I could feel consciousness slowly returning, and as it did a feeling of comfort and the smell of a forest washed over me. Opening my eyes the surroundings were obscured by what seemed to be vines and blooming flowers of all kinds surrounded by a magical glow. I was surprised, but strangely calm, despite the abnormal situation. Before I could push my way out of the living cocoon, it began to open, as if blooming into a flower. Looking around at the surroundings I found myself back in my room at home, the comforting calm I’d felt in the cocoon faded as anxiety settled in.

The once-familiar surroundings felt strange and off putting now. I had left with my parents for the desert city of Hamada after some new ruins had been discovered. Just yesterday I had been at that tavern called The Genie’s Lamp, so being all the way back in the kingdom of Lestria made no sense. Looking around a bit more I could see that my belongings were here too, along with a beautiful bow propped up against the wall near my bed. What surprised me the most however was the reflection in the mirror.

Walking up to the mirror I had a dumbfounded look on my face, the figure reflected in the mirror was a woman with short azure blue hair, and bright lime green eyes. Looking down further they had a nice figure with average sized breasts, feminine hips, and thick thighs. Glancing back up with a soft blush I noticed something that I’d missed at first. Elven ears were poking out through my hair. Feeling a bit dizzy, I flopped down in the middle of the flower cocoon, pulling my legs up into my chest and wrapping them up with my arms. After thinking for quite a while I felt fatigued and decided to lie down, sure that I’d wake up back in Hamada, and everything would be back to normal.

Waking up once again I was still in my room, lying on the flower cocoon. I decided to look for my phone to see if I could find anything out, after a minute I found it on top of some white hooded robes with gold threading and a letter. Deciding to ignore the new clothes for now I opened the letter, inside was a note without any form of signature.

I know you may be confused, however, know that your wish has been granted.

I remembered the question Arun had asked me, about his wish. “This must be his fault.” My voice was soft and high pitched, feminine, and I let out a sigh, glancing at my phone. I had several messages from my parents, mostly after telling them that I wasn’t feeling well and was returning home, a message I had never sent. Scanning through the messages from my parents, they mostly were wishing I’d get better, while expressing that they were staying behind for a while to investigate the ruins near Hamada. Most recently my parents had sent a message reminding me that the school break ended soon, and that I should get ready.

About a week had passed it seemed, since I had gone into The Genie’s Lamp. I realized that this meant a week without bathing or eating, and as I thought that my stomach growled. I decided to quickly shower, and then eat, before trying to figure out how I’d go to school like this. I thought that while taking a shower I may as well get a good look at myself, and confirm if I was really a woman now. Looking at my new body didn’t excite or bother me like I had expected, it felt normal. By the time I got out of the shower I had confirmed that my new body was that of a woman, however I felt bothered by how normal it felt. I was nervous and embarrassed at first before undressing, but it quickly faded, and I had taken the shower just like normal.

Walking back into my room I felt my gaze turn towards the white robes. After a bit of thought I decided to put on the robes and look in the mirror. The sight was breathtaking, the robes had a hood that connected to the yoke fabric, the upper back however, was left open, leaving a window showing off my shoulder blades. The main robes came down just past my hips and had a leather chestguard stitched in. While the sleeves hung just a bit past my palms with leather bracing along the left sleeve for handling a bow.

Once I was finished getting dressed and looking at myself I turned back to the bow and decided to grab it as well. There didn’t seem to be a quiver or any arrows along with the bow, but I figured I could buy some while I was out of the house. I had never done too well with weapons or magic though, so I wasn’t sure if I could even pull the string back. Deciding to give it a try I looked towards the wall and began pulling back on the string.

The bowstring gave way easier than I was expecting, and as I pulled back I could feel my magic flowing into the bow, forming a glowing arrow made of magic. I let go of the string in shock from the arrow forming, and the arrow flew into the wall with a thunk. Blinking in surprise, I decided not to mess with the bow inside anymore, and left my room.

The house I grew up in was a simple two story home, my parents room was on the second story with a small balcony, while my room was on the ground floor near the kitchen. I knew we hadn’t bought any food before leaving for Hamada which meant I’d have to go out and grab something, normally I wouldn’t mind, but right now I was extremely anxious. Monsters were a constant threat. The big cities were mostly safe, but demi-humans such as Elves were looked down upon and mistreated, due to their participation in a war against humans a century ago. And, right now, I seem to be an Elf.

I left home after making sure my ears were hidden behind my hair, and pulling up my hood just to be safe. It was mid day, so the streets were relatively crowded right now. Normally I would get a few looks from people around my house since I was the son of relatively famous explorers, but now, it almost felt like everyone’s eyes were on me.

I kept walking to the market, it was uncomfortable getting looked at by so many people, but after a while I was able to ignore them on my way to get food. Looking through the markets I decided on two kebabs with meat from a giant snake monster, called a Hebari, and some veggies. After finally getting some food I made my way to the guild district, I figured that one of the top five guilds might be able to help me, and some of the guilds didn’t discriminate against demi-humans, which meant I could get help.

As I entered the main plaza that housed the top five guild branches I looked around, wondering which would be best. There was Razor Leaf ranked at fifth, Ravens of Shitai ranked fourth, Angels Song ranked third, Sky Captors ranked second, and at first was Night Parade.

Razor Leaf was mostly known for creating safe zones in the wilderness, the Ravens of Shitai were known for working with most of the other guilds. They were scouts and merchants that dealt with information, mapping, and finding groups from other guilds that went missing. There was a good chance that they could help me, but that help would be pricey. Angels Song was known for its healers and holy magic users. They had great relations with the average citizen and were well known for being helpful. Sky Captors was known for their headquarters which was a giant airship. They were also notorious bounty hunters and pleasure seekers, most people thought of them more as Sky Pirates than a proper guild. Night Parade was a pretty introverted guild, most of the info about them was about how they would fight the toughest monsters and that they treated demi-humans as equals.

Of the top five guilds, I figured, considering the cost of going to the Ravens, my best bet would be the top three. After a bit of thinking I sighed and decided to just check all three to see what I could afford. Starting with Angels Song, the first thing I noticed was the calming atmosphere, and the number of members gathered by a wall, looking at various requests. After a few minutes of waiting it was my turn at the main counter and the receptionist looked at me with a smile.

“Good day, my name is Sybil, what can I help you with today miss?”

I flinched a little when the receptionist called me miss, but I smiled back.

“I was wanting to place a request and was wondering if you could give me information on the process and how much money it would cost.” Sybil smiled at me before replying.

“The process is pretty simple really, you just need to give me as many details as you can about the request, and then I’ll make sure it’s available for our members to take a look. Once someone has taken the job, I’ll let you know and help you meet with whoever took the job. Once the job is finished I’ll contact you again so that you can pay them. Though, depending on the job we might handle payment ourselves.” I smiled after hearing all this, understanding why Angels Song had such a good reputation.

“Could I give you some details now, and let you know if I’d like the request posted after checking around at a couple other guilds?” Sybil giggled a bit before smiling back at me.

“Of course you can, there’ll be no hard feelings if you end up picking another guild for your request.”

“Then in that case, about a week ago I was in Denuma, and I found myself in a tavern called The Genie’s Lamp. The owner asked me about a wish, gave me some honey cider, and after I replied I fell asleep. Then, I woke up at home and a week had passed, I also noticed a few changes. I think he might have actually been a genie, and I’m trying to find a way to reverse the wish, or to find him again.” The receptionist's smile faded into a serious expression as she listened to me, and by the end she was frowning.

“Truthfully, I’d need to talk to our branch leader to find out if there’s anything we could do. If we are able to do anything, considering the nature of this problem I imagine we would handle payment ourselves. We will also need more information about the wish itself. For now, I can put your phone number down so we can send you a message once we can determine if we’re able to help. I would also recommend going to the Night Parade’s guild hall here, they might be better able to help with this.” I nodded along and let out a sigh at the end. Giving Sybil my number, I left towards the Night Parade.

Arriving at the guildhall, it was a large gothic style building with several arches on the left side, spires, and several balconies. A metal fence surrounded a hedge that went around the hall’s courtyard, blocking the view from the outside. Reaching the gate to the courtyard my hand was blocked by a magic barrier as I heard a voice call out.

“What is your business with our guild?”

I hesitated at the impassive feminine voice before answering. “I have a request for the guild, I went to Angels Song first, but they recommended I come here.”

After a few seconds the voice replied again. “Very well, come in.”

The gate swung open in front of me and the barrier seemed to vanish, letting me walk into the yard. Inside the gates was a beautiful garden filled with trees and flowers to the right, with several small sitting areas and paths. There was a main stone courtyard beneath the arches on the left surrounding a fountain. Several people were sitting in the courtyard eating, and a few looked my way when the gate opened.

The walkway to the main door, as well as the gardens, seemed to be empty as I reached the main door into the guild. Inside were a few people, mostly demi-humans, and waiting for me was a human looking woman with pale blue eyes and mascara streaks softly running down from her eyes. She was dressed in a semi transparent black dress, and had pale skin and black hair covered in a veil that seemed to sway and float softly as if she was in water.

“My name is Shay, what is your name, and what is the request you’ve come to our guild with?”

I hesitated for a moment before pulling down my hood, revealing my elven ears and a bit more of my face. “My name is Chi, and my request is to try and reverse a wish from a genie, or help me find him.”

When I gave Shay my name something felt off, like it didn’t quite belong. I quickly shook the feeling off and continued to explain my situation to Shay, while some of the guild members stared at me in curiosity after I had taken my hood down.

“I believe it would be best if you talk directly to our branch master, please wait in the main hall miss Chi.” Shay gestured to the large open area where the guild members were sitting around and eating before walking away.

I made my way to a table in a corner and waited for Shay to return with the leader. Looking around everything was befitting of the number one guild, a chandelier hung from the middle of the ceiling, large carved driftwood tables and benches for groups of people filled the room, a large bar off to the left side of the room with places to sit, and on the right side a kitchen where people could order food.

A group of four people was making their way over to my table. There was a leporis girl, a harpy, a dwarven man, and an elven man. Once they got to my table the harpy walked forward with a smile.

“Do you mind if we sit down with you? You looked lonely over here.” She gestured at the six person table that I was sitting at alone.

Looking nervously at the group I unconsciously brushed my hair over my ears before replying. “I don’t mind, I didn’t mean to monopolize the whole thing.”

The elven man spoke up this time with a worried look on his face. “You don’t need to be scared sister, all of us kin are safe here, The Night Parade is a guild built by the Night Kin to protect us from the humans’ bigotry.”

I blinked in surprise at the elven man, having never heard demi-humans called ‘Night Kin’ before, but before I could speak the Harpy cleared her throat.

“Sorry about that, Aired is a bit passionate, how about we introduce ourselves? My name is Nellyre, the passionate elf is Aired, the Leporis girl is Elsi, and the handsome dwarf here is my partner Thorryl.” Nellyre was smiling happily by the end as she introduced her friends.

Aired was a blonde haired young man with crystalline blue eyes that looked like a lake. Elsi was a beautiful girl who had long black hair with long rabbit ears coming out that were the same color as her hair. Nellyre had royal blue and black feathered wings wrapped around her like a cloak, with navy blue hair going past her shoulders. Thorryl was sitting next to Nellyre, and had long brown hair and beard with a scar going over one eye.

Nellyre watched me with tenderness as I looked at everyone nervously, and spoke up. “What’s your name, sister?”

Feeling my nervousness starting to fade I began to introduce myself “My name is Elincia.”