Firanna

A day had passed since our theoretically successful hunt. Amy had fully recovered from my accidental strike against her, but despite that was still restricted to bedrest. A necessity, according to Pauline. The healing had apparently taken quite a bit out of her.

Not that I was meant to be thinking about her, right now. No. I was meant to be thinking about the beautiful woman sitting across from me, on the other side of a table absolutely laden with dishes and lit by gentle candlelight.

We were on the roof of the villa, and the expansive school grounds were laid out before us. The stars above were shining bright, as was the moon, and combined with the candlelight it was easy to see Bridgette’s beautiful face - pinched with worry for her friend.

Amy had insisted that we continue with our plans, continue with our dinner. Said that she wouldn’t be able to live if ‘her mishap’ caused us to delay so long the monster meat went bad, or had to be specially treated and preserved and made unsuitable for a proper romantic dinner.

I’d agreed with her, in the moment. All but insisted that Bridgette put aside her worries for the night and join me, as per Amy’s wishes. Yet now that we were here, my mind was clouded with worry for the girl I’d hurt. The girl I’d impaled.

It hadn’t been on purpose - at least, I didn’t think so. Yes, I had some jealousy towards her, the object of Bridgette’s affection, but I hadn’t wanted to hurt her.

…Okay, maybe some part of me had wanted to hurt her a little for it. I could be petty, I knew - I didn’t like it when people took what I saw as mine… but I hadn’t really wanted it. I certainly hadn’t intended to drive an icicle through her. If nothing else, it was obvious how it would affect Bridgette - how worried she’d be.

Less obvious was how it would affect me. I hadn’t expected to feel such guilt, such worry. It felt as if it was clawing at my guts, tearing at my insides. Eating was the last thing I wanted to do, when feeling like this - and yet, if I didn’t take a step, if I didn’t tell Bridgette my feelings now, I’d surely falter in the future.

Not to mention the fact that all of this would have been for nothing…

“Are you okay?” Bridgette asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Me?” I all but scoffed, instinctively putting on a brave face. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Maybe because you’re worried about Amy?” Bridgette said. “You know it wasn’t your fault, right - I mean, it’s not like you were trying to impale her, right?”

“Of course not,” I confirmed, frowning. “I mean… yes, perhaps I could have aimed better, but…”

“You didn’t mean to,” Bridgette said. “And she’s going to be fine. You don’t need to keep beating yourself up like this.”

“Beating myself up?” I asked, incredulous. “I’m not - I mean, really, why would I even care that she got… I mean, yes, it was my fault, but…”

“It’s okay to be upset with yourself,” Bridgette said, gently, “but tearing yourself up inside won’t do anyone any good. Honestly, I think you need to keep your mind off of things - I was actually kind of hoping this dinner would help? I mean, I’ve been really worried about you of late.”

“About… me?” I asked, blinking. “Not… Amy?”

“Amy?” Bridgette asked, tilting her head. “Why would I be worried about her? Pauline said she’d be fine, didn’t she?”

“Yes, but… you have… feelings for her, do you not? It’s only natural to be worried about people you have feelings for…”

“Well, I have feelings for you too,” Bridgette said. “Maybe not the same feelings - I’m not really sure - but I definitely feel something.”

“Not the same feelings, hmm?” I asked, forcing myself to focus on the subject at hand, and not the girl still laying in her bed. “So then, does that mean you dislike me?”

“Of course not!” Bridgette said. “I like you lots! As a friend.”

“But just a friend?” I pushed, discontent. “Nothing else?”

“I mean… maybe?” Bridgette said, rubbing the back of her head. “I’ve never really thought of you that way, before, to be honest…”

“But could you?” I asked, needing to know the answer. “Do you think you could potentially fall for me? Or has that door already closed?”

“I… I don’t know,” Bridgette admitted, sighing. “Does it matter? You’re already engaged to Amy…”

“I’ve told you that’s just an official arrangement,” I reminded her. “Nobody expects me to have actual feelings for her. Not like… the ones I have for you…”

“You…” Bridgette paused, swallowing. “To be honest, I-I don’t know how I feel. I mean, yeah, I definitely feel something about Amy, but when I think of you… I mean, the way you always act around me - the way you aren’t acting right now - do I even know the real you?”

I blinked in surprise - not at the question, but at what she’d pointed out. I wasn’t acting like a fool around her for once. Perhaps because I had something else on my mind…

“Would you like to?” I asked, in lieu of an answer. “Perhaps… perhaps you could fall for me, if you did get to know me.”

“Maybe…” Bridgette said, frowning. “Maybe… But don’t you think the same could be said for you and Amy? If you’re going to be engaged to her, shouldn’t you at least give her a shot?”

But I already love you - that’s what I wanted to say… yet Bridgette already had feelings for Amy, and I was asking her to give something new a try…

“Perhaps I could,” I admitted, speaking softly. “Perhaps I should. But I won’t give up on you, either.”

“Huh?” Bridgette asked, blinking. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I’m a very selfish woman,” I replied, holding my head up high and squashing all the guilt and discomfort I felt deep down inside. “And that I dislike being told what can and can’t be mine. If you want me to fall for Amy, while still having feelings for you, then yes I’ll try - but that doesn’t mean I have to be content with just her.”

“So… What? You want to develop feelings for us both? Wouldn’t that just lead to more heartbreak?”

“Not if I can have you both,” I replied. “And then you could have Amy, too - I don’t usually like to share, you know, but… Well, I suppose if it’s someone who’s mine, too, then… it might not be the worst?”

What was I even saying? I could feel my cheeks brighten and warm. The words that were coming out of my mouth felt utterly ridiculous - and yet, I didn’t want to take them back.

If I couldn’t have Bridgette by herself, then I’d have her and Amy both. I refused to play a game that forced me to choose - I’d take all that I wanted, and make them happy for it.

“That’s… you can’t just-”

“And why not?” I asked. “I’m already expected to juggle two relationships, as a woman in an arranged marriage. So what if they’re both relationships filled with love? Why shouldn’t I have my cake and eat it too?”

Bridgette opened her mouth to reply - perhaps to accept, or more likely to shoot me down. Not that I intended to give up in any case, but regardless I never got to hear her answer - for it was at that moment that we heard the shouting of a voice that was still unfamiliar to me, but rapidly becoming less so.

“Let me in!” Daphne was screaming, from the front door. “I’m going to give her a piece of my mind!”

“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Clara replied - her voice calm and soft, and yet still loud enough to carry through the night. “My Lady is in bed, and she will remain undisturbed.”

“But she’s hogging all of Pauline’s time!” Daphne protested, no doubt stomping her foot at the same time.

“And she will continue taking her healer’s time until she is fully recovered,” Clara replied.

“But-”

“But nothing. You might be a princess, but this is my Lady’s house and no royalty will force its way inside - even if it means I have to turn to your sister for help.”

“I hope she’s not planning to come up all the way here to get me,” I murmured, frowning. “I’m supposed to be having a romantic dinner…”

“Rather hard to be romantic with that yelling, though, isn’t it?” asked a new, androgynous voice.

I turned towards the source in surprise, to see a shadowy figure that my eyes refused to quite focus on.

“You!” Bridgette snarled, reaching for her sword.

“Now, now, you’ve already tried that,” the demon(?) said, their tone making their smirk clear even if I couldn’t quite focus on their face well enough to see it. “Don’t worry - I’m not here to cause trouble. I just have a little delivery to make.”

“A delivery?” I asked, cautiously. “If you expect us to make some form of deal with you, then I don’t care what you’re selling - we’ll have no part of it.”

“No deal,” the demon promised - and somehow I knew that their smirk had grown even wider at that moment. “Just a gift - to mark a turning point in your relationship. And to give little miss Amy another headache, once you start bugging her for the recipe.”

Saying so, the demon held out both hands - and in those hands was something pale brown, shaped like a cone, with something white and swirly looking atop of it.

“Tell me,” the demon said. “Have you ever heard of ice cream?”

***

???

***

Sitting upon a chair, in front of the computer, I searched my way through the various keys to type my query into the ‘search bar.’ I was looking for information - mostly in regards to the ‘HRT’ the demon had been talking to me about. Though I’d already done some research, and even talked with the doctor, I still wasn’t quite sure of the details and I wanted to know more about the drugs I would be putting into my body.

“Read anything interesting lately?” a familiar voice asked me.

“You’re back,” I remarked, without answering the question. “And here I thought I might actually have some quiet for once.”

“I merely stepped away for a moment to tease a young couple,” the demon replied. “But seriously - I could use something new to read if you’ve found anything.”

“As if I have time for such trivialities,” I scoffed.

“You say that as if you didn’t spend all last night binging Compass of True Love.”

“That’s…” I blushed, faintly. “I was simply doing research. For writing - since it seems I’ll be forced to take on the role of writer in this world, if I wish to pay any bills.”

“Then shouldn’t you be reading your own story?” the demon pressed. “I noticed you read some of those eldritch stories I recommended, as well.”

“Yes, well… I was curious,” I muttered, still staring at the screen even as my traitorous cheeks took on a light red hue. “And I didn’t realize you’d be looking through my reading history.”

“It’s called browsing history,” the demon told me. “As you’d know if you spent more time on those internet for dummies novels…”

“Yes, well, I’m doing something else right now,” I muttered. “Namely research - have you enchanted those pills I got, yet?”

“I’ll do it now,” the demon replied, reaching into some pocket or another and pulling out a familiar looking red bottle.

I snatched it from their hands. “About t-”

“B̵̧͐e̸̗̚p̶̲͘h̷̩̄a̵̠͒z̵̺̋a̶̗̍r̶̈́,” came a feminine voice - all but assaulting my eardrums with the strange word they spoke.

“What are you doing here?” the demon - or rather, the demon I was most familiar with - asked, turning towards the newcomer. A figure I couldn’t seem to focus on, but somehow knew to be female.

“The same could be asked of you,” the newcomer said. “You know we’re not supposed to spend so much time in the mortal realms.”

“Except when fulfilling contracts - such as the one I’m currently in the middle of,” the androgynous demon replied. “So, if you’ll excuse me-”

“I won’t,” the woman said. “I can’t - not now that you’ve gone and broken one of our laws. As if stretching them to the breaking point with this little vacation of yours wasn’t enough.”

“Vacation?” the demon I knew scoffed. “I’m clearly working here.”

“Yes, on a mission with no end in sight,” the feminine one replied. “Don’t think we on the council haven’t noticed what you’ve done - setting up these two beacons, entertaining yourself to your heart’s delight. We were willing to let it go by, so long as you technically stayed within the rules, but now… now you’ve gone and broken one.”

“Broken one?” the familiar demon scoffed. “I’ve done nothing of the sort.”

“You made a deal while still working on one,” the feminine demon replied. “Not only that, but the deal you made - to help your little human here get her old form back - is something you should have done for free, in order to fulfill the original request of making her happy.”

“So what if it is?” the androgynous demon scoffed. “According to clause thirty seven of rule fifty five, subsection-”

“We struck that loophole from the record yesterday,” the newcomer said, sounding remarkably smug. “As you’d know if you’d bothered to visit home in order to check your messages.”

“…Ah,” the demon I knew said, sounding strangely… resigned? “So it’s like that, then…”

“It is,” the feminine demon all but purred. “This little ‘vacation deal’ you’re working on has officially been voided, so put that poor woman’s soul back where you got it and come peacefully with me.”

“I’ll do the first part, but as for the second - surely we can still talk about this?”

“Wait,” I said, speaking up for the first time. “What do you mean put me back? Surely you don’t mean-”

“Sorry, darling,” the demon I knew replied. “But rules are rules.”

I opened my mouth to reply - or tried to, at least. Except I suddenly wasn’t sitting in my chair anymore. I was laying down on a bed.

“Really, I’m fine,” a voice said - my voice, I realized, coming from my lips.

“You aren’t,” a familiar, much hated voice replied. A voice belonging to the brunette sitting next to the bed I was now lying in. “You need your rest.”

“But I want to get up,” my own voice whined, an unfamiliar pout added to it.

I tried to open my mouth, in turn - to say something, anything about the imposter wielding my voice… but I couldn’t.

I was back in my old body, just as the demon had demanded… but I wasn’t the one in control.

The man I’d switched places with was.