Zarala huffed in annoyance as she made her way towards the portal-station.
Getting there wasn't too hard for the young demoness... crossing into the other-world though could be just a little bit tricky. Mostly because this world just seemed to enjoy making paperwork for the sake of it. Any excuse to note who was going there, and why... being a teenager she might not be allowed.
Perhaps if she were accompanied by a family member it would be easy, but she wanted to get away from her mother. A completely separate dimension was only 'just' far enough in her mind. Then she could think about what to do later...
The young teenager looked eagerly, her tail waving behind her in excitement. It was a somewhat large facility not too dissimilar to a train station though across an open field.
For the moment she found a good place to watch on another field near some grass and bushes. She saw a few other sightseers here, though not too many. There were, after all, many portals scattered throughout the world- just some were more convenient then others. They seemed to almost always be out in the open... perhaps a consequence of the way these portals worked but she wasn't sure.
The demon-girl had to get a little closer. She ventured forward one hoof at a time, going into the thickets and bushes to get a closer look. However her approach was halted by a gridded metal fence. She peered through it... placing her red hands over the cold metal. She could see the columns that powered the portal just a few hundred feet away from here... she sighed, feeling like she was in a prison cell... this world was a prison... out there was freedom.
Of course this was the way of the human world... caging everything they could with their very nature. They couldn't handle demons!
Zarala looked back to the fenced off portal in contemplation. It wasn't 'that' guarded... In the right moment one could probably sneak through it. So yes... it was time to make a plan. Would they stop her if she just... flew in? Her wings could easily take her over the fence... There were no 'armed' guards that she could see, but there were cameras... and it was best to do this without making a scene.
The glowing portal took another group with a soft flicker of ember light... tantalizing her with thoughts of what lay beyond...
The half demon trotted along the fence, seeking a weak point. Grass... more grass... a small service road and what looked like a warehouse and some kind of backup power station... “Maybe I could sneak through there...”
The layout seemed like any other portal-station she had read about. Four large white pillars surrounded the portal, providing it with some kind of energy in the middle arcing in a circle. As she understood, that energy was important to keep the portal open. It didn't matter from which side one entered, anything within the four pillars would be transported. This of course made the logistics of operation intriguing with people going in one way, and out the other. There were various signs indicating one should remove all technology above a certain level- mostly electronics... though certain low powered electronics appeared to be fine...
Four entry points existed like a four sides of a square... one of them were used for people going in, and another for people going out... it gave quite a funny view from one end, where it looked like people were changing before her eyes into animal-folk of all kinds.
She looked towards the unused sides... they looked to be reserved for organized tours or something. “Hm...” could she get in through one of these groups? She eyed what looked like a school trip of different animal-girls... their bus had pulled up and they were getting escorted to the reserved side. “Lucky kids,” she muttered. Why didn't she go on such outskirts at their age? Maybe it was because her mother never let her go. They appeared to be girls dressed in different styles- some closely resembling human styled clothes such as a modern jacket.
However Zarala was not the only person watching from the outskirts. “Wow-” a voice squeaked. “Ah!”
“Huh?” the demon-girl almost lost her composure. There was a human boy who managed to sneak up on her! “Who-”
“Who-” he gulped... “Uh... hi...” The boy smiled bashfully.
Zarala was not too sure how to deal with that expression. It was a mixture of.. attraction, fear, and perhaps even shame that he was looking at her like... that. She really didn't have time to deal with this human. She was trying to escape mundane creatures like him. “Just go away before I eat you.” She muttered baring her non-existent fangs.
“Um-” the boy glanced awkwardly. It looked like he considered running but something made him hold off. “A-are you from the other world? I was hoping to... meet someone from there.” He adjusted his glasses slightly staring at the girl.
Zarala sighed. “No I'm not from the other world. I'm from the this world, and I'm half human, and I am very tired of always saying that.” How many times did she have to say her life story?
The boy looked awkwardly at her again. “Oh- Sorry.” It was hard to tell how old Zarala was... but he got the impression she had to be somewhat on the younger side compared to him, though given how short he was... Perhaps she was a few years younger though not by much. “Well- my name's Martin. It's nice to meet you!” He smiled brushing his short blonde greasy hair in slight embarrassment.
The demon girl crossed her arms appraising him. “Uh... huh. Well... Zarala's my name. Call me Zair.” She flicked her tail in annoyance.
It was then that Martin was drawn to the girl's legs... hooves... he did have a vague recollection of.. someone... from a long time ago. With hooves for feet it wasn't too hard to recall. “Zar...Zar... oh!” He gasped. “I remember you! Didn't we go trick-or-treating once?” Of course... it had to be her. The hooves were a dead give away. That was a fun day!
Zarala's eyes flashed at that, almost furious with fire. “Halloween...? You mean after I was left on my own as a little kid?”
Martin was surprised by that response. What could he say? “Uh... maybe?” Martin gulped. “I um- I don't really remember...” He cast a nervous look. “A-Actually maybe it was someone else.”
Zair fumed quietly. “Yes... someone else.” That was exactly what she expected him to say. Fine... if he wants to play that game... she could play it too. It was better that he 'confesses'. “What are you doing here anyway?”
Martin glanced to the portal area on the other side of the fence. “Well... I was thinking of going to the other world- but my parents don't let me. I was hoping I could... have a look around. This is about as far as I'm allowed to go... so I like being here to watch” Martin admitted. “I guess it's a bit silly.”
The demon girl scoffed at that. “Yes. It is silly. If you want to go see the other world, you should just make a plan and do it.” The demon-girl swished her tail animatedly, as the boy found himself glancing over it and to her. A boy looking at 'freaks' wasn't exactly an unknown event... “What is you want there? Don't lie, its bad to lie to a demon you know.”
Martin shivered and told the truth as best he could. “Well- I- I wanted to see magic!” He said pressing his hands closed as if in prayer to protect himself. “I... I just want to see real actual magic in the other world! I just want to see more then... this.”
“Heh... yeah... I actually do get that. Humans are so mundane and... boring. Comes from living on such a boring mundane world.”
“Yes we are!” Martin nodded. “Mundane. This world is black and white.. I want to see color.”
“Heh. That's a weird way of putting it,” The demon-girl thought. “What would you even do with magic? Mundane things I bet. You might just make magic boring if you had it, probably why humans aren't allowed by nature.”
Martin gave it some thought. What would he do with magic? Explore it... see what it could do? To what end... “I- I would use it to help people,” Martin said earnestly with a shine in his eyes.
Zair started to giggle... then laughed. She laughed so hard she almost fell off her hooves. “Help? Why? Just to make yourself feel better?” Zair asked tilting her head.
“Well-” Martin ried to answer back.
“You want to be some kind of super hero or something? Why would anyone need help if everyone in that world can do magic? You would just be another wizard there... you're only doing this for your own desires to be 'better' then other people. You want to be elevated and 'higher' then everyone else... is that right?”
Martin bit his lip at that. He couldn't deny that being helpful would make him feel better... but that sounded wrong now. How could he be honest on that? “It's true... it would make me feel better miss Zair-” He rubbed his hands nervously. “But... there are people that could use a bit of magic in their lives... I... I want to give that, if I can. Like- if um... you were upset by something I would try to use my magic to help you when everything else fails.”
Zair looked indignant at that. “Oh? So you would somehow just..magic away everything that happened to me? Is that your solution when there's nothing left?”
“... I... guess? Could I do that?” Martin wondered. “I mean- is that what you want?”
“No! Of course not. I'm just making a point. Magic can do some crazy stuff from what I hear...” Zarala sighed. This whole thing was quite pathetic... there were very few humans that had managed to learn any magic at all, from what she heard... though it came quite naturally to most in the other world. Still, the boy might as well learn from failure and give up then go home. She looked at the portal... a plan starting to form. “Hm... maybe we can help each other,” The demon-girl thought with a smile.
Martin followed her gaze. “Uh...how?”
Zarala watched the school-girls lining up to go to the portal... it was in pairs- and holding hands. It was a fairly large group, about forty students. Younger ones were at the front, older ones at the back... they were all girls but... their formation demanded a partner to blend in. “All we have to do is.. join that queue there. We just sneak in at the back... If we hold hands we should be able to blend in. The group there is big enough...”
Martin looked at the line. Animal girl types with cat-ears, a few rabbit-girls... various degrees of anthropomorphism between them. There was even a snake girl with black and red hues on her tail. “Um- but it's all girls there. I don't think I'm going to fit in. Would you even fit in being... a demon?”
The demon girl growled. “I don't need to fool all of them, I just need to fool the security. I think a demon girl would be expected in that group... and as for the other issue...” She started to take out her bag. “I have a spare due to my own... issues. Here put this on.” She threw some clothing to Martin's face.
Martin's eyes widened as he pulled back the clothing to behold a dress in in hands. “Wha- are you nuts?!” He looked at the dress quite disapprovingly. A simple blue dress.
“You want to see the other world or not!” Zarala asked. “I happen to carry spare clothes... and the only thing I can wear are dresses due to my tail and hooves. So... just be a man and put it on, then we can sneak in. Keep your head down too with your hooded jacket. You're short enough- they won't notice your weird human ears.” She smirked a bit at that.
Martin looked like she might be a bit crazy...but it 'did' make sense. If they could blend in with that group, they could sneak in... “F-fine. Just- give me a second.”
Zarala was starting to break out into a grin. Maybe this would help alleviate that itch for a little revenge...
Martin held the dress with slight panic... not wanting to drop it given it would get dirty and not even wanting to hold it. 'It's just a stupid dress!' he thought to himself as he gripped it with his indecision. “F-Fine.” He relented. “Just... give me a second.”
“Oh, a true lady does take her time getting ready,” Zair teased. “Though we really got to do this quick.”
Martin sighed as he quickly took off his jeans. The dress was a fairly simple one with a button to close at the front. He slipped it under his legs... not even sure if this 'was' how to put a dress on. He treated it sort of like any other pair of jeans... just that it had one hole instead of two.
“Hm, your legs are a bit hairy,” Zair sighed. “I can fix that.” She somehow blew a sliver of red fire on the boys skin... there was a faint whisp of a crickling sound as the fire burned just a tiny slightly above Martin's legs.
“Hey!”
“Oh relax... I have good control over my fire... I just singed your hairs a bit, they'll grow back later.” Zair assured.
Martin was getting more unsure about this. Would it even work? He felt.. sheer embarrassment at the disguise. He had to look enough like a girl to get into line with these other-world-non-human girls and it was terrifying to think it could work.
Zarala watched him and shook her head. It wasn't quite enough... “urgh, nope. Here just put on your hood all the way around... you need to hide- well- everything.”
Martin did so as Zair continued to appraise how well the disguise worked.
“You still have broad shoulders... your legs are too thick... even with all the hair gone,” she sighed. “Just hunch low for now and that should do it.”
“Okay....” Martin nodded. “So how do we get over the fen- aah!”
Zarala scooped Martin up in her arms, taking him straight upwards while her wings flapped outwards. She glided just behind the school-bus bypassing security easily, softly patting down on the ground with her hooves.
“What the hell Zair! A bit of warning maybe?” The boy gasped in terror.
“Your fear is tasty,” Zair grinned. This is good! Just look lost and confused as we walk with the crowd... and we'll be in a whole new world.” She took a moment to look around as the group stared to go in. “This looks good... hold my hand and let's blend in.”
“O-Okay.” Martin nodded. This was it... they were really going to do it! They slipped into the back... it looked like there was one teacher guiding them in. Some kind of... well- it was a girl but she looked like a giant doll! She seemed to be wearing a weird peticoat that had a winding key behind her. Rather light white hair with soft blue highlights. Her eyes didn't even seem to blink as she watched those in her charge be allowed through. “Are we really going to fool her?”
“Just look down. Don't look at her.” Zair said harshly to Martin.
The strange doll-woman seemed to pause briefly... but nodded them through with a precision mechanical sway of her arms.
Martin exhaled. They were heading to the portal... “...did we just...get past a machine-girl?”
Zair smirked. “Its our lucky day! There's the portal... freedom...”
Amber energy started to cascade around them but... something strange was happening. Martin felt an odd pang of warmth in his pocket. The mana-stone that he had bought.. it was glowing! He picked it up in surprise. “Huh? What-”
The two vanished... into the strange other world... though the portal started to make a strange hum. The light that took the two turning azure blue before rippling away.
Terry felt strange...
He wasn't feeling any better. He had rested a little more, hoping that this weird fever would go away. He felt something else.. like this strange 'energy' had just... snapped inside him from somewhere. There was something poking at his hair. As he touched it he felt alarm as there was something poking from there. “What the-”
He ran quickly to the bathroom mirror and...stared.
There on his head were a set of horns! Small ones that went out in about a thirty degree angle from his head. “This- it has to be a dream it- ah!” More changes as his skin seemed to lose all its body hair. He looked in horror that his hands had now turned into this strange pink- no- bright red color. The redness passed over him in one fluid wave. There was no pain or anything to signify the change. “What-s happening-” There was a sudden odd push as a tail suddenly flared itself outwards, snaking down his loose clothes. He could feel it but there was an even stranger sensation. His hips felt like they were getting bigger. He looked down and felt.. something weird there. However before he could have a look his hair suddenly got into his eyes!
Terry panicked and threw back the hair, which had increased in size to go all the way down his back. It was a waterfall of black hair impossibly shiny and shimmering with each motion. His features started to soften and his ears became pointy. He felt like his body was somehow getting smaller... though he couldn't see it his eyes had changed now into a cat-like orange colour.
He gulped as he felt something start to slowly push out on his chest. He stared uncomprehendingly at the sight of breasts- female breasts developing on what was once a masculine frame. “What's happening to me- ah- stop this!” He cried out in vain. He tried to run from the bathroom to get help- when he tripped on the corridor. His body felt smaller now... weaker even.
He fell downward, pressing his new breasts against the ground as new sensations of pain there greeted him. He winced slightly as he realized his... feet were now changed. Instead of feet he now had hooves! The loss of his feet sent shivers of terror down the ex-humans spine...as his new slinky tail stretched outward with a... rather interesting 'heart' shape at the end of it.
“Terry? What? Who-” His mother gasped as she walked to the hallway to find some weird... demon-girl in her son's clothes! “Who are you!”
“Mom- It's- me- I'm- I'm Terry!” The red-skinned demon girl exclaimed. She slowly got up, finding her hooves causing a lot of trouble to do so... not to mention her new chest which was certainly on the larger side. Despite this she seemed a little shorter now... maybe five feet three though she was taller- it was just the odd shape that her legs now stood at.
Terry's mother blinked... not quite sure what to say in return. Was this something to do with her brother? Yet she could tell this was indeed Terry, just by the way he- uh- she spoke and stood. “Terry? My goodness... how!”
“I don't know!” The girl wailed. “I felt hot and then... this... this.. happened-”
“Calm down... let's uh- get you to your room.” Terry's mother looked astonished. “How in the world could this even happen? You look a lot like your cousin...”
“I told you mom- demons were trouble! They- they put some curse on me!”
