“That’s just who Ariel is,” Eris replied. “Her kindness and understanding are genuine. It doesn’t take long for people to ease up around her. It’s a gift, one that makes her a perfect fit for the power she was given…”

“Power?” Violet asked.

“You have officially met one of the rarest and most powerful beings in the multiverse… An Angelic Genie!” Eris replied. “We’re both genies, but she’s in a league far beyond me. As an Angelic Genie, it’s her duty to come to the aid of others…”

The family turned to Scarlet and Ariel. Scarlet was dry, her short brown hair a mess, her clothes slightly wrinkled.

“Uh… S-sorry about that… H-hiding, I mean…” Scarlet muttered, no longer attempting falsetto. She was still shedding a couple of tears.

“It’s okay… Do you need anything else, Scarlet?” Ariel asked.

“Th-this is going to sound strange, but… Some kind of candy?” Scarlet asked.

Ariel nodded. She held out her hand, and a single wrapped confection formed in her palm. Scarlet looked up into Ariel’s eyes, startled. Ariel smiled, conveying that everything would be okay. Scarlet took the sky-blue wrapped sweet, pried the wrapper off, and popped it into her mouth.

She lurched forward in pain as the curse kicked in.

“Scarlet!” Ariel cried.

“This is – ack! – normal for m-me…” Scarlet tried to explain through the pain.

Eris tilted her head as she observed the turn of events. She was starting to piece together what was going on. Scarlet wrapped her arms around her midsection in pain, clenching her teeth. Ariel grabbed Scarlet and braced her.

“I got you! What can I do to help!?” Ariel cried.

“Just… Give… Me… A minute… To change…” Scarlet replied, her voice changing as she spoke.

Ariel got a close-up view of Scarlet’s painful transformation, watching her body change shape from male to female in a short amount of time, filling out her dress as it was designed. Scarlet’s hair turned a golden blonde and grew out. Once the changes ceased, Scarlet let out a sigh of relief and opened up her eyes, revealing they were pink once more.

“This is my curse…” Scarlet muttered. “Candy turns me into a girl. Being soaked turns me back into a guy… The life I was born into, but the life that isn’t mine.”

“So that’s it…” Eris muttered. She walked up to Scarlet. “Scarlet, Ariel and I are genies. I am a regular free genie. Ariel is an even more powerful – albeit, young – Angelic Genie. We both sensed the presence of Dark Magic in you, and Ariel was drawn to help you.”

“P-please, don’t take this from me…” Scarlet whimpered.

“I wouldn’t dare if it’d leave you miserable…” Ariel replied, hugging her.

“Actually, I noticed that you do not have any latent magical skill. And yet, the curse seems to belong to you…” Eris noted.

“Well, I certainly didn’t do this to myself… I was cursed by a girl when I was seven. Only… I found out I liked being a girl, so I used the curse to live as one,” Scarlet explained.

“We’ve been helping her live as herself ever since. We only see her as our daughter now, no matter how she was born,” Mrs. Martin added. “We tried to get help, but no one so far has had a solution that breaks the curse but leaves Scarlet as the woman she wants to be.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Humans don’t usually have the level of skill to manipulate a curse like that,” Eris replied. “Are you aware of what happened to the one who did this to you?”

Scarlet shook her head. “It’s like no one remembers that she existed. Her parents also disappeared from the face of the Earth along with her.”

Ariel tilted her head, confused. “How does that even work?”

“This witch must have sold her own parents’ souls for power, erasing them from existence,” Eris suggested. “If she was defeated, all memory of her would vanish, given she no longer would have a tangible link to the timeline. Well, all memories save for those directly affected by the witch’s magic. And all of the witch’s spells should have vanished… And yet…” Eris knelt down in front of Scarlet and looked up into her eyes. “Scarlet, you made the curse yours. It became an important part of who you are. It imprinted on your soul, and you became the owner of it. It was no longer the witch’s. That’s why you kept it even when the witch who cast it upon you ceased to be!”

“Wow… Really?” Scarlet asked.

Eris nodded and smiled.

“Okay, it seems like a big risk to give away the souls of the people that brought you into the world. Who would do that?” Ariel asked, slightly indignant over the very idea of stealing someone else’s soul.

“Someone insane,” Eris replied bluntly. “Dark witches vary, but those who give their parents to the underworld are a special kind of evil… And crazy. All of the power that the Overlord Demons would give the witch in question would instantly go towards maintaining the witch’s existence. It’s not even worth the power or the risk. It’s pure, insane greed.”

“So… What about me?” Scarlet asked.

“We have to help her!” Ariel pleaded to Eris.

Eris smiled. “I agree.”

Ariel turned to Scarlet. “I could easily break the curse, and at the same time turn-“

Eris placed her hand on Ariel’s shoulder, shaking her head. “No. I think this requires a bit more finesse. Like I said, this is more complicated than usual.”

“What do you mean?” Ariel asked.

Eris looked at Scarlet. “We don’t break her curse: we change it, make it a spell of the light that she can be happy with! I have plenty of experience with this.”

“Wait, so… You’re suggesting that I keep this candy transformation business?” Scarlet asked, confused.

“Yes, but you’ll never again have to worry about the countercurse turning you into something you’re not. You’ll be a woman all the time,” Eris explained.

Scarlet smiled wide, her eyes tearing up.

“Is this okay with all of you?” Eris asked the rest.

“We’ve wanted that more than anything for our daughter. This is a long time coming,” Mrs. Martin replied, her husband nodding.

“I know Scarlet will be happier for it. Maybe too, she can finally not fear water so much,” Brent suggested.

“Exactly! I don’t see how any of this is bad for my big sis!” Violet agreed.

“And I’ll continue to be by your side, no matter what,” Connor added.

Eris turned to Scarlet. “Are you ready?”

Scarlet nodded, smiling.

Eris nodded and turned to Ariel. “I’ll teach you how to do this. It’s a great tool you can use for others.”

Ariel nodded.

Eris raised a hand that began to glow with her signature purple magic. Ariel followed with her sky-blue. “Ariel, you should now be able to read the curse, like a story, poem, or a computer program.”

Ariel nodded. “It’s not very complicated. It looks like a little kid did this.”

“Well, she was about my age at the time,” Scarlet noted. “It tracks.”

Eris nodded. “From this point, we can manipulate certain aspects of her curse. With our power, nothing is beyond our grasp. For instance, what she turns into when the countercurse effect activates.”

“Oh yeah, I see that!” Ariel exclaimed. “Scarlet, what would you like to look like when you get soaked with water?”

“Girl, obviously,” Scarlet replied.

“Your natural hair and eyes were really pretty… How about that?” Ariel asked. “Your hair and eyes change. That’s it.”

“It’s not a bad idea, actually…” Scarlet agreed. But Ariel sensed something in Scarlet’s voice, getting her to think…

“We can do that!” Eris turned to Ariel. “Ariel, you can watch me with your magic. So, we can copy the cursed body form over to the uncursed form… Like… So… And you can pull the eye color from her-“

“I got it!” Ariel exclaimed, putting up another glowing hand and taking the reins. She was grasping it very quickly. Eris took a step back and let Ariel work on it, monitoring it as Ariel swiftly rearranged the spell. She watched as Scarlet’s curse transformed from Dark Magic to Ariel’s Divine Magic. Eris was bewildered that Ariel was capable of infusing mortals with Divine Magic, but she had to remember that Ariel had done it before with another couple. Eris silently admitted that she could have only made the spell of the weaker Light Magic. Ariel had true talent for this, and it made her proud to watch this young genie evolve.

Ariel smiled, proud of her work. “We’re done, Scarlet! Oh, wait…” She playfully snapped her fingers, sparks flying from it. “Wish granted!” she replied, winking.

Scarlet chuckled. “I feel… So much lighter! That Dark Magic really was taxing. I feel it, now that it’s gone.”

“So, you want to test the new spell?” Ariel asked.

Scarlet hesitated for a moment. “S-sure…”

“It’ll be okay. Close your eyes…” Scarlet followed the instruction. Ariel manifested a ball of water over Scarlet’s head. Gravity took hold, and it soaked Scarlet through. This time, however, Scarlet’s body didn’t change; only her hair color visibly changed.

Scarlet opened her eyes, revealing they too had changed to their original natural brown. “H-hey… Look at that! I’m still a girl!”

Ariel summoned a mirror and handed it to Scarlet. “This is what you’ll look like any time you activate the counterspell.”

Scarlet observed her features. She had to admit that she still looked pretty with her natural-born colors. “Heh… I never thought I’d see myself like this… But I love it!”

Ariel summoned a light vortex to air-dry Scarlet quickly. She then created another piece of candy. “And of course, if you want your magical form, you just need some candy…”

Scarlet took it and put it in her mouth. Everyone watched as her hair shifted to blonde, and pink filled her irises. “Huh… I feel warm and fuzzy… It’s not like before…”

“Dark Magic is inherently chaotic and messy. It’s no wonder you went through pain like you did each time you turned into the girl,” Eris noted.

“But now it’s not even Light Magic, but Divine! It’s a very powerful spell now, and it belongs to you, Scarlet!” Ariel explained enthusiastically. “You’ll be happy with it, I’m sure of it!”

Scarlet hugged Ariel. “Thank you so much!”

“I think I speak for the family when I say I second that!” Connor suggested. The others nodded in agreement.

“Well, I guess now that we’re here and settled, why don’t we get lunch here?” Brent suggested.

“That reminds me… We didn’t eat either…” Ariel realized. “I’m feeling a little drained.”

“Genies eat?” Violet asked.

Eris nodded. “As inherently spiritual beings, we draw nourishment from things we enjoy. Eating things we like the taste of replenishes our spirits and thus our power.”

“That… Actually makes a kind of sense,” Connor muttered.

“Well, I’d love to eat with you! After all, you just changed my life!” Scarlet exclaimed.

Her family nodded in agreement. “It’s the least we could do,” Mr. Martin suggested.

They all returned to the front, Eris and Ariel joining the family for the meal. They talked about their lives as they ordered and ate. Ariel, per usual, glowed when she enjoyed the food, getting everyone to chuckle. There was something adorable about this girl, there was no denying it. They were there for several hours, sharing stories of their unusual lives. Ariel and Scarlet even exchanged contact information to keep in touch.

Eventually, though, it came time to leave. It was still raining, so Scarlet took a deep breath and stepped out into the rain. Her new transformation took hold, and she sighed a breath of relief with a content smile. Rain was no longer her enemy. And for the first time in over twenty years, Scarlet found herself enjoying the rain.

Ariel manifested a new umbrella for her, one she knew Scarlet would treasure. With a final wave, Scarlet and her family parted ways with the genies that changed their lives.

As the family walked away, Eris turned to Ariel. “Ariel… Did I notice Scarlet’s magical form had something more to it?”

Ariel chuckled nervously. “Heh heh… Guilty. She’ll find out what I gave her another day.”

Eris chuckled and smiled. “Ariel, you’re one of a kind. Never change.”

Scarlet would spend the rest of the week in Citadel Harbor with her family. Free from the worries of water, she finally purchased her first swimsuit. She couldn’t swim, but the therapy of a hot tub called to the weary girl. She was determined to learn how to swim now that she could as a woman, so she looked up classes she could take when she returned home.

She visited the college and the beach. She was no longer afraid to let the ocean touch her, standing on the shore and letting the waves wash up on her toes. She swore she felt a presence welcoming her…

In time, she and her family returned home. Scarlet settled down with Connor, and they began talking about their plans for the future, now that Scarlet no longer had to worry about her curse.

It was now something better, a spell that, no matter what, she would always be herself, no longer having to hide when the rain came. She wouldn’t have to worry about how she felt taking a shower or a bath. Surprises wouldn’t turn her world upside down. She could take life in stride now, no matter what it tossed at her.

Scarlet was free to live a sweeter life than she ever had before.

THE END

By Erica Chrisman (CrystalSeaDragon44)