“What do you mean I don’t! There has to be some way to undo this!” I scream at Charles. He winces for a moment under my fury but quickly regains his composure.

“Well, there are no publicly recorded cases of people who have been turned into demons being turned back into humans. Now, that doesn't mean it’s not possible, just that we don't know how. Maybe there is a magical means, actually there probably is a magical means, it’s just a matter of finding it. The closest thing I can think of would be poly morph magic but most of that stuff only lasts temporarily.”

I turn around, jump into my bed, and scream into my pillow. After a moment of letting off some stress I turn back to Charles.

"Alright, I'm fine now."

"You are not fine but that's the least of your problems right now." Charles replies.

"Fine whatever. So what now then?"

"Ummmm, I don't know. Live like normal?"

"Charles, you are the biggest expert on demons and magic I know. And you're telling me I'm stuck like this forever!?"

"First off, I'm an expert on demons. I only know a bit about magic. Second, no I'm not. I'm saying I don't know enough to say for sure if this is permanent. There is a good chance that something can be done, but I don't know what. Magic is weird even by its own rules and we haven't even begun to figure out what we can do with it. Honestly, your best bet is to work on your magic. Find a way to reverse it that way." He states.

"Uggggh, how do I even start with that?"

"No idea, but hey look at the bright side, at least you're still you." Charles says.

"Yea, now I get to be cognizant when they hunt me down and throw me on an operating table."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about that too much. The regular sensors can only detect demon types we know the magic signatures of. And the super advanced ones have been known to go off on defenders sometimes so you can probably get away with saying it's a false alarm. As long as you don't go flaunting your new stuff around in public you will probably be fine."

"Well, that actually makes me feel a bit better. I guess I can live with this.. thanks again Charles."

"No problem Lucy, I got your back. So, should we tell Anna?"

"Absolutely not, at least not right now. I love Anna but she's got enough to deal with right now. That and Anna tends to be a blabbermouth, I don't want to risk her accidentally letting something slip."

"Fair enough. So do you want to get registration out of the way today? I know it's a three day window, except for extenuating circumstances. But it might be better to just get it out of the way."

"Registration? Oh right." I ask, a bit confused for a moment before I remember. When someone gets access to magic, they have three days to register it with the defenders of humanity international organization. Most local governments also have requirements I think. Here in America it's also three days, and the offices help you do both at the same time so it's quick and easy. Extenuating circumstances, such as being in a reality breach event, can extend that deadline. I don't know if the new deadline is static or determined case by case but it would be better to just get it out of the way.

"Yea, crap… Are the offices even open?" I ask Charles.

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"Uhh, I think it is. I saw the post office open on the way over so I think government offices are open."

I let out a small laugh in response. Of course the post office is open. Damn world could end and their trucks would be out and about the next day putting letters into the shattered remains of mailboxes.

"Alright, I guess I got nothing better to do. Wanna grab some food before we head out? Parents told me to have the leftovers in the fridge."

"Sure! But can you put your shirt back on first?"

"Actually I can't, I need my mana to regenerate…. Unless." I run over to my closet and start throwing things around. I just remembered a particular article of clothing that would fit this perfectly. After a minute of digging while Charles impatiently tapped his foot, I found it.

It's one of those fancy weird tops that I button at the top and it splits going down my back. And the best part is I can throw this on from the front similar to an apron.

"Alright, good to go."

"Shorts and that top? You look like you couldn't decide if you wanted to go to the gym or a nightclub." Charles says with a snicker.

"Oh shut up and go close all the blinds down stairs!" I snap back at him.

He slips out of my room and down the stairs while laughing to himself. After a minute he calls up. It's all clear and I head down stairs. Upon entering the kitchen I find Charles is already looting the fridge, several containers and serving plates wrapped in plastic sitting on the counter.

"God Charles, I leave you alone for two seconds and you basically steal the entire fridge's worth of food."

"Hey, I'm hungry. Have you ever had bunker food? I had it for dinner and breakfast, and let me tell you, I'd have rather taken my chances with the demons."

"Pfff, it can't be that bad."

"I've tasted cardboard with more flavor and I'm pretty sure rocks would have had a better texture."

"No way it was that bad. You're just being a primadonna" I say as I pull the plastic off the meatloaf.

"I'm pretty sure the food put as many people in the infirmary as the demons and resulting stampede did."

"Wow, I knew they went with the lowest bidder on everything but I didn't think they would go so low as to almost kill people with it."

"Apparently the southern bunker had it worse. Anna's family said half of that bunker's facilities didn't work. And the food, all of it either spoiled or so far past its expiration date it was rocks or dust."

"God, sounds horrible."

"Apparently a real shit show, still despite that a lot of people are choosing the stay put the extra day while they finish cleaning up the demons. Oooooh, mashed potatoes!" Charles says while shoveling copious amounts of the aforementioned food onto his plate.

"Charles, you had two bad meals. You weren't starved out for two weeks straight. Leave some for me."

"But your mom's cooking is good. My family always orders takeout. Have you ever had Chinese takeout for all meals for a week straight?"

I ignore Charles's question in favor of chowing down on some roast beef. Charles takes that as his queue to also start eating and for the rest of lunch he is too busy stuffing his face to bemoan his lack of available food variety. To be fair, Chinese takeout for a week straight would probably drive me insane. In the span of thirty minutes I've somehow eaten more than Charles. I end up going for fourths before I'm satisfied, clearing out most of the leftovers in the fridge. Damn, I was a lot hungrier than I though.

"Man Lucy, you were complaining about me, but you cleared like five plates worth of food. Aren't you worried about getting fat?"

"Pfff, I guess growing these in took a lot more than I thought. Also, didn't your mother teach you not to comment on a lady's weight?" I ask while gesturing to my wings.

"You're a lady?" Charles responds with a raised eyebrow and a sarcastic tone.

I just roll my eyes and put my dish in the sink.

"Can you clean up? I'm going to go change and shift back."

"Yea I got it."

I thank Charles as I dart up stairs and into my room. I change into a pair of longer pants and put on my boots before shifting my wings away, wrapping my tail around my waist, then throwing a less revealing shirt on and a winter skull cap. I check myself in the mirror and find the horns don't really cause a big enough lump in the cap to be noticed, so I can keep them untransformed while I have it on to save mana. Same goes for the tail, I just have to make sure I keep my shirt tucked in. I head back down stairs to find Charles has finished cleaning up and is waiting by the door with his coat in hand.

"Ready?" He asks.

"Yea, just hoping my mana holds out. It was mostly full so I think I'll be fine."

"Well, better to find out now than later. Even with the patrols you can probably hide for a bit to regenerate mana if you run out. City is basically still a ghost town."

"Which makes me wonder if the registration office is even open."

"Ehh, probably." He says as we finish putting our coats on and set off out the door.