I crawled back until my back hit the rock wall. Terror slowly threatened to freeze my joints as the fake Elincia glared at me. Our hideout protected by the rocky formation, which had been a blessing to hide us from monsters, now had turned into a cage. A cage where there was only me and the monster in Elincia’s appearance.

I surveyed our camp. My sword was at the opposite side, just behind the monster. My mind raced through my options. [Stun Gaze] and [Intimidate] could bounce if the fake Elincia’s level was too high. Maybe I should try the flashless flashbang. As far as I knew, high levels weren't enough to dodge sound.

At my command, mana swirled around my hands. The fake Elincia showed me its teeth in a fierce expression that sent shivers down my spine. This time, I wasn’t holding back. The creature had to be stopped.

I didn’t get to compress air to create a shockwave. The fake Elincia snapped its finger and the mana surrounding my hands slipped through my fingers in a black mist. Somehow, my mana had been rendered useless. I felt defenseless.

For an instant, I feared all my mana had been canceled but my mana blade appeared on the palm of my hand. My technique was short lived however, as the creature reacted before I could swing. With a second snap, the sharp-edged blade was melted into a cascade of blue sparks.

The fake Elincia looked at me directly in the eye and bared its small white fangs.

“Oh, shit.” I muttered.

“Oh, shit.” The creature parroted.

Elincia, the real one, laughed hysterically at the edge of the rock formation, grabbing her stomach with both hands. As much as I loved the sound of her laughter, now I wanted to close her mouth with a gag. This was the sickest practical joke I had ever seen.

I didn’t remember seeing a clone illusion skill in Elincia’s character sheet.

“It’s not a Mimic, it’s a Changeling. They are harmless.” Elincia said as she wiped the tears from the corner of her eye. My face must have been pale as snow because Elicia fell into a second fit of laughter.

This experience was going to leave a psychological scar in my mind.

I glared at Elincia’s clone and identified it.

Changeling Lv.1. Magical Abomination. [Identify] Despite their bad reputation, these creatures are as curious as they are non-aggressive. Weakness: Magic, Light magic, Dispel magic.

My identification was interrupted suddenly when the Changeling threw Elincia’s spare bra at my face. The cackling elven woman was unfazed by it, or maybe she was too busy trying to endure the abdominal cramps from excess laughing.

“Shit! Shit!” The Changeling said. It didn’t seem happy I was trying to identify it.

“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m not identifying you again.” I raised my hands and apologized even if the creature couldn’t actually understand me.

That seemed to reassure the Changeling because it turned its attention back towards Elincia’s belongings. The creature was particularly interested in the enchanted instruments from Elincia’s alchemy kit.

“That’s enough, creature.” Elincia clapped her hands to catch the Changeling’s attention. Her trick worked because the Changeling stepped back from her backpack and sat on the ground, glancing at us with its smart eyes.

“That’s enough, creature!” The Changeling parroted back but kept its hands away from any of our belongings.

It took me well over a minute to no longer feel like I was having a cardiovascular episode

“I require an explanation.” I said as Elincia entered the camp with a bundle of dry sticks and bark. She had finally managed to put reins to her laughter.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Explanation.” The Changeling added with Elincia’s voice.

“The Changeling found me when I was… patrolling.” Elincia explained with a smug grin. “I thought I was going to die, but it just adopted my appearance and continued walking towards our camp.”

“So you let a potential Mimic stalk me?!” I said, trying to suppress my displeased tone.

“If it were a Mimic it would’ve killed us on sight. The fact it let me… patrol in peace was enough to know it was just a rogue Changeling.” Elincia shrugged as she grabbed her bra from my hand and proceeded to tuck it back into her backpack. “It will get bored in a minute, and it will leave.”

The vision of two identical Elincias was disturbing but my heart rate slowly returned to its normal pace. If I was fifteen years older, I would have died of a heart attack.

“Come on, Rob, don’t be mad at me.” Elincia said. “Pretty please?”

“I’m not mad, just disappointed.” I replied.

If I ever had the chance to bring Elincia to my world I was going to make sure she paid for her transgression. Starting with serving her sparkling water. That would teach her not to mess with people.

As Elincia packed her belongings, I focused on the Changeling.

“Hey! Can you understand me?” I snapped my fingers to get the creature’s attention like Elincia had.

The Changeling didn’t utter a word but dragged its butt over to me and sat down with its legs crossed. It wasn’t just Elincia’s appearance. From her graceful movements to the way she tilted her head slightly to the side, the creature imitated Elincia’s mannerisms to perfection.

Even Elincia’s intense emerald eyes were perfectly duplicated as it stared at me with a curious, not completely human, expression.

“Can you speak?” I asked.

“Can you speak?” The Changeling replied.

Even the way it spoke was exactly the same as Elincia.

“What else can you do?”

I felt as if someone was identifying me as the Changeling flashed one of Elincia’s smuggest grins, and I knew I was going to regret asking that question. The Changeling snapped its fingers, and a black mist surrounded its body, rendering it completely invisible. The mist didn’t last very long because an instant later the Changeling reappeared, looking like a perfect copy of myself.

Almost.

It wasn’t a perfect copy of my current self. It was a copy of me years ago.

Long messy hair, sunken eyes, thin arms, curved back, unkempt beard. The Changeling had even copied the bleach stains on my black NASA shirt and the frayed edges on the exercise pants I used as pajamas.

I wondered if the Changeling had chosen that appearance as revenge for my attempt to stab it. It was smart enough to understand my commands, so it could be smart enough to hold a grudge. On the other hand, I had a pile of even more hurtful memories from which to choose if the Changeling really wanted to hurt me.

I glanced at my old self with a mix of contempt and irritation.

I should’ve gone to the therapist before things spiraled out of control.

Elincia lit a small fire inside a hole and sat by my side without realizing that the creature had adopted a new form.

“Who’s that? Someone you knew?” Elincia asked.

The Changeling yawned and brushed its hair backwards, revealing my jaded face. Only then Elincia realized she was seeing a younger version of myself. She opened her mouth to say something but ultimately closed it without uttering a word.

It might have been due to the smoke from the campfire, but her eyes were getting watery.

“It’s okay, you can ask if you are curious.” I reassured her. Even if the vision of my past self was unsightly, time has helped me to be at peace with myself. What we were seeing was a version of me that was long gone.

“Are you sure? If it is too painful…” Elincia placed her hand on my shoulder and examined my face to ensure I was telling the truth. Even though it was a tender gesture, it only served to make me more self-conscious.

“If I ended up like that, it’s because I kept a lot of things to myself.” I said.

“Like you generally do?” Elincia pointed out with a gentle tone.

Once again I felt like a kid being lectured.

“Guilty as charged, Your Honor.” I giggled.

The whole situation was too surreal to not laugh. The fact I needed a magical creature to remind me of a lesson I had learned a decade ago was ironic to say the least. I could consider myself fortunate to have such an opportunity, most people just counted on a therapist for things like this.

“I wonder why people dislike creatures like you.” I said in a mocking tone.

“People dislike creatures like you.” The Changeling parroted.

The creature understood more than I expected.

“I need you to change again. Can you do it?” I asked.

“That’s enough, creature!” The Changeling replied before snapping its fingers.

The black cloud of mana shrouded my old self just to disappear an instant later. My eyes almost got teary as the Changeling showed its new form. In front of me there was a face I thought I was never going to see again.

“Elincia, I present to you my father.” I said.