Trans-Migration

It felt strange, putting on clothes that left one so vulnerable. After a month in armor, Bria had come to appreciate how safe it made her feel. Yet, the flowing sundress was anything but protective. More than that, her legs were bare and on full display. It would have been mortifying, and in a way, was. Mother had included a set of sports bras and even women’s underwear in the bag.

She didn’t have it in her to wear the tight undergarments, though the sundress apparently had support built in or something? Neth had commented on the clever design when she changed into her own. And now, Bria was standing in the restroom holding the dress and a pair of the underwear. Her own boxers weren’t suited to anything resembling a skirt, and she reluctantly pulled them on, cursing the fact they did nothing to hide a certain thing. The trickiest part was figuring out where to put her pouch.

By the time Bria had changed into the rather comfortable yellow sundress, Father had vacated the house for duties unknown. It spared her the embarrassment of having that talk right then, but she knew it was only putting things off until later. Especially with how Mom had poked her head out of the kitchen with a knowing smirk on her face before retreating back.

“I think you’re right,” Bria said, sighing in resignation.

Neth laughed. “Of course I am, and I am most pleased to see that your parents have been accepting.”

There was a touch of pain in those last words, and Bria pulled her friend into a hug before it could become too deeply rooted. It wasn’t fair that her parents rejected her while Bria’s own were being supportive. It made little sense to her that they understood, but who were any of them to argue with magic?

Breaking the hug, the pair stepped out into the morning light. As they departed, Nikolai was waiting outside, tapping his foot in impatience with a frown scrunching his face. Like everyone she inspected on Earth, he registered as a Human with no level. His eyes settled on her for a moment, then flicked to Neth, and then they were gone. Once again he was watching the house for someone he expected, and it took a moment for Bria to realize that he hadn’t recognized her.

“You know that man?”

Bria nodded as she carefully looked back. “Yeah. He’s one of Mister Ruiz’s guards. The one Mom said wanted to talk to me.”

Neth hummed. “How long have you known him?”

“Almost a decade,” Bria said, not quite understanding the question. “Does that matter?”

“Not terribly,” Neth said, smiling. “Just that there are some congratulations in order, I suppose.”

That just left her more confused, so she instead focused on their destination. The town was in full bustle; with tourists already descending upon the stalls that all the locals—and a few seasonal vendors—set up in anticipation. Sure, the number of guests the island saw each season could be counted in the low thousands, but each one of them tended to spend a disproportionate amount over their stay.

The economics of it all went well over Bria’s head, but she’d listened to her father speak of it more than once. She had a decent enough grasp to follow the thought process. In a way, the current state of the island was closer to Brookvale at the moment. Dozens of stalls were offering accessories and novelty shirts. Others were selling fresh food and fruit drinks. There was even a carnival section that was brought in by ship to offer rides and games.

It wasn’t anything close to an accurate representation of life on the island, but it was fun and distracting. More than that, the guests loved it. Father managed the reenactment portions of the experience, and now that she thought of it, was probably out managing one of those.

“Everything is so lively,” Neth said, staring at one booth filled with flashing lights. Metal bottles were stacked high, and the man running the stall was yelling for people to step up. “Oh, may we try?”

Bria shrugged, smiling. She almost grabbed an orb before remembering she was back on Earth and instead retrieved some cash, placing it on the counter. The barker snapped it up in an instant and placed multiple balls on the table. Neth picked one up, hefting it for a moment before she threw it. She hit one of the bottles but it failed to fall completely.

“I know I hit it,” she said, frowning as the man reset the stage expertly.

Bria snorted. “You did, and far harder than most could. I believe he uses magnets to keep things from going too poorly.”

“Oh, so no holding back then,” Neth said, her grin slowly turning wicked.

This time, Neth’s arm flexed, and Bria found herself staring. She wasn’t particularly muscular, but she had definition. Neth was fit, despite being the stereotypical mage. It didn’t stop her from having the ability to throw hands, she just had better tools at her disposal that made it unnecessary.

Like using a touch of magic to empower the baseball just as she threw it. Bria jumped at the resounding crack that echoed when the ball made contact with the stack, and promptly decimated not only the bottles, but the poor stuffed animal on display behind it. Cotton stuffing flew everywhere as the barker dove for cover.

Neth puffed up, grinning and Bria found herself shaking her head while fighting off a chuckle. The barker came up cursing, muttering to himself as he looked from the decimated bottles to the unassuming woman in a dress smiling brightly.

“You know what, I’ll give you the top prize if you promise not to wreck anymore of the stands. We can’t afford to lose too much out here and you’ve got one heck of an arm.”

With that, Neth was handed a massive ball of green that nearly engulfed her. If Bria squinted, it could almost be called a Slime. Neth gave it a hug, and giggled in delight at the soft new friend that she had won completely fair and square. Honest.

Two stalls down, Neth was pulling Bria to a stop, pointing at the next game. A ring toss, which Bria knew was basically a scam.

“Watch the next few people and tell me if you can see the problem,” Bria said, moving towards a stand selling cotton candy. Miss Norris was running this one, but didn’t even bat an eye at her as she made her request. Bria returned with two small twirls and passed one to her sugar addicted friend.

Was she truly so unrecognizable, even to people that knew her for the past eighteen years? It was something for her to mull over as they stood there, eating the sweet treat as a handful of people attempted the toss. Rings bounced and people laughed as they moved on to the next stall.

“There’s no winning this one, is there?” Neth asked as the last of the candy vanished.

Shaking her head, Bria pulled Neth along, stopping at a basketball toss. “There’s some skill in this, but it is still rigged.”

Then she eyed the one that would probably be good for an amazing laugh as she caught sight of a shock of familiar blue hair. Hector was stepping up as he lifted a wooden mallet, then brought it down as hard as he could manage. The high striker stood tall, with the bell at top taunting the man who failed to quite reach it. He cursed, and dropped the hammer as the attendant began to shout for the next strapping contestant to step up.

The next man to approach got a good luck kiss from the woman next to him as he stepped up and Bria smirked when she saw the man adjust something behind the tower. Once again, the contestant failed to hit the bell. His girlfriend moved to reassure him, but it was clear that he wasn’t taking it well, but it did give her an idea.

Before, Bria knew she lacked the strength, even as a fit teen boy. Now? She had the strength stat to back it up. If stats worked the way she thought, she had almost seven times the raw power of a normal person on Earth. Which meant that this particular game was going to be almost comically easy.

“Are you thinking the same as I?” Neth asked.

“Oh yes,” Bria said, grinning sinisterly. She practically skipped towards the game, marveling at how her dress swished around her legs, then stopped before the attendant. “I’d like to try.”

Her voice had come out bright and cheerful, and everyone around stopped and looked. Including the man who had failed just a moment prior. Neth came up a moment later, shaking her head as Bria handed over the cash necessary. Gold was cheap on the other side, and she could always make a minor fortune if she cared enough to take the time to make the conversion.

The man accepted the money, uncaring that someone like her was stepping up. The hammer handle was angled towards her, and Bria took hold of it; almost stumbling at how light it felt. Crap, she could probably pick it up one handed like it was a twig! That would get her all kinds of attention she didn’t need.

Pausing, her eyes scanned the crowd, spotting a few familiar faces, but nobody who seemed to recognize her. Bria hadn’t dared look in any mirrors after putting the dress on, but something told her she might not recognize herself if she had.

A few people were pointing and laughing, and some overmuscled man was muttering about how the game would be rigged to let the girl do well. Sure enough, the attendant was stepping over to the tower.

“Please don’t adjust it,” Bria said. “I want to win this on my own merits.”

“Girl, you couldn’t win even with the handicap,” the musclehead from earlier exclaimed, only to get smacked by the girl next to him. Meanwhile, the guy in glasses was smirking? Maybe he too just wanted to see her fail.

Just for that, she was going to show off a bit. With a flex and exaggerated twist, Bria brought the hammer high, then slammed it onto the platform. The weighted puck shot up, and the bell rang out loudly in the face of the silent crowd. With a smug smirk, she turned and held the hammer out by its handle for the attendant.

The attendant accepted it with a slack-jawed expression, stumbling slightly at the sudden weight. He shook his head, recovering quickly enough as he set the hammer aside and grabbed a smaller plush. It was a cute little bee that was all sorts of fuzzy. Glancing back at Neth, she couldn’t help but wonder where little Bumble had flitted off to.

Bria held the bee up, then offered it to Neth. “Since you keep bees, it feels fitting.”

Blinking, Neth looked at it, then grinned brightly. “Trade you?”

The slime plush was passed to her as she handed off the bee to her friend and Bria found herself looking at it in wonderment. That was another thing that she hadn’t gotten to enjoy growing up; stuffed animals were not something guys were meant to play with. But, Bria wasn’t a guy anymore, was she?

She hugged the plush tight, relishing the sensation.

“Aww, such good friends,” one woman said with an Australian accent.

Her teen daughter rolled her eyes. “Right, friends. Sure.”

“Just the best,” Neth said cheerfully.

Then, she did something completely unexpected. She kissed Bria right on the cheek. It had been done so suddenly and casually that Bria hadn’t even realized it happened until after the fact. Warmth spread across her entire body, focused on the neck and face.

“Gross,” the teen said, rolling her eyes as she left with her mother, but she’d smiled all the same.

What?

Just what was Bria missing about the exchange? It was almost as if that girl thought that she and Neth were… But they were both girls! Unfortunately, she could just stand there freaking out about the implications because Neth was already moving off. Bria wasn’t sure what had caught her attention, and she was momentarily distracted by the sight of vanishing blue hair, but it only took a moment to realize that Neth was heading right for a vendor offering bottled water, and more importantly, bottled soda.

“Cola please!” Neth said brightly.

A bottle was retrieved, a hand extended.

And Neth dropped a bronze core into his hand.

“What are ya, six? Who tries to pay a man with a marble!?”

Thankful for the distraction, Bria couldn’t help but laugh at the pout that followed, and she quickly offered actual cash before the man got too upset. “Don’t mind her, the currency they use is weird.”

“That’s actual money?” He asked, looking at the little ball doubtfully. “No thank you. I’ll stick to proper paper and coins.”

“Fair enough,” Bria said cheerfully. “Have a nice day!”

The pair stepped away, crimson dusting Neth’s cheeks as she sipped on her cola. The Shrine Priestess tried to glare at Bria, but it came across more as a cute puppy than an angry cat. Once again her mind drifted back to what that girl had done, and Bria looked away. How could she even look Neth in the eye anymore when her thoughts kept drifting back towards that?

Girls had always fascinated Bria, and she knew that she found them attractive, but did that hold true now that she was one? Were girls actually allowed to like other girls that way? Her time in church said no, but in the other world nobody seemed to care about that when she was in Brookvale.

“Someone’s getting lost in thought,” Neth said, though her tone was subdued. Almost as if she knew exactly what was on Bria’s mind but didn’t want to put a finger to the scales.

“Eh, something like that,” Bria said, waving her hand a bit. “Just have a lot on my mind given how much has changed. A month ago I was the son of the bed and breakfast family, and now I’m their daughter? And my parents seem okay with that? I’m having trouble reconciling everything.”

“Oh, is that all?” Neth asked, some mirth returning. “Perhaps you need better distractions then.”

Unsure what she meant by that, Bria followed her gaze and settled upon one of the rides that had been set up. Bria’s brow raised at the sight of a small cart rocketing over a track, dipping and turning. It had been a while since she rode the miniature roller coaster. There was no way that it would be more exciting than running through the forest at speed, but then again, there was a certain novelty to it that Neth had never experienced. For her, Bria was willing to do just about anything.

“Then lets go,” Bria said, letting the cheer be known.

Getting settled into the roller coaster had a group of kids take up the front car, while they were sorted into the second. The kids were screaming from the moment it set into motion and Neth joined right in. Bria couldn’t help the infectiousness of it all and was right there with them. She was also thankful for the enclosed space keeping her dress from flying up in the wind.

Next on the list was a carousel, with each of them picking a horse, but Bria ran into a problem. How did one sit on something like that while wearing a flowing dress? The answer was apparently to sit sideways, which was just different. Yet, it felt right. Again, there wasn’t anything special to sitting there and going slowly in circles, but Neth’s bright smile made it something truly magical.

Teacups spun as they cheered. More games were won and lost. Corndogs and fries were consumed along with funnel cake. Without any expectations on them, Bria felt almost free for the first time in years. How did a random trip through a portal to another reality end up being the best thing to ever happen to her?

All too soon, the sun was starting to dip low on the horizon and Bria knew she would need to head home and face what might be the most important conversation of her life. One that had left her battling an anxious knot in her stomach all day. Yet through it all Neth-amii had remained a grounding presence. Walking home, Bria let her hand grip Neth’s tightly. Despite her anxiety, that hand was a grounding presence that she wouldn’t trade for the world.

“Ready?” Neth asked as the house came into view.

Mutely, Bria nodded and the grip on her hand tightened in reassurance.

It was time to have dinner with her parents and finally stop dancing around who she was.