Riley smiled as she sat on the couch between her parents. It was strange to think how much had changed in the last week - first her dad's change into an attractive young woman in an anime style, then her mom intentionally exposing herself and changing into a young man to match, and then her...their change from two siblings into one child...a magical girl. And surviving an attack from...some kind of interdimensional goblins or something, that hadn't been a picnic either for Charlie and Anna or for their parents. Yet here they were, still a family, still happy together.
She still felt a little concern for her parents; while her mom seemed convinced that the changes she'd observed were minor...what if they weren't? What if they really were becoming somebody else? She knew the changes were noticeable, yet her mom and dad hadn't noticed, or had dismissed them if they had. On the other hand, it wasn't like they were incapable of realizing things were different. She'd explained it to her mom and he'd acknowledged it, but he didn't think they were a big deal...
...and he'd pointed out that from one way of looking at it, she had undergone a more drastic change than either of them. Riley had to admit, he was probably right. In a way being both Anna and Charlie was as natural as breathing to her, in another way being individual entities yet one person was still strange to them.
It was difficult to describe the experience, as there was nothing in the language truly suited for it. Brother and sister existed within her, both as conscious entities and as the components the sum of which was Riley, who was both the product of those components and also a third individual, more than simply the sum of the parts. Riley was the one in direct control of this shared body, and seemed to be the one who directed the general thought process within their shared...
"Conversation" was the wrong word; it implied a linguistic exchange between wholly discrete persons. The three could communicate with each other the way they had and did with other people, but that tended to be only when they were trying to sort things out specifically in terms of which of them thought what. In most circumstances they simply shared thoughts transparently; how much truer could communication be? The three still existed as individuals, yet everything about them was open to each other.
Could she ever hope to explain that to anyone? Her parents seemed happy enough to know that both of their children were present and unharmed within her, but she didn't know that they really got it - or that anyone not sharing a mind and body with someone else could.
Speaking of...she looked down at her body again. She knew Charlie was both fascinated and kind of frightened by the prospect of being a girl - he'd never actually watched one of the assorted anime that featured gender-bending as a primary component, but he knew a little about some of them, so the idea wasn't completely unfamiliar. Yet she also knew (and he knew) what it was like to live as a girl, through Anna, and he drew comfort from that knowledge, along with a little confirmation for some of his unease.
Anna, on the other hand, was more concerned with their differences from the body of an ordinary girl. Two-tone hair and heterochromia she could deal with, and the slight boyish tone to her musculature was okay, she guessed. But the barrel-chest structure she had...that was a little weird. She had done a little further examination yesterday and discovered that, like the blossoming breasts it seemed designed to suggest, it was a structure of flesh and skin - her skeleton appeared to be perfectly normal. Under her clothes, it even seemed normal enough, unless inspected closely. But it was unmistakeably different when she was undressed. To have this sort of iconographic version of what a woman's bust might look like, with a gem in place of the theoretical singular nipple...she had no idea what to make of it.
Riley, for all the thoughts of her component selves, was pretty at ease in her body. It was different, sure, but it was uniquely her in some peculiar way. Maybe it had something to do with being a magical girl, that her body should fit the theme as much as everything else did. Whatever it was, she liked it.
But if she was a magical girl...what did that imply? She remembered the attack on her house, and the little girl, number Four, who'd saved them...she had to find her again! And any others out there. And...did she have a companion, or something? Charlie knew magical girls often had cute little animal sidekicks or something, and Anna thought she had seen a sort of cat-thing in Four's vicinity from inside the house, but so far no such creature had showed up for Riley.
Was it just finding its way here? Or was it perhaps that she didn't need it? She had, after all, figured out how to trigger her transformation by herself. But there was still so much she didn't know...
"Hey, kidd-uh, Riley," her mom said. "What're you thinking about?"
She sighed, then smiled. "This whole thing, I guess. It's all so much of a change...but I kinda like it, I think..."
Her dad nodded and leaned in, the stick of another sucker dangling cigarette-style out of the corner of her mouth. "It's a big change for all of us, but probably most for you. Riley, if you do have trouble...you'll tell us, right?"
The girl smiled and nodded. "I will."
Her mom turned to her. "By the way, honey," he said. "I know you're still getting used to all this, but if you were up for it, it might be good to get you enrolled in day-side classes this week...or not, if you're not feeling up to it. It'd be good to make sure you don't fall behind in school, but don't feel pressured..."
Riley nodded. "I think I have to think about that..."
Her mom smiled. "Sure," he said. "Take all the time you need."
