I’m really… not human anymore, am I?

The world around me started going dark as unpleasant thoughts ran through my head.

 

“It’s fine, humans can’t see you, anyway.”

“...I have no idea how you ended up as the Queen.”

‘Is that why it turned me into a spirit? So that it would have a host?’

…

What’s going to happen to me?

 

“Flora? You okay?” Emily asked.

I dimly registered the sensation of my feet leaving the ground as I brought my knees close to my chest, trying to curl up into a ball.

Don’t look at me!

 

“Why are you taking photos?!”

“We’ve gone through some crazy stuff, okay? The more we know about ourselves, the better!”

Zoey and Emily were arguing in the background as my mind slowly shut down.

Please don’t yell so loudly…

 

“Wait, why’s her hair black?”

“Huh? She’s not showing up properly in the photos. Look, she’s really blurry.”

“Get back!” Aeriel screamed, interrupting their shouting.

 

“Don’t let that energy touch you. It sucks the life out of everything.”

 

So not only am I not human anymore… I can kill everything I touch.

“Then what am I supposed to do? I can’t just leave her like this.”

Don’t stare at me!

“Did the lights just go out?”

I want to go home!

“Flora?”

 

“All of you, shut up!” Elena’s voice cut across everyone commandingly, forcing them into silence.

 

“Look, she turned into a girl, what, on Monday, was it? She’s been through a lot these past few days, trying her best to handle all the crazy information that keeps getting loaded onto her. When someone who’s going through that reaches their limit, they break. All of you yelling at her while she’s in the middle of a breakdown is only going to make it worse, so just… be quiet for a bit.”

 

Finally… some peace and quiet…

 

“Flora, can you hear me? Nod, or move your hand if you can.”

Elena’s voice cut through the silence raging in my head. I weakly tried to nod in response.

“I want you to follow my directions. Is that okay?”

Okay.

“Take a deep breath… Now hold it…”

Breathe in…

“Now slowly exhale.”

Breathe out…

“Breathe in…”

Breathe in.

“Breathe out…”

Breathe out.

Slowly, my heart began settling down, and the unpleasant thoughts left my mind. Opening my eyes, I glanced around the room.

 

“Flora…” Emily flinched as I looked at her, an apologetic expression on her face.

“...sorry.” Zoey mumbled.

 

“How are you feeling now?” Elena inquired. Still floating, I spun around to face her.

“...A little better. Um-” An odd thought ran through my head.

Zoey said that my hair turned black. Is it still like that? What about my eyes?

 

“What do I look like, right now?”

Elena took a deep breath, pausing before replying.

“Your hair and eyes have both turned a very deep black.”

“It’s like looking into the void.” Emily interjected, letting out a nervous giggle.

Scary! I shivered slightly upon hearing her description. I don’t know what kind of… energy, or element it corresponds to, but it’s scary!

 

Can I cover it up? If I pull energy out of my core, again… spread it throughout my body…

As I closed my eyes to concentrate, Elena’s voice rang out, addressing the rest of the group.

 

“Look, we’ve all been through a lot. Crazy stuff has been happening to all of us. Right now, the only allies we have are each other, so we can’t be antagonizing and stressing each other out like this.”

“You say that, but what can we do?” Emily asked.

“We can find out how to keep on going with our lives. We find ways to hide these aspects of ourselves, and we go back to our normal routines. Right now, that’s our best option.”

“How am I supposed to hide my scales? Let alone this thing.” Grace interjected, thumping her tail against the couch cushion.

“I-” Elena faltered, “I don’t know. Any ideas, Aeriel?”

Opening my eyes, I saw Aeriel take a few steps forward to stand next to Grace.

“I know some non-human races can do it, but I don’t know about dragonkin. Stand up for a bit.”

Grace obediently stood up, prompting Aeriel to dash around behind her.

“Relax your body.”

Slouching forward slightly, Grace exhaled, untensing her whole body. Suddenly, Aeriel grabbed her tail, and pushed it up roughly.

“Eep!” Grace yelped, leaping forward an impressive distance. She quickly turned around, glaring at Aeriel while holding where the base of where her tail should have been.

 

“Wh-what was that? What did you just do?!” She screamed, a few tears forming in her eyes.

“Grace! Your tail!” I exclaimed. Grace turned to look at me, a confused expression on her face, before feeling around behind her for her tail. After a few moments, her eyes turned wide, and she twisted her whole body around in an attempt to look behind her.

“...It’s gone!”

“I knew it!” Aeriel shouted, “This way, you should be able to hide the fact that you’re a dragonkin.”

“That’s all well and good, but…” Grace turned back towards Aeriel, still looking confused, “What happened to it? Like, where did it go?”

“Isn’t it a thing in fantasy that like, demi-human races and beastkin can sometimes hide their tails and ears?” Zoey spoke up. “Maybe it’s like that.”

“We can’t count stuff like that out, can we?” Grace responded, her face a little red.

We really have transformed into fantasy races, now...

That feels really wrong to admit, though!

 

*****

 

“So what can we do?”

While Grace was standing in the corner feeling around behind her, trying to figure out the intricacies of how her dragonkin body worked, Emily hopped up out of her seat to pose that question.

“You’re a fox spirit, right? Just cover them with illusions.” Aeriel responded. Emily stared blankly at her.

“...How?”

“Shouldn’t you… just know?”

“No? I’ve been a… fox girl, or spirit or whatever, for about three days.”

“Oh! Umm…” Aeriel paused for a moment, looking sheepish, “I’ve, uhh… never actually met a fox spirit before now, so…”

 

“Flora,” Grace called out, pulling my attention away from Emily and Aeriel’s conversation. She gestured for me to come next to her.

“What’s up?”

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she held it up for me to see.

“Mum and Dad are on their way home.”

“Oh, they’re finally back from their trip?” They were away for the past few weeks on business, so Grace and I were alone at home for quite a while.

“Yeah, and… we need to work out a plan.”

My face paled as I realised what she was referring to.

Oh. Oh no…

“I-is it possible they had some change, as well?” Grace was staying elsewhere when she changed, so there is a possibility that Mum and Dad went through some kind of transformation too…

“I doubt it. I asked them how their trip was, and they didn’t mention anything like that. They also sent photos, and I can’t see anything out of place in them.”

“Can we… stay somewhere else?” I suggested. How am I supposed to explain to them that I’m a girl now? Let alone no longer human.

“I don’t think so, unfortunately. They asked us to be home when they get back, so they can give us souvenirs. Although, that’s probably just…” Grace’s voice trailed off as she talked. I immediately knew what she was referring to.

 

Our parents were… a little controlling of our actions. They let us go out to various places, it’s just… we always had to tell them every single detail of where we went, who we were with, and so on. They also banned us from staying over at a friend’s place if they were a different gender.

They used to be much worse than they are now. When Grace was still in school, she was only allowed to go out to parties or get-togethers with her friends if certain conditions were met. There must be adult supervision, no alcohol, and she had to be home by a certain time each night.

The restrictions went on until Grace started sneaking out of home, staying over at her friends’ places without permission. Dad kept scolding her until she went to Mum and described the reason she was sneaking out. Some kind of confrontation happened, though I never found out the details, and they eventually relaxed their restrictions on us. They still want us to keep them informed of where we are, just in case something happens to us.

 

“Emily,” I said, trying to get her attention.

“Like I said, how am I supposed to ‘just know’ how to make illusions? I have no clue how this… power you claim that I have is supposed to work.”

“It should just be instinctual! That’s how it’s meant to work!”

I… I can’t interrupt this argument…

“Aeriel,” Elena’s voice cut across their shouting. Mira, who was standing beside her, quickly leapt away from her, settling down next to me and grabbing onto my clothes.

“...Can you stop them from yelling?” Mira asked, a few tears in her eyes as she clung to me.

She’s a spirit, but… she’s still just a kid. Of course she’d be uncomfortable when the people she looks up to are arguing.

“How old are animal spirits, usually, when they receive their powers?” Looking up, I saw Elena standing between Emily and Aeriel, trying to act as a mediator.

“Huh? Um… it varies. Usually they’re kids, but sometimes people who have only just become adults become animal spirits. Whoever gives them their powers normally teaches them how to...“ Aeriel’s voice weakened, and her eyes grew wide as she spoke. She turned to Emily, launching towards her and hugging her.

“I’M SO SORRY!” She screamed, “I didn’t realise… you were never taught about your powers, were you?”

“No, I wasn’t!” Emily said sharply. Elena glared at her, causing her to slump her shoulders in defeat.

“I-I thought whoever gave you your powers would’ve come through the portal, too.”

“Nope, no one did that. I just… woke up like this,” she replied, her voice softer than before.

 

“Just like us, Aeriel probably hasn’t encountered anything like this,” Elena explained, stepping closer towards her, “where someone either hasn’t always had their powers, or doesn’t have anyone who can teach them. She also said that she’s never met a fox spirit before, remember?”

Emily looked down at Aeriel clinging to her, apologising profusely. Reaching down, she returned the hug, softly patting Aeriel’s head.

“...I’m sorry too. I’m just stressed, and I lashed out. Sorry.”

 

Can… can I interrupt now?

 

*****

 

“Emily,” I said again, this time actually gaining her attention.

“Yeah?” She looked up towards me, as Aeriel slowly peeled her body off her.

“Umm… I need to go home pretty soon. Our-” I gestured towards both Grace and I- “parents are on their way home, and we need to be there when they get back.”

“Oh? When do you need to be home by?”
“Uhh…” Grace and I both pulled our phones out to check the time.

“In about 15 minutes.” Grace said.

She’s on uni break currently, so she’s meant to be there the whole time, but I’m supposed to be at school. I don’t think I should pretend to be going home from school though, considering that I’ll have to explain the whole… girl thing to them. Plus, I don’t have my school bag, or a uniform. Although, shouldn’t I be able to turn my clothes into a school uniform, using the whole spirit magic thing?

“Should we all head over there, then?” Emily suggested, derailing my train of thought. “I said that I’d be there for you.”

“My car can take four people,” Elena added, glancing around at everyone.

“I can take everyone else in mine,” Melissa said. “As long as you work out who’s going in which car.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Aeriel floated up, flying around the room in circles. “We can just fly there.”

“...What’s a ‘car’”? Mira asked.

 

“Let’s take them in the car. It’ll be a new experience for them.” Grace stepped forward, taking the two spirits’ hands and leading them towards the garage.

 

*****

 

“Flora, look at this.”

Clambering into the back seat of Melissa’s car next to me, Emily held out her camera. Zoey hopped into the front passenger seat, being the tallest out of all of us, and Melissa started driving over to my house. Elena’s car followed close behind, taking her, Grace, Mira, and Aeriel.

“Wait, is that… me, when I was having that breakdown?” I responded.

“Yeah.”

“Why is it so blurry?”

In the photo, my entire body was extremely fuzzy, to the point that you couldn’t make out any details.

“I don’t know… I focused it properly, but it turned out like this. And have a look at these ones.”

Pushing a few buttons on her camera, Emily scrolled back through previous photos.

“This, too.”

Showing on the camera’s screen was the moment when I first started floating. Again, my entire body was blurred out.

“Hmm… is it a spirit thing?” I pondered. Emily continued scrolling through the photos saved on her camera.

“This one too!” She held the camera out again, showing me the point where I had accidentally created water using spirit energy. This time, however, my body was much less fuzzy, to the point that you could make out specific details, like how my eyes glowed blue.

“Hang on, keep going back.” I said. Emily followed my directions, browsing back through the photos she had taken yesterday. I blushed slightly upon seeing the photos of me in the princess dress.

“Stop there. Look at that!” I exclaimed, pushing through my embarrassment from remembering the events of yesterday.

They’re not blurry!

Unlike the later photos, the camera focused perfectly on my body.

“Why are these ones not weird…”

“Wait, that’s-” My eyes shot wide open as I realised the reason why my body was blurry in the photos.

 

“Emily,” I turned to her, trying my best to look determined. “Do you have any photos of Aeriel or Mira?”

“Huh… let me check…” Emily looked down at her camera, scrolling to the more recent photos.

“That one!” I called out, as the camera screen showed the photo of me floating.

“What about it?”

“Where was Aeriel standing when you took that photo?”

“She was…” Emily gasped as she remembered the details of what happened. Her ears shot upright, and her tail, which was resting on the seat next to her, bristled.

“She was standing right in front of you…” Her eyes were wide as she breathlessly spoke.

“Exactly,” I declared. “So she should have been captured in that photo. But, she’s not there, which means…”

“Spirits can’t be captured in photos,” Emily finished my thought, a shocked expression on her face.

 

“We’re here,” Melissa said, interrupting our discussion.

I took a deep breath, before hopping out of the car and rushing to the door.

We have about five minutes to prepare, before Mum and Dad get home.

Elena’s car pulled up, parking just behind Melissa’s car. Grace quickly leapt out, running to my side as I fumbled around in my pocket for my keys.

“What’s the game plan?” She asked.

“Can you act as greeter? Your tail is still gone, and you can hide your scales and horns with a hoodie. That gives us a bit of breathing room.”

“I can do that. What about everyone else?”

I glanced back at the group of people crowding behind us.

“Aeriel and Mira said that people without spirit sight can’t see them, so we don’t have to worry about them. That leaves Melissa, Emily, Elena, and Zoey. They know Melissa and Emily, so if we just get everyone into the living room-”

Unlocking the door, I ran inside, closely followed by Grace.

“And then you can greet them in the dining room.” I continued. The way our house was laid out, you had to go through the dining room first to reach the living room.

“If I get them settled there, then we make sure they see Melissa and Emily first, since they already know them,” Grace added.

“Then, we can gradually introduce Elena and Zoey.”

“And we can find out if they’re able to see Aeriel and Mira.”

“And then finally…” My voice trailed off as I started dreading what was to come. “We tell them about me."

 

Barely a few moments after we had all filed inside and closed the front door, Emily’s ears pricked up.

“I hear a car. Is that your parents?”

The distinctive rumbling of our parents’ car echoed throughout the house, cutting through the silence as Grace and I racked our brains.

“Alright, everyone inside! Come with me,” I said, trying to sound as commanding as possible. I dashed off, leading everyone into the living room.

“Grace! Good luck!” I called out, trying to usher everyone through the open door.

“Thanks!” She responded, taking her hoodie out of her bag and slipping it on. Pulling the hood up, she turned to me, giving me a thumbs up.

No sooner than I had responded to that and closed the living room door, the front door clattered open, and I heard my Mum call out, “I’m home!”

I hope we can get through this in one piece!