Chapter 3: Meow

CW: Minor mention of bullying

Chapter III - Meow

 

Sam’s eyes were still blurry from the flash of light. Eris had just finished forcing both him and Nathan to stare at some creepy mirrors. He felt like he was pulled through the mirror, found a ball of light, and now he was waking up in some weird new place.

The massive room around him looked completely foreign. The gothic-like style was making him think that this was some sort of time travel. How else could it be explained?

Just as he was starting to take in the whole of the room, the door in the far right opened.

“Oh good! You’re up.”

Sam was shocked. A gorgeous woman was walking towards him in some sort of old looking nurse outfit with a red pentagram, but the crazy thing was her appearance. She reminded him of a harpy. She had large colorful feathers on her arms, sharp talon-like fingernails, and her lower half looked bird-like. It was like she jumped out of a mythology book. The rest of her was human though. She had beautiful long white hair with striking purple eyes.

Sam just stared at her in confusion. She walked toward the bed and started checking the table next to him. He didn’t know what to say so he just stayed quiet.

“We’re not really sure who you are, but Lady Jenny vouched for you and your friend so we brought you to the royal infirmary. Can you tell me your name?”

The bird lady spoke to him and he had to do all he could to tear his eyes from her talon-like fingers while she leaned over him to fix the bedding. The fingers were scarily close to his neck. Once she finished, she stood back up and looked at him expectantly.

“Oh-oh, uh, uh,” he had to pause because his voice sounded soft with a gentle lilt. It wasn’t his normal raspy deepness. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.

The woman raised her eyebrows looking at him. It made Sam feel small and in no position of power. It was a weird feeling. He’d been 6’2 since highschool and no one made him feel that way except his coaches.

“Um, sorry. My name’s Sam.” The woman seemed to relax a bit more. She went back to fiddling with the bedside table. Sam pushed his hand into a fist. His nails were digging into his palm, but that was normal. Any time he felt scared or anxious, this was his out. Sometimes he’d draw blood, but he’d always suck it up. His dad made sure of that. He’d always have a way to make himself calm down, because “men don’t cry.” His dad’s words echoed through his head for the thousandth time.

With the sheer lack of understanding of the situation around him, Sam seriously wanted to break down and sob. From what he could see, Nathan was nowhere near him. He’d been his life raft these past few years. Without him, Sam was sure he’d have been drinking more and doing every little destructive thing he could get his hands on. He knew it from the past few months when Nathan wasn’t with him at college.

He’d spend the nights high or drunk, then wake up and go to practice. It got into a terrible routine at some point. Wake up hungover, go to practice, throw up, work out, class, practice again, then end the day getting drunk or high and do it all again. The school athletics department was making classes easier on him, but he didn’t like the idea of just not going.

Hearing that Jenny had died really sobered him up. He’d done all he could to explain to the coach that his friend needed him. Being a freshman meant he wasn’t that needed and his consistent appearance to classes seemed to make the coaches choice easier. The athletic department handled all the school stuff and sent him home with the options of online class for a bit. He hadn’t been going. Nathan needed him after all.

His thoughts were spiraling. He needed to find Nathan. That was priority number one in this place, whatever the hell it was.

“My name’s Noriana.”

The voice shook Sam out of his thoughts. He turned to look at the harpy. He didn’t know how to respond. He’d gone down such a rabbit hole that he forgot she was here.

She smiled awkwardly and looked back at the table.

“Um, um,” Sam started, “It’s nice, uh, to, uh, meet you.” Sam’s face twisted. He was scared to talk to her. She represented confusion and a whole sort of impossibility that he really didn’t want to face right now.

She looked back at him with a happy smile.

“Forgive me for being forward, my lady, but are you from the same place as Lady Jenny?”

Lady?

That was the only word Sam could focus on. His mind started to go into overdrive. Who did she mean by Jenny? There was no way she could mean Nathan’s Jenny, right?

He had to think of this objectively if he was going to get any sort of information regarding where he was. He just had to think. Who had Noriana mentioned twice since entering the room? Jenny.

If he wanted information, he needed to find out who Jenny was. The lady thing was probably some sort of misunderstanding. He didn’t quite understand the misunderstanding since he’d been getting told he was a “handsome, young man” by every old lady since he was 12. Sure, he had longish hair, but that was how everyone on the team had their hair. Just because it flipped over his ears and was a little shaggy was no reason to call him a woman.

He’d heard his teammates call him a ‘priss’ or a ‘queer’ before, but he never thought much about it. He hated toxic masculinity and he wasn’t going to contribute to it. As long as they never crossed the line with someone he cared about, he wasn’t going to make it a big issue.

Still, the way Noriana said it was different. She’d called him ‘Lady’ like it was a known fact. What the hell was up with that. Finally deciding on his words, he spoke up.

“I’m not exactly sure what you mean Noriana. Can you go get this Lady Jenny so I can speak to her?”

Her back went rigid. Sam could see the change in her demeanor. She seemed primed and ready, less casual than she was a second ago.

“Right away miss. Lady Jenny will be here in a matter of minutes. I will not disturb you with my presence any longer.”

The second she finished her statement, she turned around and ran out of the room.

Sam didn’t know what to do. The first person he’d seen since that whole weird scene at the magic shop and she’d just run away. He mentally kicked himself for requesting to see Jenny so quickly. He could’ve figured out enough just by talking to Noriana rather than changing the variables around. At least, he thought so.

Sighing, he turned over in the bed. The two fluffy pillows squished under him. He supported himself with his hands and hung his legs off the bed. Something felt wrong. His legs weren’t touching the floor like how he had expected. He was 6’2. He always touched the ground when he went to get out of bed. Was this a massive bed or had something changed.

He tried to gauge more of the issue at hand so he jumped off the bed to see more of himself. As he jumped, something brushed against his back. Shaken by the feeling, he immediately turned around to the bed. His face only went about a foot or two over the bed. His whole world view had shrunk compared to what he remembered.

What the hell?

He was thoroughly confused. Normally, a bed was a good 3 to 4 feet below him. He tried to walk around it to understand more. Getting tired of staring at the bed, he walked toward the door. The handle was much closer to his eyesight than it should have been.

Oh my god! Did I fucking shrink? Where the hell am I?

His thoughts stirred around in his head. Looking to his left, there was a nook in the wall. He hadn’t seen it from his bed, but it looked like a small hallway that led to a bathroom. He started to take steps towards it and entered the open doorway.

The room was large. The ceilings seemed to stretch on like they did in the room he was just in. It was fairly large for what he considered to be a hospital bathroom. He wasn’t extremely sure on the location, but that was his best guess.

In one corner there was a throne-like chair with a hole in the middle. It looked like a fancy port-a-potty. It had a basin of water next to it with a ladle. On the opposite side, it looked like a small bath. There was no water in it at the moment, but, from what he could tell, there could be at a moment's notice. To his right, there was a faux wall. It looked like it could bend in on itself. Looking closely at it, he figured it to be a changing cover. There were intricate designs littered throughout it. The threading looked like gold and the fabric was a deep velvety purple. The cover seemed the most interesting and reminded of something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

He pushed the covering away a little. It folded in on itself revealing a small area and a mirror. His reflection stared back at him, only it was entirely different than the one he was used to.

His blond hair was now a stark white. There were little growths starting to form on the top of his hair. His figure was somewhat similar to what he was used to except he looked much shorter and had a little bit of curves. Snaking around his midsection, was a small black feline tail.

Staring at the completely wrong image, he started to scream in shock.

***

Walking down the hall, Jenny was throwing thoughts around her head. 

This morning had started out like normal: wake up, get dressed by the servants, have breakfast with the queen, study, and train. Then, out of nowhere, her brother and his friend, Sam, fall out of this huge burst of light in her room. She was getting changed for lunch and then two bodies just flop out of existence. 

She was just getting used to her new normal, ever since her tiny Volkswagen bug got crushed by a trailer truck and she got teleported to this place. According to how the queen spoke about it, her arrival was similar to Nathan and Sam’s. The only difference was that she was awake. She’d had this extremely long meeting with the queen and agreed to represent her. She wasn’t used to being in royalty, let alone demon royalty. The queen needed someone strong enough to inherit her throne and, after some mages ran some tests, it turns out Jenny was just that person. She’d had some sort of latent and extremely strong wells of energy. When she explained she didn’t know how to access them, the queen ordered her to be trained. Since then, she’d been living in the castle and being treated just like her daughter.

Her brother and his friend showing up definitely shook that up. She sent word to the queen immediately. Her and a plethora of servants showed up. The servants took them to the infirmary to look after them leaving Jenny to explain their arrival. The queen decided that it was best to let as little information about them get out. She was worried there would be enemies made once they realized that she had three new inhabitants all supposedly from a different world.

Jenny didn’t really know much about the politics of the world, just what Eris had told her, but it was becoming clear that Dracodisi had just as many political issues as Earth. Queen Azzir probably had enemies and allies. Jenny just didn’t know who either were.

She, also, only knew about the demons. There were likely other races milling about.

Since her conversation with the queen, both Nathan and Sam had been resting in separate rooms in the infirmary wing. She was on her way to check on Nathan when a sweet harpy nurse came up to her and alerted her that Sam was awake. He’d apparently requested her specifically which spelled good news. He probably remembered too. She hoped, at least, if he didn’t, she didn’t know how to help the two.

She was stirred from her memories by a sudden shriek. The sound was worrisome because it came directly from the room she was walking towards.

She broke out into a run. Her feet being in perpetual heels were certainly weird, but they did little to deter her from running. Her leathery wings beat the wind and she somewhat flew while running to make the trip faster.

She opened the heavy iron cast door to the empty room. She was looking for the source of the scream. The covers on the bed were thrown about. The bedside table looked set and ready for medications. The soft orb of magical light was still on in the corner. She was still searching for Sam. 

She hadn’t seen him since he’d fallen through the light. The queen wanted her to keep to her routine and finish the afternoon. She’d given her the evening off to check on the two and keep them company.

She turned to her right and saw a shadow in the bathroom. She ran forward and looked at the small figure staring at the mirror. She was confused. The face certainly looked like Sam’s, but the height, hair, and tail were new.

“Sam?”

The distraught figure turned and looked at Jenny. Sam stumbled away from her and fell on the ground.

“What the hell? Jenny?”

Sam’s voice had certainly changed too.

Oh this certainly complicates things.

“Haha, um, yeah.” Jenny immediately went to twisting her hair.

“What the hell is going on and why do you look like a succubus?”

The comment caught Jenny off guard. She certainly knew what she was when she got sent to this realm, but apparently Sam did too.

“Ok first off hi! And secondly, how do you know that I’m a succubus? Been reading some spicy manga there, bud?” She grinned as she spoke. She wanted to help him relax.

Sam just looked shocked. The mood was certainly relaxed and Sam’s face turned a bright red as he tried to hide within himself.

“Ok, regardless, how are you alive and don’t avoid the succubus question.” He seemed to pout as he spoke.

Jenny couldn’t help but find him cute. It had been a while since she’d seen him and this was a much more adorable version.

“Ok, it’s pretty simple especially if you read manga. Do you read it, watch anime, or read light novels?”

Sam nodded. He was actually pretty embarrassed about it, considering his teammates would always make fun of him if they found out.

“Ok,” she continued, “then you know what isekai means, right?”

Sam’s mouth opened in shock.

“Oh my god,” he groaned, “you were isekai’d into some demon realm and now me and Nathan are here?” Sam literally face palmed.

The image of watching some cute version of Sam facepalm was too much for Jenny. She started laughing.

“Pretty much, right on the money,” she shrugged as she spoke.

“Ok, whatever, I’m gonna just compartmentalize that and not think about that right now. Next question, why am I so short, have white long hair, high voice, and a tail?” Sam stared up at her, still sitting on the ground.

You are reading story Child of Eris at novel35.com

Jenny crouched down and sat criss crossed to make the environment more welcoming.

“Well, my manga reading friend, this realm is only inhabited by women,” she reached a hand out towards Sam’s shoulder.

He just stared back at her. She expected fear or anger, but the face she got back was just indifference with surprise.

“Does that mean I’m gonna become a woman? Like fully?” His face scrunched up.

“I’m not really sure, hun. But, gender is relative so just because your appearance changes doesn’t mean you have to stop being a guy! We can just have everyone use he/him pronouns and you can dress however you like!”

She looked at Sam’s face to gauge a reaction. She couldn’t really tell.

Unknown to Jenny, the inner workings of Sam’s mind were firing on all cylinders. He’d heard of trans people and gender non conforming people. But that couldn’t be him could it? He’d never explored the idea. The idea to keep using his old pronouns wasn’t extremely appealing, same with clothes. Maybe this was a whole new experience. There was this feeling inside that he couldn’t describe that hearing her refer to him as ‘him’ was gross. Maybe they were genderfluid? They/them didn’t feel right either.

Frowning, Sam spoke up.

“Can I try using she/her?”

Jenny was shocked. She’d known for sure that Nathan was trans and would figure it out at some point, but Sam? That was a curveball.

“Um, of course sweetie! Do you wanna try a new name too?”

“No. I like Sam. I’m not sure why, but the other pronoun feels wrong, especially right now.”

“Ok, well we can work on this at your own rate. I want you to be comfortable, so just let me know when you’re ready and I’m here. Nathan might be related to me by blood, but you’re just as much family.” Jenny crawled over to Sam and pulled her into a hug. Jenny could hear soft muffled cries from Sam as they hugged.

She pulled the small figure away and looked into her eyes.

“Hey,” she spoke in a soft whisper. She reached out and pulled some strands of hair sticking to her face away. “It’s ok. It’s ok.” She gave Sam a tight squeeze and then continued. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Sam shook her head and then fell right back into the hug. She was exhausted and just wanted to be held.

Jenny shook her head up and down then pulled Sam in close. She pulled herself and Sam up towards the wall to have more support, then let Sam lay her head down on her. The two sat like that for quite a while. Jenny slowly stroked Sam’s hair lovingly while the two sat. There was only silence and the occasional snuffle from Sam.

After a bit more of Jenny’s consoling, Sam finally spoke.

“Ok,” she sniffled and her voice hitched, “I’m ready to talk more.” Sam was nodding up and down like she was trying to convince herself, then sat up and looked more towards Jenny.

Jenny was surprised to see how much had changed in a few hours. Sam looked adorable, definitely more feminine, but adorable. Her face was softer, her hair was long and luscious, and there were two new things on her head that were definitely ears.

Jenny smiled with her mouth closed and then spoke.

“Ok, to answer more of your question before, this is a demon realm, from what I understand. There’s probably other races floating around, but I’m not really sure. You seem to be turning into a more feminine version of yourself and taking on demon characteristics. Really, ‘demon’ can mean anything. For me, I’m a succubus, the same as the Queen. Succubi seem to be the strongest ones in the land. They’re apparently always the queens. You, my friend, seem to be turning into a cat-girl.” Jenny finished and turned her whole face into a hungry smile. She wanted Sam to be comfortable, but she couldn’t help but relish the fact she was gonna be an adorable cat girl.

“A–a cat…girl?” Sam just stared at her. Jenny stared back. Sam seemed to get flustered and turned away. Jenny was normally never this domineering.

“Yup, a cat girl,” Jenny said, with the smile never leaving her face. “Not to worry you, but your species of demon seems to generally be the weakest. Luckily, you have me and the queen here for you. She’s been amazing since I’ve arrived.”

“Weakest?” Sam’s fear was evident.

“Don’t worry! Just like, you all don’t do physical labor very well, but magically the cats are very skilled!”

“Magic?” Sam’s fear changed on a dime. It was replaced with wonder.

Jenny kicked herself for forgetting that magic was very cool and would’ve probably been a better thing to start with than Sam’s weaknesses.

“Yes! Magic!” As she finished she started twirling her fingers around and saying “oooh.” It looked like something a magician would do to emphasize the idea of magic at a kid’s show.

Sam broke into a laugh.

“You’re such a dork.”

“Hey!” Jenny feigned shock and put her hand to her chest. The two started laughing.

After they stopped, Jenny continued.

“So just to clarify, how do you want to be perceived? As a woman, man, or somewhere in-between?”

Sam thought for a second. She really felt best using she/her, but her inner perception of herself just felt like nothingness. She wasn’t a man or a woman, just Sam. She’d known about the fluidity of gender, but didn’t think it could apply to her. Deciding on her answer, she spoke,

“I just want to be seen as Sam. No gender, if that works. I just want to be me and what I like, I’ll do.”

“Ok! That sounds wonderful Sam. If I say anything that doesn’t work, just let me know and I’ll stop.” She reached over and pulled Sam into another hug. “By the way, you're actually adorable.”

Sam blushed furiously in the hug. Jenny was always attractive, but she was always off limits. She’d never even thought there would be a day when Jenny thought she was adorable. The words bounced around in her mind. Still completely out of focus, Sam didn’t notice Jenny pull away and begin to speak.

“Hmm? Can you start over, sorry.”

Jenny stopped and looked at Sam’s red face. She smirked.

“A little hot over there?” She watched as Sam’s face seemed to turn an even darker shade of red. She looked like she might pop if Jenny kept teasing.

“Hahaha, don’t worry, my little lily, I can start over,” Jenny reached over and caressed Sam’s chin with a sharp fingernail.

Sam just stared up at Jenny and started panicking. A gorgeous woman was staring in her eyes and she was the small one, this was an entirely new experience.

“Ok, so how did you get here and what do you think I can do to make it easier for Nathan to wake up?”

Sam had to shake herself out staring at Jenny and slowly processed what she’d asked. She started the story of how both Nathan and herself appeared in the realm.

After catching up with the present, she switched topics.

“Why isn’t Nathan awake if I am?”

“We’re not really sure, you fell through first so maybe that’s why?” Jenny just shrugged her shoulders.

The answer placated Sam enough. Jenny couldn’t know what she didn’t know.

“Still though, I need to know how to make waking up better for Nathan. I don’t exactly want to come in on Nathan screaming like how you did.” She frowned.

“Oh that’s easy. Just be by Nathan’s side.”

“Ok, valid, but like just sit there and wait for him to wake up? That’s it? Is that really all you needed?”

“Well, you should probably explain the changes. I have a feeling Nathan waking up is going to be different than me, given how you’ve been ‘dead’ for a bit.”

Jenny nodded realizing this is going to be a lot more heartfelt with Nathan.

“Ok, but was there anything specific that helped when you woke up?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, Noriana was nice but kinda weird. The uniform helped though. I could tell I was being cared for, even if there’s a pentagram.”

“Who’s Noriana?”

“She came in and saw I woke up. She was a harpy woman dressed in a nurse outfit.”

“Oh, she was the one who came and got me too. Her name is Noriana?”

“Yeah.”

Jenny had been settling into royal life, but she’d been making a point to treat all the servants with respect and to learn their names. She made a mental note to thank Noriana later.

“Ooh, you just gave me an idea,” Jenny stood up, “I should dress up like a nurse!”

“How is that gonna help Nathan?” Sam’s face twisted up in confusion.

“You said it yourself! Seeing Noriana helped even if she was a demon. Maybe the nurse's outfit will help!”

“Oh-kay.” Sam didn’t see how that would help, but it wasn’t unlike Jenny to be eccentric.

“You’ll see!”

Sam just shook her head and stood up.

“I’m gonna go find Noriana, get a nurse outfit, then head to Nathan’s room.” She turned back towards Sam. “Don’t worry cutie, I'll send Noriana back to keep you company. Stay here until I call for you. By then, I’ll have talked to Nathan and filled him in.” She winked and started toward the doorway.

Sam was dumbfounded by the Noriana comment but quickly recovered. She ran over to Jenny and gave her a strong hug.

Jenny was surprised to be grabbed but relaxed and hugged Sam back.

“Thank you.” Sam spoke quietly.

“Anytime, Sam. I’m always here for you. I’ll take both you and Nathan on a tour once he’s awake.”

Sam just nodded and held onto Jenny for a bit longer. Finally, she let her go and said her goodbyes.

She walked back into the room and sat down on the bed. She was exhausted. She mentally went through the events of the day.

She was interrupted by the door opening and saw Noriana.

“Hello, my lady.”