*This story contains themes of gender transformation and witchcraft. It also contains mentions of gender dysphoria that could be triggering to those sensitive to it. If you are not fond of these topics (or you have trouble with depictions of body dysphoria) you may want to go elsewhere... But I hope you enjoy the story should you give it a chance!

Curse Upon the New Moon

Max was having the time of his life. He just spent the day with his girlfriend of one month, Stacie. He was madly in love with her. She was sweet, caring, and beautiful.

He considered himself average for a guy. He wasn't into sports or vigorous activity. He was more of a nerd. But he knew that it was important to treat a girl right. She wasn't a "prize," she was an independent human being with a mind and heart of her own. He was going to treat her right. After all, she chose him when she probably could have had anyone else.

They laid on the hill, overlooking the Friday sunset. It was a moment straight out of a romance movie, and here Max was, living it! He knew he would be with Stacie forever...

Or so he thought.

He turned to look at her beautiful face. Soft and angled in all the right places, with a cute button nose and emerald green eyes. Her hair others would simply say was blonde, but one could hold it up to a bar of pure gold and not tell the difference, it was of such color and sheen.

But something wasn't right. The look on her face was not one of adoration or love. It was a menacing grin. It looked like one a predator would give to prey ensnared in its trap.

Max turned away and shook his head. He looked back and Stacie was looking at him as he was imagining, with a gentle smile on her face.

As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Stacie stood up and watched. Max sat up. "Is anything wrong?" he asked.

"No. Nothing's wrong," she replied. "You gave me a great time today! I'm so glad I picked you from the rest. You are such a sweet guy..."

"Thank you, Stacie. I-"

"But the fun isn't over yet..."

"What do you mean?" Max stood up. "You have something else in mind?" he asked enthusiastically.

Stacie turned around and opened her eyes as the new moon rose behind her. Her eyes were no longer green, but blood red. The same predator's grin from minutes before spread across her face. Max was paralyzed, and a chill went down his spine. This had to be a nightmare.

"Oh poor Max. You were just the kind of person I wanted. So sensitive, so capable of love. If I played my cards right, I could worm my way into your life..."

Max could barely process what she was saying. He was utterly terrified now.

"Now, I can change your life however I please!" she said, snapping her fingers.

Max felt horrible pain. "Wha- what are you doing to me?!" he yelped as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.

"Certainly, this spell would have had better use on some chauvinistic ass who thinks women are property, but there's no way I could get the real love out of someone like that. You will have to make do..."

Max fell to the ground as he felt searing pain throughout his body. The first thing to change was what he felt in his pants, crushing and pulling where it hurt the most. He watched as best as he could, given the pain, as the lump between his legs shrank until it was completely flat. The pain subsided there as his crotch was stained with his own blood.

"Oh, neat!" Stacie exclaimed with strange glee. "It looks like you're having your first period already!"

"Period?!" It dawned on Max what that meant. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TURNING ME INTO A GIRL?!"

"I have my reasons. They don't concern you, however."

Max watched in horror as mass formed on his chest, new breasts growing to match his rapidly changing gender. Burning hot pain filled his torso and hips as things swelled, cracked, and rearranged throughout his body. He tried to stay awake, but the pain was too much, and Max started to slip unconscious.

"Good night, Maxine..."

=======

Max stirred awake. He had not slept comfortably. He still felt some amount of pain, a cruel reminder of what he knew happened last night. Dare I look in the mirror? he thought.

He looked around his room. He knew this was somehow his room, but it didn't look like how he remembered it. It looked like a girl's room. Thankfully, some of the video game memorabilia and other things he liked as a guy were still here, but the hot pink walls and white trim and furnishings were most certainly not his.

He tried picking himself up, but he had a lot of alien weight on his chest. He kept his eyes up knowing exactly what they were. He slowly walked over to the full-body mirror, his body shaking, jiggling, and moving in unpleasant ways, his hair occasionally getting into his eyes.

And there he was. He saw little bits of his old self within the image before him, but the person staring back was a bombshell girl version of himself. He had large breasts, and a sizable rear too. His once short red hair was all the way down to his hips, and his blue eyes were surrounded by the flawless complexion of a young woman his age. All of this adorned in girly pajamas he'd never seen before.

"Stacie, what the hell did you do to me?!" Max whispered.

"Maxine, are you awake?" he heard his mom yell. "Why don't you come down for breakfast?"

Did she just call me "Maxine?" he thought. Then it dawned on him. Stacie must have changed more than just his body... "Give me a few minutes, mom!" he replied, hearing the voice of a girl come out, a sensation that felt wrong to him.

He looked in his closet, hoping to find something agreeable to wear. Girly dresses and shirts filled the closet to the brim. Several pairs of high-heeled shoes stood by other girly shoes he wouldn't have ever been caught dead in. He had bras measuring in at double D's. He pushed them aside as he searched for SOMETHING that wasn't so flagrantly womanly.

He didn't find much, but they would have to do.

He slipped on the pants first. They squeezed him in ways he wasn't used to, but at least pants were gender neutral-ish. He would have preferred something more roomy, but anything with that had a skirt. No thanks.

He looked at the shirt, then down at his pajama shirt. He knew what was under there. He closed his eyes as he pulled the old shirt off, and he began feeling around for the red shirt he grabbed from the closet. He felt it, grabbed it, and quickly pulled it over his head.

He looked in the mirror again. What he was wearing wasn't ideal, but it was the best he could do. And the v neck shirt put his cleavage on display, with his new nipples poking out through the shirt without anything to hide them, hammering in his new reality.

Max was starting to feel nauseous.

"Maxine, are you almost ready?"

"Sorry, mom. Coming!"

He opened up into the hallway. Every picture he was in was now of "Maxine." But some of the pictures were missing. As he made his way down the hall, he turned to face... Stairs.

Oh God, this is going to suck... he thought.

He took the slowest and most deliberate steps he could. He wasn't going to make this body jiggle any more than he had to. It was too much of a reminder of this body that didn't belong to him.

"Out of the way, sis!" He heard his younger sister yell as she shoved him out of the way and raced down the stairs. Max had to take the stairs quickly to make it without falling over, his ample chest sloshing around uncontrollably as he practically ran down the stairs. As he stood at the bottom, he was breathing heavily. That felt horrible. He started to tear up. This body was not his. He was hating every moment of this, and he had only been awake in it for less than 20 minutes...

He tried stifling back the tears and made his way into the kitchen where his younger sister Maddie and his mom were. "Ah, there you are Maxine! What's with the outfit, were you planning on going somewhere today?" Max's mom inquired. "And why aren't you wearing a bra? You know how much your back hurts without support, dearie..."

Max was struggling even more now. Mom didn't recognize him as her son. It was as he feared: She only remembered Maxine, this false identity... He turned around, only to realize tears were making their way down his face.

"Maxine?! What's wrong?! Did Stacie dump you?"

"Yeah, sis, you shouldn't be this sad!"

"I..." Max sat down at the table. "I'm..." Max put his head down on the table and began to cry uncontrollably. "I'M NOT A GIRL! I'M NOT A GIRL! I'M NOT A GIRL!" he yelled through the tears and sobs. "I was Max yesterday, a boy! I was happy. Then Stacie..."

"Sweetie, what do... You..." His mom's eyes glazed over for a moment, as did his sister's. Suddenly, both their eyes snapped open again, his mom gasping as if she realized something. "Max?! Is that you?!" she yelped, suddenly realizing the truth.

"Mom? You remember now?"

"I do Max! I am so sorry," she said as she came to hug him. "It is so strange. I remember Stacie dropping you off last night... But now I remember. You left a boy and came back a girl. I don't really remember much about last night, though... Just that she came through to drop you off."

"Mom, it was horrible. I had this fantastic day with her, but as the moon rose, she turned into this demon or something and turned me into a girl. It was so painful..."

"She must have tried to alter our memories of you too."

"But she made you pretty, big sis!" Maddie chimed in.

"Maddie, that is not helping!" her mom scolded.

"And now... Every way my body moves is so alien. It doesn't feel right anymore. Between my legs feels empty, my chest has weight tacked on, and I am sitting on pillows. Nothing feels right about my body! These were the best clothes I could tolerate... Everything else was too much, too feminine."

Max's mom squeezed him tighter. "I am so sorry you have to go through this. I would have accepted you as transgender if you had come out, but now I know you wouldn't have... I guess, in a way, you are transgender now? You want to be a boy, but you're in a girl's body?"

"I... Guess I am now, aren't I?"

"We will figure this out, my son... Somehow..."

=======

Max looked at his new hairstyle. It wasn't as short as he remembered, but it was a lot better than feeling it dust his derriere. His mom did a good job of giving him a neutral-looking cut he could live with. It wasn't outlandishly feminine like it was before, but it wasn't entirely masculine either.

His mom explained they would have to keep some of his femininity around for the time being. She had the memories of Maxine, a girl who was unabashedly feminine. They could use a "bad break-up" as an excuse to change his look, but he still had to be Maxine to some degree.

After all, they couldn't know what Stacie would do. She proved herself some sort of powerful magician with what she had done to them. There's no telling how much worse it could get.

That said, he needed to be comfortable. Although shopping for clothes wasn't the thing he wanted to do today - that would be laying face down in a pillow and crying himself to sleep - it was necessary. His mom helped him with an outfit that was comfortable to some degree, if fully feminine. And of course, he saw himself fully naked, a sight he spent the car ride to the store trying to forget...

Not only that, but some of the pain he was experiencing wasn't going away. It was as Stacie said... He was going through a woman's period, and the only thing they had around at the time were tampons...

This was the place to change that. They quickly plucked a set of pads for Max to use, then made their way to the men's clothing section.

"Max, see anything you like?"

Max looked around. He began pointing out a few shirts and shorts. His mom looked through the sizes and plucked out shirts that looked just right for his size. She didn't even need to compare them.

"How do you know what size to find?"

"It's those 'Maxine' memories. I know your sizes by heart. Unfortunately, while your shirts are still about the same size..." She grabbed a fairly large pair of shorts. "These are a LOT bigger."

Max looked down at his behind, which was considerable. He could probably stuff two of himself in his new hip size. Why did he have to be so BIG? Was he going to be this gifted as a girl originally, or was this some prank played on him by Stacie?

After nearly filling the cart with men's clothes, including new boxers that could fit his hindquarters, Max's mom took him aside and began to speak quietly. "Look, I know you don't want anything to do with girl's clothes, but there is something there I think can help with your current situation..."

"What is it?"

"A sports bra. Hear me out: you want to contain that ample chest of yours? A sports bra is designed to hold them in place more so they don't throw their weight around while you exercise. It won't reduce all of the jiggling you said makes you uncomfortable, but it's a start."

"We can't just get a binder then?"

"That may take time, honey. I'm sorry, I know you don't want to deal with bras..."

"Fine. Hopefully, I'm not stuck like this forever..."

They made their way over to the women's section. Max's mom could tell he was increasingly uncomfortable. He did not want to be here. His mom handed him one of the sports bras. "Here. This is the right size. It should make you look a bit smaller..."

There were no clasps on the bra. It was a pullover-style bra, so he didn't have to fiddle with getting those hooks in place or getting someone to help him while he stared at his bare feminine chest. He gave a quiet thumbs-up to the garment, and his mom, mindful of his displeasure with them, made sure they came in neutral colors.

There was something on Max's mind, however. "Mom? Just how are we going to pay for all of these?"

"Well, we received a substantial inheritance from your father... Wait..."

"That's not right. He's still alive... Right? He was on Friday..."

Then it dawned on him. The missing frames in the hallway... Those were recent pictures of his dad! His mom realized it at the same time, the altered memories revealing her husband had been dead for years.

They proceeded to the checkout, both knowing what was now missing from their lives. They both held stoic, unemotional looks throughout the checkout process. Only when they made it back to their car did they finally let loose the sorrow they kept hidden...

=======

Although Max was more comfortable in the clothes they got the day before, dread hung in the air over everyone in the house. They didn't know why, but they knew somehow Stacie had written their father out of their lives. Besides, Max had high school to attend the next day, and he was not looking forward to going as "Maxine."

No one coped very well Sunday. It was a haze of sorrow and confusion over what was happening to their lives. The day passed without much fanfare.

Monday morning arrived. Max picked out an outfit carefully to mitigate his new gender dysphoria while keeping appearances that he was still feminine. His pants were baggy, but his shirt was the same he picked out Saturday, with the addition of a camisole underneath so he wouldn't have to stare at cleavage every time he looked down. He threw on a baseball cap to complete the look.

Rather than take the bus like he usually did, his mom decided to drop him off. As they arrived at the drop-off area, she said "Max, if you can't handle being in school, we will figure out something to keep you home while we try to figure this out."

"Thanks, mom. I have to try to keep things normal. Hopefully, schoolwork will keep my mind off things."

They hugged each other tightly before Max made his way into the school. He took a deep breath before stepping through the door...

As soon as he did, though, he heard audible gasps.

"Wait, is that Maxine?!"
"What happened to her hair?"
"Forget her hair, look at her outfit!"
"She's so boyish now..."
"Well, I heard she IS a lesbian..."
"She isn't flaunting her figure like she used to."
"What a shame, she was such a prize to look at..."

The whispers continued throughout his classes. He could hear them. Some of it was genuine concern from some of the girls, others of gossip. The guys generally talked about him like they did about most of the beautiful girls in school, which was to say treating him like a piece of meat, eye candy or art as opposed to an actual human being.

Everything was a haze. He wanted to tune it all out. He hated the compliments and the comments about how "beautiful" he was. Until lunch came around, he was on autopilot. Quiet unless spoken to, his body doing the work while he cradled himself in a corner of his mind.

As he gathered his lunch together, he heard a couple of voices call to him.

"Maxine, over here, girl!"
"Come sit with your friends!"

He came over to them. Clearly the group of girls were his "friends" - except he barely recognized any of them. There was only one, Natilie, he knew a bit more of. She was short, with green eyes and black hair that had been dyed green at the ends. She was a friend of sorts. They weren't really close, but they talked on occasion. It seemed like they must have been closer in the altered reality he now lived in.

"Girl, your date must have gone horribly for you to come looking like that!"
"Seriously, what did he do to you?"
"Come on, girls, we know she's a lesbian. A girl did this to her."
"Is she going to say anything to us though? She's always kept her dating life private..."

The conversation and speculation went on around him. Not that he cared. He couldn't stomach all the female pronouns being used for him. Had he been paying attention, though, he would have seen Natilie not joining in, concentrating on him as though she knew more than she was letting on - or maybe at least suspecting something was more off than she could understand...

As he looked around the cafeteria, the sea of students parted to give him a clear line of sight to his former flame, Stacie. They locked eyes from across the room. He could see it in her eyes. She was relishing in his suffering. She clearly didn't care for him at all. She had no remorse for her actions against him. The crowd gathered again, and when they parted enough for him to see where she had been, she was gone.

He was feeling uneasy. "Look, girls, I'm not really hungry. I'm going to go for a walk."

"Okay, just remember we're here for you, girl!" one of the friends remarked. She didn't realize the last word stung.

As Max got up and left for the field, Natilie followed. She didn't understand why, but nothing felt right about what was going on. She needed to talk to Maxine alone. Something wasn't adding up...

Max stopped in a remote corner of the school's field. He had to catch his breath. Every reference to him being a girl dug deeper into his psyche. He was barely holding together...

"Maxine?"

He turned to see Natilie. "What are you doing here?"

"Something doesn't feel right... About us. About you. I can't explain it..."

"I..."

"You know something, don't you?"

"I... Am not Maxine! I'm Max! Just this Friday, I was a guy! Then Stacie did something to me, and now everyone thinks I am a girl!"

This stirred something in Natilie. She closed her eyes and started shaking her head. It was coming back to her. She indeed remembered Max. In fact, she loved him, but she never had the courage to say something. She even remembered warning Max about Stacie, that something didn't feel right about her...

"... And my body moves in ways I can't stand! Nothing feels right! My guts are all twisted up by this period I'm having! Everyone treats me like this goddess of beauty and I want none of it!" Max started breathing heavily.

"Max, calm down!" Natilie said, hoping it would reach him.

"I'm not a girl, I'm not a girl, I'm..." Max felt flush. He felt nauseous. Then he threw up and recoiled backwards, collapsing to the ground.

"I got you, Max..."

=======

Max woke up. He was lying on the couch at home, his mom, Maddie, and Natilie all standing over him.

"Honey, are you okay?"

"Mom, what happened?"

"Natilie brought you home after you passed out. She managed to convince the principal to let you go home."

"I told him you were dealing with a lot of stress on top of a period," Natilie explained. "I convinced him you might need a week to recover. It wasn't hard, given what happened... I also remember you used to be a guy. I'm sorry if I misgendered you prior to that, Max."

"Wait, how did you...?"

"Well, based on what you were saying, Stacie might be a dark witch. Her powers work on the absence of love. Most anyone else will only remember the reality she created for you. Only those who really loved you will break free of her spell..."

Max mulled this new information over before realizing, "Wait, Natilie, you loved me?!"

"... Surprise. This wasn't the way I wanted you to know, but..."

"Also, how do you know about this stuff?"

"My father is a light wizard, and I am following the family tradition by learning light magic myself - but I am not technically a light witch yet."

Max started to get up. "Easy, Max," his mom said.

"So how are we even together in this altered reality?" Max asked. "Also, why is my father suddenly dead for years when he was alive on Friday?"

"Stacie must have been a very powerful witch to pull that off. She likely used your love for her to manipulate your life. She likely already sold her soul, and she is trying to gather more souls to grow even more powerful..."

"It would explain why I never saw her family... She must have already took their souls. But, does that mean it's already too late for him?"

"Not necessarily. In the rules of witchcraft, new moons are a good time to get rid of things in your life. With light magic, this is a time to remove negativity and obstacles from your life. I would suspect that this is the time for dark witches to unload captured souls, when the light of the night is at its weakest."

"So, we still have time to save him!"

"Yes. In order to do that, we either need to turn Stacie back to the light, or..."

"Defeat her."

"Most likely. As for why we are closer in this altered reality she created, it may be pushback from the light. You need help to return things to normal, and I happen to know about magic. The forces of light brought us closer together to undo Stacie's curses."

"I suppose that makes sense. How would we go about defeating her?"

"Holy or anointed water should do the trick. However, it's likely she knows the threat that poses to her. If she is too far gone, drinking holy water could be a death sentence..."

Max looked around. Then he noticed a can of soda on the coffee table next to him. It gave him an idea. "Natilie, could any drink be anointed?"

"I can't say for sure, but it might be possible... Why?"

"I have an idea..."

=======

Max, Natilie, and their families put their plan into place. If Max was to get his father back, he would have to stop Stacie. It took the rest of the week and a considerable amount of money, but they had all the pieces in place. Now, it was up to Max to confront Stacie.

Max would return to school the following week. During the course of the week, he contacted Stacie. He told her to meet him on the hillside where she cursed him. She was reluctant until he told her he harbored no anger towards her. She agreed and on that Friday, two weeks to the day after she cursed him, they were once again on the hill that Max's life had turned upside-down upon.

"So, Max, you aren't mad about what I did to you?"

"I mean, this body does not feel right at all. I may have to find someone to undo your curse or transition back to male with medicine. But I'm not going to ask you to undo this. It likely took a lot out of you, and I must say it's... Impressive what you're capable of!"

Stacie was shocked. Max was... Complimenting her? "Really, you think so?"

"Yeah! And besides, you have given me a whole new perspective on life. I got to see what it is like to live as a woman, complete with a period. How many guys can say that?"

"Probably not many," Stacie said, with a slight chuckle.

"I figured we should make amends and to celebrate your powers, so..." Max opened up the cooler next to him and handed Stacie an ice-cold bottle.

"No. Freaking. WAY!" she yelped as she looked at the bottle in her hands. "You found a bottle of Dark Choco-Cola?! This stuff is super rare!"

"And bewilderingly expensive, but you said you loved the stuff, so..."

"You have no idea!" she said as she gleefully and rhythmically stomped her feet. "The guy who made this stuff wasn't a chemist, he was a freaking alchemist! A mad scientist in all the best ways! Regular Choco-Cola tastes like regular cola with a hint of chocolate flavor, but this stuff tastes like you're drinking a bar of dark chocolate! It was only on shelves for a month before the guy behind it mysteriously vanished. When he did, so did his concoction. No one has ever been able to replicate his formula, even though he left it behind. Some say he moved to a remote corner of Oregon. Everyone else assumes he died. Well, if it was the latter, I'm totally using necromancy to bring him back and teach me his ways!"

"You might want to savor it, then..."

"No way, I'm cracking this open right now!" Stacie unscrewed the cap. A crack and a hiss later, it popped off. Fresh and ice cold, she whiffed the fizzy smell. That rich scent of melted chocolate. She began to greedily scarf it down, every drop tasing of a bar of rich dark chocolate, with the tingle of the fizzy carbonation. She drank it so fast, she didn't register the heat it had as it went down...

"Ohmygosh, that stuff is the best!" She then heard gurgling from the pit of her stomach. She let out a burp - one that came up with smoke. She didn't notice it, but Max did.

The plan was working.

"So, we're all good, then?" Stacie asked.

"Actually..."

Stacie burped again, this time a fireball came out. She froze. There was no way Dark Choco-Cola could do this, unless...

"Wait, did someone make this with holy water?!" she screamed, now feeling the heat of her insides burning up.

"No. We just anointed the drink itself. I hope you enjoyed it, witch!"

"Please, what is this about? I will do anything!"

"I want my father back!"

"Oh, s-" She couldn't say more, for the next burp enveloped her voice box in flames. Her powers were fading, and the holy soda was incinerating her from the inside out. Eventually, her skin took a darker tone as the heat rose to the surface. Glowing cracks enveloped her rapidly drying skin as the flames finished their work inside. She crumpled to the ground, at this point no longer among the living, as the flames engulfed her body and reduced her to ash. The dark witch was no more.

"Max!" he heard in the distance. Natilie and his mom had been watching from a distance with binoculars. "We saw it all! I can't believe you got her to drink it so quickly!" Natilie exclaimed.

"I knew how much she loved the stuff. We had been dating for a month, and it came up more than once. And given how greedy she really was, it wasn't going to be long before she downed it. I'm just glad your father's anointment worked!"

Max's mom closed her eyes. "I can feel it. He's coming back to us..."

Max looked down at his own body. He could feel light tingling. Magic forces, this time of the light, were taking control of his body. He knew by the time he woke up tomorrow, everything would be back to normal.

"We should get home now," he said.

"Do you mind if I come and stay with you?" Natilie asked. "I want to make sure everything is alright, if you don't mind..."

"Of course!" said Max. Besides, he admitted he wanted to get to know Natilie better anyway...

=======

As Max was getting ready for bed, he looked at his feminine body one more time. "I may not have liked it, but I am actually glad I got to experience this. I know who I am better because of this, and I won't take my body for granted ever again..."

He laid back. "And now I know the struggles other trans kids are facing... I kind of wish I could help them. Maybe I can learn something from Natilie?" He closed his eyes. "And even if I didn't like it myself, I kind of wish there was a real Maxine around, a sister who enjoyed being a girl... She sounded like a nice person..." he whispered as he fell asleep.

As he slept, Max knew his body was returning to normal. It didn't hurt, unlike the dark spell. Eventually, he slept comfortably in the body he remembered.

Max woke up to see his room had returned to normal. All the clothes they had purchased shortly after his transformation were gone. The walls returned to their blue color, his dressers back to grey.

He entered the hallway to be greeted by the pictures of his dad that were missing, as well as murmurs from downstairs. They were familiar... He raced down the stairs and into the kitchen to see his dad talking with Natilie and his mom. He looked like he had been through a lot, a bit traumatized by his ordeal.

"Dad, you're okay!" he yelled gleefully as he raced to hug his dad.

"I am now. Thanks to you," he replied.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, sir," Natilie said. "At least you weren't lost to the darkness..."

"I'm just glad to be alive again. I don't think I will ever forget what I saw on the other side..."

It was at this moment they heard rustling coming from the guest bedroom upstairs. Someone was up there. The door opened, and they heard the footsteps, cautious and slow, make their way down the stairs. Everyone's jaws dropped when they saw who rounded the corner: a less curvy Maxine.

"Room for one more?" she asked shyly.

"What the?"
"How?"
"Yay! I actually do have a big sis now!"

Max was stunned. "Just who are you?"

"I'm... I'm a manifestation of light magic," she replied. "All of the good feelings from the curse being lifted combined with wishes being made by everyone in the house. I came to be from the magic that remained..."

"What wishes, exactly?" Max's dad asked, looking at the rest of the family.

"Let's see... Mom wanted an older daughter to bond with. Maddie wanted an older sister, which was a part of the original curse..."

Max glared at Maddie. "What? I didn't know Stacie was a mean witch that was going to turn you into a girl!"

"And finally, Max, you got a glimpse into the life of Maxine. You didn't want to live that life, but you thought you could easily have a sister that had that life. At the same time, though, you didn't want her to be a sex object, hence my more normal proportions," she said as she gestured to her body.

The family looked at each other. It was true, most of them had wished for Maxine in some capacity. Maybe that is what Stacie used against them? But now, here she was, manifested by more benevolent forces. She took nothing from them. She really was an addition to their life. Without saying a word, they nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think after all of the craziness we've experienced in the past couple of weeks, I think we can welcome a bit of good news, like a new daughter!" Max's mom said.

"You mean it?"

The family looked at each other and nodded again. "Of course!"

Maxine came over and hugged her new family. Max admitted he was jealous of her much less curvy body - if only he had that when he was a girl, it probably wouldn't have been so bad. But he wasn't going to complain. He could feel it; He was going to get along with his twin sister just fine...

Maxine was blessed from the start. It made sense - after all, she was a manifestation of light magic. Every little detail fell into place. She overtook the life Max was forced into, although Maxine got a lot less attention from the guys, given she didn't have the same qualities Max did. The magic converted the former guest room into her new bedroom, complete with all the stuff she wanted.

She had almost all the same tastes as Max - and up until she manifested, memories too (meaning she knew what it was like to be a guy too). Max and Maxine regularly gamed together, enjoying the same games as each other. It proved a powerful bonding experience that pulled them close together. Maddie and their mom adored the new girl of the house, sharing in the more feminine interests Max avoided. Their dad was the most timid of her, given she was born of the magic originally used to ensnare his soul, but every time they hugged, he felt the gentle warmth and assurances nothing bad would ever happen to him again. It took a few months, but he came around.

Mysteriously, when Max, Natilie, and Maxine returned to school, it was as if no one had ever heard of Stacie. She never apparently existed, not even on record. Trying to figure out where this led, they managed to track down Stacie's grandparents. According to them, they never had the son or daughter that were Stacie's parents - let alone any grandchildren they would have had. Natilie guessed that when Stacie sold her parent's souls to darkness, they ceased to be for all time. Only by her own powers did she exist, hence why only those most affected by her powers remembered her...

Max and Natilie began dating shortly after the curse was broken. All the love he thought he had for Stacie was nothing compared to what he felt for Natilie now. And this time, she genuinely reciprocated the feelings. She loved him as much as he loved her. Not only that, she was more than happy to share the family knowledge of light witchcraft, spells and rituals based on love and positive energy. Max took to it well. Maxine joined in, but it almost was second nature to her, given she was magic to begin with.

Max already knew what he wanted to do with this new knowledge...

=== Epilogue - 5 years later. ===

"Are we almost there, mom?"

"Yes, sweetie, I can see the carnival from there." She had to admit this is the last thing she would have tried. But she was desperate. Because her daughter didn't seem to identify all the way as a girl, the doctors of her area refused to belive she was transgender. But she knew how happy her daughter was at the thought of being girly and of having breasts. How much more should matter?

Her husband tried to help, but he similarly came up short. That was, until he started hearing about a rumor of a couple that traveled to different carnivals at random. The rumor was beyond belief: they supposedly used magic to transform people into their desired genders! He even supposedly met one of their customers, a girl who was biologically female, but she had convincing proof she had once been male...

Now here they both were, with their daughter, chasing literal magic. They heard the miracle-granting couple was here... Max and Natilie were their names. They knew from the stories this wizard Max was a redhead, so that should stand out...

Eventually, they found a small tent that was being guarded by a redhead, but this was clearly a woman. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask...

"Excuse me, miss. You wouldn't happen to know anything about a wizard named Max, would you?"

"Who is asking?"

The parents stepped aside to reveal their transgender daughter. Her face turned red when she was out in the open. "H-Hi," she squeaked in a strained voice. She was 16 or so, but it was clear no medical interventions were taken so far.

"Ah. You're here for our services. Welcome! I am Maxine," she said as she held out her hand. "You are likely looking for my brother Max and his fiance, Natilie. However, I was brought in to help. We have been getting more popular as time has gone on. I know the rituals myself, so when we get busy, I can lend a hand."

"So this is all real, then?"

"Definitely. As a matter of fact..." She leaned in closer to lower her voice. "I am actually a being of pure magic. I was willed into existence after my brother broke free of a curse that gave him a body like mine. It's why he wants to help people with their identities!"

"My goodness, that sounds complicated."

"Eh, we've learned to live with it." She turned to the teen. "So, do you have a name, miss?"

"I like Tasha..."

"Tasha. Pretty name!" Maxine said with a smile.

Tasha blushed. A stranger just called her by the girl name she wanted!

"Please, young miss, step inside!"

Tasha entered the tent. The chairs looked light but surprisingly cozy. There was a table in the middle with a few books and binders, one binder in particular had the trans pride flag colors on it, sitting on top of the pile. In one of the seats was the red haired man her parents had been looking for, with his fiance standing behind him, her hand on his shoulder.

"You must be the young girl I heard about," Max said, smiling. "Your parents contacted me a while ago. They've tried everything for you, it sounds like..."

"The doctors say I'm not a real girl..."

"Now why would that be?"

"Because I... Don't want to get rid of..." She started quietly gesturing down.

"They do not have an open mind. I have seen a number of people, from a rainbow of identities, come through this tent. Do you know what you are, by chance?"

"What do you mean?"

Max grabbed the trans pride binder and gave it to her. "Look through the pages. Perhaps there is a known identity that resembles what you feel. If not, we can work out the details..."

Tasha flipped through the pages one by one until she stopped. A highly feminine non-binary gender, marked by desires to act in feminine ways, but has less quarrels with the body. Those who were born male who identify this way often take hormone treatments and get their hair removed, but they are usually fine with their bodies afterward, requiring little in the way of surgery. The term for this was "demigirl."

This was it. This was her! A single term to encompass all that she felt! She excitedly showed the page to Max, a wide smile on her face.

"Is that what you want, Tasha?"

She nodded eagerly.

Max cracked his knuckles, smiling. "Well then, let's get started!"

THE END.

By CrystalSeaDragon44