This story is intended to be wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*This story has transgender characters in it.
*This story has vague references to fictional abuse and mortality.
*This story has some mild profane language.

The Golden Edict: 6 Months Later

The “Unicorn Shake.” It was this brightly colored, fun-looking concoction of pastel pink, blue, and white. Did the server know Ariel was trans? It was set up just like the pride flag…

Nah, no one can probably tell, Ariel thought to herself.

It looked delectable. Ariel took a sip… And her face wrinkled.

Good lord, this is just pure sugar, she silently groaned.

She looked around. No one appeared to be looking in her direction. She twirled her finger around over the drink, which then began to shift to a darker blue. Condensation formed as the drink chilled from a lightly iced drink to a frozen beverage.

Being a genie had its perks.  In this case, turning a horrible drink into one she was fond of, a blue raspberry frozen drink. She slurped the magically modified concoction down and slowly sank into her chair, swooning over the flavor. Crisis adverted.

You see, a genie is a spiritual being. Nutrition for Ariel was different now. It wasn’t about what was “healthy,” but rather what tasted good to her. Anything that lifted her spirits was good for her, anything she didn’t like was bad for her, disrupting her magic. Not that anything bad for her could kill her, as she was truly immortal now, but still, the pain and the messed-up magic wasn’t worth it. She used her magic frequently, to help those around her in subtle ways.

A man a few years older than Ariel noticed her display of magic and got up from his own table. He walked over to her… “Excuse me, mam?”

“Hmm?” she asked, muffled, still sipping her drink.

“Did I just see you change that drink just now?”

Ariel sucked up the rest of the drink in a gasp. “I-er-“

“Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. Agent Terrance, FBI,” he introduced himself. “Are you a witch or a genie?”

“Uh, genie,” she answered quietly, blushing.

Terrance sat down at her table. “You’re not the first free genie I’ve met, nor will you be the last. You seem kind of new, though…”

“I am… Been one for six months.”

“Is that so? You might not be registered in the Free Genie Global Database.”

“The what? That’s a thing?”

“It’s mostly for governments, so they don’t accidentally piss one off. Free genies are plenty powerful, and they aren’t always prone to being rational if they’re angered. So, we make sure everyone knows who they are, just so we don’t lose a country or a continent… If only Eris were here…”

“You know Eris?”

“I could ask you the same thing. She’s a regular contact of mine in the world of genies. I was supposed to meet her here today…”

“She’s my mentor. She’s the one who gave me the Golden Edict that gave me my powers.”

“Wait, an Edict?! You’re an Angelic Genie! I’ve only heard of them, never met one!”

“Well, then… You’ve finally met one!” Ariel replied, smiling.

The server came up to them. “Can I get you two anything?” she asked in a familiar voice.

“Wait, Eris?! What are you doing as a server here?!” Ariel exclaimed. “You told me to meet you here a couple of weeks ago.”

“I did. I just saw an opportunity, and I took it… Their usual girl called in sick, so I offered to fill in when I overheard." She looked over and saw Terrance sitting across from her. “Oh, Agent Terrance. You’re here too?”

“Of course. You told me to meet you here a month ago.”

Eris held her chin up with her finger as she looked deep in thought. “It seems that, by accident – or maybe cosmic interference – that I made plans to meet both of you here, same day, same time. Either ‘whoops’ or ‘all according to plan.’ I don’t know which…”

Ariel plopped her head down on the table. “How did I miss that you were serving me earlier?”

“I was wondering if you were paying attention. How was the drink?”

“I would say ‘too much sugar,’ but I don’t know if there was anything in it besides sugar!”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that. Sorry you had to go through that.”

“That’s because it affects genies to eat something they don’t like the taste of, right?” asked Terrance.

“As well as being reminded of emotionally painful things,” Eris answered. “It affects our spirits and thus our magic.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Anyway, Ariel, if you could, I know you’re not in the FGGD, so Terrance, if you could… I have a couple more tables to serve before the shift is up.” Eris walked away to the next table she was serving.

Terrance pulled out a tablet and readied a stylus. “Fun. Bureaucracy. Okay, Ariel, this is just a simple list of information about you. We like to have as much as we can, but you can give what you want.” He started jotting things down. “Okay, so we have Ariel… And you’re an Angelic Genie.”

Ariel nodded.

“Want to clarify your name?”

“It’s just Ariel now.”

“Old life wasn’t good to you? If you give us more, we can connect accounts, manage information, get our facts straight… Some people that we assumed died instead became genies. It helps to know these things...”

Ariel thought hard about it. “My past is kind of painful… But if it will help you…”

Terrance nodded. He readied his stylus.

“I picked the name Ariel for myself even before I was given the Edict. I was - am - trans, and my parents threw me out the day I came out, my eighteenth birthday. On my nineteenth, I was declared dead by them despite still being alive. And if I hadn’t been given the Edict a month later…” Ariel winced as she recalled it all. “I would have died later that day.”

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry…” he said as he wrote it down. “I’ve been supporting a trans friend since they came out. I know for you saying your deadname will be painful… But…”

“You want to know, right?

“If it wouldn’t be too much…”

Ariel closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. “Joel Duke Arden-Smith.” A strange shimmer formed around her as the name elicited such pain, causing her magic to waver.

Terrance’s eyes widened as he punched a hole through his tablet with the stylus. “You-you’re…” He got up from the chair and offered his hand. “Allow me to reintroduce myself: Agent Terrance: FBI Organized Crime division.”

“Organized crime? Uh, what do I have to do with that?” Ariel asked as she shook his hand.

“I’ve been investigating your parents for years, pretty much since I got my position. I was tasked with keeping an eye on you, as it was thought you were in on the Arden-Smith schemes. Sadly, we’ve never been able to get hard evidence, and your disappearance a year and a half ago really threw a wrench into our investigation…”

“I knew my parents were wealthy, but every time I asked, they said ‘don’t worry about it.’ Not that their wealth meant anything to me after I came out.”

“Well, we at least know what happened to you. And that you know nothing. I’m surprised they kept you out of the loop, not training you to help them…”

“Well, shows how much I knew them…”

“But look at you; you’re everything you could have ever wanted! And you don’t have to worry about them any more now. I’ll make sure to make a note that…” He looked at his busted tablet. “Shit.”

“Hang on.” Ariel pointed her finger at the device, causing the stylus to pop out of it and rest in Terrance’s hand, and his tablet began to “repair itself.” When the last crack in the screen vanished, it popped back on, all the data he was working with back as well. “There you go!”

“That kind of magic is always handy, isn’t it?” Terrance asked rhetorically, looking over his better-than-new tablet.

“You have no idea. I had problems with my game controllers developing drift. With genie magic, problem no more!” Ariel said with a grin.

“I dated a witch once. She was a light mage, but what humans can do with magic is often limited regardless of the alignment. Technology usually falls outside of human magic practice.”

“Witches too?” Ariel asked, tilting her head. “What else is out there?”

“Pretty much, if you’ve heard stories about them, they’re out there. Genies, witches, merfolk, dragons… Heck, I had to go into the dryad colony of Grovewall, Oregon for an assignment once. I learned then that the forest people often pass for human even when they’re not trying. Friendly bunch, though; I regularly visit on my spring break. They’ve got some pretty spectacular celebrations in April.”

“Wow, I didn’t know there was that much magic out there… By the way, how did you just punch a hole through a tablet like that?”

“Oh, this thing? Budget cuts.” Terrance started flexing the tablet, making it creak, showing the cheap material it was made of. “I’m not exactly high-up on the ladder, so I have to make do with stuff that doesn’t even make it to the bargain bin… I think the company that made it didn’t even last for six months, pumping this cheap crap out. I’d like to point out it runs on eight double-A batteries…”

“You seem like a nice guy. Here…” Ariel pointed her finger at the tablet again, and it began to shift in Terrance’s hands. The outer layer morphed into metal with a polished sheen, and the screen shimmered as the material there changed as well. A recharging port opened up on the bottom, and Terrance watched, dumbfounded, as a new charge cable grew from the new port, in green.

“Holy… As much as I’ve seen my fair share of displays like that, it never ceases to amaze… By the way, how did you know green was my favorite color?”

“It is?” Ariel asked, tilting her head.

“Ah, you must have been subconsciously reading my mind. It’s something genies just do, as I understand it. You’ll get used to it.”

Eris had finished up the shift she took over and came back to join them. She was now wearing a more casual outfit. “Hey there! Shift’s over. How are things going?”

“I’m in the database, and Terrance has a new tablet!” Ariel answered gleefully.

“And I got a new piece of information in the Arden-Smith case. It ties up a lead we no longer have to pursue…” Terrance replied.

“Really? From Ariel?”

“You remember how I asked once if you could help track down their kid, thinking… Err…”

Eris realized he was tripping on the pronouns for a reason. “Ariel’s their kid?!”

Ariel nodded a little, embarrassed of the notion.

“I mean, there’s a thought that ties them to some anti-trans extremists, but we – as usual – never had proof. And unfortunately, even with what we now know about Ariel, there’s nothing we can do about it because she’s a genie.” Terrance sunk into the chair and lowered his head to the table. “Damnit, we know they’re up to something, but we can’t seem to pin them down…”

“Something will come up eventually… People like that can’t get away forever,” Ariel tried to reassure him. “And for my sake, I hope you nail them!”

“Think you could help?”

“I think it would betray my position as an Angelic Genie to use my powers to bring them down. It would make me petty, and I’m supposed to be better than that…”

“Honestly, with all the accusations around them, I don’t think the powers that be would hold it against you, but I can see your point,” Eris admitted.

“Anyway, Ariel, on your genie business, have you had a holder yet?” Terrance asked.

“Nope. I know who will be the first – but the time to meet her is not for another few months. In the meantime, I just do little things, train myself in the powers and knowledge of being a genie,” Ariel explained.

“Says the girl who ended up granting a trans boy’s wish to become a boy. That was quite a shift…” Eris noted.

“His life was better suited for a reality change, unlike my upcoming holder…”

“Your holder will be trans too?” Terrance asked.

“Yeah. It’s important to me, for reasons that should be obvious. However, my upcoming holder needs help transitioning, making friends, and dealing with bullies. It’s more involved than just making a life-alteration. I’m going to be an active part of her life for a while.”

“I wish you luck with that, my roomie probably wishes they had help with their transition like that. Eris, was there anything you wanted to talk about? I’m kind of on a schedule…”

“I was wondering how your case was going, but it seems I might have just helped you put a few pieces together instead!”

“Well then, I will be off. Good day, Eris, and good luck, Ariel!”

“Terrance, wait!” Ariel grabbed his hand and put something in it…

He looked at it. It was a blue fortune cookie. “Um, thanks?”

“Give it to your roomie. They’ll like it!” Ariel suggested with a wink.

Terrance smiled and nodded, then walked away. Eris finally sat down. “I could tell that cookie was filled with magic. Got something planned?”

“Protection spells. Good luck charms. It sounded like they needed it!”

“Just right off the bat, hear a little about someone struggling, and you jump straight in. I knew you were a good fit for the job!”

“Heh, thanks!”

“How are you feeling about your first holder?”

“Anxious, honestly. I don’t know what to expect…”

“Well, from personal experience, you don’t need to worry about their every whim and word. You’re free, so you have no obligation to grant their wishes. It’s why they’re a ‘holder’ and not a ‘master.’ A master has control over you; a holder merely holds your vessel until you say otherwise. But the heart you have? I think you’ll be fine!”

“Thanks. I hope she will feel the same way…”

=======

Dereck looked around. He was following his mom through the store as she picked up groceries. She cut through the middle of the store to get from the garden center to the grocery aisles. He always hated that…

It meant he had to go through that part of the store… The clothing section.

He tried desperately to keep his eyes down. Every now and then, he’d catch a glimpse of a low dress, and his eyes would follow it up. A solid pink one really caught his eye…

So pretty… he swooned silently. I would be so cute in that… I could really be a pretty girl in… Reality snapped back as he felt a certain stirring that made him deeply uncomfortable. He blushed and turned his eyes down to the floor again. DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT, why do I keep doing that to myself?! he cursed at himself. Why does it even react like that?! What’s… What’s wrong with me…?

He was too busy looking at the floor to notice his mom turned around to see the mental anguish. She’d seen it again and again. She would catch a glimpse of him eyeing something feminine, like clothes or makeup, before he seemed to startle himself and look away, looking upset afterwards.

She had a feeling she knew what was going on with her child… But she didn’t want to spook him, put him on the spot. He was really timid, and no doubt he’d get defensive if she asked the wrong way. She once tried to make it clear she would be there for him no matter what after seeing one of these displays, but she wasn’t sure the message got through… He seemed to pull away for a while at the slightest insinuation he had something to hide.

If Dereck was really her daughter, she would have to come out on her own…

“Dereck?” she asked, knowing he was in the middle of one of his secret spirals.

He snapped up. “Y-yes?” he stammered.

“If you want, we can get some ice cream on the way out. Interested?” Diverting him away from what was bothering him always helped, even if he didn’t realize she was doing that.

“Oh, yeah, sure!” He was finally smiling again.

His mom smiled back. “Okay! Think about the flavor you want while we shop, okay, honey?”

“Sure thing, mom!”

As he thought of the ice cream flavor he wanted from the store’s ice-cream parlor, it brought him away from his secret dysphoria and way from his troubles. His mom knew it helped… But it was only a bandage for the real problem.

I really hope someone comes along to help my child… she prayed. I don’t know what I can do for him… Or her. S-she needs help, and I don’t know how to reach her. I’ve shown I am an ally more than once, but I think she’s too afraid of what she sees in the world to trust anyone… Please, someone, help me reach my child!

If the person who heard her prayer was there at that moment, she would tell them: “Just wait a little longer; I will come to help when the time is right!”

=======

Mar heard the door open. “Terrance, welcome back!” they greeted him. “How’d your day go?”

“Unexpected, but good! I got an unusual lead in a case, even if it’s not permissible in court, I’m afraid.”

“The Arden-Smith case?”

“That obvious?”

“That mess has been on your mind practically since you got assigned to it. Anything you can tell me?”

“I know what happened to Joel.”

“The ‘heir-apparent,’ as you once said?”

“He’s gone. And yet, she’s doing just fine.”

Mar thought it over before coming to the right conclusion. “Oh, congrats to her? You met her today?”

“It seems my contact also wanted to meet with her, and she was meeting her today as well. Sweet girl, it sounds like she’s aiming to help a lot of people, in spite of her parents trying to get rid of her. Granted, she’d never say it. It seems like she just wants to leave that life, and all the negativity around it, behind.”

“It’s never easy, but I’m glad she’s doing okay.”

Oh, she’s doing more than “okay.” Maybe one day, I can explain the other part of my job…

“I wish I could say the same… Rejected from a job yet again…”

“Hey, cheer up! Ariel even wanted to give you a gift!

“Ariel?”

“Oh, right, Ariel’s the Arden-Smith kid.”

“Pretty name for a pretty girl!”

“Yeah, she heard you weren’t doing so well – sorry about that – and she gave me this fortune cookie to give to you.” Terrance handed Mar the blue cookie.

“Okay, that’s a weird cookie,” they said, examining the odd-colored confection.

Mar snapped open the cookie, and they suddenly felt a weird surge fill them. Terrance noticed Mar was suddenly more at ease. I should have guessed it was a magic cookie… he thought.

“Woah… Are you sure that cookie wasn’t spiked, or something?” they asked.

Terrance gave a sly smile. “I highly doubt that…”

Mar pulled out the “fortune.” It was a message… To them!

“Hi there! I heard you weren’t doing so well with your transition. I know the feeling. But things have gotten a lot better for me now. And they will for you, too! Let me share some of my glow with you. Let my good luck help you too! – Ariel”

“Okay, Terrance, spill it: just who IS Ariel, again?”

=======

Dereck was dreaming again. He… No, she. She was always a girl in her dreams. She was Heather in her dreams.

I’m not trans… Am I? she thought. I-I can’t be. I know what happens. I’ll get disowned. I’ll starve in the streets. I’ll…

“You’ll be a pretty girl, and you’ll finally be happy and at peace.”

Heather looked around. “Wha-? Wh-who said that!?”

She watched as a sky-blue ball of light fluttered into her dream. It was so soft and warm… Wait, how was she feeling that?

“I am the one. Hello, Heather!“ said the glowing orb in a soft, angelic voice.

She blushed at the name. “Who – or what – are you?”

“I am someone you will meet soon… Err, I’m kind of new to this, actually,” the voice admitted.

“Oookay… This is a strange dream.”

“It’s filled with magic, so I imagine it would be!”

“Magic?” Heather asked, tilting her head.

“Mine… Gosh, we’re not supposed to meet in person for another few months… How much do I even say?” asked the orb, sounding flustered.

“So… You’re some real magical being out there somewhere? And we’re supposed to meet?”

“Well… We could meet right now, but now is not the best time. That comes later, I’m afraid. A few more months…”

“You know, this is just a dream, I doubt that any of this is real anyway. Just my mind playing tricks on me… As usual…”

“What do you mean?” asked the voice, concerned.

Heather turned away from the orb. “Dreams aren’t real! When I wake up, I go back to being a guy, like I’m supposed to, and-“

Heather felt a hug from arms that were now wrapping around her. They were so warm and comforting. She looked up behind her to see a young woman, appearing a few years older than her, with black hair and shining eyes, like her irises were cut from amethysts. What was stranger… Heather could feel the arms touching her breasts… Gently squeezing them in her warm embrace… Like they were real…

Heather started to tear up from the feeling, like being greeted by a limb long missing, finally regrown again.

“Heather,” said the woman, who had the same voice as the mysterious orb, “you’ve known for a very long time you’ve wanted to be, well, Heather!”

“B-b-b-but-“

The woman squeezed her tighter, letting more euphoria flow out.

“I know. I get it. Sometimes, the truth is scary. We don’t know what’s going to come of it. But sometimes, we have to face it to start feeling better. I know this myself…”

“Y-you do?” Heather asked, nearly crying now.

The magic woman nodded. “I understand what you’re going through. Trust me when I say, you need to be true to yourself, whatever that looks like. You will start feeling better, Heather…”

“Because… You went through it too? You’re trans?”

The woman smiled and nodded. “You’re really smart, Heather. Unfortunately, I see the world is really affecting your thoughts. I see this turmoil in you, seeing how parts of the world treat trans folks, and you internalize it. You’ve become so afraid of what might happen, you’ve been trying to deny you’re trans because you don’t want to go through what you perceive will happen…”

“Y-you’re right… I hate to say it, but you’re right…” Heather sighed.

“Don’t you feel better like this?”

“I…” Heather felt her body, her dream body, like it was the realest thing. The softness of her skin, the squishiness and weight of her chest, the startlingly comfortable emptiness between her legs… Even the dress she was wearing – the same one from the store earlier in the day - was so soft, caressing her form with its soft touch. How was this even possible?

“What do you think, Heather?”

“It’s…” Heather was tearing up. “It’s… It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt! I want so much to be this pretty girl! I want to be Heather!” she cried.

The woman hugged Heather tightly, trying to comfort her through her sobbing. She lightly patted the girl on her head and began rocking her gently. “You are Heather. You’re finally coming to terms with it. And you will be Heather for real, one day…”

“When?”

“Soon. A few more months, Heather…”

“This is the nicest dream I’ve ever had… It’s too bad I will wake up, and none of it will matter…”

The woman let her go, looking deep in thought. “I wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“Like I said before, we will meet at another time. But I get the impression that you may forget this ever happened, and I don’t want something to happen to you because you lost hope somewhere along the way…”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“I’m thinking of a promise. Not some word that you hear in a dream, but something real and tangible for you to hold. One that assures you that this dream is real – or as real as a dream can be, anyway.”

“You can do that!?”

“Sweetie, when we meet, you will know how and why I can do that. For now, I’m here to calm you. It sounded like you had a bad day, and you needed someone to come, tell you it will be alright…”

“Can I… Can you tell me your name?”

“When you wake up, check the ‘promise.’ For now…” The mysterious woman began to glow, warming Heather with her very spirit.

“This feels so nice…” Heather swooned.

“So, Heather, do you think you can say something to your parents? I know they worry about you…”

“I-I don’t think I can. I’m not ready for that. I don’t want something to go wrong…”

“I hope you will do so before we meet, but I understand if you are too afraid. You have a lot to think about. I just hope after tonight, you will start accepting Heather as a part of you, as the person you are. When you feel anxious about looking at feminine stuff, don’t think something is wrong with you. Think instead ‘I will be there one day. I AM Heather, and one day, I will be able to have it. Just not yet.’ Think about it like that, and maybe you’ll start feeling better…”

“Th-thanks, magic lady! I’ll try to think about it. I really don’t want this to end…”

“I know. I’ve had similar dreams myself…” She squeezed Heather a little tighter. “Just think of this as your first step towards being Heather in the waking world…”

Things started to fade around them. The dream was fading. Heather was waking up.

“It looks like time’s running out…”

“NO! PLEASE, DON’T GO YET! I’M NOT READY TO GO BACK TO BEING A BOY!” Heather screamed.

“I’m sorry… Just remember… I promised…”
“And I keep my promises!”

=======

Dereck woke up. He patted his body down, hoping…

Damnit. He wasn’t a girl anymore. Heather was gone. Again.

He looked around, but something glinting in the light caught his eye. He turned to see a coin on the end table by his bed, one in gleaming silver. That definitely wasn’t there before! He picked it up; it was warm to the touch, somehow reassuring. Words were inscribed on it:

“This is my promise to you, Heather, made in magic steel: we will meet again! When we do, it will not matter how you appear; you will always be Heather to me!”

He held his free hand to his mouth as his eyes watered. Oh my gosh, it’s real! That dream really happened! I was Heather, and the magic girl was there, and it was all real! Wait, she didn’t tell me her name!

Check the promise… her voice rang out in his head.

He flipped the coin over. There was a name inscribed on the back:

Ariel, the Angelic Genie.

THE END – FOR TODAY.

By CrystalSeaDragon44