it all, Lilith was lying on top of me. Both of us attempted to catch our breath as our sweat-slick bodies lightly stuck to one another. The pressure of her on top of me was oddly comforting and I had to fight the urge to return to sleep. I was still somewhat nervous that when I woke up again I’d be back to looking like Ross, and I wasn’t having that. Lilith’s head gently rested on my chest, her breath tickled me. I gently pulled her up so we were face to face on the bed and kissed her tenderly. She snuggled closer and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long for me to follow her into blissful rest.

There was a lot to be done in the aftermath of my change. I obviously couldn’t stay in the boys’ dorms anymore. Luckily, Lilith just so happened to be looking for a roommate. Imagine that, such a wild and unpredictable coincidence. I moved in with her over the next couple of days. We christened her apartment many times, sans pillow fort of course. After shedding all of the “Ross-specific” items I owned, I had surprisingly little to bring over to Lilith’s apartment. The two of us also had to go clothes shopping for me. Lilith was more than happy to share her wardrobe and expressed her strong desire to see me wear black more often. However, there was a slight if not noticeable size difference between us that made living off of a common closet impossible.

Once the whirlwind of excitement had settled down slightly, I was faced with the bureaucratic problems that accompanied my metamorphosis. Rose didn’t technically exist in this world. Again, Lilith came to the rescue with her network of people with… let’s call them unique talents. I was able to receive government documentation and fake transcripts that would grant me the credits I had already earned in college in order to seamlessly reintegrate next semester. After hours of waiting, paperwork, and learning to understand the mindset of those who would choose anarchy over order, Rose was officially enrolled in an institution of higher learning.

It was oddly liberating and felt like a final goodbye to Ross and his past. It would be like he’d simply walked off the earth, and in a way he did. My parents wouldn’t ever find me. I idly wondered if they would care; hell, I wondered if they’d be relieved. It didn’t matter; they had never known me, and as sad as it sounded, they would never get the chance to. I silently wished them well one final time and unceremoniously dropped them from my thoughts, like a song that had been stuck in my head for far too long.

Making the uncharacteristically responsible decision to pick up my student ID ahead of time, I made the journey to the school admin office during my vacation. There was just so much wrong with that sentence, it almost made me sick. When I had arrived at the office and saw who was behind the counter furiously typing away as if the keyboard had wronged her personally, I legitimately did a triple take.

“Umm, Mrs. Bellenis?” I asked, more confused than I have ever been in my life. Lilith’s mother looked up from her computer and rolled her eyes at me.

“There you are, I have been pretending to work here for hours waiting for you.” Yeah, this was about the point where I hit an eleven on the confuse-o-meter. Mrs. Bellenis walked through the counter, yes, literally through the counter. She made her way to me and pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh, child, you are so beautiful. I’m glad my mirror was able to help you.” She smiled warmly at me.

“Not that it’s not a pleasure to see you again, but why were you waiting for me? Also, how did you know I was coming here today?” Mrs. Bellenis laughed in response to my questions.

“Child, you really must get used to the fact that you’re acquainted with witches. I wanted to see you privately so I used a spell to make that happen.” Obviously. I felt like I’d heard something similar from another witch in my life recently. This whole “magic is real” thing would take some time to adjust to. “As to why I needed to see you, I have two reasons. First of all, I have to thank you again for helping my Lilith out. I know I already thanked you back in the arena, but I figured that it might have felt like a hollow gesture, what with your leg being crushed at the time and all.” Right, that’s something I wanted to remember. “The second reason is to scold you!”

“I’m sorry, what? What did I do?” What the hell was with this family and making me feel powerless?

Mrs. Bellenis produced a small velvet pouch. The fabric was purple and it had two small drawstrings fully pulled and tied together. “I gave you this and told you to hang on to it. Yet you left it back in your little game world. How do you think that makes me feel?” She handed me the pouch and I felt the familiar weight of the amethyst ring nestled inside of it. “That’s the ring Lilith’s father gave to me years ago. Things were different then, better.” Mrs. Bellenis paused. “I have made many mistakes in my life, the greatest of which has been leaving my husband and daughter when they needed me most. I was so high on myself, obsessed with the idea that I was helping my people. The people I should have helped were my family, and I dropped them for the allure of a ‘higher purpose’. Talk about arrogance. I do not expect Lilith to ever forgive me, I do not deserve that mercy. However, I will never stop trying to earn it. Expect to see more of me around from time to time, child. Oh, and word to the wise, I told you that you would need that ring a couple of times; I believe you have only yet to use it once. Food for thought, darling.” With those parting words, Lilith’s mother turned into a cloud of black smoke which quickly dissipated into nothingness. I’m not going to lie, that exit was badass. I’d have to ask Lilith if she could do stuff like that too.

After speaking to an actual administrator and retrieving my ID, I made my way to the comic book shop for my group’s last Dungeons of Despair session of the vacation. This would also be the first time Nash and Reg would be seeing me as Rose; needless to say, I was more than a bit nervous.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Reg casually said after I had explained the situation to him and Nash. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty dumbfounded by that nonchalant response.

“That’s cool... that’s it? No ‘how did this happen?’ or questions of that nature, seriously?”

“Yeah, we’ve been literally fighting monsters and meeting all manner of fantasy creatures during these game sessions. We’re pretty on board with the whole ‘Lilith is a witch’ thing.” Nash seemed just as blase as Reg about the whole thing. How the hell was I the only person impressed by this?

“So you guys aren’t at all surprised by this turn of events?”

“I mean, I’d be lying if I said I’d suspected anything before, but what’s your business is your business. If you’re happy, that’s all that matters, Rose.” Reg could be oddly articulate at times. I felt like I was going to cry again; why the hell had I not met more people like them growing up? “Besides, you should have seen Nash in the Stirasghast Inn, he dressed up as an elven barmaid and--” Reg was interrupted by Nash’s bony elbow digging into his side.

“What happens in Stirasghast, stays in Stirasghast.” Nash glared at Reg and everyone else laughed at his obvious embarrassment.

The four of us entered the world of the game to finish the campaign. Seeing as how the dungeon was called “The Witch’s Sanctum,” you’ve probably guessed that Lilith was the final boss. Well, you were right. Nash and Reg made their way to the central chamber where Lilith was waiting to greet them with a rain of hellfire and throngs of demonic minions. She really did take her villainess role seriously. As Nash and Reg slowly gained the upper hand and forced Lilith into a corner, I made my dramatic entrance and betrayed my friends with a couple of well-placed arrows to the back. What can I say, Lilith wasn’t the only person who enjoyed playing the heel. As we all woke up in the shop, Nash and Reg released a collective groan of disappointment.

“You traitor!” Nash grumbled, “I knew you’d end up whipped.” Lilith smiled in a way that seemed to say, ‘hmm that’s not a bad idea’. Note to self: I had to thank Nash later. Nash and Reg complained the entire walk to our cars and vowed to take their revenge the next time we played.

The next day, Sunday, was the last day before we all started our next semester of college. Nash had invited everyone to his house for one last hoorah, but Lilith and I politely declined. We had made plans to finally go on the date we had canceled earlier. I was never one for fancy venues, but I wanted to make this day special and had gotten Lilith and me a table at the only restaurant that could be considered date-worthy in our small town. I wore a long black dress and (fake) emerald jewelry to try and impress my love. When Lilith saw me, she tried to call off the date all together in favor of spending the day in a more intimate setting. As tempting a proposal as that was, I couldn’t take her up on it, not that time. Lilith broke from her normal clothing conventions and wore an incredibly sexy red dress. I knew she was doing this to tease me and punish me for choosing this date over a day of carnal passion. God help me, her plan worked flawlessly.

As we were seated at our table, I could tell that many eyes were upon us. This was a small town, two women dressed to impress at a restaurant where some patrons still felt comfortable in cargo shorts and a T-shirt made for quite the spectacle. I was never someone who enjoyed attracting attention and I knew that Lilith was of the same mindset. We asked the server to please move us to a booth towards the back for more privacy and they happily did so. When we finally felt comfortable, the night truly began. There was no awkwardness, no uncomfortable pauses, no running dry on things to talk about. It was the perfect date, through and through. I was immeasurably thankful for this fact, because as the night went on, I grew less and less nervous about my plan.

After the main course was finished and we ordered a dessert to share, the conversation reached a natural lull. It was my time. “Lilith, thank you for everything. You -- you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I could spend the rest of my life trying to express my gratitude for everything that you’ve done for me and still fall miserably short of the mark. I love you.”

“Well, damn, keep saying things like that and I’ll fall even more head over heels for you,” Lilith responded with a wink.

“Oh good, the plan is working.” This remark earned me one of Lilith’s magical chuckles. “I guess what I’m trying to say… is that you lied to me.” Haha, weren’t expecting that were you? Don’t worry, I had a plan.

“What? Lied about what? I would never lie to you, Rose.”

“You promised me that you’d grant my greatest wish if I helped you with your trials. You still haven’t held up your end of the bargain.” I saw the cogs turning in Lilith’s head.

“B-but… you’re -- and I… huh?” Good, I had expected confusion, everything was going according to plan.Now I just had to stick the landing.

“Yes, yes, being Rose is wonderful. It’s an absolute dream come true. I wouldn’t give it up for the world… but it isn’t my greatest wish.” I didn’t even give Lilith a chance to process those words. I was way too nervous, and excited, and anxious, and everything else in between to wait any longer. I dropped to one knee in front of Lilith and presented her with the amethyst ring. “Lilith, I love you. I’ve loved you for years. You were always the most important person to me. My greatest wish, the wish I would selfishly ask you to grant, is to never have to live another day without you.”

Lilith’s face lit with realization. The widest and brightest smile I had ever seen her give illuminated her face. She slowly reached her left hand towards me and I slid the ring onto her waiting finger. If she had actually looked at the ring at all, she might have realized its origins at the moment, but her eyes never left mine. After the ring was firmly in place, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me up from the floor. She spun me around in a hug so enthusiastic it had almost become a waltz. She laughed uncontrollably as she continued holding onto me.

“Can I take that as a yes?” I asked, being a jackass as was my MO.

“Well, when my beautiful, smart, amazingly talented lover asks me to grant her wish, how can I not deliver? Of course, my answer is yes, I love you so much, Rose.” Lilith kissed me passionately in the middle of the crowded restaurant earning a cheer from the onlookers who surrounded us. I didn’t care, and neither did Lilith. This was our moment, and if some lucky bastards got a free show, good for them. All that mattered to me was the amazing woman in front of me who seemed hellbent on eating my face in lieu of the sundae we had ordered.