"Wait... just hang on." Judy said, shaking her head, trying to clear it. Right before her eyes, a man had managed to start thinking like the strange little dumpy witch in front of her. Was she losing her mind as well?
She picked up a dusty silver hand mirror from a pile of things on Hogatha's work bench and looked at herself.
Gone was her square jaw and short, brown spikey hair. She was missing the small roll of fat beneath her chin, just one more sign that she was no longer the thick woman she'd been before. She brought her hands to her face to feel her delicate features, from the sharp jaw line to her tiny nose and high cheek bones. She was startled at the way her eyebrows angled upward until she pulled back her thick blonde hair, revealing the points on her ears. She was an elf, of course. Just like Jewel.
It wasn't until she looked down and saw the white, frilly gown she was wearing that her forehead wrinkled with concern.
"I think I'm losing my mind, too," she said.
"Now what are ye' thinkin' that for, luv?"
"It's the dress. It feels so... comfortable. I hated dresses until I got here."
"Well don't let that be worryin' ye'. I'd no love for 'em either, don't ya know?"
"That's what worries me. That, and one other other thing."
"Aye?"
"Jewel is straight."
Hogatha's jaw dropped.
"Really, really straight, if I remember right," Judy added, making a sour face. "She kept falling for these exceptionally stupid knights."
"Are ye startin' to feel that way yourself, luv?"
"I'm... I don't think so. I used to be pretty butch though. What's it like? I mean, are you still Carl?"
Hogatha sighed. "Oh luv, there's a bit o' the both of us in here," she said, and nervously added "You're still a... an exciting sight for me, if that would be making you feel any better for yerself. An' ashamed I am to be havin' such thoughts about a daughter."
Judy repressed her revulsion. Dyke or no, she couldn't say the same for Hogatha. Nature had not been kind to the little wonder worker.
"Shall we seek my father then?" she said, changing the subject and smoothing her dress, "I've no intention of sleeping in the wood, and we've many miles to travel before nightfall. It appears that lout Dragonthwapper is late again."
"Oh, there ye' are. Now ye're doin' it, too."
Judy's eyes widened "Fuck NO! No damn it!"
She began pacing the small hut, her stride long and mannish. "I like motorcycles and football. I hate this dress. I don't want to be that bimbo Jewel. I'm Judy Woodroe. Judy."
"Ach, luv. Ye can't stop it. You're both of ye now. It'll ease your troubles if you just let it go."
"But I like who I am. Tell me tell me I shan't lose what I am, mother," Judy said, and began sobbing, "I do not wish to love Dragonthwapper, even if he is strong and handsome, with that dashing flash of blue in his eyes."
Hogatha embraced her, muttering "There there, lass, there there. You'll ne'er love him. Aye."
