The sound of glass clattering intermixed with the weatherman’s evening report. Karen cursed under her breath and rinsed foam off the glass, searching it for cracks.

“What was that kiddo?” Pa turned from the cupboard of neatly stacked plates. Ernest Thomson was a big man, broad shouldered and slow moving, rugged features tamed by a neat moustache.

“Nothing. They’re fine.” The teenager shoved the glass to him, and resumed savagely washing the rest.

“Hmm. No, it was a word.” Pa dried it with a fluffy pink towel in those big callused hands, made of nine thick careful fingers and one stump that hadn’t been careful. “I don’t care about you sayin’ ‘damn’ Karen, but don’t bother hidin’ it.”

What about hiding other things? What about the fact that their mayor was a snake-thing? She glanced over quietly, “Fine. Pa, do you think magic’s real?”

“Magic? No. You’re not goin’ to invoke hellfire by sayin’ damn, kiddo.”

“Don’t be so hasty, Ernest,” Her Mom spoke up from the couch as the weather report finished. Sylvia was a small woman, her darker skin and hair a clear match for her children.

“Hasty? Come on dear, you’re not buying into all these rumours, are you? Magic’s not real, what more is there to it?”

“Definitions can vary- for example, is sleight of hand magic? Card tricks? Those are real.” She argued shrewdly, “Or, beautiful sights- like that day up the mountain- those could be called magical. Is that what you meant?

“No,” Karen passed another glass, “I guess… like ghosts, and dragons, and flying on your own wings?”

Pa gave a triumphant nod, “Nope. The world obeys rules. Nature has laws. Can’t make or destroy energy. Not matter either. Everything has a consequence, everyone has an angle, and anyone who says otherwise, kiddo, is trying to sell somethin’.”

“Oh… right, it was just some stuff I heard about the… riots and mutants and things,” Karen brushed it aside. She’d promised Maddie she wouldn’t tell anyone. And they’d only be hurt if they found out the Carpenter’s had been lying all this time, wouldn’t they?

Her stomach rolled, and she bit back another curse as she finished washing up.

“All done- hey, by the way, Mom,” Karen wiped off her hands and leaned over the sofa, head cocked, “School was useless today. Can I stop going?”

“Do you want to mind Oliver?” The sharp woman feigned gentleness.

“No, he could go to school with his friends, and I could go hang out with my friends.” Karen spelled out, kicking her legs behind her impatiently. “Plee-ase?”

“No,” Mom quelled her, “If it’s easy, take some books, or your guitar and practice. Once you’re an adult you need to take responsibility for your own learning and developing skills. You won’t have teachers for much longer. Oh, and write something nice in Gramma’s card, her day’s on saturday.”

There was no point arguing without getting in greater trouble, and so the teenager slouched off and found the store-bought birthday card. Its exterior proclaimed “Happy 60”, a convenient lie since Gramma wasn’t sixty. Her age and date of birth had been lost to the mists of time, but by this point she had enough 60 cards for it to be a running joke.

Gramma.

Hope you stay safe during these changing times.

Happy lifeday, K

She wrote quickly, half wondering just how much change she would live to see herself. A quick search on the internet had revealed dozens of conflicting headlines- demons, mutants, special effect pranks, magic, monsters- but his explanation somehow worked out. Monsters and magic were real. And he could provide evidence, he’d invited her to see a demonstration of his supposedly mighty powers. But more pertinently, Maddie had asked her to come to the lake, and they were still friends. Somehow.

It was seven twenty when Karen left the low broad house, hiking boots tied tight, her battered jacket the same colour as the falling leaves. Oliver was outside still, bouncing on her trampoline as he attempted backflips, black hair plastered with sweat.

“Oi- where you goin’?!” He panted, jumping to land sock soles soaking in the muddy grass.

“To hang with Maddie, you take those off if you’re jumping more,” Karen ordered. “And tuck your legs in more. You’re too loose.”

“Maddie aaaand the new boy?” He questioned, “Do you fancy him? You all snuck off together during school.”

“I’d sneak off with anyone to escape that purgatory- except you. Have fun!” Karen rolled her eyes and strode off, ignoring his shouts for attention. With more time she might have demonstrated some truly impressive flips, but today she didn’t want to be out past dark.

As if to stoke her trepidation, the wide windswept streets of Ranelk were peculiarly empty, residents avoiding the chill September wind or something less natural. The town itself was not large, it hugged the southern edge of the great lake with a few thousand residents, and Karen reassured herself that she just was leaving its bounds, stalking east up the quiet road that encircled the lake. The shops and bars of its centre would no doubt be bustling as ever, other classmates like Emily and Caleb enjoying full days outside school.

Her strange day on the other hand, was only witnessed by some pigeons that flitted from power lines to tree branches and flocks of starlings that wheeled overhead. The afternoon clouds had been splintered to unveil clear indigo skies for them, striped with violet as the sun bowed towards the woody western horizon. With the lake and the thick trees that separated it from the road, Karen found herself weaving in-between stripes of shadows as she walked the muddy road, until one tall shadow resolved into a humanoid figure.

If Logan’s slender build looked gangly normally, his elongated shadow was utterly ridiculous as he stood on the stony lake beach, still wearing the big cumbersome bag.

“Huh, you actually showed.” He glanced up at the sound of footsteps, holding a canteen close.

“Yup, no homework.” Karen vaulted the fence, and kicked across the pebbly shoreline. “Never take the bag off? You’re not at school.”

“It’s useful. Magic supplies, tools, clothes.” He passed her the silver thermos flask to free his hands, before dramatically flipping the bag over his arms and getting rather tangled up.

“Makes sense. But just a heads up, we can’t do the whole lake on feet in an evening, probably just some of the inlets on this side,” Karen took a comfortable sip from the thermos flask, and frowned as he tugged towels from the bag, “And it’s not safe to swim in the fall- the lake is way deeper than it looks. People have drowned.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got a bit of an idea with that potion, so don’t drink it till Maddie shows.” He began to fiddle with his coat, then noticed her silence, “Karen?”

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“Um…. Too late.” Karen confessed, only for the boy to gawk, “I thought you were giving me a drink. Why? What is it!? Is it magic? YOU GAVE IT TO ME!”

“I didn’t want to spill it, I didn’t think you’d immediately gulp it down!” Logan gasped, springing upright, “Just don’t panic, it’s Veil so there’s no ill effects-”

“Veil? But I’m already human, what does it do? Do I turn into another human?!” She snapped, feeling that warmth from her stomach begin to spread, permeating her whole torso.

“No! Human veil wouldn’t, you’d be fine, but don’t panic!”

“What do you mean don’t panic- you’re the one panicking, it’s fine isn’t it?!” She shoved the flask back into his hands, feeling the heat infect her fingers and tug at her skin.

“Well it’s not human Veil- it’s Naga Veil! You’ll be like Maddie, temporarily, just for an hour.”

“So- so stop it, you’re a wizard aren’t you?” She gasped as her legs suddenly turned to jelly, she felt the heat intensify, and burning pain flashed under her ribs. “Logan, please-”

“I… I… uh, I don’t- I’m not a wizard. Releasing magic’s complicated, I don’t think I…” He dragged one hand down his face, “Just relax, it’s temporary- and don’t immediately drink things!”

“It’s chilly out, I thought it was coff-” Karen gasped, lungs suddenly burning as bile rose and cut off her ability to speak. She stumbled and flopped onto the pebbly shore, watching in horror as her jelly legs bent far more than they should have. They flailed and writhed, kicking off socks and boots to reveal floppy fracturing feet.

The next surge hit her like a punch to the gut, driving out air as she arched her spine only to feel it extend and stretch. From under her coat, her midsection was growing longer, exposing grey-brown skin with itchy spreading spots. They hardened before her eyes, covering the elongating abdomen in dark scales as her legs merged and dwindled like clay.

Pangs of heat like a headache stoked her head too, and she gagged as she felt her tongue slim, lick over sharper teeth and her eyes found the world brighter. By now her legs had receded to mere frilly lumps within loose jeans, while her midsection was serpentine, easily five feet long and continuing to grow. “Uh, Logan, turn around! Privacy!”

Embarrassed assent came from behind her, and she seized the chance to flail the strange sinuous body, lashed it back and pulled her jeans from the end. Exposed was a frilled tail, a long end more akin to an eel than a serpent, yet seemingly further and further away. Muscles wriggled and straightened the scaly tail, momentarily revealing it to be a monstrous appendage that could splash the water with a wide fin, before she squeaked and pulled it close in a mass of dark grey coils.

Yet with that motion, came an end to the pain, and she lay back to glare at the upside down world. “Is it done? I still feel hot and weird and… I’m not going to be more snakey am I? This is really WEIRD!”

“No, no, I think you’re done. Just… probably your whole body feels like tongue so… you should be able to move around?” Logan flushed more red, and lifted his arms placatingly, “See, was that so bad?”

“Bad? That’s ridiculous, you turned me into an eel girl! Why did it hurt so much?!” She gasped, feeling strange pain on her sides.

“Veil hurts, it’s like when you stretch a rubber band out, but eventually you’ll twang back into shape!” He shook his head, “Look, sorry this wasn’t what I had in mind! I figured, even if you didn’t like snakes then if you saw Maddie swimming, well, girls like mermaids right? Then, I figured I could offer you the chance to see things from her perspective and I never thought you’d just drink it immediately!”

“Mermaid?” Karen pushed herself up to consider her alien sinuous body, “You guys said she was a naga?”

“Same thing. Naga’s an older term so I use it, but mermaid works too. They’re amphibious, so you should have gills… somewhere,” He turned again, directing his eyes pointedly elsewhere, “Maddie is out there swimming just now.”

“Somewhere,” Karen repeated, and undid her coat with shaking hands. Under her vest, sure enough, the scales broke in thin fleshy rows and she squirmed as her fingers brushed them. Even such disgust writhed her from head to tail tip, and she rocked before planting her arms and trying to kneel. There was no knee of course, the tail was far longer, stronger and more flexible than her legs, but such also meant it was surprisingly easy to get her torso upright. Even more than that, she had enough length to push higher and get her head above Logan’s.

A small victory, but a victory. She wouldn’t break. She wasn’t weak.

“What? Feel better?” He wondered, “For a moment I thought you smiled?”

“Oh, no. You’re insane. If you had offered this ridiculous idea to me I’d turn you down outright.” Karen huffed, shrugging her coat off, “But, since I’m probably in shock, why the hell not?”

So saying, she threw her coat aside and dived dramatically into the lake. Or tried, at least.

She awkwardly flopped, then wiggled into the shallows, gasping at the warmth. It was cold, she still knew that intellectually, but this body didn’t find that unpleasant as she sank inside, and felt water stream through her gills. There was motion there, sensations that should have nauseated instead felt only peculiar, though submerging her nose and mouth was frightful.

Yet once underneath, her eyes pierced the waters gloom and forests of pond weed rose beneath, scattered with excellent skipping stones, trolleys and detritus of generations of lake-goers. With a little effort she found she could aim downwards, undulating tail back and forth to push through the water, her arms all but useless except in avoiding headbutting a boulder.

Then came a glimmer of silver and she streamed towards it eagerly, angling a little upwards as a figure resolved itself.

Maddie looked majestic underwater. The last vestiges of sunset painted her scales bronze and copper, the long tail flowing gracefully as a ribbon dancer, and her silver hair wild above a swimming top. Even those golden eyes seemed less scary as they widened with recognition, and Karen grinned as shock overtook her friend's features. She seized the chance to race past her and upwards, up to the surface where air and gravity commanded once more.

“Heeeey,” She laughed as wet dark hair splattered across her, finding the pair already hundreds of feet from shore.

“Hey yourself, naga! What the hell?! Did Logan change you or… or….” Maddie spluttered, tail lashing like an excited puppy.

“Yeah, Logan tricked me, I’m not really one. Speaking of, why did you say snake-woman earlier? Mermaid is so much cooler!” She cheered, struggling to bob and keep to the surface.

“Girl, you already looked like you were having a mental breakdown, I didn’t want to argue semantics,” Maddie offered an arm to help her float and beamed proudly, “But mermaid does sound nicer. You okay?”

“It’s sooooo weird, it’s so wiggly, like I’m all abs. But I can swim- and you can really swim, you looked awesome! How are you so fast?”

“What do you always say? Practice makes perfect. I’ve been swimming since I was two.” Maddie laughed, and even her fangs and tongue seemed less scary. If anything, the joy seemed more genuine, unguarded.

“That’s fair. At least my supremacy with legs is undiminished. And my… urgh, my tail doesn’t look like yours, I’m all grey and eel-y, but you’ve got colour and fins. How does that work?”

“Uh, Na- uh-gas or mer people have a lot of, ah, variety,” A nervous voice and a great deal of splashing announced Lorcan’s arrival. The teenager somehow retained his gangly nature even with a long tail, a soaking t-shirt clinging to his scrawny form, his own green tail longer and thinner than either of them and wriggling in stiff geometric bursts, “Aaaah, how do you do this?!”

“You dran- oh, you did it too!” Karen gasped, then burst out laughing at his style, “Stop using your arms and actually relax!”

“And let your head go underwater- now, what do I hear about you tricking Karen into this? Did you plan all this?” Maddie circled him, hands on hips even at a horizontal angle.

“Trick? Your crazy girl downed the potion before I could explain!” He retorted, “I was going to suggest a nice surprise for you, but, no-”

“You should label your magic coffee flask!” She shot back.

“What part of secret for centuries do you not understand?” He snorted, accidentally rolling over in the water.

“Alright, aaaaaaalright, enough bickering. How long does that last?” Maddie swept between them.

“One hour- look, this was a bit of a rush job, you gave me the idea earlier,” Logan admitted limply.

“Oh, not long then- here come on, I’ll show you our den! My sister helped build it years ago.” Maddie dove, and with a couple gasps, the pair followed her into the depths.

Despite their argument, she did help Logan swim, and Karen grinned sharp teeth at how little help she received in comparison. Not that it was much, Maddie could still swirl around them like an eagle around a balloon, and led the pair deep down to the lake bed. There, an old dilapidated capsized boat lurked, festooned in ribbons and palettes. Even without speech, Maddie proudly gave them a tour, winding through the holes and tagging Karen playfully.

So began a long and infuriating game as Karen pursued her with utter zeal, only to find the natural mermaid stayed easily beyond her reach. When she did tag her back, it was only because Logan helped corner her, rather cheapening the victory. Then the mage-boy was tagged, and the game continued.

Their game lasted until they reached shore again, heaving themselves out like the first fish to crawl onto primordial land, unused to the weighty gravity of air. It was a near thing, Karen had barely two minutes rest before a cold chill crept through her and her tail began to split and dwindle. Scales melted back into tawny flesh, reptilian ribs split into femurs and shins, and soon she was very grateful for the towels and spare clothes Logan had produced from his backpack.

“Well? Was that so bad?” Logan queried nervously once he had regained legs. “ I think I caught you smiling.”

“Logan, I’ve broken my arm diving off a roof and that was the single most painful experience of my life.” She growled, feeling exhaustion drum on her skull, “Why is it so painful? Do you have to deal with that all the time Maddie?”

“Maybe? There’s normally some pain, unless the mage makes it special. Logan’s one is a little more painful.” She confessed.

“Hey, hey, I’m learning! Making a custom veil that quickly is downright incredible, and neither of us drowned so that’s a complete triumph in my books.” He objected, and breathed out, before wincing, “Was it really worse than normal?”

“A little. Yeah. Sorry.”

“Fine, fine, sorry to both of you, I’ll be careful. We’re still unpacking. Please, judgemental maidens of Ranelk, forgive me for my incredible magic being slightly inconvenient.”

“I’ll consider it.” Karen mumbled, lying on her back as she watched starlings flutter overhead, “Can you make someone fly?”

“Fly?” He considered, “Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. I know how. In theory.”

“Fine then. Master Mage. I’ll forgive you today’s traumatic events if I can get to fly. Or is that beyond your legendary abilities?”

He frowned and leaned over her, offering a hand to pull her up. “Not in the slightest. And even better, I’ll have you land without a broken arm.”

Karen ignored it and pushed herself up. She wasn’t weak. But some things were downright impossible, the world had rules.

Rules magic could break.