Xanadu had become a crazy place despite an aura of order surrounding the sublime chaos, following the reality-fissure and release of magic with strange transformations.
Stevn could see the military, FBI, CIA, various other agents- including apparently SCP agents? (No doubt they were just transformed humans… right?) Were there other urban legend stories that have now become real too? To what extent…
Steven, the diminutive squirrel-girl wearing her robes folded her arms at the sight of the streets before her. It was best to get far away, before something even more crazy happened. The airports were open now and she was free to leave. There was no reason to stay any longer, as much as it was ‘interesting’ to see all the peculiar changes, though people stared at her as much as she did them.
But... what was she going back to? Her life… Like this?! Steven had not yet found a wizard to cure her!
She had tried a few Merlins’ and Harry Potters’, even a Sabrina not to mention various anime witches and warlocks but they all said the same thing. They couldn’t change anyone back as much as they had tried for the more desperate ones. Even worse, they all said she was lucky to be what she was, looking so ‘cute and adorable’… the Sabrina even pet her head. How could she just walk away from this place! she had to get back to normal!
Steven could still pass as a boy, more or less… except when her fur was all wet and the contours of her body showed. With the right clothes, nobody would ever know she was a girl… right? Well… her longer hair might be a bit of a giveaway. Wearing pants with such a large fluffy tail presented a… difficult challenge.
But… how does one even return to a normal life, after something as inexplicable as changing into both a squirrel and a girl? Then there were all the other crazy changes… some were as mundane as her, but the majority did appear to have fantastical powers and abilities.
“Is… every… universe is real now?” Every… single.. one?
This… was such a terrifying thought. However, that may not be ‘entirely’ the case. Even if such creatures from other universes were now around, their origin universe may be ‘limited’ in its reach. Otherwise, it might as well be Arma- Ragnarök…
Steven contemplated this. How many worlds had humans imagined… they were infinite. They also pulled at the tendrils and psyche of the human condition, an expression of every possible sensation, not all of them pleasant. Human had gods inside their minds… Even the nice ones could be twisted and corrupted… she hoped that those who imagined themselves to be the more heroic figures would hold onto the ideals of those archetypes and not be corrupted… but she didn’t know given they were all human with human failings. How long until supermen started to… take over? What would she do with superpowers?
…maybe it was best she didn’t have magical powers after all. She had her own problems, her own issues with the way people treated her and was naturally... discounted from those people. Steven was just a weirdo that struggled to make any friends… and that wasn’t likely to change now. If anything, her chances had nosedived given she wasn’t even human anymore and was never going to be comfortable looking like a fluffy animal girl. if she had superpowers… well… no. She wouldn’t do anything ‘too terrible’… maybe.
She started to scroll down her phone to check the news. Many countries were declaring themselves as ‘safe zones’ by preventing the entry of super-powered beings... but many were just as quick to say that was a ‘stupid’ idea because a rival country would have them instead. It was an argument raging on the internet on what to do now with nobody wanting to have these people or give them up to someone else. Most agreed they needed to be ‘controlled’. Bunker programs from cold wars were being restarted for humans to go to in case of ‘supernatural events’… Steven couldn’t blame them. She wanted to find a quiet hole to hide in right now in the middle of Xanadu where ‘random Megumins’ threw explosion magic all over the place.
The random politics aside… she had her own issues to deal with.
“Well… guess I’ll get some clothes.” Steven had left the hotel to take in her surroundings. Things were… somehow calmer. There were now camera crews out and a lot more humans, recording and noting the curious changed people. Though there was a lot of military personnel too. Anxiously she turned the corner towards the commercial buildings where things were… less intense. Even normal, for the most part.
The transformation had taken away her human clothes, leaving Steven nothing but the strange robe with not even any underwear underneath. Only now she realised she didn’t exactly feel the same awkward sense of nakedness… at least when she didn’t think about it. Her fur literally covered everything. Fortunately, the desire to wear something was still instinctual to her but the reason for it felt… different? Maybe she just wanted to appear more human…
A little worryingly, she felt her heart beating faster at the prospect of ‘dressing up’… she felt… excitement? She pushed that silly idea aside. “What the heck am I even thinking- urgh…” She was just being practical! he certainly didn’t want to wear some silly dress. Anything would do.
Entering the large shopping store, she could see a lot of (mostly) people shopping… some of them changed into strange creatures…. Many animal folk, like herself. “Come on they are people too… you’re… a person…” Right? Steven joined the crowd suddenly seeming to fit right in. she pulled out her phone to look at the time. Her flight would be leaving in eight hours… so she had plenty of time to ‘shop around’.
What to wear? She intended to get something relatively basic... a T-shirt maybe, and some pants with a hole in them for her tail. She could stow the robe away. Shoes might be a little tricky… her feet were digitigrade now, though were oddly subtle in that effect, raising her ankles just an inch or so from the ground. It didn’t give her much extra height though. Maybe a hat to hide her new ears too?
Steven glanced cautiously upwards to a tall ‘fish-like’ being with green skin. He was struggling to put on a jacket, holding things in webbed hands and strange claw-like feet. His body wall tall and lean, a weird proportion relative to a human so the jacket only went part way to his stomach. His hair was now a band of fins as well… Steven guessed he was some kind of marine based monster. A merfolk basically?
Steven felt she was staring unintentionally and quickly made her escape down another isle. She mentally tried to stay focused on the task at hand. “Just get some pants and a shirt, and get the hell out of here… don’t want to be around these weirdos…” she thought she found a good place to get something when there was a bit of a commotion.
“Why won’t this stay on me! Ah what is it doing! No!”
Steven glanced at the person and gasped. She appeared to be a girl made of… strange green gel. “A slime… girl?” Of course, he had seen such beings before. Technically, wouldn’t an inkling be a sub-type? The girl had put on a T-shirt, with her body slowly absorbing it. The T-shirt started to turn green and vanished inside.
“You’re destroying the merchandise! I’m sorry we don’t have anything that will work for you,” The store clerk explained. “We’ll not charge you anything, but please stop trying to put things on!”
The slime girl gave an angry look. “I’m NOT going anywhere completely naked! I need to put on something. You must have something I can wear!”
Steven watched staring in quiet shock, dismay, a little concern and sympathy. Her breasts were quite well detailed though she seemed to be mostly a nebulous gel from the waist down. It had turned into a sort of ‘dress’ but was all part of her body.
“Um- maybe I can help?” Steven asked.
“What?”
Steven nodded. “I think.. you can’t put on cotton clothes… your body is naturally digesting that. You could try polyester? Something as hick as possible… um…” She pointed to a bathrobe on a hanger. “There… try this.”
The slime girl had reached up to the bathrobe to try putting that on. It was a mix of polyester and cotton though. Some of it started to get thinner, but the polyester fibres held. The slime girl looked ecstatic. “It- Its working? Oh, thank you little squirrel!” The slime girl started to get emotional and reached down to hug her.
Steven cringed at the feeling of those slimy tendrils working its way through her fur. It was so gross! “D-Don’t mention it-“ She said. “Uh- Glad it worked. You could probably get some polyester dresses… some people are allergic to cotton so… that sort of stuff can work.”
The slime girl beamed. “You’re so knowledgeable… how do you know this stuff?”
Steven felt herself blushing under her fur. “Um- well- no reason… I need to find something for myself. Got a ‘tail’ to deal with…”
“Aw, but a cutie like you should be fine in a dress.”
“I- I’m actually a guy-“ Steven responded.
“Oh… OH! You’re like- um- wow… I had no idea.” The slime girl stared at her in surprise.
Steven blushed again taking a few steps back. ‘No idea?’ did she look like a girl to the changed people? Or was she wrong in her initial assessment… well in any case, once she got the right set of clothes she could sort that problem out.
