Family time, the secret third option

As much as you'd like to plunge yourself head first into more adventures, you feel like your family deserves some attention as well. "Can I have some time out to talk to my mom first? I feel like we're going a bit fast here."

Holly nods mildly. "Of course. Sorry, I'm just excited that we're getting to do this. But you're right, the curse has existed for 400 years. Not much of a difference at this point if we're waiting a few hours to make the change."

You step over to the door she's standing in and give her a soft hug, resting your head on her shoulder. It's extremely comfortable thanks to your new height. "Thanks. Let's go downstairs and hang out in the living room for a bit."

It feels like heaven to just sit on the sofa in the living room, letting go of all the excitement and the worry of the past 48 hours. So much has happened since then, most of it good, but still just a lot to take in.

Maisie telling you about the curse on Thursday.

You spending the rest of the afternoon at her place, learning about it and experimenting.

Mary giving you her trust and accepting you as Maisie's 'Master' (you hate that word, but still can't think of a better word for your relationship with the curse).

Maisie redirecting her sexual attraction from her frequently-changing boyfriends onto you (you can't help but feel a bit guilty for making that change for her, but it worked out great for both of you).

You accidentally and unknowingly 'claiming' Holly as well with her curse at the dinner table ('claiming' is another one of those icky words that you'd rather not have to use but have no better replacement).

All the great sex you had with Maisie that night, with her roleplaying first as her sister and then your chemistry teacher.

The close call you had involving you almost impregnating her (anything involving your male body feels somewhat unreal now).

Coming back from school on Friday to find Holly in tears about her curse.

Holly falling for you after you offered her solace (which seems to make a lot more sense in retrospect, with you having already told her to trust you).

Maisie offering to open up the relationship and sharing you with her sister.

Going to the library and researching the curse with Holly, only to track Rosalind's line of descendants down to you.

Finding the old witches' heirlooms in your attic.

Taking them back to the Petersens, only to discover that you were Holly's Master.

Finding out about what you did to Holly with her curse, then immediately launching into a hot threesome with both of them posing as twins.

Finishing the day with some research into witchcraft, and finding out that altering the curse in any way would be your responsibility, and that you'd have to form a coven with the sisters.

Beginning Saturday (that's today) after breakfast by making the two sisters into witches.

Giving Holly the power of telekinesis, only to have it immediately used in the bedroom to give you what you can only describe as a mindjob.

Running into some sexual mishaps with Maisie at the lunch table afterwards.

Using blood divination (you guess you'd call it that) to find out that you would have to become a woman to alter the curse.

Coming here and actually becoming that woman with the help of your mother.

It's now late afternoon on Saturday, and you're exhausted.

You hear your mother's voice through the fog in your brain. "Simone? Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, just really tired." Seeing the concern on her face, you add, "Not because of the transformation thing I don't think, it's just been a wild couple days."

You listen to Maisie and Holly explain things (thankfully leaving out the raunchier bits) while you sit back and relax with your eyes closed. For the first time, you have the opportunity to take in the feelings of your new body and take stock of all the small little details that are different. How the smoother fabric of your clothes feels against your smoother skin. The way your chest moves when you're breathing in and out deeply. The gap between your legs that you're now able to fully close up without worrying about squishing anything. The smell of your hair when you let it fall in front of your face. Everything feels like moving into a different, nicer, more comfortable home - and there's already a fire burning in the hearth.

Meanwhile, Maisie is finishing her explanation of the rules for altering the curse. "...and that's why we found it important to come here as soon as possible and have you... change Simone, I mean Simon into Simone."

"Thank you for that, by the way", you rejoin the conversation. "It feels like a definite upgrade, even though everything is still a bit unfamiliar."

Your mother stands up and comes over to sit next to you, her eyes wet and shiny with emotion. "I never thought I'd have a daughter." She hugs you tightly, her cheek rubbing against yours. "I've always loved you as a son, and I'll always love you as a daughter, no matter what happens to you."

"I love you too, Mom." You feel your own eyes tear up as well.

"You know, as a parent it's often so difficult to tell whether you're raising your kid right. Whether what you tell them makes a good person actually sticks. And you... seeing you be so selfless... giving up a part of your own identity for something you believe in... you couldn't have made me happier in your entire life if you tried." You feel a tear drip from her cheek onto your shoulder, and your own have begun to flow as well.

After lying in each other's arms in silence for a few more minutes, you're shaken out of it by the sound of your father's car pulling into the driveway. With a kiss on your mother's cheek, you pull out of her embrace and straighten back up, feeling refreshed.

"Hi honey, I'm home!" Your dad doesn't waste a lot of time coming over and giving her a hug, then continuing straight on to you. "Hi pumpkin, good to see you again! I see you brought the Petersens back with you." Hugging him feels different as a daughter than a son - somehow more comfortable for some reason. And did he just call you pumpkin? Apparently, you really were just always a daughter to him, as if nothing happened.

Dad being here lightens up the mood considerably, with you and the sisters gigglingly evading question after question about the things the three of you are doing together, while your mother is in the background cooking dinner for the five of you.

After a dinner filled with comfort food and light conversation, it's time for you to head out with Maisie and Holly. You sense a bit of disappointment from your father about you not being home for the third night in a row, but being assured by your mother that everything is alright quickly puts the smile back on his face as he waves the three of you goodbye.

Once you're all in the car and Holly is driving, she steers the conversation toward your plans about altering the curse. "The book says that you can speak three truths about it. We need to make some concrete plans about what we can do to make the curse as harmless as possible."

"Maybe we can even turn it into a blessing", Maisie adds hopefully.

"I've thought a bit about it while Simone had that moment with her mom, and I think the best way is to approach it pragmatically. As in, what's the worst cases that we know have happened, and how do we fix them? And how can we prevent things like that from happening in the future?" Holly is in full business mode.

"You sound like you already came up with some solutions", you respond.

"Yeah, for fixing them, I'd say we need a way for subjects to escape a bad Master. Something they can always do of their own volition to end his influence over them", Holly explains. "As for preventing that in the future, I'd say we want a way for curse carriers to take themselves off the market, as it were. To give themselves to a master without him being aware of the curse."

"Those are good ideas", Maisie concurs. "What do you think they should have to do to make that happen? Easiest would probably be to just say some words, no?"

"That's how most of the witchcraft magic seems to work, speaking the right words at the right time", you agree. "And it seems to be kind of big on symbolism. How about just saying 'I'm my own woman' to get free of a bad Master?"

"We need to be careful with that", Holly warns. "What about a Master telling someone to shut up, and she doesn't get to speak for years? We would need something that always works."

"But things other than saying words have the same problem, a Master could just forbid them", Maisie worries.

"Let's not overthink it. We can just specify that saying 'I'm my own woman' always works, regardless of any commands that are currently in place", you say with more confidence than you actually feel. "The only thing we need to hope for is that the magic will accept that as a change we can make."

"We probably just need to try it. We get only one shot at this, but chickening out and not making the changes as big as we need doesn't help either", Holly muses. "Any ideas for a phrase to give yourself to a new Master?"

Maisie quickly responds: "How about we keep it simple? Just 'I'm yours' should do the trick. That sounds like kind of a normal thing to say to a person you love."

Holly and you both nod your assent.

"So, what should the third change be?", Maisie asks. "Can I be selfish and request that it should be able to change clothing? I love trying on new stuff, but actually going shopping for it costs a lot of time and money."

"You have to think bigger", you counter. "Let's make it affect personal belongings in general, I think that should be in the realm of possibilities for an alteration."

Holly nods. "So we have our three changes? One: When a subject says 'I'm my own woman', she is free of her Master. Two: When a woman says 'I'm yours' to a potential Master, she's claimed by him without having to tell about the curse. And three: The curse will be able to affect personal belongings. Does anything seem to be missing from that, or is that what we can write down for Simone to say during the ritual?"

Neither you nor Maisie come up with anything else before Holly pulls into the Petersens' driveway.

Soon, you're all back in the Petersens' living room together with Mary. "So Simone, how are you feeling? Are you up for the ritual so late at night? Or should we wait until tomorrow?" Holly speaks with all the concern of a nice older sister.

"Actually, I'm feeling okay now. I think spending time at home with my parents has done wonders for my energy levels", you say with honesty. "And I'm kind of curious how the ritual will turn out."

"What kind of ritual are you planning?" Mary is curious. "Is that about dealing with the curse?"

You're quick to get out the book and show her the page that Maisie wrote in her own blood earlier today, while Maisie brings up the list of Truths to speak during the ritual on her phone. Mary looks at your plan, gasps, and blushes.

"What is it?", you ask her curiously.

"I... I'd rather not say." Mary's face is getting even redder. "But do it. I think these are exactly the changes our family needs."

You nod, while Holly is already busy setting up the candles for the proper mood. The book doesn't say anything about them being required, but the three of you figure it definitely can't hurt. Once the candles are set up, you go sit down on the floor in front of the tallest one (sitting cross-legged is so much easier since you got your new body!), and the sisters join you in a triangle formation. With the candles lit, it's just possible to reach out to join hands without disturbing the flames.

Mary turns off the room lights, and you close your eyes to focus on the power present in the three of you.

"I, Simone Jones, youngest descendant of Rosalind's family line, and my coven mates, Maisie and Holly Petersen, are joined on this evening to alter the Petersen family curse, and right the wrongs brought into the world by my ancestor. The following three truths shall apply henceforth:" - you pause for a moment. 'Henceforth'? Really? You guess the magic is making you speak all old-timey. You quickly refocus and look to Maisie's phone for guidance.

"One: A bearer of the curse may free herself from her Master by speaking the words 'I am my own woman.' She will be able to do so even if unable to speak otherwise, or forbidden by a command to say these words." As you are speaking, you notice the energy in the room change. The candles are starting to flicker and dim, and there is an uneasy feeling in the air. You feel that you have not satisfied the requirement of the magic to make the statement true, and feel compelled to amend it. "These words may only be spoken if the curse bearer has been wronged by her master. What constitutes such an offence shall be within the sole discretion of the magic." That's not exactly what you had wanted to say, but you're going to have to live with it. The candles burn brighter for a moment, then the mood in the room returns to normal.

"Two: When a bearer of the curse speaks the words 'I am yours' to a potential Master, she will be claimed by them without having to inform them about the curse." Again, the candles start to flicker as the magic demands an amendment. "These words may only be spoken towards someone the curse bearer feels a strong emotional bond with." You notice that the magic has just narrowly avoided using the L-word here, but the upshot is similar. Not the worst addition all in all, you suppose.

"Three: The curse can affect the belongings of a curse bearer as well as their body and mind." Again, you feel the magic nudge your mind into an amendment as the candles start to flicker. "It cannot create entirely new objects, nor be used to dramatically increase someone's wealth."

The last Truth is spoken, but you still have a feeling like the magic is waiting for something. You can't say whether it's compulsion or inspiration, but something moves you to say, "The Petersen Family Curse shall from this point forward be known as the Petersen Family Blessing."

With the final part of the magic satisfied, the flames turn bright turquoise like weathered copper, and detach from the candles, joining together in a ball of light in the middle of the ritual circle. It grows brighter and more colourful, bathing the whole room in its bluish-green glow, before small motes of light begin to separate from it. One of them flows towards Maisie, then another one towards Holly, then another towards Mary, then more and more of them flow out in all directions, ever accelerating, until the whole lightshow has disintegrated into a shower of sparks, leaving the room through the walls and the windows in all directions. The three sparks that flew towards Maisie, Holly and Mary are meanwhile fusing into their chests, spreading over their bodies and making them glow dimly in the darkened room.

Once the light show has subsided, Mary gets up to turn the living room lights back on. "I can't tell you how long I've waited for this moment." She pauses for a breath, then states loudly and confidently: "I am my own woman."

Nothing visibly changes, except maybe for Maisie, Holly and you looking at her in bafflement. Maisie is the first to find her words again. "But why, Mom?"

"After the last two days, you should have a good enough idea why." She turns to you and gestures for you to stand up. As you do so, she grabs you into a tight embrace, then whispers into your ear, "I am yours."