NOVEL FROG Chapter 3: TORTURE!
"Alright, Yoi, are you ready for your appraisal day?" Chef mom says as I try to think about this "appraisal day." I had no clue what she meant, so I answered truthfully.
"Appraisal day?" I mention with the most innocent-sounding voice I could come up with just to sound more genuine. I know it's wrong to lie, but I'm still unsure if they will accept me if I reveal I stole this body. \
"You forgot, didn't you?" Ariel sounds disappointed as I lower my head again, selling the act of a lost, forgetful child even if I weren't one.
"Yeah, I forgot what it was and why I need one." Chef Mom and Ariel look at me and shake their heads, making me feel bad as I just made myself look like a fool. Yet lying wouldn't get me anywhere, so this was my only option. Take the blame and let them explain things once more.
"Appraisal days are everything for young witches like you! You can't go to a magical academy without an appraisal from the Queen! So we ought to appraise you so you can go to school." That made a little sense, even if not entirely clear, but wait, did she just say "magic?"
Ariel soon kept on going about magical jobs and professions I could land with a good education from a magical academy, but to be fair, I couldn't comprehend half of what she said. Once again, the word "magic" kept me thinking. Have I landed somewhere else besides Earth?
I have heard of magic, but the magic in my world is usually visual tricks a magician performs. Judging by how my mothers described magic here, it was clearly something else. Something tangible and malleable, but how was that possible? I shouldn't, that's right.
If the laws of nature and physics are valid, as many famous scientists said before I died, then such things as "Magic" could only be visual trickery and manipulation. There was no way for such a force actually to exist, so I naturally doubted this "magical" power.
"We think you'll be a fire type since we are both fire types, Yoi, making you special!" Chef Mommy exclaims as I try to follow along with their act.
"Yeah! Muahaha! Not to brag, but we fire types are among the strongest!" Ariel was much more full of energy, so her tone was a tad more credible than Chef Mommy. I was still doubtful, though, so I innocently asked for a demonstration, and my mothers obliged.
Ariel soon turns all the candles off with the flick of her fingers, which creates a mysterious wind that moves around the room with such precision it leaves me speechless, but that isn't all.
"I'm the source of all power. Hear my words and heed them! Create a flame to illuminate our paths! All flammable torrent!" Chef Mommy screams as fire appears from the tip of her fingers and flies around the room in the same fashion the wind did, but this time, it turns all the candles on.
For a moment, I could not believe my own eyes. I thought I was seeing things until I got slightly kissed by the flame my mother had produced, and I could not deny that it was real. I could feel the warmth of a flame slightly touching me as I sat there speechless.
Their acts soon confirmed my theory. Wherever god had sent me, it wasn't Earth. I don't remember reading anything like this outside fantasy novels like "Alice in Wonderland" and such. Was I in a dream, then? There was a slight chance that would be the case, but how would I explain this new flavor and my reflection in the mirror?
No, I couldn't deny it. Whatever this world was, it was different from mine. Women were allowed to be married to the same gender and somehow produce a child, and there was also this mysterious force that the people from this world called "magic."
But then, if they said I could also use this power, did that mean I could do the same strange stuff they did? That's what they sounded like. Excellent. If I can use this magical power, then I'll be able to experience something outside of the boundaries of my knowledge, which would be terrific.
The feeling I felt was the same as the time my father showed me how to load and shoot a gun. Gunpowder and the pistol I learned with felt "Magical" as well when I first saw them and used them. Would that be the case again? Would this become usual stuff for me? Incredible! I was already dying to know what I was capable of!
What came next wasn't much fun, however. My mothers disliked my outfit, so they eventually forced me to change into an embarrassing pink floral dress, which made me look ridiculous! I didn't like wearing a dress. It felt wrong. It was strange, to say the least.
Yet, their torture did not end when they forced me into a floral dress. They also played along with my hair until they made my hairstyle into two French-style buns at the top of my head, making me look even more girly, which repulsed me. I felt so ashamed, but they kept calling me "Pretty."
How was I pretty with such a ridiculous-looking outfit and hairstyle?! I looked like my sister, if not even girlier, and I hated it. The thought of looking more feminine than my sister destroyed my masculine pride, basically emasculating any last trace of masculinity I had left.
"Aw! You look so cute, Yoimiya!" "Yes! It suits you so well!" My Mothers cherished my face as they continued applying layer after layer of embarrassing things on me, giving me the proper look of a girl, which is what I wanted to avoid all along.
Ultimately, I finished looking like one of those girls at the parties for nobleman. I looked elegant and was sure it was cute, but it made me feel awful. I'm not supposed to be adorable! I want to look rugged and cool, not soft and weak! I hate it! Here!