Author's note. sorry about the formatting error on the previous one. This one is fixed.
"So what does that key open?" Asked Muriel
"The Play-room of course," Smiled Agnes.
Muriel giggled a bit. "You always do that!"
"Well, I want her to get to know her new home dear."
Jenny had tried various doors. A lot of them were already open... but some stubbornly remained closed. She thought this house was amazing. It was so clean and tidy. The floor was polished and everything seemed spotless. Her grandmother must tidy things every day for it to be like this.
She tried one more door with the key she found...
It opened!
What could be inside? Oh my... she couldn't believe it. Toys, games, so many things. Some of them looked very old. She wondered if her mother used to play with these? There was a doll house sitting on a centre table which caught her eye... it looked like it could be for Tetra! It was huge to her and made to scale. She didn't have any idea why, but she knew it had to be very expensive.
She then looked at the stuffed animals and various other toys... she felt a little guilty suddenly. As if wondering if she really deserved any of this. Somehow she knew she was very lucky. Another doll caught her eye... it looked like it was home-made. She saw a tag her mothers name on it...
her mom made this! Maybe.. a long time ago. And her grandmother kept it?
She looked in delight at all the toys. Unlike Billy's toys, these ones just seemed natural to have. Normal for any little girl... still she wanted to play with someone. Maybe she could play with Tetra?
Jon sighed... thinking. if she made any wish, it would have to be written down. This situation was so hideously complicated. She didn't know how much the stone 'knew' of intent... given how it interpreted her original wish. 'for something interesting' to happen.
Despite this, she didn't think the stone was 'out to get her', It was not a literal genie mocking it's master. There did not seem to be any emotion behind the granting of a wish. However anything vague, could be horribly twisted. Not by the stone, but by someone making a poorly thought wish. She had spent an hour now just.. thinking of every wish she could make, and how it might be mis-interpreted.
The simplest thing to wish might be to just let people be what they wanted to be. Take it off her
hands, and give them the choice. Or even, let them choose as many times as they want between two
different forms of existence. However, what danger would such a wish bring? She didn't feel she had the right to make the choice for everyone... so at first glance, this seemed a responsible wish...
However she thought of poor Biff, who had lost a lot of her mental faculties. Could the stone really restore all that? What if Becca was no longer in a position to really make that choice for herself? How many others were in similar positions?
She could restrict the wish to those of a certain age she guessed... but at what point?
There were so many 'what ifs' to such a scenario she decided to rule it out. It would split the world even more... whatever she did, had to apply as equally as her original wish, and be short enough that it took advantage of the celestial alignment with no room for error.
She looked at the book... could it have any answer to her dilemma? She was so tempted to just open it, to find out. However the warning... that only Brittany must open it echoed in her mind. Did she know about the stone? Could she... trust another person with this knowledge?
The only person she could really trust to help her... was her grandfather. And he was gone. What if... she wished for her grandfather to come back? Would that really take so much power from the stone?
She sighed. Knowing her grandfather, such a wish was probably not possible. His note was to the point... right now though, she missed his words. The wisdom he could impart on her... and she felt so ashamed that she let him down, when given possibly the most important object in the entire world and used a wish so callously. How could she explain any of that if he was here?
Feeling a little down now, she brushed her hair. It calmed her down some... she then looked out her window, at all the changed people going by. None of them knew that their fate would be decided... none of them knew that she was the decider...
... and that was how it had to be.
Tiffany drank the coffee. She felt more awake now...
She glanced upwards, and could still see the horn, hovering just above her vision. A compass pointing her forwards... it would always be there, forever. She didn't know what she was... that was perhaps the most unsettling thing of all. Her form beforehand, she knew what she was, even if it escaped her now.
Now... it was all different.
"You look... a lot better," said Mr Saunders.
Tiffany frowned. He would say that... she's now like everyone else.
Her father glanced down awkwardly. Perhaps that was not the right thing to say.
Tiffany was still exhausted, but it wouldn't do to just lie in bed all day. "So tired..." she mumbled. She didn't feel well at all. It would take a long time before she recovered.
"I can cook something light for you..." said Mr Saunders.
The confused girl sighed. "... sure." she said in the end. She knew she was not in a position to cook for herself right now. She'll probably burn the house down. When was the last time she even ate anyway?
"..What ... am... I..." She said, her scared voice coming out unintended.
"I don't know," Said her father. "You're my daughter... and... I love you," he said softly.
She felt the horn on her head with her hands, and the white haze surrounding her. None of this made any sense...
"Maybe a shower would make you feel better... refresh yourself," Said Mr Saunders. "I'll have some food ready for you when you come out"
"Just.. a sandwich will do," said Tiffany. A shower was better then nothing. She rose from the chair, to go to the bathroom while her father got some ingredients from the kitchen.
In the bathroom, Tiffany once again removed her clothes, noting the strange glowing lines running across her body. She felt disgusted with herself... maybe a shower would at least help. She turned on the water, surprised by how water felt on her. It was like she had not had a shower in a long time. She lathered the soap, and out of curiosity tried to wash away the lines on her front and back.
They stayed on her skin, glowing luminously.
Indeed the shower cubicle and water seemed to be giving a soft glow if anyone saw her.
She stepped out of the shower, dripping wet, and ran a towel around her body. She had an idea on how to deal with the glowing lines...
The horned girl stepped back into her room, to take out her make-up. She carefully applied the powder to the lines, similar to how one would hide any other blemish on the skin. She took a powder matched to her skin tone, and carefully applied it over the lines. It was similar to an artificial tanned appearance if she did this right...
the effort made her feel a bit more awake, and slowly, her efforts were rewarded. The lines were covered by the make-up. She glanced at her back, noting there were still some lines on the back of her shoulder blades... but that didn't matter so much. The majority of her glow seemed to be covered up.
With great satisfaction, she started to put on some comfortable clothes. Jogging bottoms and a T-shirt, on top of her bra. Aside from her horn, which still gleamed, she appeared to be back to her normal self.
She returned back to the kitchen, to see the grilled cheese and ham sandwich her father made.
Wordlessly, she bit into it, feeling if only a little like her old self.
"Hello Rachel," said David's mother. She was..a still a little stunned to see a naked devil girl walking around with her angelic daughter that was once her son...
"I'd like her to stay for dinner mom," said David.
"Well... okay," she nodded. "Would you like some coffee?"
"I could really go for some hot chocolate if you have any," Rachel grinned, her devil tail swishing behind her.
