This story is intended to be wholesome and for most viewers. However…
*This story features LGBTQ characters, with numerous transgender characters.
*There is a magical affirming transgender transformation.

A Whisper from the Past… (Part 3 - Finale)

=== Heather’s room. ===

True to her word, Ariel was back less than five seconds after she disappeared.

“You weren’t kidding when you said it wouldn’t be long!” Heather exclaimed, some relief coming through.

“Well, I could have come back the exact moment I left, but that would have looked kinda weird… Eris disappears, and I move in the blink of an eye!”

“You’re right, that does sound weird…”

Ariel sat down, but Heather noticed something was going on with her new genie caretaker: the sparkles in her sheer shroud were dimming.

“Hey, Ariel, are you okay?” Heather asked, concerned.

Ariel perked up, as if she had been lost in thought. “Huh? Yeah, I should be…”

“But, your sparkles…”

Ariel realized what Heather was talking about and pulled a part of her shroud in front of her. “Oh. Yeah, that’s noticeable, alright…”

“What’s happening to you?”

“Well… I just got back from Eris’s original time. She met a friend from those days… And…” Ariel’s sparkles were almost completely gone now. “… It reminded me again of the friends I haven’t seen since I became a genie…”

“So… Your sparkles are fading because… You’re upset?”

Ariel nodded. “Not the first time this has happened. Everything about me is purely spiritual, so when I’m upset, I weaken. My shroud is more or less magic, so the sparkles stop shimmering when I’m weaker…”

Heather had to think. She didn’t realize her new powerful-beyond-reason caretaker could be so vulnerable. Or human. But perhaps Ariel needed a chance to talk about them with someone…

“So… What are they like?” Heather asked. She readied herself to listen.

“Well… All of them are trans, like you. They’re older than both of us. Kaylee was our little group’s ‘big sister.’ A bit crass, but she always wanted to protect everyone, make them happy with jokes and such. Andrea is – or at least, was at the time I last saw her – still in the closet, only out to our little group. And Roland… He’s the only trans man among us, and the only one I knew in life…”

Ariel’s shroud was completely free of sparkles now. “He lives around here, the one who helped me through being homeless when I was still human. We had each other’s backs, protecting each other from the worst of it. He even introduced me to Kaylee and Andrea…” Her voice started to quiver, tears welling up.

Heather jumped in and gave Ariel a hug. “Well, if you miss them that much, why not try to reconnect with them?”

“I-I’m here for you, Heather. I don’t want to feel like I abandoned you!”

“But you’re regretting not being with your friends, right? And that’s making you weaker? I get you’re here for me, but it sounds like this is affecting you. You’ve been so nice to me… But it sounds like you’ve been putting off being there for yourself.”

Ariel sighed. “You’re right. I got swept up in all the magic and my duties. But… You really need me for school.”

Heather held up her finger. She had an idea. “But I don’t need you when I’m safe at home! At least, not usually. And besides, like you said, as long as I have your flashlight, I can summon you when I need you!”

“That’s… True…” Ariel realized.

“You said Roland lives around here? Why not go meet him this weekend?”

Ariel stared at Heather for a moment. Heather smiled as she watched Ariel’s sparkles come back to her. Clearly, the idea made Ariel feel better.

Ariel smiled. “You know, I’d like that very much!”

“And would you look at that, I can tell you’re feeling better, Ariel!”

Ariel chuckled. She knew it. “I feel it. Thank you, Heather!”

=== Eris’s vessel. ===

Eris spent some time building a new section of her home just for Gwen. Their shared memories made fusing Gwen’s old world wants with new world desires easy. Meanwhile, Gwen could give input in real time via their telepathy to the subtle touches to make the place truly hers.

As Eris was laying the finishing touches to Gwen’s apartment, Gwen was looking at Eris’s vast collection of art through the ages. Every person Eris had bought from, and all their reactions, Gwen could feel them all. She knew Eris to be fond of making artists smile – she commissioned many aspiring artists during her time as king, and while some considered the works “subpar” and unworthy of a king, Eris would display them anyway, always responding: “Give them a chance to grow. Each person can become something greater if they’re told they can.”

That ethos was well ahead of its time. Gwen was happy she could live to see a day where so many more shared that belief. And it was certainly true of Eris herself. She just needed that nudge, as awful as the nudge had been…

Among the collection, though, was a large book. It was very old, but Gwen recognized it instantly. She was the one to start it, after all.

She sat down in a nearby chair and began to read it, paying no mind Eris had finished and was leaning against a wall nearby. Eris watched, a small smile on her face, as Gwen began to read.

The worn but taken care of pages first reminded her of her very own words. She wrote many pages detailing Eris’s many appearances and granted wishes, as well their effects on the kingdom. A little at a time, freeing people from the iron grip of the king who took Eris’s place after her genie transformation. Each wish was carefully granted, bringing prosperity and peace to where she appeared. The order did much in Gwen’s forty years maintaining it.

But she kept going. After her “death,” there was another 160 years Eris continued to serve others, mostly more chosen members of the order. However, in the end, the order lost her to one who had discovered Eris and her power. The thief, with his own ideas of how to “save the kingdom,” only managed to get one wish out before he was found and executed, but…

“I granted the one wish I never knew I would grant…” Eris interrupted, knowing what Gwen was reading.

“’I wish him dead,’” Gwen replied, paraphrasing it. “I‘m so sorry… That’s why there was nothing on you for so long after that…” she suggested, flipping through the pages.

“Yeah, after granting that wish, and feeling just how easy it was to kill someone… I didn’t want my power anymore. I was given a chance to be given to the care of the Church, but I was so distraught, I wanted them to seal me away forever. I didn’t want my powers anymore, and I didn’t want anyone to use me again. I couldn’t trust myself… I didn’t have free will, not really. Not like I do now.”

“But then, it seems more of my descendants kept looking for you. They wanted to keep you safe, maybe even give you comfort.”

“And eventually, they did just that, giving me the book in your hands. I gave them a copy, and they continue to write about me to this day. Of course, some I know don’t know or realize they’re descended from your family; there’s an FBI agent I regularly meet who’s distantly related to you. He gets a lot of his compassion from you. He’s a very distant relative that the main family isn’t aware of.”

“Ah, yes, I can see who you’re talking about. Poor guy.”

“But as for that wish… I still regret not finding a way to stop that.”

“I don’t blame you. ‘War ripping what was left of the kingdom apart, burning into the ground with a civil war. Not a single trace left, only fairy tales,’” Gwen read from the old tome.

Eris sighed. “It had been the intent to make my kingdom disappear peacefully. I was so close, but then this jerk thought he had all the answers, and the last tenth of the kingdom perished in flames from it. But my efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed, as the other genies had been watching the whole time, and they saw fit to grant me my freedom once I had learned all that I had done.”

“You deserved it, Eris! Sure, you had that stumble, but that wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t control that at the time…”

“As much as I know that now, it still helps to hear. Thank you.” Both of them smiled, feeling each other’s warm emotions. “So, what’s next for you, Gwen?”

“Sure, I have magic now that I can use to conjure my own outfits… But…”

“You want to shop around, see what the modern world has to offer?”

It was here Gwen lost her usual, knightly-trained composure. She squealed like a schoolgirl! “Yeee! I don’t know why, but it makes me feel so good to hear that! Yes! Let’s go!”

Eris too lost her composure and began to laugh. “If there was ANY doubt left as to whether you were a girl or not, that just vanished! Alright, Gwen, let’s hit the boutiques…”

=== The weekend… ===

Ariel slowly walked down the street. Her mind was racing. She could feel Roland’s presence. He was working at the local homeless shelter.

But it had been over a year since she last saw him. Would he recognize her? Would he be mad? Anxiety plagued her mind, and her shroud once again was devoid of sparkles. She was so busy internalizing, she didn’t realize someone might have been sensing it from far away…

“You got this, Ariel! He’ll be glad to see you!” Heather cheered her on. Heather must have been holding onto Ariel’s vessel, feeling her anxiety through the magical object that was inextricably linked to her. Still, it calmed Ariel to hear that, and her sparkles returned to her.

She pushed the doors open, seeing a wide array of people lining up to get meals from the staff. And there he was, serving food. He wore his signature pink and particular hairstyle, just as she remembered. His unfortunately womanly chest still stuck out from under the apron he was wearing, but she could tell it was bound for a change. (Even still, his chest was bigger than hers!)

His hazel eyes looked up and locked with hers. His eyes wavered for a moment before he turned to the others working there. “Hey, I need a minute.”

“Alright, Roland,” one of the others said to him.

He walked up to Ariel. He was clearly working hard to keep his composure in the public place.

“So… You recognize me, even now?” Ariel asked.

“Of course I do… Ariel!”

Both let out a few tears as they smiled.

“I have so much to tell you… And apologize for.”

“No, I know what you are now – that’s a story in itself – but I’m just glad you’re back.” Roland walked up and hugged Ariel. “I missed you. WE missed you.”

“I missed all of you too! I’m-“

“Ssh. Don’t apologize. You’re here now. It’s all good…”

Ariel silently cried into his shoulder.

“Hey, my lunch break is coming up soon. If you can give me another hour, maybe we can talk more then?”

“I-I’d like that very much…” Ariel whispered, trying to contain herself. “I can wait… I have time…”

THE END, FOR NOW.

By Erica Chrisman (CrystalSeaDragon44)