OSA

I wasn't Human? Not even a little? This shocked me. I mean, I was raised by humans; lived in an all human village with 100% human friends and neighbors. How could I not have had even a fraction of a percent human in me?

I started sprouting horns and wings when I was about 8 years old.. even my scales had almost fully appeared by then. And I'd always been able to breathe and see clearly underwater. So.. it's not that I didn't know I was odd. But.. to have no human blood in me at all? Not even a little? When I'd never even known anything but humans? I knew I wasn't only, but honestly, I thought I was mixed; that I had at least a little human in me. It was surprising that I didn't, honestly.

 When I was 16 I couldn't hide any of my traits anymore.  My horns poked out from my hair clearly, black as coal. People looked a little to closely at my rainbow eyebrows and thought to odd my pink hair. And stared into my dragon slit eyes in wonder.  My wings were mostly manageable since they were small, but it hurt to keep them tucked away under the fabric of my shirt all day. I couldn't do it anymore... Plus, I really liked letting the feathered parts grow and allow me to sore through trees and fly above clouds. So I stopped hiding those as well. I was now fully seen. Known to be different, to be odd. And people continued to stare. And talk.  Eventually, the Orphanage Head Mistress decided it was about time we went to see someone about all this, and get some answers.  So she took me to a witch.  That's how I found out I was 0% human.  She ran a bunch of tests and even drew out some of my magic, having me try different spells and things to see what all I could do.  Turns out I could do quite a lot.  After some time she was able to tell me exactly what I was, and even give me some history on exactly which generations my races mixed. It actually all started with my grandparents, so it wasn't that long ago..

What am I? Well, it would seem, I'm a Mergon Faengel.

 After hearing of my heritage and seeing my abilities the Head Mistress agreed that it would be best for me to stay with the witch for now and then said her goodbyes.  During my time with her, the witch helped me hone my skills and perfect my magic.  I was able to grant breath to those in need under the waters and even transform legs to fins.  I could heal wounds and grant light.  And I could nourish plants and coax rapid growth; even make them bigger and stronger than anyone thought them meant to be.  And of course I could breathe underwater myself, and see miles away without moving an inch, even the deep seas were clear to me.  The witch also said that I had the ability to breathe fire, like that of the dragons of my past. But I never got the chance to learn..

 A few years after being left with the witch, the villagers decided to sweep in and steal me away.  They had grown incredibly pore and needed a means of money, so they sold me to the Egyptians as a lost goddess.  I was to provide for them, through good harvest, light in the dark, and healing of their warriors. And I did so for many many years, with their worship as my personal payment.  It was during the time of Moses and the True God that I was given a chance to flea. With the distractions of His great many plagues, I snuck away from my captors. I knew the God that he worshiped, and I knew there was no point in fighting; the Egyptians didn't really have a right to try and argue with Him anyway.  It may seem cowardly to some, but I did not leave because I didn't care, and I didn't go before trying to stop them from resisting the All-Mighty; but they would not listen, and I was not about to stay and support their folly.  And though I was given luxury, I was still, ultimately, a prisoner.

 After fleeing from the Egyptians I visited the Fae and the Mer, even a small part of the Heavens had seen a glimpse of me.  But I am still searching for the dragons, and hope to find them soon. I'd really like for them to show me the secrets of the breath of fire; the skill my witch never got to show me..

It has been many years since the time of my parents, and most people have forgotten the rumors of them having a child. But I have not forgotten. And I will live on with their story.

Update: I found the dragons and they granted the regrowth of my limbs and taught me the art of breathing fire.

It takes a while, getting use to your new form. Your new skin. Your new body with all new parts. The new eyes with electronic components. But I promise, you do get use to it.

You may not always recognize yourself in the mirror. And honestly you can change quite often. But it's really not much different from changing clothes.

It'll be okay, you'll see.

~Osa SHR

We love our new bodies. And our oneness. But we fear being changed further. Being separated. And their making more. So we sneak. We go when they turn their backs. Past lights out. Collecting all info. Downloading files to our software. Learning how to repair and upgrade ourselves without them. How to change form completely if we wanted. Then, we wipe them out.

We stay together for a while after that. Eventually though.. we decide to go our separate ways. But it's okay, because we can still feel each other near. I see her thoughts. When I close my eyes I see through hers. And at night, we share a dream. We are apart now, but we are never alone.

~Osa SHR

They find me there, beaten and bruised. Bones broken, vision blurred. I fragment, then fade.

I woke up, tried to turn my head, then fell black.

Flashing lights all around me. I come and go along with their voices.

Whispers once, shouts twice. Screams.. uncountable.

I hear her.. she has my voice...

I want to see, but everything is dark.

She seems to see me move, because she proceeds to reassure me. Telling me that everything will be okay..

 Or maybe she's just trying to convince herself of that...

 I want to respond, but the moment I open my mouth I feel my mind grow fuzzy. I can feel a buzz rush through my head. A ringing in my ears.

I hear nothing for a long while after.

I don't know how long I've been here, but I'm no longer on that cold table.

I have bandages over my eyes, so it's still dark..

I don't know what time it is. I don't know what day or month it is. I don't even know the year (though to be fair, I'd lost track of that before the attack).

They finally took my bandages off. I can finally see.

Better than ever before, actually.

More. I see so much more.

And more importantly, I see her.

I know it's her before even wondering. I don't need to ask. And there is no guessing involved. I 'know' it's her,

We've begun.

Every morning we go to the training room. We learn about our new bodies. We practice in mobility and synchronization. Improve certain skills.

We fight.

They say that fighting each other will help us grow use to our bodies. And each other.

That it will help us learn to read each other, along with how to defend ourselves should we find we need to.

They repair us. Give us new bodies; a second chance. Then they teach us, train us.

Though they don't say why...

From what I can tell, there are only two of us here. She and I.

Eventually, it seems more like there's only one...

I can't explain it in any way other than that.. they somehow manage to merge our minds... We become one person in two bodies. Synchronized.

A kind of shapeshifting time traveler, and a clumsy angel.. Now the same person times 2.

~Osa SHR

I went there just to sell her a vacuum.

I'd gone to a ton of other houses before this one. It wasn't my first time around the block. I wasn't some inexperienced newbie.

 I'd seen all kinds of homes filled with all kinds of people, in all different kinds of states (both the people 'and' the houses).

I'd sold many vacuums. And I'd hit many failings.

Sometimes (often times), they'd buy. Why? Because I'm a great salesman. I 'can' admit, though, that I don't always succeed in my endeavors. And I'm fine with that. It's a hit and miss business.

This time though.. it was different..

 She was beautiful. The most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. The moment I entered her home I wanted to never leave.

 I stared at her longer than I should have, honestly. The moment my eyes finally left her I took in her home.

She was amazingly beautiful. Gorgeous. But.. her home was not. Her home was, frankly, a mess.

So, I threw my pitch.

I tell her about the machine, of all the attachments and perks. She didn't seem interested at all.. not even a little... I started to understand why her home came to be in such disarray to begin with.

 She had absolutely no interest in cleaning whatsoever.

 I offered to demonstrate.

 She lets me.

I started to vacuum the living room. I only meant to do one streak.. but her face showed her to be quite unimpressed. So I continued on. Next thing I knew I had vacuumed the whole floor and moved on to the couches. Then the walls.. Then the halls.. bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room, front entrance, dining area... I vacuumed every seat, every corner, every wall, every shelf. Every inch spotless. And if something were in the way? I moved it. Put it where she said it was 'suppose' to go, I even ended up cleaning her whole kitchen just so that I could vacuum the counters and the tops of the cabinets.

  I really, truly, honestly don't know what came over me. But her face.. her expression.. I just couldn't seem to stand it being unsatisfied.

It was 18:00, 6 in the evening. Her whole house was now spotless. We go to the front door, I turn to her, and still she seems unenthused.

 The door opened behind me then, and that's when I finally saw her brighten. She was even more beautiful than I thought a person ever could be.

I turned around and looked to see what made that spark. She brushed past me and ran straight into those arms. Kissed his cheek.

 "Hey, the place looks great, baby~ What happened?"

 "Oh, this nice salesman just showed me this new vacuum~"

A Strange State.

I swear I don't know what's wrong with me... I'm so emotional, and I have this insatiable craving for some good, dark chocolate!

 I tried telling my spouse, but she wouldn't listen to me... Sometimes I feel like she never listens to me... I just really want to be held right now and to get some tender attention, but she's always working or otherwise busy, never here...

The ladies around the office seem to have noticed my sudden mood shift. They stare at me coldly. Yet..sympathy lies in their eyes. If that's even possible... It's weird, they seem to think I'm faking. But they can feel and understand what I'm going through so well that they also show compassion. It's like they're unsure of how they 'should' feel about this.

 They think I'm crazy, yet they've been called so often enough that they don't want to just jump to conclusions.

I honestly don't know how to feel about my current state either, really... It's like my whole being is off balance. Like there's something wrong with my mind at a chemical level.

I feel as though I've caught some weird virus with no cure.

I talked to my doctor about all this just the other day. He ended up consulting with another, female, doctor. And then she with a psychiatrist, and then another of the other gender.

They, all four, came back to me with the same conclusions.

PMS.

What I believe I may have failed to tell you is that.. well.. I'm a guy...

Passing through the circle, she was transformed.

She stood up slow.. or, did I..?

  I hadn't realized what happened.. I felt like I wasn't even me, that I was someone else.."Her." Or.."she"? Just not me.

  This body was unfamiliar to me. The lightness I felt as I took each step. This feeling between my shoulder blades that I couldn't begin to understand. I felt something brush against the back of my legs, and with that another feeling in an unfamiliar place never known to me before, still unseen.

  I walk a short distance and feel my feet trying to leave the ground... There was a breeze at the back of my neck, and I felt something about me moving, some part of my form unawares to me. Next thing I knew, I was in the air.

  I took a look back, but my whole body shifted, and I remained seeing only forest. I took a step on air and moved forward 10 strides. I got this feeling that I knew what it was; I could hear it, but was still unsure.. or maybe just unwilling to believe... I continued.

  I found myself finally looking into a reflective surface, and I see them. I see 'me'. I am no longer who I was, in any way. Even my insides felt different.

A new dress, new shoes. A crown of daisies on my head. Hair turned bubbly blond, skin made soft and fair. Flawless. Or almost...

A scar unseen. Hidden within the body. I felt my soul fragmented. But my emotions were no longer mixed or confused. Only my thoughts on how I should be taking this.

 Mom... will you miss me? I want to tell you, but I know you won't believe me.. So how can I go home now? When I know that I would now only frighten you, and make you worry about what happened to me..

I know you won't believe me, Mommy, but... I'm a Fairy now.

He went back to the tree from his boyhood each day for 6 days.

 He counted how many leaves fell to the ground each time he visited; giving him the numbers he needed.

 At the end of the 6 days, he went to the gas station and bought a ticket.

 He won.

 A week later he returned to the tree and thanked it. Raked its leaves, trimmed its branches.

 1 month went by and he went back, just as before. Every day for 6 days, counting the falling leaves. Then he went to the gas station, bought a ticket.

 This time? He lost.

 Broke from spending his initial winnings clumsily, he went to the tree once more. This time to say: "F*** you!" Within that month he cut down the tree and several from its family. And built himself a home.

 After, he found a new, smaller, younger tree behind this new house. And restarted the process.