“Sooo… You are saying that the bubble space existed way before I got invited into this world,” I started. “And somehow, the evil racist crusader people found a way to access it and seal one of your headmates inside here?”

“I… guess? I don’t know.” Kelly slumped.

“Well, alright. It’s in the same direction as the red bubble, so after I land there, I’ll steer right into the direction of the black bubble. Maybe Reina will know more about this.”

“Yeah.” She nodded.

“Still… It really is an odd place. It felt… familiar in a way. Can’t quite put a finger on it,” the demon mused.

Great. More mysteries. I should have put more points into the Sherlock Holmes stat.

“Well anyway, it’s still gonna take a while before we get to our ticket to quick and dirty winter and welcome it to the great bubble family. What do you wanna do in the meantime? Not like we’re gonna go outside much.” The clothes Willow had made with her ability weren’t suited to wandering around a freezer.

Kelly shrugged. “More magic practice?”

Nobody argued.

The next month and a half consisted of us huddled inside our cozy ancient grounds, practicing magic, having pillow fights with these pillow-like things Willow managed to make out of the tree leaves, and performing the ancient dark arts also known as girl’s talk. Even though I wasn’t really a girl.

That, of course, reminded me to pester Willow about something once again.

“Sooo, now that we’re all bored and have nothing much to do, how about using your ability on me?”

“Hmm? But why…?”

“Come ooon! You promised! Turn me into a cute girl! I’ve been patiently waiting in the queue and Kelly jumped it! It’s not fair!”

“Oh, you mean that. But…” She looked at me for a moment, frowning. Then, her eyes widened as if she had a ground-breaking realization. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. So you also… Yeah, alright.”

Hmm? Why were those two looking at me so weird? Were those the looks of pity? Or was that guilt?

Well, I wasn’t going to complain since Willow finally gave in. I was finally going to become a cute girl!

…

Was that alright? It started out as an act. A joke. A masterful plan to trick everyone around me. For some reason, I ended up liking it though. Had the ruse been so good that I’d tricked even myself? Maybe… Maybe not, though.

Was I really allowed to cross over to that side for real? After all, I was a guy, wasn’t I?

“Alright, ready?” Willow asked.

“Uh, wait a moment.” I held out my hand.

Dammit, now I was having second thoughts. Come on, me! I had been so obsessed with the idea of being turned into a cute girl! And now that I finally had the chance to do it, I was going to shy away from it? Why? Did I feel like I didn’t belong?

“Chad!” I yelled out as my stone buddy appeared. “What do you think?”

His serious unchanging expression told me more than I needed.

Willow also changed teams. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to do the same? Heck, I’d always thought being a girl was just better, so why should I throw away a chance to be a girl?! Screw the police! I was going to become a girl and nothing could stop me! Yeah! Take that, universe!

I grabbed Chad’s hand for moral support and held out my other hand in front of me. “Okay! I’m ready to be reborn!”

After their confused expressions returned to normal, the two exchanged a nod before Willow walked up to me and held my hand.

“Alright, here it goes.”

As soon as the goblin said that, I felt the entire world shift. I remembered Willow telling me it would feel weird, but the crawling sensation throughout my body was beyond just weird. It was both uncomfortable and soothing. As if my atoms were being rearranged. Molded into something better suited for me.

Once the odd feeling passed, I found myself on the ground gasping. Somehow, I managed to keep my grip on both Chad and Willow through that whole ordeal.

I lifted my face up, ready to stand tall and strong, and pretend I was completely fine. But that’s when something red and flowy found its way in front of my face.

“Oh,” a girl’s voice said.

It was me.

“Oh,” I repeated, as I stood up, totally not lightheaded.

“Holy shit,” I said, letting go of Willow’s hand and holding the crimson strands of hair in front of me. A feeling I found impossible to describe permeated my whole being.

“A-are you okay?”

I looked up and saw two concerned expressions.

I couldn’t help it. I began giggling. Giggling. Then I started laughing. And then I finally transitioned into an evil villainess laugh I had always wanted to try doing.

The two stared at me but were polite enough to let me finish my insane-evil-villainess laugh.

“No, I’m not okay,” I said.

The look of horror flashed on their faces.

“I’m ecstatic!”

Before she could react, I grabbed Willow into a huge hug, spun her around, and kissed her on the cheek. Her face lit up a Christmas tree. A Christmas tree with only red ornaments, that is.

I let her down and moved on to my second victim before she could defend herself. A kiss on her cheek and a spin around was her reward as well. I let her go and spun around myself while continuing to laugh. 

I continued to dance around like a lunatic for a while, not caring about the stares I got from my companions. 

After finally stopping, I looked at the two with the widest, most genuine smile I had in ages. I couldn’t quite tell whether they were stunned or amused by their expressions.

“Behold! My final form!” I spread my arms while grinning from ear to ear.

A moment of silence followed by Willow palming her face and chuckling. “Oh no!” she said mockingly. “What have I done?! I unleashed the true form of the crazy elf upon the world!”

“Well, I’m glad you’re still yourself,” Kelly said. “Maybe even more yourself than before.”

“Yeah! I feel great! Thanks, Willow! And thank you too for the emotional support!" I turned to Chad and bumped my fist with his hand.

When I looked at his face though… I noticed something odd.

“Huh?” Kelly seemed to have noticed something too. “Was the statue always smiling?”

BottledChaos

Hey everyone. Life's been getting very lifey lately. And all the stress and pressure unfortunately made me burn out. So, for now, I'll be taking a break from writing to recover. Sorry about this :(