Terry had calmed down from the initial shock.. hysteria... dread... and back to hysteria again. Of course hysteria was... a normal reaction. It was completely normal for the abnormal situation she had found herself in, but now she was just exhausted. She had to check again but no matter what she did... she saw her hands... small- red and just a little pointed at the tips, the fingernails themselves a darkened red almost brown. She limply placed her hands at her side cringing at the alien sensations of her new body as things... on her chest moved.
She was a girl- but that wasn't the worse thing about all this. She had had been turned into a demon-girl. The very image of everything she... feared. The visage of wrongness... a terrifying creature which would now greet her in the mirror whenever she dared look. Despair filled her now.. she justt wanted to hide away. Nobody would ever want to... well- she was a monster. Would she just go insane now? Was she losing her mind? Why! Why did this happen...
She was fairly buxom though not 'extremely' but she felt heavy two heavy weights on her front which seemed to make her new tail twitch and adjust a little automatically. Her hair was long and silky black with her pointed ears poking out to the side. The tail was thicker then a cats but even more dextrous. The appendage emerged from the small of her back, extending out four feet outwards and dangling behind her in an arc, barely hovering over the ground. The worst part of that was the heart-shaped spade at the end of it, which seem to feel oddly ticklish when it brushed the carpet. This more then anything felt offensive because it felt 'symbolic' more then anything biological... like something had marked her with this infernal nature. Then again a demon was all about symbolism and she got hit by all of it.. hooves.. horns...
...a monster. An evil monster.
“What the heck happened to me,” Terry whispered- more frightened then... anything as she quietly explored the changes. Her voice was not her own ether... higher pitched and- well- that of a woman. Even... down there- “Oh crap-” yes.. everything. She started to take deeper gasps, he rise and fall of her chest becoming more apparent. This body was female and nothing she did could make her deny any of its sensations.
“Calm down dear,” Her mother suggested as she watched her son- well- daughter sit on the foot of her bed. “I know this is troubling but we will have to go to the other-world. They might know what's going on.” She had never heard of anything like this happening. Was it some kind of virus she picked up? She guessed it was magic but... how? She looked at her new daughter with concern and gently patted her hair, noting the horns that jutted out to each side.
“They did it to me...” Terry whispered in realization. “They did it... to teach me some stupid lesson!” It was obvious wasn't it? They knew she didn't get on well with the demons so they turned her into one! How was that even... allowed? It would just make her hate them more! Why a female one! Did someone have it in for her? She never disrespected women- did she? Who would do this!
“Well- we don't know who or why... we just have to- oh.” Terry's mother stopped as she felt an odd wave of energy pass over her. She brushed her hands to her head as horns began to grow! They were smaller then Terry's but clearly part of her body. “Ah- my eyes.” She blinked as her vision became blurry. She took off her glasses and... now she was seeing fine without them? “Well... that's strange.” she mused as she felt an odd warmth and giddiness. “I- I hope you are not contagious.”
Terry couldn't believe it. “You just became a demon!” Terry stared at her looking at the changes. She now had those pointed ears... and her skin seemed smoother, her hair that little bit more silky. She still looked like herself though. How was that fair! She was turned into a monster and her mother just got a few small token changes?!
“Well... I seem to have the horns of one anyway, but not needing glasses is useful,” his mother chuckled despite the strange feelings in her body. “Not quite as dramatic as what you got... but obviously something is up. We'll go tomorrow and I'm sure my brother will have an explanation. It's probably just magic.”
“Yeah... right...” Terry folded her arms. “How am I supposed to walk with these anyway!” She said gesturing to her hooves. The large... appendages sticking out from where her feet were supposed to be.
Her mother looked at them bending down and gave the hooves a light poke with her finger. “Hm.. yes, that could be a problem. I wonder if horse shoes would fit you. We'll have to get you some clothes too. Oh! Let's go clothes shopping! It'll be a fun mother daughter shopping spree!” Her eyes seemed to glow at the prospect.
Terry's ears flattened ever so slightly... not so much as a cats but rather subtly so. “Huh...” Did turning into a demon affect her brain?
“Yes!” Her mother insisted. “You need some clothes. Nothing here will fit you right. We need to fix 'something' for that tail... hm... maybe some of the other-world shops will have something too.” She seemed quite excited at the challenge if nothing else.
Terry wondered if her day could get any worse...
The portal shimmered as Martin viewed the new world... the area seeming to change and drift, everything twisting around until reality settled once more.
The teenager breathed a sigh of relief. He was here... away from the mundane Earth and into the land of magic... now he could have a look around.
There were people- non-human people, walking around and buying things from a market-stall that sold Earth-based items of interest... there was no technology here but it was like the gateway to a great adventure. He could almost hear wonderful music play in his head making him feel incredible joy. “Amazing...” The world of magic... he stared at all the wonderful creatures here; Animal-folks of all kind as well as a few mythological ones. His gaze went overhead as he saw a flying harpy swooping across the crowd and seeming to look for someone. More down to earth, he found himself staring at a pretty fox-girl in a white dress with a bit of giddy delight. “It's just like a video game!” He looked around just... dazzled by it all. It felt almost peaceful to see things that couldn't be and yet... here it all was. He never knew how much he wanted to see it until he stood here. Stepping into a world that he almost felt like he knew everything about... just from his games.
Forever the observer... but now setting foot himself.
How much Martin wished he could live here study magic... why wouldn't Terry outright just 'live' here? Why would anyone stay on Earth when there was … this? This was a world that made sense to him. The mundane scientific world... versus this colorful world of magic. Yes... that was it... “A world of dreams...” He didn't want to wake up as he just smiled with a new unique creature he could smile with that simple joy and delight at just seeing them all in the flesh. He felt alive here...
“Dreams eh?” Smirked Zair, the demon girl walking with him at the back of the queue. “Heh... stay here long enough and I'm sure you'll see nightmares” She shook her head. “You're going to be disappointed in the end,” she almost felt sorry for him.
“Never... look at it Zair. Everyone's... so... nice to each other. So many different races. There's no limit to magic... it's...” His legs were already walking to wonder around.
“Stay in line students!” A voice called out. Martin glanced outward and behind as the clockwork-girl he had seen earlier appear from the other side of the portal and took a position next to one of the teachers. The teacher herself was a strange looking woman with the head of a bird and feathered arms wearing an old style Victorian styled clothing. Her 'hair' were all feathers of a deep velvet plume. “Are all students accounted for?” she asked the doll-woman with a demanding demeanour. Martin was taken a bit aback by her tone... talking to her like she was just... a tool.
The clockwork doll glanced quietly at Martin and Zair. There seemed to be an... emotion behind those eyes briefly but suddenly she was just... passive again. “All students accounted for m'lady. I will prepare the cart.” She gave a formal curtsy which seem to emphasize her servant status.
The bird-woman nodded. “Wonderful. Come along then. Earth is such a... strange world, I hope the children have learned something about it though.” She addressed the other students. “If you could all return to your designated carts you'll be taken back to your individual schools...”
Martin looked up at that sensing an opportunity. “Hm... so it's lots of schools. No wonder this group had such a mix...” That made sense now.
Zair grinned. “We managed to find the perfect way to sneak in. Well I'll be seeing ya.” The demon-girl waved with a slight clomping sound of her hoof.
“What?” Martin blinked and tried to hold her. “Wait uh- don't you want to look around together?” He really could use a guide here!
Zair almost laughed. “Aw, want me to hold your 'widdle' hand?” she smirked. “I have my own reasons for being here, I'm not some 'tourist' little human.” She rolled her eyes. “So if you don't mind-” however someone else stopped her though from leaving. A large wolf with grey fur. He was quite evenly a humanoid looking wolf with a large tail. He seemed to be wearing a police uniform.
“Where are you going little miss? Students need to return to their school. Go to your designated cart please,” he gestured to the crowd of students trying to work our which one was theirs. “Hm... where are your papers?”
Zair frowned at the wolf. “Nobody tells me what to do!” She could make her wings grow and get out of here. However when she tried... her wings refused to grow. She gasped as she realized her wings seemed to be stuck on their smaller state... as simple ornaments rather then actual wings to fly any more. “What the heck...” she stared angrily at Martin. “Wha- what happened to my wings!”
The humanoid-wolf looked unimpressed as well. “I think I need to see your travelling papers girls,” he said. “Something here doesn't... smell right.” He sniffed with his nose particularly looking at Martin.
“Uh..” Martin checked his pockets. “Oh- right... well-”
Then the robot-girl appeared behind them. “Excuse me miss... I believe you dropped these” She said as she handed something over to Martin. “Oh, and this one is yours Miss Zair,” she said while giving an impeccable bow, only rising when the slip of papers between her fingers were taken from her.
Martin looked surprised with the paper in his hand. It certainly seemed to be a pass that this world would make... to travel. It even had a name and a picture of himself... “Uh...I'm... Mara?”
The wolf-man then had a look and seemed... satisfied. “Well... fine. You are on cart number four... please move along.”
Zair looked at her own ticket with some quiet confusion. It showed her own picture and her full name... 'weird'... was this some kind of setup? She looked questioningly at the doll-woman but she had moved away quickly and back with the faculty.
Martin wasn't sure what to do. He glanced at the clockwork being who just stood motionlessly in the distance... eerily so. She seemed so at peace with 'breaking the rules' which seemed unfathomable to something that looked like a.. servant. “Uh- let's just go along with this for now...” he whispered. He hoped his disguise would hold out a bi longer. The dress was really starting to put him off with all this attention now.
Zair gave a slight groan but with her lack of ability to fly... she didn't want to bring attention either. “Eh, fine. But I'm out of here as soon as I got a chance.” She guessed flying worked differently here for some reason? Whatever it was she was unprepared for it and... it would require some investigation.
The two climbed into the wooden cart with a few other girls, as a centaur started to reign himself into it. He glanced awkwardly at the slightly younger students but they didn't seem to mind their presence. Though their highly variable sizes between different species meant he could fairly easily blend in. This could be a good chance to learn something about this world... he cast another glance at the robot-girl who had given the tickets and passes but she was paying no further mind to them.
“Hey- are you the exchange student?” One girl asked... a fox-girl with a curious look about her. She looked quite human-ish. With fox ears at the top of her head and a fox-tail. She was wearing a school uniform which included a black blazer and white top, with a pleated dress. “Nice to meet you! I'm Sarah.”
“Uh- Nice to meet you,” Martin smiled delighted again to be seeing a fox-girl. He tried to make his voice a little higher pitched but.. it didn't work very well. So he just tried to speak quietly. Hopefully that wouldn't give the game away.
“Heh, Mara is a shy girl,” giggled Zair. “Aren't you... little... 'missy'.” The demon-girl stretched out her hooves as she relaxed while the centaur pulled them along. “You know this does feel good being carried by another set of hooves.”
The centaur pulling the cart gave a slight grunt. “Four is always better then two little one.” He smirked as he carried on regardless. “Don't worry we'll be back to your school in no time.”
Martin wanted to slap some sense to the demon-girl but restrained himself. She should be a little more careful and not bring undue attention. “Yeah- we're... exchange students... uh... just exchange students. That's us.”
Sarah seemed happy with that. “Neat! Come to study magic? You must have some talent if you were selected. I didn't think anyone from Earth had magic.”
“You just need the right bloodline to call on,” winked Zair.
“M-Magical... studies?” Martin's eyes raised upwards. “Oh- yes! I um... I want to learn all I can about magic.” He didn't have any special bloodline of course but... surly he could learn something right?
“Great!” Sarah grinned. “Well what's Earth like?”
“Earth... it's...” Martin wasn't sure what to say about that. Honest answer? “It's.. a little dull. Given the lack of magic you know?”
The fox girl nodded. “Oh I know. Though they almost make up for it with all their technology stuff. I really like how they can make music from those boxes. Maybe one day we can combine technology and magic hm?”
Zair glanced slightly to the left... maybe they could get some answers about that weird robot, “Hey who is that?” she asked gesturing to the doll-girl. It seemed one of the teachers were winding her up like she was a toy.
“Hm? Her?” Sarah tilted her head. “Oh- that's Unit-314-something-something-something... we just call her Uni. She's a helper for the teachers.. Ancient Golem you know? Nobody knows who made her. Anything the teachers tell her to do, she has to do. You know like the ultimate assistant. She keeps an eye on us.”
“Is she... you know... uh... real? Alive?” Asked Martin in thought.
“Well...” Sarah flicked her tail slightly as she thought about it. “The teachers say no. She's just a machine... and they treat her that way... but I think she is...more. I mean- she's very sweet when she's allowed to be... but it's hard to know for sure. She might be just pretending to be a real person to us... or pretending to be a machine to the ones she gets orders from. Maybe she's both? I dunno.”
Martin watched the strange machine-woman as she got onto a cart of her own.. her winding key turning slowly. He glanced again at the paperwork he had been given... it had a class schedule... a locker number... even a dorm-room with the girls?! Well- he wouldn't be using that of course... just a look at the lesson will do. “Stella's school for magic-girls...” he groaned slightly at that. Still for just one lesson he could wear the dress...
