Lumina went to pat her chest again and found no breasts. Dawn took her wrists before she could pat anywhere else and shook her head. "No exploring someone else's body Princess. It is not polite. At least not right now. It is time for the Q and A only. I agree with you. Two questions before, one after. Shoot."

It was visible that the Princess' confusion was disappearing, but she still had that dreamy look.

"If my body is not here, who am I right now?"

"That is easy. You were kept from dying by being pulled into the body of the boy that saved you. You remember him, right? The one that used the spell to kill the undead and raised a stone barrier over the two of you when the rhinorses came to trample you."

Lumina jumped. "Am I a boy right now?" It felt like a massive deja vu.

'Yeah, I feel you, sister. Took me longer than that to figure out I was a girl when I woke up in your body,' thought Dawn. Welcome to the 'these are not my genitals' club. But Lumina was not under an awful amount of pain, to begin with. Well, it was no use to think about the reason either of them took as long as they did to figure out they were swapped.

"Yes. You are a boy right now. Two questions were done," Dawn smirked.

"Whoa! Not fair." Lumina pouted.

If she was behaving and thinking like a spoiled child, Dawn would need to adapt. She showed a full outstretched hand.

"I'll give you five questions after you finish recalling all memories of the ritual. How's that for a compensation?"

Just like a kid, the upped reward was enticing enough to sway her. "Okay. What should I do?"

"Just think about the lessons of the ritual. The diagrams. The materials. Try to remember them."

She made a pose like meditating with the forefingers stabbing the temples and pouting as she made some weird mantra noises that meant nothing. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes and said, "Done!"

"No way! This fast?" Dawn feigned surprise. "Can you do that meditation thing again and imagine you were doing the ritual?"

"No. That ritual is evil. I'm done remembering it. I need something to drink. Excuse me for a while."

Lumina climbed down from the couch and went for the water pitcher like she owned the place, swaying Aidan's ass back and forth like he was a cat. She shook her head on the way back seemingly to clear her thoughts.

"What is your last question?" Dawn asked.

She wanted to cut the spell so she could check with Aidan if they got the ritual, but a deal was a deal. Lumina would get her last question. Lumina sat back on the couch facing Dawn, back straight, piercing eyes. The childish tone from before was gone, she now had that aquiline superior posture that seemed like she ruled over the world. It made Dawn shrink down a notch.

"I want you to tell me everything. Who are you, why do you look exactly like a fat version of me, whose body I am using now, where is my body, what happened to everyone."

Dawn smiled and relaxed her shoulders. She met Lumina's eyes and touched her hand, "Of course, your Highness. I'll tell you everything. But first and foremost, would you consider withdrawing your insult?"

Lumina went on the defensive. She was apprehensive, worried about something. Eyes darted behind both of Dawn's sides.

"What insult? I didn't say any insult!"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Really? I'm a fat version of you? For crying out loud, you've been a man for not even one hour and you are already this callous!?"

"Okay? Give a girl a break here. What callous thing I've said?"

She really didn't notice even when Dawn repeated it. Nevertheless, why was she so upset about this minor detail? She could see and touch her stomach every day through Aidan's eyes and even compare her build with Sora's or Cythrel's. She knew she wasn't fat, why worry?

"Nevermind. If you knew I'd not have to give a 'girl' a break. Back to your request. Your family is fine. Lucien returned and he is super worried about you. King Helios recognized Claire as the first princess since she is older than you."

It was obvious that Lumina cared very little for Lucien. But the fact that Claire was recognized a Princess was huge for Lumina. She knew since forever that her handmaid was secretly her sister but could never tell her that.

"No way. They finally told Claire she was a princess?"

"Sort of," Dawn shrugged. "It is complicated and you should ask her yourself when you are yourself again. Next."

"My body. Where is it?" Lumina was picking up a nice pace. She was very alert now.

"It is lying in a coffin made of glass, waiting for magic. Or more specifically, waiting for us to get you out of my body and back into yours."

"Well, what are you waiting for? We are not getting any younger!"

The reaction drew a burst of laughter from Dawn. They were feeling so at ease with one another, it was impressive.

"You are not getting any older either," Dawn shrugged. "And your fiancée is coming to visit soon. Since you and I will be both out of commission even if we transfer you back in your body right now, someone has to stand in for you."

Lumina frowned at the mention of her arranged fiancée. Brody was a total creep and pervert and more than deserved to have his balls fried, cut off and fed to him in this particular order. These two people of confused gender, mostly girls right now, could not agree more on the subject.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Brody is coming? Who is standing in for me... Oh. Damn, girl, you are useful." Lumina giggles, "Where can I get more of you?"

The worst thing is, she could get more of Dawn. Heck, they could make dozens of Lumina's clones given enough time. Like, make a treaty with Yutis, bring your own Luminunculus home. Dawn almost slapped herself for thinking silly things.

"I'm sorry, you can't. So there you have. Until we murder Brody we can't fix you because we will be too weak to fight him."

Lumina grabbed Dawn's hand and beamed a conspiratorial bitch smile. "You are murdering Brody for me? Really? I'll be forever grateful for it."

"Yes, you are welcome, your Highness..." Dawn wrestled her hand free, "But I am kinda doing it for myself. I don't fancy being raped by him."

Lumina slapped her own knees and laughed, throwing her inexistent hair around.

"I'm with you, I'm totally with you, sister. I wish you luck with your murder conspiracy. Next up. Whose body am I using right now?"

Lumina was too fast, once more repetitive, and there was another objective to accomplish. Dawn intercepted her request and swapped for her own.

"Well, before that. I need you to do one thing. The teacher that gave you private lessons, Baron Yoshida. I want you to recall all the private lessons you had with him. Did he use any magic on you? Did he show you any magic spells? What is his element? What special abilities he has if any?"

"I got it, I got it. One thing at a time. Here, it is all I recall. Now, who is this boy whose body I'm wearing and give me a mirror I want to know if he is at least a bit handsome!?"

"Your classmate, Aidan the Underworld mage. The one you bullied the whole semester. The one that made the spell to kill undead you were so thrilled with. The same one that saved your life during that terrible assassination attempt with the rhinorses."

The seething vitriol with which Dawn delivered these descriptions impacted even the mentally impaired Lumina. The Princess tilted her head and answered with a stretched finger hitting her lips.

"I don't even... You got a lot of pent-up resentment going on, girl. Loosen up, geez. Tell me, is that guy your lover, or something? I thought he was with the squirrel-kin girl. Those two are always joined at the hip, I don't know why that makes me so jealous."

What a refreshing honesty and fellowship. Lumina was surprisingly honest and outreaching once you got past her bitch outer shell. Like a venomous spined clam full of Pearls inside. The mental image of a Lumina-clam covered in venomous bristles opening up to show a lot of Princesses Pearls welcoming her in made Dawn burst into laughter. And laughing on her own made Lumina elbow the girl.

"Tell me why are you laughing! Not fair!"

 "I'm grateful you have at least the decency of not insulting us again."

 "Us? Hold it, you aren't the beastkin girl. That means you are the boy. Oh. This body here, it is your body! I am you and you are me, is this such a thing? The world-famous body swap!" Lumina squeals. "Are you still upset?"

Third time might be the charm. Or was it the fourth time? Dawn hoped that this time the information of whose body it was stuck.

"No. But you are making me uncomfortable squealing with my voice and ruining my throat. Which brings us to the next question, already answered. That is who am I."

"I have to point out that the next one was why you look like me when you stated several times that body you are using? wearing? possessing? whatever, that body is not my body. Or should I say, you have an amazing figure, I'd like to have a body like this."

Oh, great. The diet of annoyance. In a few minutes and a couple tufts of ripped hair, Dawn went from fat to amazing figure. Nice.

"About that... You spent two years away, your body grew up during that time."

"Still not answering..." She sang along.

"It was during the assault. We were about to die, I had to take you into me and put me in your body to make it sure both of us would survive. But things got complicated and I..." Telling her 'I got stuck inside you' would be awful. "We could not reverse the change with only two of us, so we had to clone you first and then put you back in your body. And it is the reason I exist and look like you. Except for the hair, the rest of my body is much like yours."

Lumina opened up a perverted smirk. "You put me in you and you in me? Some hero you are, attempting against a princess' purity!"

"Souls, you dirty-minded princess. Only souls." Lumina smirked and winked and Dawn enraged, "Oh, shut up. Stop teasing me."

"You've been in my body this whole time? Have you done something shameful to me?"

"No. I can swear on it." Dawn stated matter-of-factly and crossed her arms, which automatically drew Lumina's eyes to Dawn's propped up breasts. "I didn't abuse you. Really, you are a Princess and I have a lover. Claire was with us most of the time too, she made sure to not let me do anything improper."

"How sweet of you. I'm even a little angry that you resisted me. For some reason, I feel rejected. Does my clone have a name?"

"I called myself Dawn, your Highness."

Lumina was startled. "Dawn? You are Aidan and called my clone Dawn? Why is that? Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Maybe because you and me, Lumina, we were childhood friends. We used to play in the castle gardens with your mother. Do you remember?"

Lumina didn't say a thing. She clutched her stomach with a half-surprised, half-scared face. Dawn could barely see that face because Lumina was staring at her own (Aidan's) navel. Over the Academy uniform.

"Lumina? Did you remember?"

Dawn shook Lumina's shoulder and the Princess raised a serious face to meet hers.

"I remember. I just remembered everything. From your face, I can assume you don't. I can't even blame the stupid boy, I'm the boy in this one."

"You are scaring me. What did you remember?" Dawn was afraid she was talking about when Aidan assaulted Lumina.

Lumina stood up and started to pace around in front of the couch with a flabbergasted Dawn, waving her arms around.

"That is just poetic. You are Aidan in Lumina's body, you are Dawn. Just like I used to call myself when we were little."

"Yes, I started to call me Dawn before remembering part of our past."

"Then I am Lumina in Aidan's body, who am I? Do you remember?"

Lumina's eyes were blazing and attempting to read Dawn, pacing back and forth even though the Princess was still. Dawn was getting scared over the whole thing and seriously considering dropping the spell to catch a breath.

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about."

Lumina turned around and changed her voice to a deeper register. She made a velvety manly voice, "You do. Think, my dear Dawn. We are the polar opposites. The boy in a girl's body and the girl in a boy's body. The Sky witch and the Underworld sorcerer. The haughty princess and the humble hero. Sunrise and sunset."

She made a gentlemanly reverence spinning her hand and bending at the waist and both knees at the same time. She stood up straight afterward and tipped an imaginary hat.

"I'm not Lumina, Dawn. You know who I am. Say my name. Say it. I've dreamed so much of this name. I dreamt of him and now I am here, I am him. You are Dawn, I am..."

It all made sense when put that way. Exactly the kind of childish thing they would do.

>     "Of course, your Majesty. My name will be engraved in the annals of history." She curtsied. "My name is Dawn and I am an adventurer."

>

>     "And you, brave knight?" Asked the Queen, a smile full of mirth.

>

>     The boy whispered with a hand cupped next to his mouth. "Your majesty, it is mage-knight!"

>

>     The Queen laughed, full of mirth. "Brave Mage-Knight, how art thou named?"

>

>     "You may call me... Dusk."

Her heart wanted to jump out of her chest. A wave of nostalgia, sadness, longing, a desire to relive those days, a friendship lost. Dawn remembered the rest of that phrase little six-years-old Aidan answered the queen with.  Her eyes silently watered, feelings overflowing. The diary. The day she felt Lumina's loneliness over her lost hero on those pages.

"You are Dusk."