This story is intended to be wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*This story features LGBTQ characters, with numerous transgender characters.
*There is a magical affirming transgender transformation.

A Whisper from the Past…

Ariel was sitting at Heather’s desk, writing down some notes. She didn’t have to, with her incredible magic and all, but the tactile sensation still felt good to her. Heather – her new holder, the one whom she entrusted her vessel to and the one whom Ariel was dedicating her powers to help – was in her bed, enjoying wearing the night gown Ariel gave her barely a week ago.

Heather wasn’t very far in her transition, but with Ariel helping her come out, and her parents doing everything they could to help and be there for their trans daughter, Heather couldn’t help but finally feel at ease for a change.

Ariel was making notes as to new discoveries for her powers when she thought she heard something. She sat up, more attenuative, trying to listen in…

“…S…”

Ariel looked around, confused. She turned back to Heather. “Heather, did you say something?”

Heather looked at Ariel, confused. “Uh, no?”

“… Eris…” the voice more distinctly called out this time.

“Huh?” Ariel asked aloud.

Heather sat up. “What is it, Ariel?”

“I don’t know… I think I just heard someone calling out for my mentor…”

“Genie mentor?”

“Yeah. Hang on, let me contact her…” Ariel formed a ball of light blue light in her hands, then released it. It disappeared without a trace. “She should get that at any moment…”

“You mentor… Is coming here?” Heather asked, concern growing. She was still very apprehensive about meeting new people in her feminine state. She was still very afraid of what people would think of her.

“Eris is her name, and don’t worry, Heather! She’s not going to give you any problems for who you are! Trust me!” Ariel gave a wide grin, trying to reassure Heather.

“O-okay…”

A purple flash shortly followed, and a new being flashed into the room. Heather could see her otherwise normal human appearance of a jacket, pants and boots being betrayed by the same pointed ears Ariel had. Still, her presence was enough to get Heather to pull up her legs to her chest, holding them with her arms. She buried her chin into her legs, keeping her eyes on this new person…

“Sorry, Ariel. I had to finish up a job. So, you heard a voice calling out for me?” Eris asked.

“Yeah, I-“

“Eris, we hope you or our Lord can hear our calls for you, please come to us, if you can…” the voice called out again.

“There it is again!” Ariel exclaimed.

“I didn’t hear it…” Eris replied.

“It was like a prayer… It was trying to reach you, or the divine…”

“Huh. I’ve heard of Angelic Genies receiving prayers, but I’ve never seen it in action before. And the message is for me?”

Ariel nodded.

“We can get to the bottom of it. But first…” Eris turned to Heather. “Hello there! You must be Ariel’s new charge. Heather, right?”

Heather buried her head a little deeper. “Y-yeah,” she strained out, trying to make a feminine voice, but without any practice, it was very squeaky.

Ariel leaned over. “She’s very nervous showing her girl side to people. She’s afraid of what they might do…” she whispered.

Eris nodded and walked up to Heather. She crouched down to be shorter than Heather sitting in her bed. “Hey, it’s okay. You know, I understand what you’re going through…”

“Y-you do?”

“I used to be a king, once…”

Heather thought about that for a moment, and she perked up.

Eris smiled. “I did a lot of things I’m not proud of back then. But then I became a genie, and I could be anything I wanted. When I saw myself as a woman, I felt happiness I never had before then.”

“So, you’re-“ Heather started coughing, her voice hurting from the forced voice change.

“Hey, easy! Don’t hurt yourself! Take it easy…”

“Y-you’re trans, too?” Heather was back to her natural boy’s voice now.

Eris nodded, with a smile. “I’m glad you live in a time where people know that and understand it… My time didn’t have that.” Eris turned to Ariel. “But I’m sure you’ll do just fine, with Ariel here for you!”

Ariel smiled, a big wide grin from Eris’s encouragement.

Heather started to relax, slowly easing out of her defensive posture. “It’s nice to meet you, Eris!”

“You too, Heather!”

Heather blushed at someone new calling her by that name.

Eris returned to Ariel. “Alright, so what was the message?”

Ariel thought about it for a moment. “You know, let me try telepathy here. Maybe there’s more to it than I heard…” Ariel concentrated, plucking the thought from her mind, then thinking about beaming it out to Eris, like a radio transmission. She wasn’t sure it worked until a message hit her mind in Eris’s voice:

“Ah, yes, thank you! Good idea to send it over with telepathy,” Eris said to her telepathically.

“Why is that?” Ariel asked aloud.

“There was more information buried in it than a simple prayer. There was a timestamp on it.”

“Timestamp?”

“It wasn’t a prayer from our current time – it was from the distant past!”

“What?! How?”

“You’re still so young, Ariel. Magic doesn’t obey time.”

“Okay… So why did it reach me and not you?”

“Let’s find out!” Eris reached out for Ariel’s hand.

Ariel turned to Heather. “So… Time travel, I take it. I can come back to this moment with ease, then?”

“Indeed.”

“Alright, Heather, it looks like I’m going on a trip with Eris. I should be back within moments to you – time travel and all that,” she said in a reassuring tone, with a smile.

“O-okay…” Heather responded quietly.

Ariel grabbed Eris’s hand, and both of them vanished with a flash.

=== Eastern Europe – 1287. ===

Eris had already adjusted her outfit to one more befitting the time period, a simple dress of a commoner from this era. Ariel refused to budge on her appearance.

“Ariel, you stand out with that. Sometimes, it’s about blending in…”

“Yeah, well, you’ve had hundreds of years to be yourself. I’ve only had a year and a week.”

Eris sighed. “Fair. But I admit I didn’t expect to come back here…”

“Here?”

“My old kingdom… Gone from the history books, but the flow of time still remembers it.”

“All the way back then? Who would be calling you from this time?”

“I think I know…” Eris muttered.

Fortunately, the area was surrounded by land fairly untouched by human activity. Only a couple of dirt roads. But in the middle of it all, there was a modest house of wood and stone.

Eris pointed to it. “That’s it. That’s where the prayer came from.”

“You read all of that from that prayer?” Ariel asked.

“There’s a lot more than words that go into anything one says. You’ll learn to read it all in time.”

Eris walked forward, Ariel following behind. A young man saw the pair. He tilted his head for a moment. It then appeared he recognized one of them. “You, there, with the red mane… Could you be Lady Eris, by chance?”

She bowed. “I am. Is that you, Daniel? You grew so big!”

“Ah, yes, I’m surprised you remembered me!”

“Oh, how could I forget? You were so energetic and carefree back when I was serving your father. You were just the cutest!”

Daniel turned to Ariel. “So, she’s another genie, I take it?”

“Yup! I’m Eris’s new trainee. I heard your prayer! I recognize your voice from it,” Ariel answered.

“She’s what we call an Angelic Genie. She’s more powerful than I am, but she’s only been one for a year now. She still has much to learn. Still, it’s an extraordinary honor for one like myself,” Eris explained.

“And the fact that both of you walk among the world… You’re both free now, I take it?” he asked.

“Yes. I know the Order of Eris is still looking after me and my vessel in this time. I know there’s another me – still enslaved to my lamp – at this time.”

“So you know about that…”

“It came to light when I needed to hear it, from your descendants. Keep doing what your family is doing, Daniel!”

He nodded.

“So… Why did you need to reach Eris so badly?” Ariel asked.

“It’s Richard, my father, Eris. He’s old. He doesn’t have a lot of time left. He hoped to one day see you again…”

Eris nodded. She followed Daniel inside, Ariel in tow. The home was lit by the open windows, with torches and candles for when night falls. Whereas Eris was focused on the task at hand, Ariel was looking around, trying to absorb the sights. Daniel noticed this.

“Curiosity, Lady Ariel?”

Ariel turned to Eris. Eris understood what she was about to ask and nodded. “As you’ve likely figured out, we’re from the future. This is… very different from what I’m used to in my time.”

“The year 2023,” Eris stated, “almost 800 years from now.”

“I can hardly imagine…” Daniel muttered. “How long have you been free, Eris?”

“About 500 years now. So yes, I spent a lot of time in the lamp.”

“I’m sorry to hear, but it seems your life is now much better, for which I’m glad to hear. And Richard will love to hear it too… Let me tell him you’re here…” Daniel walked into another room.

“We came all this way to meet… Who, again?” Ariel asked.

“Sir Richard. He was my right-hand man when I was king of this land. I was able to stop him from making a bad wish when I came into his hands… He was… A very good man.” Eris was starting to show tears. Clearly, he meant a lot to her.

“Eris, I-“

Daniel returned. “He’s ready for you, Eris.”

Eris nodded and followed Daniel into an inner chamber. Lying on the bed was a wrinkled old man, in his 70’s. There was a priest beside him. Eris recognized him immediately, despite the passage of time.

“Richard… I’m here now…” she said as she knelt beside his bed.

“Ah… My Lady… I had hoped to one day see you again, and now, here you are…” he said. His voice was raspy and quiet. “Time has been good to you, I hear. You mentor another in the ways of magic.” He turned to Ariel and smiled. “Such a beauty you are.”

“Th-thank you! It’s really nice to hear that from you. I didn’t get it a lot before…” Ariel responded.

“May you have once been like Lady Eris herself? Have you not been a woman all your life?” Richard asked.

Ariel was stunned. “H-how did you figure it out?”

“I always kept my eyes and ears open, especially after Lady Eris here. I knew before fate made her what she is,” Richard explained.

“When I was serving him, he told me he always had his suspicions about me. I thought I hid it so well, but he saw right through the façade the whole time…” Eris recounted.

Richard turned to the priest, who nodded. “It’s time I confess to you what only those in this room know: I envy you both.”

“No… Of course, how did I not see that before!?” Eris realized. “You had me figured out because you were always looking for someone like yourself! Gosh, I am so sorry, my friend, for never figuring that out…”

“Oh my gosh, you’re trans too!?” Ariel asked, shocked.

“Ariel, they wouldn’t know what that means,“ Eris reminded her, “but to answer, yes.”

“We’ve taken to trying to call her by women’s titles to give her some comfort in her final days. And the priest here has sworn to secrecy, knowing what it could do to the family’s reputation,” Daniel explained. “But she has always asked to see you again.”

“And I know why you’ve been calling for me… And why it reached me in the distant future, through my Angelic student here…” Eris said to her.

“That one wish…” Richard whispered. “I never stopped thinking about it.”

“I remember it to this day. Me stopping you, trying to have you live a full human life, rather than being stuck with an enslaved genie for eternity. ‘I wish to serve you, my Lady.’ I was able to stop you from completing the wish, but I knew what it was. Do you… Regret any of it?”

“No, my Lady. The words you said at that time were wise. And other than my longing, it was a good life. How about you?”

“I don’t regret it, but I do admit it was lonely at times. And I always missed you, my friend. We grew up together. You helped me secure my status as king, then turned around and helped me undo my sins when I became a genie. You were better to me than I sometimes deserved…”

“You were my friend then, and it seems you still remember me fondly…”

“So… You still want to make the wish, don’t you? And now that I’m free, you’d have freedoms too. I’d… I would be honored to have you join me, my friend. And while I don’t have to grant the wish anymore, I can. All you have to do is make the wish you wanted to all those years ago…”

Richard looked to her son. And to the priest. Her wife had passed away years before. Everyone that still knew her was in this room, and they knew what she wanted more than anything, especially now.

“I have lived a full life. It’s time. Lady Eris, I wish to serve you for all time, to begin a new life.”

Eris nodded. A purple glow emanated from her, with sparkles shimmering all around. Ariel was able to sense the absolutely intense magic that was emanating from her. This was an extremely powerful spell. It was one to rewrite a mortal existence into a magic one – and bind that person to the one who cast the spell. “Richard” would live so long as Eris did now. But it was clear why Eris hesitated so much to complete this wish before: Eris understood as Ariel was now grasping that this binds someone to her forever. They’re forced to heed all of the calls of their genie until either the genie lets them go or is no more.

Eris knew that meant – as an enslaved genie at the time – that “Richard” would have been stuck within Eris’s vessel even when Eris was summoned. She would have been perpetually stuck in the lamp until Eris gained her freedom. Now that Eris was free, “Richard” would be afforded much more freedom, being capable of living a life of her own outside Eris's vessel until she needed her. However, not being fully versed in the ways of genie magic, Ariel wasn’t sure how this could benefit Eris; her new assistant cannot not grant wishes with this spell, although she will have magic she can use for her own purposes… Perhaps Eris could explain this dynamic another time.

The room filled with Eris’s magic until a more intense concentration of it started moving towards and enveloping “Richard.” Magic purple flames enveloped her body, burning away all traces of her mortal body while leaving everything else around her untouched. Eventually, a new form took shape, a wispy, flaming female body of purple.

She looked at her hands, her face showing awe. “That was… Intense…” a new feminine voice said from the being. “But not unpleasant.” She got up out of the bed, revealing her new form was draped in a dress (although it was hard to tell, given she was mostly a walking flame of various purples).

“So begins your new life…” Eris said, smiling (but appearing somber all at once).

Daniel looked at the priest, who nodded. “On this day, Sir Richard has passed away, which will be recorded for all time,” the priest declared. “However, a new life begins for you, one that spans across time and hopefully, in service of our Lord.”

The new being nodded. “I’m sure that’s what Eris strives for. I feel it…”

“We share a deeper connection now, my friend. In a way, we’re now pieces of a whole.”

“Even being what I am, I cannot fathom what this is like for either of you…” Ariel muttered in awe.

“Don’t worry about us, Ariel. We’ll be fine,” Eris reassured her.

“M-mother, can I give you one last hug goodbye, now that you’re in that form?” Daniel asked.

“I would love that, my son… Don’t worry, I may appear as flame, but I am not dangerous.” Her arms opened up. Daniel hesitantly came close. When he felt he wasn’t going to be burned, he wrapped his arms around her. They both smiled contently.

“I can feel it radiating through you; you’re so much happier now!” Daniel noted.

“Thank you!”

“Goodbye, my mother, and good luck!”

“Indeed, may you have a blessed life, my son!”

With a final hug, Daniel and the new magic being parted ways. Eris and Ariel guided her out into the fields nearby. Still a being of magical flames, she was enjoying the breeze on her new form.

“So, what now?” Ariel asked.

“There’s plenty my new partner and I need to discuss. This is a new experience for her, and I need to explain to her what isn’t already apparent.”

“I already feel like we share our minds a little. I’m still distinctively me, but I also feel her as a part of me…” said the former human, trying to wrap her mind around it.

“But I can explain more to you later. Just know what I did here isn’t the easiest thing to do. There’s a stigma around it among well-meaning genies, given it’s been abused in the past. You could do it too, but your partners would have to go through a vetting process of sorts…”

“So I likely will not be able to, I’m assuming. I felt what this does, and I think I understand why. That’s a serious choice to make.”

“Exactly. Now, I can continue from here without you, I think. You can return to Heather now.”

Ariel nodded. She was able to grasp quickly how Eris was able to time-travel. She picked a couple of seconds after they left, so that Heather would see them disappear, then she would reappear moments later – instead of it appearing Eris disappeared but Ariel did not. In a flash of blue, she was gone.

“Heather… Trans… Girl… From the year 2023?” asked Eris’s partner.

“You’re piecing it together?”

“Sort of. There’s a lot…”

“Let’s return to my vessel. It’s in the same time period as Ariel came from.” Eris snapped her fingers, and in an instant, both of them were in her mansion within her vessel. “So, as you’re picking up, we are now bound together. You’re a part of me, and I’m a part of you. We’re each distinctive parts to a whole. Although we can tell whose memories are whose, we can now recall each other’s memories as well. You are what is referred to as a-“

“Genie’s wisp. How do I know that?”

“You’re already building a knowledge bank of magic capabilities. While you can’t grant wishes yourself, at least not easily, you can use magic to make small changes to the world around you… And you can change yourself into whatever you desire. Go ahead, why don’t you settle into a skin you like?”

The wisp slowly settled into a more solid state, her skin no longer a flame, but still purple. The dress gained form too, taking on an orange and red flame-like pattern – but being reminiscent of Ariel’s silk dress.

“I could tell you liked Ariel’s dress…” Eris suggested with a sly grin.

“It was pretty…” the new wisp admitted.

“No, I don’t blame you. The girl has a certain elegance about her… While we’re at it, did you ever come up with a name for yourself? I’m trying to look, but-”

“Gwenevere… Or Gwen works too,” she suggested as her skin settled into a light tan. Her irises still shimmered with the purple flames of her transformation – something she loved, so she decided to keep it somewhere. Her hair was still the same pale blonde it was as a human, but it was now much longer, past her behind.

“Well, Gwen, you’re very pretty!”

Gwen blushed. “So… A genie’s wisp now…”

“Yes. You act as a guide to me now. While you don’t grant people’s wishes – not without a lot of time on your hands, anyway – you serve as a magical database of sorts. Things I can do with my magic, ways I can achieve wishes, you have the knowledge I ordinarily have to stumble upon or be taught by another genie. Right now, as my only wisp, you contain it all. If I were to pick up more wisps in the future, each one would develop distinct knowledge based on their interests and personality, hence why individuality is preserved. But…”

“You’ve actively avoided having others serve you. Other genies have forced servitude in the past.”

“Exactly. You wanted to serve me, and that desire never went away in forty years. But now, you’re bound to me unless I say otherwise – forever. Or if I am destroyed. That is the price. But you know me; if you ever wanted out, I would let you go, my friend.”

“I know. But I’m here for the long-haul, Eris. I had a feeling of what this entailed, thinking about it for all those years. And I’m fine with it. I lived a human life. Now it’s time to be something different.”

“I’m glad you understand what you’re getting into. But because you waited, you are not permanently bound to this place. If you wanted, you could come and go as you please. The only caveat is that if I summon you, you’ll be drawn to me no matter what. I’ll make sure I don’t do that unless it’s really necessary. I want you to be as independent as you can be.”

“Thanks, Eris!”

Eris smiled. She felt Gwen’s happiness as part of her own emotions now. “You’re welcome, Gwen!”

=== Heather’s room. ===

True to her word, Ariel was back less than five seconds after she disappeared.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it wouldn’t be long!” Heather exclaimed, some relief coming through.

“Well, I could have come back the exact moment I left, but that would have looked kinda weird… Eris disappears, and I move in the blink of an eye!”

“You’re right, that does sound weird…”

Ariel sat down, but Heather noticed something was going on with her new genie caretaker: the sparkles in her sheer shroud were dimming.

“Hey, Ariel, are you okay?” Heather asked, concerned.

Ariel perked up, as if she had been lost in thought. “Huh? Yeah, I should be…”

“But, your sparkles…”

Ariel realized what Heather was talking about and pulled a part of her shroud in front of her. “Oh. Yeah, that’s noticeable, alright…”

“What’s happening to you?”

“Well… I just got back from Eris’s original time. She met a friend from those days… And…” Ariel’s sparkles were almost completely gone now. “… It reminded me again of the friends I haven’t seen since I became a genie…”

“So… Your sparkles are fading because… You’re upset?”

Ariel nodded. “Not the first time this has happened. Everything about me is purely spiritual, so when I’m upset, I weaken. My shroud is more or less magic, so the sparkles stop shimmering when I’m weaker…”

Heather had to think. She didn’t realize her new powerful-beyond-reason caretaker could be so vulnerable. Or human. But perhaps Ariel needed a chance to talk about them with someone…

“So… What are they like?” Heather asked. She readied herself to listen.

“Well… All of them are trans, like you. They’re older than both of us. Kaylee was our little group’s ‘big sister.’ A bit crass, but she always wanted to protect everyone, make them happy with jokes and such. Andrea is – or at least, was at the time I last saw her – still in the closet, only out to our little group. And Roland… He’s the only trans man among us, and the only one I knew in life…”

Ariel’s shroud was completely free of sparkles now. “He lives around here, the one who helped me through being homeless when I was still human. We had each other’s backs, protecting each other from the worst of it. He even introduced me to Kaylee and Andrea…” Her voice started to quiver, tears welling up.

Heather jumped in and gave Ariel a hug. “Well, if you miss them that much, why not try to reconnect with them?”

“I-I’m here for you, Heather. I don’t want to feel like I abandoned you!”

“But you’re regretting not being with your friends, right? And that’s making you weaker? I get you’re here for me, but it sounds like this is affecting you. You’ve been so nice to me… But it sounds like you’ve been putting off being there for yourself.”

Ariel sighed. “You’re right. I got swept up in all the magic and my duties. But… You really need me for school.”

Heather held up her finger. She had an idea. “But I don’t need you when I’m safe at home! At least, not usually. And besides, like you said, as long as I have your flashlight, I can summon you when I need you!”

“That’s… True…” Ariel realized.

“You said Roland lives around here? Why not go meet him this weekend?”

Ariel stared at Heather for a moment. Heather smiled as she watched Ariel’s sparkles come back to her. Clearly, the idea made Ariel feel better.

Ariel smiled. “You know, I’d like that very much!”

“And would you look at that, I can tell you’re feeling better, Ariel!”

Ariel chuckled. She knew it. “I feel it. Thank you, Heather!”

=== Eris’s vessel. ===

Eris spent some time building a new section of her home just for Gwen. Their shared memories made fusing Gwen’s old world wants with new world desires easy. Meanwhile, Gwen could give input in real time via their telepathy to the subtle touches to make the place truly hers.

As Eris was laying the finishing touches to Gwen’s apartment, Gwen was looking at Eris’s vast collection of art through the ages. Every person Eris had bought from, and all their reactions, Gwen could feel them all. She knew Eris to be fond of making artists smile – she commissioned many aspiring artists during her time as king, and while some considered the works “subpar” and unworthy of a king, Eris would display them anyway, always responding: “Give them a chance to grow. Each person can become something greater if they’re told they can.”

That ethos was well ahead of its time. Gwen was happy she could live to see a day where so many more shared that belief. And it was certainly true of Eris herself. She just needed that nudge, as awful as the nudge had been…

Among the collection, though, was a large book. It was very old, but Gwen recognized it instantly. She was the one to start it, after all.

She sat down in a nearby chair and began to read it, paying no mind Eris had finished and was leaning against a wall nearby. Eris watched, a small smile on her face, as Gwen began to read.

The worn but taken care of pages first reminded her of her very own words. She wrote many pages detailing Eris’s many appearances and granted wishes, as well their effects on the kingdom. A little at a time, freeing people from the iron grip of the king who took Eris’s place after her genie transformation. Each wish was carefully granted, bringing prosperity and peace to where she appeared. The order did much in Gwen’s forty years maintaining it.

But she kept going. After her “death,” there was another 160 years Eris continued to serve others, mostly more chosen members of the order. However, in the end, the order lost her to one who had discovered Eris and her power. The thief, with his own ideas of how to “save the kingdom,” only managed to get one wish out before he was found and executed, but…

“I granted the one wish I never knew I would grant…” Eris interrupted, knowing what Gwen was reading.

“’I wish him dead,’” Gwen replied, paraphrasing it. “I‘m so sorry… That’s why there was nothing on you for so long after that…” she suggested, flipping through the pages.

“Yeah, after granting that wish, and feeling just how easy it was to kill someone… I didn’t want my power anymore. I was given a chance to be given to the care of the Church, but I was so distraught, I wanted them to seal me away forever. I didn’t want my powers anymore, and I didn’t want anyone to use me again. I couldn’t trust myself… I didn’t have free will, not really. Not like I do now.”

“But then, it seems more of my descendants kept looking for you. They wanted to keep you safe, maybe even give you comfort.”

“And eventually, they did just that, giving me the book in your hands. I gave them a copy, and they continue to write about me to this day. Of course, some I know don’t know or realize they’re descended from your family; there’s an FBI agent I regularly meet who’s distantly related to you. He gets a lot of his compassion from you. He’s a very distant relative that the main family isn’t aware of.”

“Ah, yes, I can see who you’re talking about. Poor guy.”

“But as for that wish… I still regret not finding a way to stop that.”

“I don’t blame you. ‘War ripping what was left of the kingdom apart, burning into the ground with a civil war. Not a single trace left, only fairy tales,’” Gwen read from the old tome.

Eris sighed. “It had been the intent to make my kingdom disappear peacefully. I was so close, but then this jerk thought he had all the answers, and the last tenth of the kingdom perished in flames from it. But my efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed, as the other genies had been watching the whole time, and they saw fit to grant me my freedom once I had learned all that I had done.”

“You deserved it, Eris! Sure, you had that stumble, but that wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t control that at the time…”

“As much as I know that now, it still helps to hear. Thank you.” Both of them smiled, feeling each other’s warm emotions. “So, what’s next for you, Gwen?”

“Sure, I have magic now that I can use to conjure my own outfits… But…”

“You want to shop around, see what the modern world has to offer?”

It was here Gwen lost her usual, knightly-trained composure. She squealed like a schoolgirl! “Yeee! I don’t know why, but it makes me feel so good to hear that! Yes! Let’s go!”

Eris too lost her composure and began to laugh. “If there was ANY doubt left as to whether you were a girl or not, that just vanished! Alright, Gwen, let’s hit the boutiques…”

=== The weekend… ===

Ariel slowly walked down the street. Her mind was racing. She could feel Roland’s presence. He was working at the local homeless shelter.

But it had been over a year since she last saw him. Would he recognize her? Would he be mad? Anxiety plagued her mind, and her shroud once again was devoid of sparkles. She was so busy internalizing, she didn’t realize someone might have been sensing it from far away…

“You got this, Ariel! He’ll be glad to see you!” Heather cheered her on. Heather must have been holding onto Ariel’s vessel, feeling her anxiety through the magical object that was inextricably linked to her. Still, it calmed Ariel to hear that, and her sparkles returned to her.

She pushed the doors open, seeing a wide array of people lining up to get meals from the staff. And there he was, serving food. He wore his signature pink and particular hairstyle, just as she remembered. His unfortunately womanly chest still stuck out from under the apron he was wearing, but she could tell it was bound for a change. (Even still, his chest was bigger than hers!)

His hazel eyes looked up and locked with hers. His eyes wavered for a moment before he turned to the others working there. “Hey, I need a minute.”

“Alright, Roland,” one of the others said to him.

He walked up to Ariel. He was clearly working hard to keep his composure in the public place.

“So… You recognize me, even now?” Ariel asked.

“Of course I do… Ariel!”

Both let out a few tears as they smiled.

“I have so much to tell you… And apologize for.”

“No, I know what you are now – that’s a story in itself – but I’m just glad you’re back.” Roland walked up and hugged Ariel. “I missed you. WE missed you.”

“I missed all of you too! I’m-“

“Ssh. Don’t apologize. You’re here now. It’s all good…”

Ariel silently cried into his shoulder.

“Hey, my lunch break is coming up soon. If you can give me another hour, maybe we can talk more then?”

“I-I’d like that very much…” Ariel whispered, trying to contain herself. “I can wait… I have time…”

THE END, FOR NOW.

By CrystalSeaDragon44