Arthur.

What? What? What? How?

My long-time friend just turned into a girl, apparently? She touched the drawing on the ground and turned into a full-on woman. She looks great, by the way. New haircut with two curly loopy thingies on the side. But same hair colour, same clothes, same eyes, same everything, but girl, stunning.

She had already been the only person who made me want to look at something – at someone – rather than ceilings. But now… It was a challenge to look away.

Or maybe that was because of the control spell, now that I think about it.

She gasped and checked her hands, then took her dress in them. She tried to feel the fabric with what I can only guess was a sparkle of awe. Then she let go of it and gave it a twirl. That must be nice. She hurried to the window to see what her reflection looked like, and then came back dancing a little. Now I can see why she dressed like that earlier. I think I’m piecing this together.

But wait.

How could magic do that? That wasn’t allowed! That shouldn’t even be possible. If it was, I would’ve known. Gender was not something you could change, I knew that much. Nature made sure we were either one or the other, and nothing could change that. It was the way the world worked. It’s very simple to wrap your head around: two genders, you add them together, and you get a baby or something. A very efficient system. I’d learned all of that. When I was little, I tried to ask one time – one time! – to a knight who took care of me if I could be a girl. He burst out laughing, told me it was not how things worked, and gave me two weeks of extra work at the stables. And when I get told off, I know better than to repeat my error, so I made sure to shut it after that event.

Maybe I thought about this all wrong, maybe she was a woman all along, but she was trapped in a man’s body? Someone must’ve cursed her. Gosh, that would be horrible. I’d hate it if that happened to me. I mean, not if I was trapped in a woman’s body, because that’d be okay, I’d be chill about it. But if I were a woman trapped in a man’s body… Urhg, shivers!

Also, she was crying now. That was bad. Maybe it wasn’t working as intended? Maybe she – he? – wanted to stay a guy? Did Thnak do this?

“This...” She sighed. “This is the best feeling ever. I can’t tell you how much I wanted that.” Oooh, right, those weren’t sad tears but happy ones, my bad, I always mixed up those two.

So, yes, she indeed got what she wanted. That’s great. Good for her. That’s really nice. That must be so nice. That must feel so good to finally be able to be who you are, to allow yourself to shape your form as you see fit… There’s only so much that exercising could do in that regard. I discovered that pecs are great, but they’re not a proper substitute for breasts. She was having it all, she worked hard to design her enchanted doodle and it paid off. She deserved all of that. She… she worked so hard to get that. I had not. I could not... 

I should not.

“Hey, hey. You’re crying too.” She sat back in front of me, grabbing my free hand with hers and cradling it gently. “It’s okay,” she whispered, wiping tears and bits of frangipane off my face with her other hand. “Hello again. I’m Lucia. I am not a man, but I am still your friend. I hope you feel the same way.” She smiled.

Lucia, my dear friend, I felt way more than that.

And I guess now I could feel all of that without me being seen as gay… Yay. Little victories…

She was so talented. So brilliant and beautiful.

I swallowed.

She stared at me with her pretty eyes. “I’m sorry I never told you before. But you know how the king is. And the rest of the castle isn’t much better. They would… They–” She trailed off, looking upset.

‘Lucia, never mind them, the castle is probably burning by now. And I think you’re the one who knows best.’ If there was one person I trusted more than the knights, it was her.

Then, as if she'd heard me, she snapped back. “But you care, you’re okay with this, aren’t you?”

Yes! I yes’d a horizontal line. 

I didn’t even know switching genders was a possibility. But if Lucia can do it, why not? I guess it’s bad and evil or something, according to the king. But first, the king was wrong, look at Lucia! She did it! And second, I was not sure the king would be a thing any longer. So I don’t know. Maybe the most important thing right now is her. I want her to be happy. She seemed happy now. Like, properly excited and lively. She deserved that. I couldn’t break that. After all, my job was to protect her. So yes, I was okay with this, more than okay.

But still, something ached in my gut.

She wrapped her arms around me. “Thank you. I’m sorry, I took some space with…" She let go of me and gestured to herself, "...all of this.”

I no’d with the pen, but I don’t think she noticed.

“I hoped it could maybe help with your thing?”

Could it? Noooooo…

Nope. No way. No, that was a terrible idea. I knew where she was going, and that would end with, with…

Consequences?

This would change things. Definitely.

My mind just screamed.

But then what? My life would just be like that now? Stuck in an unusable body for the rest of existence? How pathetic.

I had stripped every bit of myself to be sure I wasn’t making anyone uncomfortable. See what I got? Nothing whatsoever.

I had nothing left.

So fuck it all.

Let’s smash this pink duck out into the void. I wanted to move already, I wanted my body back, and if that was the way, then so be it.

I nodded.

“Wow, okay, nodding. Goddess, we’re making progress. I'm proud of you!” She seemed thrilled by what was happening.

And I’m not gonna lie, I was too. After all, breaking rules with Lucia had kind of become one of my favourite activities. Changing gender wasn’t that far from stealing pastries.

“So, erm, can I, like, use heavy artillery? Asking you the big scary question?” She asked hesitantly.

Yup. Let’s jump right in. I wrote ‘yes’, in full letters. I was getting shivers down my spine. We were gonna do it. I was gonna sin so hard the knights would implode, I hoped.

She smirked. “So. I think I got that bit incorrect earlier. Tell me, dear friend, what is your name?”

That sent a flurry of ideas through my head. So many ideas. I can’t deny I wanted to do that for years. And from all of them, one stood out very strongly. I had to try it.

I wrote a ‘J’.

I was gonna be amazing.

I added an ‘A’.

I was gonna be hot. That would be evil, but so was Thnak, and they were a snack.

I traced an ‘N’.

I would fight the world to defend Lucia. She was the best. I hope I could show her how much she meant to me.

I rounded off with an ‘E’.

“Alright Jane,” my whole body clicked upon hearing my name, “do you want to be a girl?”

“Hell yeah.” I smiled, then lifted myself up and touched the thing.

I felt a surge of warmth spreading through my fingers, swiftly making its way up my arm. I went all stars and electric when it reached my core. Dozens of little shudders spread first to my head, then my other arm, my waist and finally my legs. And when I felt my toes tingle one last time I couldn’t see them properly because my boobs were in the way.

I was grinning. I was Jane now.

I finally regained control over my body.

Jane.

What a relief! I lifted Lucia and squeezed her with all my love. I just wanted her to know that she did good today, she did really good.

“Wow,” she choked. “Jane, you’re still remarkably... mighty,” she commented, gasping for air.

Ah. What? Ah! Good! I don’t know why, but I thought I would lose a bit of progress on that front, but no! It looked like I kept all my hard work, I couldn’t be happier about that.

I loosened the hug and let out a husky laugh. My heart fluttered. New voice. Not that far from before, but just that tad bit more feminine. I won’t tolerate anyone stealing it now. It was mine, and I loved it. It was perfect. Whispering things would be so much fun.

Of course I started to happy cry. Everything felt so good! My body finally moved and did things when I wanted it to do things. Like, I could just pat Lucia and tell her, “Thank you, Lucia,” with my hot voice, and send her aflutter.

There, I just did it.

She eep’ed, then grabbed me tighter. “No, thank you, Jane,” she mumbled through my padded shirt. “You’re so resilient, you did all the work, you figured it out. I never would've expected this day to turn out this way.”

I frowned. She was the magic one. She deserved the praise! “Lucia, listen to me, you’re brilliant, and this behaviour is not acceptable. You did great, understood?”

“Y-yes ma’am. But still, this was a group effort.” Seeing how she got nervous and the pouts she displayed, I'd say girl Lucia was definitely an improvement.

“Yeah, m’kay, I can work with that.” I ruffled her hair. “Aaawh, your hair is so soft. I can’t wait to play more with it,” I blurted.

She giggled. “That’s gay.”

“What? No! You’re a woman now!” I protested.

“So are you, you big dingus.”

She had a point.

But that sent butterflies into my frangipane-filled tummy. I am a woman now. I never thought that was a possibility, but here we are. “Fair. I’m not very straight, I guess. I don’t know, I don’t pay attention to gender that much…” I looked at her with passion. “You know, I used to think I was gay for you, but then you turned into a woman, so I thought I was mostly straight then. And now everything is back to being gay again, I ruined it all!” I giggled.

She was blushing very hard. Fiddling with her fingers and looking away. Right, I said The Thing out loud, didn’t I? I had gotten so used to people not hearing me.

She looked back at me. Crap. “Y-you…” she started.

“Yes I guess I...” My face started to warm up. “Do you…”

“I-I think so, yeah…”

“Can I?”

“Let’s try.” She nodded.

Communication is hard, kisses are easier.

She was still a bit smaller than me, so she had to tiptoe her way to my face. She cupped it gently and closed the gap between our lips. I don’t know if it was some magic left from earlier but the touch was electric. Her lips were so soft compared to mine. My heart was filled with warmth and comfort. A big knot I didn’t know I had in my throat unlocked itself. And I let out a sound.

“Goddess, you’re gorgeous, Jane,” she murmured, letting go of my lips. I’m gorgeous? I’m gorgeous! Wooh, my heart did some things. So I kissed her back, trying to give her similar feelings.

We tasted each other like that for a while. Sometimes releasing for a second to breathe and look the other in the eyes only to go back for another round.

Then I let go and went to her ear. “I think I like you, Lucia, I've liked you for a long time,” I cooed.

She squeezed me very fiercely, for a little mage. “Yeah. I think I do too.”

We stayed the last few hours of the night there, taking a very well-deserved rest. I mean, I wasn’t really that tired, I had basically not moved for an eternity. So I did some push-ups, and Lucia took the very well-deserved rest on top of me.

Okay, I confess, I might have fallen asleep too at some point. B-but that was because she was just so darn cute and cuddly, I couldn’t resist!

When I woke up, Lucia had slipped in front of me, facing the same way as me. She was just perfectly shaped to fit into my embrace.

She was already awake and playing with sparkles of fire, trying to land them in the tiny window of the wood stove. When she understood I was up too, she turned to me. “Hey Jane.” 

It took some time to completely process what she'd just said. Like. Who was Jane again? Then it hit me. Yes. I was Jane again. That made me want to take her in my arms and show her first-hand all the happiness those words created in my tummy.

“I hope your nap was agreeable. But judging by the way you cuddled me to death, I suppose it was perfect,” she grinned. 

“Your fault. You shouldn’t have been that plush-like.” I smiled and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“A-anyway.” She was blushing. “I-I wanted to ask… I want to get out of here. With you.”

Get out? Could we do that? I never considered that was a possibility. What else was there other than the kingdom? This was The Cliff, there wasn’t any flat ground for thousands of kilometres, as far as I knew. To be honest, I didn’t know if there was any flat land at all, except for little havens like this one. “How? Isn’t this like the only place where anyone can live?” I asked, scratching my chin, wondering for a few very awkward seconds where my stubble had gone.

She got up and smirked. “Did the knights tell you that?”

Yes, they did, you smartie, who else could have. I stood up too and nodded, sighing.

“And where do you think Thnak comes from? They're not from the castle, nor the mines you know,” she added.

“I don’t know! You tell me.” I delighted myself with another syrupy laugh, then stuck my tongue out at her.

“Jane.” She looked the way she looked when she was about to feed your brain with weird magic facts. You go girl. “Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane, Jane…” She faked a sigh, wagging a finger in my direction.

Please never stop saying my name, Lucia. It made me grin silly. Crap, I was really falling for her hard, she was so cute and excited.

“There might not be a ground anywhere, but there’s definitely other cities, other places to live. The cliff is full of life and secrets! Okay, okay, so, first, I’ve read there’s a city to the east, entirely built by humans, stretching towards the clouds.” She did motion with her hands, trying to imitate the shape of the city. “I heard they’re trying to construct a bridge to see what’s out there! It already stretches for dozens of kilometres. That said, I don't think they’re doing great out there, the bridge keeps falling apart… And! And! There’s also a huge desert down south, where it is said that, there, the ground is made of sand that falls towards the cliff! A-and there’s a place where they build automatons that fly in the void, no magic involved!” Her eyes were brimming with stars. I wanted to kiss them. Unfortunately, you can’t kiss eyes, I don’t think they would appreciate that. “Goddess, the wonders out there Jane… You wouldn’t even believe how many tales of great cities there are, how many wonderful caves people have built wacky things inside, I want to see them all. And I want to see them with you,” she told me.

That seemed wonderful, but I felt something holding me back. The castle, maybe? I wasn’t sure I was ready to leave yet. I still felt a sense of duty towards… I don’t know, the castle staff? The ones who didn’t suck too much. Yeah, okay no that’s stupid. But I can’t leave like that yet. I wanted to say goodbye at least, in a way.

And obviously there was that one thing I just couldn’t leave without.

“You… You don’t want to come with me?” she asked, her voice stained by sadness. “I thought you might want to… After all that happened–”

“No no, you've got it wrong. Let’s go out there Lucia, let’s see your places! Did you forget? I’m still your knight, I have to protect you, wherever you go.” I winked and took her hands in mine. “But could we just, I don’t know, say goodbye or something?” Even if we couldn’t see much from here, I took a look towards the window. The storm had stopped, so it was as good a time as any to go back.

“Oh stupid me, I really thought you wouldn’t come.” She giggled, then she let go of me entirely, and I suppressed a gasp. No, Lucia, come back, you’re so comfy! Not aware of the hole she left in my heart, she swiftly strode to the window to look in the direction of the castle. “Okay.” She sighed. “If you’re sure about this, let’s give this place a last visit. I guess I could use some books for the journey ahead.”

She turned to see me again and sprayed her hand, inviting me to follow her.

Lucia.

And most importantly, I was not done with Thnak. I wanted answers.

I grabbed back my satchel and took Jane's hands. Of course, I made sure to let a bit of air still go through the little window of the fire stove. So as to not set up a chimney fire here. And we left the rune as is, on the floor. Who knows, maybe someone will have a fun time stumbling upon it.

I tried to pull Jane outside with all my puny strength. I was desperately attempting to make her move past the door.

But she decided otherwise.

“No, bad idea,” she said with a mischievous grin. “Here, you carried me on the way out, I'll carry you on the way back.” Then she lifted me.

“What. Jane! I disapprove! This is so embarrassing! Put me back, you evil pilferer,” I protested, groaning and throwing my arms around while secretly enjoying the way she put me in a princess carry.

I quickly got used to her embrace, marveling in the way her muscles felt like little cushions. She started playing with my hair again. “Do you want me to put you down now?” she murmured in my ears.

“No. It's alright.” I pouted.

So she carried me through the plateau. From here, we could see how the castle was doing. And it was not doing well. Smoke was pouring out the windows like an upside-down waterfall, all the banners and flags were set aflame. But the air was surprisingly calm. No sounds of battle were ringing out in the cliff like before and birds were back flying in the environs. It felt serene.

At the time we got our way back to the first set of caves, I tried to get her attention. “Jane?” My voice was echoing through the various rock formations. “Is there any other reason you want to go back there?”

She shifted my position a bit so that she could see me better. Goddess, she was so beautiful, I nearly missed her answer. “The recipe for their frangipane,” she muttered, her cheeks red.

“The– … You’re adorable.” I turned forward, lifted a finger and declared, “Okay, onwards! Let’s get this recipe and get out of here!” That got a laugh from my new girlfriend (?).

When we arrived at the stairs leading into the castle, she unfortunately had to let me go. She led the fray by peeking her head out at every corner. This part of the castle was still empty. But we heard voices from the sections below. The kitchen was clear. So we made our way in and combed the place inside out, trying not to make too much of a ruckus.  

We miiight have found some more pastries, and Jane miiight have eaten one or two. And I miiight have kissed her to have a go at the taste. But still, we made sure to stay completely silent.

That wasn’t sufficient.

“I’d like to say you haven’t changed a bit, but that would be lying very much.” Thnak’s voice was coming from behind us. I snapped back to see the silhouette of the lord, drawn by the light coming from outside the room. I heard Jane drawing her sword. “Please... don’t… try to fight me again,” they continued, scrunching their nose. “I only wanted the king. Now that I have him captured I will entrust him to my clients. They will be taking charge of this castle right away. I believe that you two didn't have the best relationship with the former ruler?” They raised an enquiring eyebrow.

Jane didn’t sheathe her sword right away, but she loosened her grip. “He… He certainly won’t want one anymore, I think,” she replied.

“That is most certainly true. Perhaps the new owners will be more accepting. Speaking of them, do you know where this kingdom’s riches come from?”

“The mines,” I answered.

“Exactly, little mage. And the miners are taking back what’s theirs, I only gave them a helping hand.” They grinned, giving a twirl to their moustache.

That was a relief, actually. My fears about Thnak were rapidly fading away. The place would require some time to become somewhere liveable, but I could afford a little hope. I only wished they wouldn't try to redo the king thing again.

“You said you used the rune,” Jane inquired. “Were you a woman before?”

“Jane, rude,” I loudly whispered as I punched her in the side.

They snarked. “None of your business, little knight. I do not deal with that kind of language anymore.”

“Sorry. My apologies Sir– Ma'am– Your Eminence...,” she mumbled, finally putting her sword away.

They threw a last little maniacal cackle and then they left the room. “I believe we're done here. Feel free to take what you need in the castle,” they finally added, their voice reverberating through the halls.

We stayed there, watching the now empty doorway for a while.

Then Jane burped.

And I answered, “I like you too.”

She guffawed and hugged me stupid. “You’re cute. Anything you want from your office, Lucia? I don’t think we're gonna find that recipe.”

While still engaged in the tight hug and recovering from the emotional healing burst she unleashed by calling me cute, I caught a reflection in the hallway, where Thnak had been a moment ago.

I got back down and strode towards the thing. “Nah, don’t worry about my things.” I answered her, taking what appeared to be a sheet of paper the light from the hallway had shone back on. “That being said, there’s a manual I’ve been thinking about that could be useful for some–,” I trailed off. Oh. “Jaaane, come here. I think I have just what you need.”

“What’s that?” she asked, already taking the piece of paper I handed her. That was the recipe, with a xoxo at the end. “They have read my mind!!”

I gave her a capital-L Look.

“Yes, good thinking Lucia, they have read my mind…” She nodded, red spreading in her face. She inspected the paper once again, then squeaked, grinning and folding it in her pocket. 

Wow, Jane squeaking. I didn’t know I needed to hear that so bad.

“They’re weird but I’m warming up to them.” She smiled. “Let’s go get you some books and stuff.”

We packed books, recipes and other fun things in two big backpacks. While hopping back and forth to our respective chambers, I caught sight of the miners and other people from the staff talking with Thnak in the throne room. There were no signs of the knights or the king. The place was absolutely wrecked, they busted the throne on the side and placed a few tables close together to form a big board. They had scattered maps, documents, and tools all over, they were working hard.

My original plan was to leave, never to return. But who knows, maybe one day we could come and take a peek to see if this place had a good transition too.

Dawn was breaking over the cliff. I was atop my girlfriend (!), like yeah, my two legs were spread around her pretty head, and I was drooling over a map we stole from the library. The only thing in front of us was the castle bridge, and after that, we could get access to the endless meanders of the cliff’s indented paths and roads. I was so excited I think I dented Jane’s armour with leg zoomies.

“Lucia? Have you picked a destination yet? If you want to head north, I don’t think I can carry you very far, that would be a lot of climbing to do,” Jane said.

I patted her hair. So near, so reachable, I couldn’t resist. And I hummed, “I don’t know, the nearest big town is that sky bridge city, about thirty kilometres east. From there, there seems to be a lot of possibilities… I think we should try that location first!”

“And you sure you aren’t picking that one because I could carry you all the way.” I could hear her smirking.

I mocked a gasp and leaned forward, so I could see her face upside down, “Me? Never! I’ll have you know I take care of my steed. Don’t worry, I will make you hover a bit, later, as a treat.” I was starting to get a lot of blood in my head.

She giggled with her deep and warm voice. “That’s a deal, love. Let’s hurry before we lose precious sunlight hours then.”

And so she started to speed up to cross the bridge.

I was totally not startled and totally did not nearly fall off. Jane totally did not laugh, then held my face in order to attempt a kiss in the most awkward of positions. My body was supple but not that much, so we ended up just kissing each other's noses.

At that moment, survival stopped and our life started, we finally had control back. At that moment, we left our prisons.

~ Fin ~

Querelle

Thank you so much for reading, and for your delightful comments! Have a great day! or night! Check out my girlfriend's story: I Just Want to get High on Progesterone. I'm hungry now, gotta eat something, byeee.