I regained consciousness to find… nothing. I had no eyes, and could not see. I had no ears, and could not hear. I had no nose, and could not smell. Time passed as the terror of the void set in. I could only come to the conclusion that I died, and every race and culture had gotten the afterlife wrong. No almighty being came to greet me as the humans believed. My spirit was not resurrected onto some higher plane as the elves and various fae prophesized. I did not join an eternal battle as the orcs claimed. My consciousness had not joined some vast hive-mind collective as the dwarves did. I was cast into eternal nothingness, without a soul to greet me.

I felt a cool breeze blow over me, confirming three things: I was alive, I still had some sensation afforded to me, and I may have ever so slightly overreacted.

I’d say I have no mouth and I must scream, but the last thing I remember before losing consciousness was my mouth growing. My lack of vocal cords is the problem. Why did my mouth grow so much anyways? What happened? Where am I? What am I?

Unsure of any options afforded to me, I tried to move what used to be my arms. A few minutes went by, and nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure if this was because I had no arms, or if I just couldn’t feel them, so I switched to trying to wiggle my feet.

There was still neither feeling nor movement, but there was something. After a few attempts at imagining my legs in different shapes and sizes, gaining different amounts of feedback based on the shape, I eventually tried to imagine having my toes extend out a few feet down and outwards. There was a rather large amount of feedback — no, not feedback, pressure. Grainy and cool, like the feeling of earth. A feeling of some heavy, electrifying liquid — mana, earth mana specifically, even if I couldn't detect it as such — seeped into me as I pulled at it. This is exactly what I felt when I put my feet in the ground as I photosynthesized, but the feeling was magnified. The image in my mind’s eye changed, and intensified again. What I was moving was not toes, but roots.

I’m a plant. Why, and how? Polymorphing another being was an incredibly rare spell, typically reserved for C-rank and above nature-aligned Powereds. I’ve only spoken to two or three such individuals, and was reasonably sure I hadn’t pissed them off. Then again, I certainly have a tendency for annoying people, so maybe I just hadn’t noticed. But barring the slim possibility that I angered the wrong person, there was only one conclusion that could be drawn.

I did this. I paused, turning the thought over in my head. I did this. I turned into a plant. this is magic. this is a power. I am a Powered. I’m not Powerless. I have a power. I’m not a Powerless!

Suck it Johnson!

So now that I know I transformed into a plant, I guess I should figure out which kind. I can’t be sure without seeing myself, but I have a guess. I envisioned my mouth changing shape, much like I had with my feet/roots. Settling on a shape, I envisioned my mouth opening wide, then closing. I felt a sensation of hundreds of bristle-like teeth brushing against each other. Finally, I tried to produce some saliva, and after waiting for it to coat my mouth, I tested opening and closing my mouth again. I was able to close my mouth easily, but opening it took time and effort. my saliva was incredibly sticky, as if it were specifically designed to hamper movement.

That confirms it. I’m currently an Ostean Giant Flytrap. So I guess that means I triggered this change when I ate one. Wouldn't that make me a type of blue mage?

I frowned. Blue mages tended not to fare well for a variety of reasons. Some gained permanent limbs and body parts, turning them into grotesque things. Some were mistaken by adventurers and town guards for monsters, beasts, elementals, etc, and promptly murdered. Some gained powers beyond their ability to handle them, and became consumed. Some lost their ability to think or were driven mad. For most classes, 1000 specializations meant 1000 individuals. For blue mages, it meant 1000 ways to suffer.

But why is it only now that I’m gaining a power? I’ve eaten a flytrap before. Also, last I checked, Flytraps don’t have brains. Why can I think? Do I just have a brain attached to me somewhere? Is my brain in some extra-dimensional space? Do I have a brain at all? Questions for later. Whatever it is, it's better than having the mental capacity of a plant.

After continuing introspecting on my newfound powers for an embarrassingly long time, I decided it was time to revert to my half-dryad form. Unfortunately, powers don’t come with an instruction manual. “Revert form. Become humanoid. Become half-dryad. Become half-human. Be me. Plantn’t.” I tried random rituals and phrases for hours, but nothing worked. Either I don’t have enough mana to revert form, or I don’t have the ability at all. Maybe it's my powered Deprivation? It’s just my luck to finally get a power, only for it to be that of a blue mage who can only transform into a plant and not be able to turn back.

No, that’s not true. It would be my luck to become a giant raging monster and accidentally destroy a planet. But this is a close second.

Before the panic of my lack of senses settled in once more, I noticed an intense warmth on one side of me. Recognizing its heat, I exclaimed “Praise the sun! If only I could be so grossly incandescent.” I tried chuckling, but again found my body unable to perform the action. Well, if I need mana, I should be able to get some from photosynthesis.

I waited for the light-mana to flood in, as it always did when I stood in the sun or buried my feet within the dirt. Within a few minutes, I started feeling jittery, as if I had photosynthesized for hours, or had drank too many cups of coffee. I used to only be half-Dryad, and Dryads themselves were only plant-based fae in the shape of humans, so the speed and intensity of my mana recovery in the form of an actual plant was astonishing.

Feeling mostly revitalized, I again tried my “revert form” rituals, but to no avail. It seems I somehow did lose my ability to revert directly to my half-Dryad form.

Okay, this seems bad. If I can’t regain my humanoid form, then the only possible recourse is to eat something, hope my power triggers on more than just plants, and try to work my way up the food chain. I don’t even want to think about how difficult this situation would be if I were to have gained my power eating a non-carnivorous plant, or if my power doesn’t work on beasts at all.

Ignoring the fact that my plans would have to include casually committing cannibalism to become humanoid once more, I opened my mouth, produced more "saliva", and waited.

It did not take long for the first few bugs to enter my gaping maw and become stuck. It was daylight, when most pests are active, and the Ostean giant flytrap was specifically designed to attract and catch massive swarms of them.

I knew all of the local pests. I could likely tell an insect apart from any larger animal, but I wasn’t used to my altered sense of touch, so I had no way of knowing exactly how many of what bugs I was eating. I also did not know exactly what the requirements for transforming into a new species was, assuming it was at all possible.

I decided my best course of action would be to wait for my mouth to fill before digesting, hoping that quantity would be enough to meet whatever requirements my power had.

A few hours passed, and my mouth filled nearly to the brim. I closed my mouth, and waited. I was unable to feel anything particularly large or strong between my teeth, so I could be reasonably sure that my mouth was only filled with insects. Capturing something bigger would put me higher on the food chain, but I wasn’t so lucky.

Now that my prey was captured, I only had two things left to do: digest, and try to figure out how to actually change my form. I had no idea how far into the digestion process I would have to wait to be able to change form. It only took an hour when I was humanoid, but the Ostian Giant Flytrap could take up to a week to digest.

I frowned at the thought. A week with almost no sensory input. A week where the village — mother and father — thought me missing or dead.

Alone with that sobering thought, I got to work. For the next few days, while my body digested, I tried various mental phrases and imagery. Four days in, when I imagined my current form transforming limb by limb into each insect, it finally happened.

my nerves screamed in searing pain. my body shrank and changed form. Again, my consciousness blinked for an unknown amount of time. At the end of my transformation, I found myself lying on the ground in the form of a common cockroach.

New chapter every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Also posted on RoyalRoad

Join the discord