The groeble and Nadia landed in a backyard filled with slender trees. A large wood pile sat alone by a stump nearby. A pink swing set sat in the yard by a green painted porch. High above, toward the back, was a green tree house built between two oak trees. Nadia knew she was home. It almost made her cry just to know that her life here had not been an illusion, a creation of her mind, or some dream. The groeble trudged forward and set Nadia on the back porch, leaving her to struggle to free herself from the tightly wrapped blanket. Norman heard a rap at the door and rushed to the porch. By the time he got there, the groeble was gone, but Nadia was parceled before him.

"Dad," she muttered softly, her voice tired, "Dad- I have no clue what's going on here."

A voice came from the woods, "I found this girl. She has your son's pendent. She is of the blood line that guards the portals. This is proven. Her voice can activate them. Others held her in captivity. I do not know why. I took her; they gave chase. They followed me here from the other realm. The portal was written hastily. It was screamed open. It was unrefined. I do not know where they came. She is recovering from a poison. She is recovering from paralysis."

Norman sighed as he looked at Nadia, "Whoever you are, let's get you inside."

There was a brief wind, a rustling of leaves, and Norman knew the groeble had fled. He carried Nadia inside and sat her on the living room sofa. There he loosened the knots the groeble had tied in her blanket. Nadia let it fall to her lap and forgot about herself completely, her pendant rested on her chest. Norman coughed and looked aside. Nadia didn't get the message so he coughed again.

"Something wrong with your throat?"

"Young lady," he said while emphasizing the L word, "I wasn't aware that you weren't dressed."

Suddenly Nadia turned pale, pulled up the blanket, and wrapped it over her chest again.

"Why am I still... I'm home but I'm still a girl?"

"Where did you get that pendant?"

"My grandfather--wait, you don't know who I really am, do you?"

"Who are you?" Norman asked.

"I kinda thought you'd recognize your own son, even if he happened to look a little bit... different?"

Her head went down and she couldn't help checking herself out. The blanket curved out with her thighs and sunk in as it reached up her waist. Cleavage peeked from the top while providing a seat for her pendant. Norman sat on a green armchair; his face fell into his hands. He laughed.

"You're my son? This is original. What are they going to think up next? I suppose you're not my son anymore though."

"I... I am her- him- I think. What do you mean?!"

"Maybe it means you're an imposter. Maybe it means you're my daughter now. Maybe it means you're a woman of an undiscovered bloodline who somehow managed to get my son's pendant. Regardless, you're important enough to bear watching over. Try anything aggressive and I'll deal with you accordingly. Now first, tell me where you are and who you are?"

"This is my home. I'm Nadia Mavenslick of 431 Mackenloo pike, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. Would some girl from that stupid whatever realm know that?"

"Okay, Nadia, if you are who you claim, go to your room, and get some clothes on, then we'll talk about this. Do you know where your room is?"

"Of course I do. And I know where Natalie's room is too. I live here."

"Don't bother your sister."

"I won't."

Wrapped in the blanket for cover, she stood despite some numbness that still lingered in her legs. Once up the steps and in her room, she abandoned the blanket. A worn summer outfit which consisted of an old shirt and shorts was hastily pulled on. The shirt was too big, and the shorts were a little baggy, but the elastic band was still tight enough to keep them from falling off her hips. Once she was back on the sofa, she waved her left arm with some effort as her father watched.

"That's better. My arms feel heavier than normal, but I'm certainly glad I can move again."

"What happened to your clothes?"

"Lost them to poisonous worms."

"Interesting, you seem to know your way around," Norman suspected she was truthful, but he needed to verify and shake her up a little, "You could be my son, or you could be an imposter who has stolen his memories."

"I've been here all my life. Why wouldn't I know where my stuff is? And if I was some type of mind stealer, wouldn't I have shown up as a boy, and at a time you would have expected me!? Not grabbed by some strange creature and slammed in front of your door."

"You have a good point," Then he walked up to Nadia and shook her by the shoulders, "But you're... A girl. What the hell happened! You never listen to me! I should... I should..."

He collapsed before her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank God you're alright," he sighed, almost breaking in to tears.

"Mom would be real happy, wouldn't she?"

"This isn't about your mother!" Norman snapped, shaking her again, "But... how did you let this happen?"

"Dementia Dan! I mean, some old codger who called himself a wizard used this stupid handbook to trick me. There was some kind of hand that attacked me, and after I crushed it... my body started to change. I was a girl before I knew it."

Norman turned towards the kitchen, "Ambrosia's book, but why?"

"You don't believe me, do you," Nadia looked down.

"Wizard, you said, what did this wizard look like?"

"Old guy, rotten teeth, white hair, wrinkles, beady brown eyes. He called himself Dead-leaf."

"Dead-leaf used a book on you, one of Ambrosia's books, it makes little sense, he had nothing to gain from this," Norman thought aloud, "Unless..."

"Dad, I don't want to be a girl! I'm begging you to help me here, or do you like having two daughters?"

"I have a theory, but it can't hurt to test you further. Where do you keep the glass that you always use? The one from the steak shop."

Stolen story; please report.

Nadia pulled a tall textured glass with a cracked oval handle out of the cabinet. There were few worn letters left from the many washings it had suffered. Norman feigned throwing it against the floor and Nadia instinctively dove to the rescue, landing face down on the floor before her father with her hands stretched out.

"I can't believe it, after all I've been through, you're-"

Norman finished her sentence, "Trying to break your lucky glass? So, you haven't lost any of your memories. Then there is hope."

"I see now. I didn't forget anything here either. The forks and spoons are in the top drawer, but we don't keep them with knives not even the butter knives, which are kept in that high drawer above the microwave. We always keep bread in the refrigerator instead of the breadbox, even though I complain about the taste. The dishes are above the sink and the chemicals are locked below it."

"Where do I keep the good china, the silver, and the crystal glasses?" Norman asked suddenly.

"We don't have any good stuff. Unless you're hiding something from me."

Norman grabbed Nadia by her shoulders as she pulled herself up and stared into her hazel eyes, examined her face, her almost perfectly smooth skin, and her shimmering black hair before shaking his head.

"You look so much like your mother, only more beautiful, if that were even possible."

"That supposed to make me feel better? Now you're really creeping me out dad."

Norman shook her, "What is your name?!"

"Nadia Mavenslick," she said honestly.

Norman shook her some more, "No, that is a name Ambrosia gave you, that is not your name! Your first name is Nathan, you're a boy, damn it! You still have your memories; you are still a boy on the inside. Don't forget the name you were born with. Remember you were born a man, or this form you've taken will become permanent, understand!"

She looked down at herself, throwing her hair behind her shoulder, her eyes blank.

"I'm Nathan. I'm a boy. I won't forget. I won't forget dad!"

They hugged for a long moment. Afterwards, Norman left her take a seat in the kitchen while he boiled water for tea.

"I found your bike on the path, and your shoes."

Nadia winced, "My feet are quite a few sizes smaller. I'm ah- actually a few sizes smaller. You actually even look bigger to me now. And I was finally taller than you!"

"Tell me everything you can remember."

Nadia explained the entire situation again, this time with more detail, almost reliving it up to the point where she was dropped off at her father's back door.

"When I went through the change, I thought I was dying and wasn't prepared. I couldn't even gather my thoughts. But it wasn't death. The pain was- I can't explain it. I couldn't fight properly because there was an inward tug like everything was being pulled inside of me and crushed. Like being kicked in the nuts over and over again! It burned- and I also grew these."

Nadia poked her chest with both index fingers.

Norman shook his head, "The physical change was completed quickly, but it's the mental and spiritual change that will cement things permanently, and those aren't finished yet, but maybe close."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you still think of yourself as a boy?"

"Of course."

"That will change. It's the nature of Ambrosia's handiwork. Physically, you are a woman. You'll have to deal with every physical function of a woman's body. Secondly, most others are going to react differently to you, as you are no longer a member of the male gender, social expectations will pressure you. You can buck that trend in this society, but only to a degree. Ambrosia's handiwork has a hold of your mind as well, you'll find that you will not be able to easily commit acts that violate her- somewhat arbitrary standards."

"I can still fight," Nadia took her cup filled with tea, "The book only changed my gender, nothing else."

"Fighting is not against her code, actually the opposite. I've read that Ambrosia trained some of the fiercest warriors for the defense of her temple. So, I suppose you would encounter no resistance from her influence in that way."

"But," Nadia took a sip of hot tea, "Who in the world is this Ambrosia you keep talking about?"

"After you changed into a girl, Dead-leaf sent you to another world. This realm exists parallel to the our own, and is known as Pozalm. The two worlds draw off one another, each depending on the other for its continued existence, but that is for another time. In Pozalm, all technology is based on what we would call magic, and the people rely heavily on powerful deities that can't die naturally as mortals do.

Ambrosia is one of those deities, a Goddess who ruled a large portion of a continent called Tramen Fohar. Her own people destroyed her physical body because she allowed only one male child for every thousand women.

After the destruction, only males were born to the tribe. So, in order to keep from dying out completely, they contained Ambrosia's remains in books and used these books to turn male offspring into females. But the books could only be used once every twenty years, so the tribe dwindled until the entire nation was finally wiped out. The books were supposed to remain in the temple, but I suspect that either the wizards or Ambrosia herself have something to gain from you being a woman."

"I'm that important?"

"You know you are a guardian of the portals between realms, but I never told you that you are quite possibly one of the last guardians, maybe the last. If you die without passing on the bloodline, a phenomenon called Lifeless may dominate Pozalm, and eventually spread here as well."

Norman took a deep breath. Maybe he knew Ambrosia's plan after all. Could it be there were no female guardians left in all of Pozalm?

"I'll use my powers to fight it, after I find a cure."

"Nathan... Your pendant will no longer give you the same abilities it once did. Its powers manifest differently when used by a woman. It may not be as useful in direct combat, but if used wisely, your new powers will be far more useful than before."

Nadia felt the vine imprints of the pendant's edges with her thumb and started to cry; the tears wouldn't stop flowing as she removed it for a better view. The elongated skull on the front seemed to be spitting out teeth as it laughed at her. She flipped it to the obverse, where the center pattern was a turtle, whose shell was covered in chrysanthemum flowers; it was very pretty but she had never noticed it before.

"I don't want to be your daughter. I want to be your son again."

Norman waited a moment, folded his arms, and sighed, "You're getting emotional, just what I would expect from a girl."

Nadia, still in tears, stood up and punched her pendant against her father's forehead, knocking over his chair and leaving an impression of the pendant's flower turtle. She wiped her eyes as she waited for him to get up.

"I'm sorry. After all our training, I thought you'd dodge that," she said indifferently before bursting into tears, "I won't be stuck as a girl the rest of my life. I won't settle for that! I'll find a cure or kill Twig-leaf!"

"Dead-leaf," Norman corrected.

He slid off his armchair and pushed it back upright. Nadia slipped the pendant back around her neck.

"A warning," Norman walked toward the kitchen while rubbing his forehead, "fall in love with a man and you'll cement this forever. It's not as farfetched as it sounds either. It may hit you before you even know it."

"No, I absolutely hate that guy! He's a disgusting pervert!"

Norman raised an eyebrow, "Well, seems a boy has already fallen in love with you. Do you really hate him?"

"I was rescued by him, but I reciprocated and rescued him, so as far as I'm concerned, we're even. I think he may have followed me though."

"So, you already have strong feelings about him?"

"No way! Not you too! Wait a minute- did you say I could be a woman the rest of my life?"

"Have you been listening? As long as you don't develop deep feelings for a boy you should be able to get the change reversed. Unfortunately, you'll have to go to the temple of Ambrosia in Pozalm and demand that Ambrosia change your physical form. As long as you're not in love, a proper stoic, she'll have no other choice but to accede to your demands. Try thinking long and hard about the Roman Empire if you feel yourself slipping."

"You're making things worse. I'll head out now. Do I need the book that changed me, it's kind of lost."

"No, the book is of little consequence for your problem at the moment. Unfortunately, you need to learn to sing the portal song perfectly or you'll have to wait until the next full moon."

"I'm stuck here like this for a month! I'll learn the stupid song then."

"There's a catch to learning that song. You'd have to feminize your thoughts and emotions to Ambrosia's expectations. You've already been transformed perfectly in the physical sense, and that means your new body is already shaping the way you think and feel. And she'll be influencing you along the way."

"It won't happen, I'll find the cure before that."

"Whatever you do, stay away from boys."

"How can I think masculine if I have to stay away from other guys? Why do I even have to worry about this at all? I never had to think about it before. I just was who I was! None of this is any fair! How am I supposed to know what some entity thinks is masculine and feminine!?"

"Life isn't fair. Ambrosia won't have to accept your demands if she thinks you've accepted her blessing. You have to be careful. To be a proper man, you have to have an emotionless soul of steel! Ambrosia will hate that."

"I have been anything but emotionless lately!" Nadia shouted, digging her palms in her face, "This can't get any worse!"

"Sure, it could have been worse."

"How?"

"Well, you could have become an animal, so stay away from boys."