Grasped and held by giant hands the three children were taken back towards the hill they had entered this strange world. It was starting to turn dark and bright stars lit the sky. Stars that looked… remarkably similar in constellations to the Earth if one paid attention to it. The moon itself looked identical which was strange given the two suns of the morning.
Anne felt particularly uncomfortable given the length of her body, the tail she now had poking out against the arms of the giant. The worst thing was she was being held by… Talara, the Giant child whom was extremely affectionate towards her new friend.
It wasn’t that Talara wasn’t being gentle- this time anyway. She was being a lot more careful and considerate to Anne, though the young giantess really seemed keen to want to know everything about her. Anne in turn had tried to answer her questions about her world and for some reason the other giants insisted that talking about where she was from would help her get back for some reason. “So you make these machines called… Kaars? That’s such a weird name! Is that because it’s like a kaaart?”
“Yes- well- no.. I don’t know!” the snake girl glanced to the other girls. Mikey was perched on Oro’s shoulder. The huge bearded giant with his whispy white beard was casting a moonlit shadow making it difficult to see the (relatively) small harpy up there. There was no getting out of being with this girl who moments earlier she had insisted to become a pet to.
Though their conversations were awkward, Anne did want to learn more of her world too. “What’s giant country like?”
Talara smiled. “Tamarith? Pretty nice. We don’t often get visitors, given how dangerous it is for most. Honestly you’re lucky a frog didn’t eat you!” She giggled. “The harpies here live in the forest and go across our lands for the season. There are mermaids too in the oceans which I like to bring a present to sometimes. Mom and dad won’t let me swim with them though, I make too many waves. The fairies live in the forest but don’t tend to talk to anyone. Oh, and we have a dragon if we want to go other places past the sea.”
“A- a dragon?!”
“Yes. How else would a giant go somewhere?” she smiled innocently.
Alice the rabbit-girl was nervous as she held this new amulet Oro had given her. It was a fairly innocuous thing… a simple blue gem and necklace. She hoped it would work. She was being held by Ama’kari. Oro’s wife was pretty curious herself about the amulet. “You are quite lucky, my husband doesn’t usually share out magic so easily. I don’t think he’s shown me a single light spell since we got married. It would be nice to see it work.”
“Magic… magic is real?” Alice asked. “It doesn’t look magical.” What is it that made it magic?
“Magic is real, on this side of the mirror,” Ama said gently. “Your world is young you will figure it out eventually.”
“So… how do you use magic?” Alice asked her ears now motioning towards the giant. Her ears literally turning with full attention. “We can do little tricks back on our world. Mine’s the best!”
Ama laughed. “How best to explain it?” she rubbed her cheek. “A little bit of magic came to you… and you transformed. Magic exists in all things in some way. Everything here has a little bit of magic that makes them.. work. The mist acts as both boundary and gateway towards worlds as yours and ours. Magic flows and manifests in different ways keeping reality balanced.”
“Our world is being affected by it,” Alice said. “We’re trying to find a cure.”
Ama shrugged. “Perhaps something has caused an imbalance in your world.. it all happens in different ways. Sometimes natural other times artificial.”
“What’s going to happen to our world?”
Ama became quiet at that. She gave it a lot of careful thought. “That honestly depends on you and those like you.” She said cryptically. “I would love to tell you more but.. everyone experiences it differently. If magic was real, what would your world do with it?”
Alice sighed. She had no idea what people would do but.. she was somewhat hopeful. “I’m not going to remember much of this am I...”
“Hopefully you’ll remember the important parts. Just concentrate on getting home. Ah, is this the one?”
Oro stood above the small shrub that was barely at his feet. He knelt down and put on the largest set of glasses one had ever seen. His huge eyes narrowed down. “Hm,” he growled. “It’s started to heal but it’s still viable with a bit of a push. Perhaps we make this a bit larger first...” He started to uproot some other bushes with ease. He carefully planted each until they were all together. “Come now little Anne, you stand here...”
Talara knelt down as she let go of the snake carefully setting her down. “I’m gonna miss you Anne,” Talara whispered. “If you want to stay you can- I won’t even make you wear anything you don’t want to!” She looked hopefully to her.
Anne looked at her awkwardly. Why did this kid have to be so weird about it. “Uh- I really don’t want to be a snake-girl. I want to go home.”
“But you said people would tease you there! You’ll be happy here. I can give you anything you want!” Talara insisted looking hopeful to her new friend.
“I should go back to my family and stuff.” Anne said quickly.
Mikey stood next to Anne. “So, Alice will just run into this bush at full speed and we’ll be sent back home?”
“Yes...” Oro nodded. “But there might be one or two changes- well- you’ll have to figure that out later.” The giant sighed. “There isn’t much I can do about that. Reality is somewhat… insistent and doesn’t like things not making sense. A little bit of magic will therefore leak to.. deal with paradoxes.”
“I don’t think the children will understand this dear,” Ama giggled. She set Alice down carefully some distance from the bush. “Is this far enough?”
“Yes that will be fine,” Oro nodded. “Now you two, hold each other tightly and don’t let go.”
“wait- nobody said anything about- I’m not hugging her!” Anne gasped at the very notion of-
Oro gave a stern look. “Hold each other tightly. Don’t. Let. Go.”
The snake girl and the harpy looked at each other awkwardly. Eventually Anne nodded. “Don’t make this weird.” She muttered as she held onto Mikey.
“I’m not really able to hold you that tightly with these wings,” The harpy muttered back.
The snake girl gripped the weird feathered harpy with her arms. It felt… weird!
Oro folded his massive arms then nodded. “Alright… Alice, run as fast as you can!”
Biff jumped out from her bed- and almost forgot she was now walking on four legs. She felt herself slump forward, with an irritated growl and a twisted curl on her lips. “That stupid girl- why won’t she answer the phone!” The sphinx woman felt an acute sense of fear. She knew ‘something’ was going on. It was tickling her right in her senses. If she had whiskers- well- she best not consider that but there was something in the very air that urging her faster and faster to get to Sarah’s house.
Was this a delusion? Was she going crazy? She felt herself suddenly get an acute itch on her stomach and had to scratch it. “Ah- damn it- what’s wrong with me-” She had to focus. She ran quickly down the stairs.
“Biff? Is something the matter?” Miss Collins asked her attracted by her bounding steps.
“I need to go!” She cried out. “Just open the front door- I need to talk to someone!” The sphinx looked at the impending door scratching at it.
“What’s wrong-” Though she quickly opened her front door for her.
Biff ran out into the street. She glanced around quickly. “Got to get to Sarah...” she muttered. It was on the way to Jon’s house but.. she needed to get there faster. She glanced at her wings- a bit self consciously as other people were just now looking at her. “Please let these wings actually work!” She tried to move her wings…
It was an unusual feeling. She had never actually tried to move her wings much before. Muscles seemed almost ‘glad’ to be finally being put use felt a little bit stiff. Biff hunched lower instinctively, as her wings became primarily in thought. Her eyes closed she tired to focus.“Fly…”
She felt her paws start to leave the ground. She looked startled as she realized her entire body was now up in the air! She looked down at the gaping eyes of the other people on the street now watching her in shock. Her hair waving behind her at the gust of air. She almost froze- almost. Her wings seemed to though think for themselves a bit, and knew she didn’t want to stop or fall down thankfully.
They moved as if with the insistent beating of her heart. A distinct rhythm that pulsed and pushed her higher and higher. She stared at the dark sky in quiet wonder as she soared hovering above the very trees and houses. How was this even possible? Her huge body shouldn’t be able to do this! Yet it was… she was flying. Her wings somehow… just somehow! Somehow doing the impossible.
She tucked in her tangling paws and started to go towards Jon’s house. She needed him first otherwise Sarah was far less likely to listen.
Though for the first time since her transformation…
...she had never felt so free.
Jon was just getting out of the house. He had no idea what was going on. Biff suggested it was to do with Mikey though but… how? Did she know something? He was about to get into her car when she glanced up at a flying figure. He for a moment hoped it was Mikey but it was even more of a surprise to see a huge flying lion with wings..
“Biff?!” Jon gasped.
Biff landed incredibly gracefully in front of the house. Her paws finally on the ground with a sudden gust of her wings. Jon had never seen her move her wings and they seemed to make her look so magestic. She was standing on all fours again, her legs all now shaken. “Jon...” Biff stammered. “… are you alright- did anything happen?”
Jon looked at her still gaping at what he saw and.. even more at what he felt. “No- nothing’s happened. Are you alright? He was taken aback by her concern. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t explain it but we need to get to Sarah and we need to get there quickly!”
Jon nodded. “Alright well I’ll drive-”
“No!” Biff growled. That would take too long. “.. okay, just get on my back.”
Jon looked at Biff. Did.. did he hear her right? Did Biff just ask him to… “What?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Just get on my back and I’ll fly us much faster then that stupid car!” She knelt down turning around giving Jon… a bit of an eyeful of her changed body again. Her tail waving behind didn’t help his conflicted emotions.
Jon stared- but snapped out of it. He grasped walked carefully to her and slid a leg over her lion-like torso. The fur there was… kind of soft. He felt her warmth and glanced back to her tail. There was such an alluring beauty to the sphinx that he was struggling to contain- well- any indication that he was aroused by it. He begged and prayed that Biff wasn’t able to sense it.
Biff suddenly started her wings and as before flew upward. Jon screamed and put his arms around Biff’s neck. The sphinx girl coughed. “A- little- looser.” She gasped.
“Sorry.” Jon was blushing. He could feel it… and he prayed the blood would stay at his cheeks then anywhere else.
Biff flicked her tail in annoyance. A guy was.. near her. Her… she could feel her body react to it- she could actually feel it! She ignored it- they were just stupid hormones and meant nothing. This body was making her betray herself. She wasn’t- she had no interest in Jon!
She flew quickly, darting past all the buildings in a direct route towards Sarah’s house. Though navigating from above was a bit trickier. Fortunately the town itself was quite small and soon she saw sufficient landmarks to get to her street.
Alice jumped easily back into the bush at a speed she had never felt before. The magical amulet around her neck felt so warm. There was a sudden zap and push as she entered into the bush. Anne and Mikey held onto each other as suddenly all three children were sent to a hazy place…
Alice was still running but didn’t seem to be actually ‘moving’ cause in some strange current. At a thought Anne used her long tail to brush against her, while holding onto Mikey. They were locked like a chain in a maelstrom. There was no ground.. no up or down.. all around them was just this strange mist. Alice continued to run, as she had been told to. She could almost see a light at the end-
Zap!
The three of them were suddenly scattered. Anne lost her grip of the other two as all three suddenly seemed to just fall into a strange light…
Mikey suddenly was in her room. She looked about in confusion. “What the heck?” Something was different though… very different. Her room looked a lot more feminine then it ever had before. In a bit of a panic she quickly ran down the hallway to see her brother. “Jon?” she called. Though he wasn’t there. However her sister Zoe was in her room.
“Hey sis,” Zoe smiled to Mikey. “Something wrong?”
“I- I was gone for a while.” Mikey stammered.
“Huh? Well if you were were I never noticed,” She giggled. “Want to hear my latest album?”
“Where’s Jon? What happened to my room?” The harpy asked quickly.
“Jon should be sleeping but I think I heard him go out. I think he’s on some secret date with that sphinx girl.” Zoe gave a twinkling smile. “I suppose you’ll understand when you’re older.”
“But what about my room?” The harpy groaned. “Come on look!”
Zoe was dragged to have a look at her sister’s room. It looked pretty normal to her. A nice wide plank of wood at the top to let her sleep, The curtains were made a nice shade of pink. A few shades of green plants to feel comfortable for the harpy. The Goth girl looked at it all very confused. “What’s wrong?” She asked. “It looks like it’s always had sis,” She said confused. “I mean you always liked it like this before.”
“What do you mean!” Mikey gasped as she looked at all the strange things in her room. This was the room for- well- a girl! A harpy girl! “My bed wasn’t like this!” She insisted. “I had my toys in a cupboard!”
“You must have been having a weird dream sis,” Zoe patted her head affectionately, tickling the top of her feathers on her head in a way that felt kind of.. nice. “Tell you what, we’ll go to the park together tomorrow. You can show off your flying skills. You’ve become so good at it lately.” She then hugged her little sister.
Mikey started to realize Zoe was acting a bit.. off with her. True Zoe had always treated her like she was a girl now but… now it was like she was ‘really’ treating her that way! “Zoe?” Mikey asked quietly. “How long have I been a harpy?”
Zoe looked at her oddly. “Well- that’s a weird question. You’ve always been a harpy silly,” she laughed. “Come on you should go back to bed before mom finds out you’re staying up so late.”
Alice glanced around. She was back in her house now… “Was that all just… a dream?” She remembered… she still remembered. She felt a sense of relief that she could remember the giants. Though something here was different.. she couldn’t put her finger on it.
It was pretty late as she went to the kitchen. Looking around… what was wrong here?
“Alice?” said a voice.
Alice gasped. “Ah- Mom?”
“Actually Dad,” the ‘rabbit girl’ laughed. “Having a late night drink of water?”
Alice looked at her ‘dad’ in confusion. She was a rabbit woman every way she could see. She had breasts and certainly a female figure. She was then approached by yet another rabbit woman! The two seemed to kiss each other making Alice look away. “Uh- yeah. Just getting some water!”
Great.. her parents were now both rabbits!
Anne looked around. “Why am I sh’till a shnake girl?” she stared down at her snake tail. Her room was huge! She had a very bad feeling. She was… small?! “AAH!” She cried out.
Suddenly her mother came in. She looked just as big as a giant! “Oh dear Anne did you have a bad dream? Don’t worry mom’s here!”
Anne tried to say something. “Why- Am I- sh’mall!”
“Oh you’re in such a rush to grow up arn’t you?” Her mother held the snake girl closely. “Don’t worry you’ll be five before you know it!”
Anne started to cry… and her mother did all she could to pacify her.
Jon and Biff had finally made it to Sarah’s house. Jon was almost sad to be off Biff- but was certain not to mention it. “So should I just knock?”
“Yeah- just make sure she’s okay.”
Jon knocked at the door politely. This was weird enough.
A man opened the door. “Hello?” He said.
Jon wasn’t sure what to say. “We’re … here to talk to Sarah?”
“Who?” The man asked. “Sorry mate I think you got the wrong house.”
Biff growled. “This is her house! Where is Sarah!” the sphinx demanded.
“Sorry… nobody by that name lives here.” The man insisted.
