A Family of Witches

Ares knit his brow in concern, and his image on the tablet screen did the same. He had such a feminine face now. It wasn’t the end of the world; he still looked like himself. But it bothered him that it didn’t bother him all that much. This should have been a huge upset, but it didn’t feel like one. After nearly a full week of looking like a girl, Ares felt like he’d adjusted to seeing this face in the camera. Worse, he was having a hard time remembering what he used to look like, after only a week.

He sighed and exited out of the camera before setting his tablet down on the bed. Ares picked up his rabbit plushie and gave it a squeeze. He was wearing another set of Tia’s old tee shirt and pants; these pants were embroidered. His face burned every time he remembered that fact, but at least everybody had the tact not to tease him about it.

Vega had gone into town to get him some girl’s underwear, though. The thought made him squirm. Technically, Ares was crossdressing. It felt perverse. He wasn’t supposed to be doing this.

A message popped up on his tablet, alerting Ares that it was time for lunch. He sighed and got up, then grabbed an oversized hoodie from the floor. Ares was cold, despite it being the middle of summer.

“Hey, everyone,” he droned as he entered the kitchen. He was the last person here. Ares sat down at his usual chair and picked up a fork to poke at his meal.

Hestia and Vega were talking about something. Everyone else was focused on their meal. Ares caught Eris looking at him, but she quickly looked away. Ares took a deep breath and sighed, gritting his teeth.

“How are you doing, Ares?” Lorrie asked suddenly.

“I’m fine, Mom,” he lied, shoulders slouched.

Dora asked, “Do you want to watch TV with me later?”

“I’ve got work to do. Sorry, Dora.”

Vega cleared her throat and said, “You can put off your studies for a little bit, dear. You’re going through something pretty heavy. It’ll be alright to relax a bit.”

“Thank you,” Ares said, “but I really want things to be as normal as possible.”

“Ares,” Hestia said, “you need to take a break once in a while. Trust me.”

“I’ll think about it.”

He really did appreciate everyone’s attempts to cheer him up. They were doing their best. And some days honestly weren’t as bad as others. This just felt like one of the bad days.

Lunch wound down and people started to walk away. When Vega got up, she asked Ares to come meet her in the kitchen when he was done. Ares nodded, but gave up on finishing his meal shortly after.

“Hey, Vega,” Ares mumbled, coming into the kitchen with his dirty plate.

“Come help me with the dishes,” Vega said.

Ares did as he was asked. Vega scrubbed the dishes clean while Ares rinsed and dried them. They worked together in silence. Ares felt himself unwinding just a little. Vega had been doing this a lot: finding excuses to spend time with Ares and keep him company while Lorrie spent most of her time poring over reference materials to figure out a solution.

“How do you feel?” Vega asked.

“A little better,” Ares replied, giving her a small smile.

“Is there anything you want to bake?”

“We just made those brownies, didn’t we?”

“That was a couple of days ago,” Vega said dismissively. “What do you want to make now?”

“I have homework to do, actually,” Ares insisted, taking a step away from Vega.

“It’s time for you to take a break from homework,” Vega replied, placing a hand on Ares’ shoulder. “Go easy on work for a bit. For me.”

“…A cake would be fun.”

Vega nodded, saying, “Let’s get started, then.”

The two entered the walk-in pantry to collect the ingredients. It took a couple of trips, but soon they were standing at the island and pouring ingredients into bowls.

“It’s important to focus on the moment when you’re stressed out about something,” Vega said. “Center yourself and block out anything that isn’t immediately related to what you’re doing. Forget, for a moment, the things that you can’t change.”

Ares nodded. He slowed his breathing and relaxed all his muscles. His meditation techniques helped a lot with this. He did as Vega instructed and tried not to dwell on his situation.

“The body doesn’t even bother me all that much,” he admitted, stirring the ingredients together. “I just don’t like how weird it’s making things for everyone. If this was just the way I looked, I’d probably be fine with it.”

“Well, people are slow to adapt to change,” Vega replied. “Especially one this big.”

“I’m kind of afraid that people will get used to it, though.” Afraid that he would get used to it, honestly. “I just… It’s not like it would be a bad thing, but I’m not supposed to look like this.”

“It’s okay, honey. You don’t need to have all the answers.”

Ares nodded and focused on stirring.

Once the cake was in the oven, Ares washed up and realized he’d need to change his outfit. He said goodbye to Vega and climbed up the stairs all the way to his room. Once he had a new set of pants and a tee shirt, this one with a unicorn on it, he made his way to the bathroom to change.

He put his clothes in the hamper and headed back to his room, but stopped outside Eris’ door. Ares could hear Eris inside, strumming her electric guitar. She clearly wasn’t too busy, but he didn’t really want to bother her. On the other hand, she was his sister and Ares wanted to spend time with her. It couldn’t hurt to ask if she was free, could it?

Ares knocked. The sound of a guitar stopped and Ares could hear footsteps. After a moment, the door opened just a peep and Eris stared out at him.

“Oh, it’s you.” She opened the door further. “What’s going on?”

“Hey, I figured—you know, if you’re not busy—I could come in and we could play a game or something?”

Eris glanced away, her hand still on the doorknob. Ares’ heart sank. She wasn’t going to close the door on him, was she?

“Alright, you can come in,” Eris said, moving aside to let Ares in.

Like Ares’ room, Eris’ was long but not wide. She had a TV against one wall with two different game systems, as well as a gaming PC on her desk. Her bed was surrounded by stuffed animals. A standing guitar stand was in one corner, but her guitar was resting next to the amp. The room was illuminated by small lights hanging from strings from the ceiling, arranged like constellations.

Ares came in and sat down in Eris’ desk chair. Eris stood by her guitar and started plucking at the strings. She wasn’t looking at Ares. Ares shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looking around the room.

“How are your studies coming along?” Ares asked.

“It’s fine,” Eris replied. “Even with… all of this… I’ll still be finished with everything by the time school starts.”

“That’s good.” Ares felt a pang of guilt that he was being a distraction for his family. “I think I’m going to be done with all my studies, too. I wish our summer break could just, you know, be a break? At least for one summer.”

Eris nodded, but didn’t continue the conversation. Ares picked up a controller from the desk.

“Are we gonna play something?” he asked.

Eris sighed and bit her lip.

“Honestly, Ares,” she said, “I want to hang out, I do. But I’ve got a lot of things that I’m working on at the moment and I don’t have a couple of hours to spare. We’re going to have to do it later. I’m sorry.”

Ares’ heart sank. He dropped the controller back on the desk and let his shoulders droop. Then he scowled.

“You’re not too busy to be playing guitar, though,” he muttered.’

“Moon above, Ares! Am I not allowed to take a break once in a while?!”

“But you can’t take a few hours to play with me? Everyone was just telling me earlier that I shouldn’t get consumed by my studies. Doesn’t that apply to you too?”

“I don’t want to play right now!” Eris cried, turning away. “Can’t you just be grateful? I’m spending all of my free time helping to figure out a way to fix what happened to you. Isn’t that more important than hanging out?”

“No, it’s not!”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, then.”

Ares got up and started walking to the door. After a moment, though, he felt Eris grab onto his arm. He turned to face her, nostrils flared. She didn’t look angry, just tired.

Looking away, she continued, “I do want to hang out, really, just… not now, okay? I really am busy and I know I could be doing more to help, you know, emotionally, but I’m really stressed out. I promise that when things are back to normal we’ll be able to spend time together. Just like we used to. Okay?”

Ares nodded, but didn’t say anything more. Eris let go of him and Ares walked out, closing the door behind him. Returning to his room, Ares could hear the muted sounds of Eris strumming her guitar through the wall.

The next day, Ares avoided looking at Eris at breakfast. Maybe it was unfair of him; she was trying, really. But he was still a little burned from the argument they had. This wish was supposed to bring the family together, and instead the stress had driven a wedge between him and his closest sister.

A knock on the door interrupted Ares’ wallowing. He got up and walked over to the door, but didn’t open it. Leaning up against the door, he asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s me!” Dora chimed. “Can we hang out?”

Ares opened the door.

“Do you need more help with your training?” he asked. “Have you been doing the meditation practice I suggested?”

“No. I mean, yes, I’ve been practicing. I don’t need help. I just want to play.”

Ares opened his mouth to turn her down, but closed it. He didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Pandora. Surely he could put aside his feelings for the moment to spend time with her.

“Alright,” he said, closing the door behind him. “Let’s go.”

Pandora led Ares to her room, practically bouncing on her heels.

“This is so cool,” she said. “I get to spend time with my brother as a girl.”

“I’m not a girl, Dora,” he told her. “I just look like one.”

Pandora opened the door to her room and led Ares inside.

“Why don’t you want to be a girl?” she asked. “It’s not going to last forever, you know. Eventually, you’ll have to go back to being a boy anyway. Shouldn’t you try to have fun with it while you have the chance?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Ares insisted, folding his arms. “I’m a boy regardless of how I look. Nothing has changed.”

“So… you don’t want to have a tea party with me?” Dora asked.

“We can have a tea party. That’s not the problem. Your body just doesn’t dictate who you are on the inside.” He forced himself to relax. “Dora, why do you want me to be a girl so badly?”

“Because,” Dora sat down in her desk chair and deflated, “ever since you became a teenager, things have been different between us. I know boys and girls are different. I thought that if you acted more like a girl, maybe things would go back to the way they used to be.”

Ares sighed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. “It’s not like there aren’t things about being a girl that I want. I look at my friends and I wish I was more like them. But it just wasn’t meant to be. I was born a boy and that’s that.”

Dora nodded sadly. The mood had been pretty soured and neither of them felt much like playing anymore. Ares felt like he needed some kind of emotional support.

“Dora, do you know where Vega is?” he asked.

“I think she was spending the day in the greenhouse,” Dora replied glumly.

“Thank you.”

When Ares was really young, the house had an attached greenhouse. When he was ten, though, Vega and Lorrie had begun construction on a much larger detached greenhouse a short ways away. It was at least as large as the house itself, if not as tall, and divided into more sections.

Ares opened the door and found himself surrounded by racks reaching up to the ceiling and overflowing with rare plants. The greenhouse was structured almost like a maze, with sections for different biomes that you had to pass through to navigate. One area was entirely dark and damp and filled with underground plants and fungi.

It took some wandering around before Ares started to hear people talking. Peering through the plants on the rack, he was able to see Vega talking to Hestia about something. He rounded the corner and opened his mouth to interrupt them before he started to parse what they were actually saying.

“—and I promised I’d help, I know, but helping you and Lorrie figure out a way to help him has really been cutting into my studies. And since I’m the oldest and most magically experienced, I can’t just put the burden on Eris. She’s stressed out enough as it is.”

“Don’t worry yourself too hard, dear,” Vega replied, placing a hand on Tia’s shoulder. “We’re going to get through this. And you’re almost ready for your certification. Don’t overwork yourself; there will be plenty of time—Ares?”

She must have spotted him. Ares couldn’t tell because his vision was blurry from tears. He turned and ran.

“Ares!” he heard Hestia call out. “Wait! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!”

Ares didn’t stop. He ran until he had found the door and burst outside. Then he ran back into the house and all the way up to his room. Collapsing onto his bed, he started to choke out sobs.

As if he wasn’t feeling bad enough, now he was giving in to weakness. All because of that stupid wish. How was this making things better? The whole family was stressed out and it was his fault for making it harder on them. They deserved better than Ares and his selfish wish.

After a while, Ares stopped crying. He did actually feel better now. Weird how that happened. He didn’t get up, though. Ares was nothing more than a burden on his family. The best favor he could do was to avoid them for now. Maybe once he was back to normal, things would be okay.

Ares grabbed his rabbit plushie and clenched it tightly to his chest. It was time to get up and work. He had homework to do and things to study. But Ares didn’t move. He was exhausted. This week had been really hard, and there was no end in sight.

He was kind of hungry. Maybe there was a snack in the fridge he could grab. Of course, that meant the possibility of running into either Hestia or Vega again. Was it worth it?

With a feminine grunt, Ares pulled himself off of the bed and onto his feet. He trudged over to the door and opened it. Eris was standing there, hand raised to knock.

“Oh, hi.”

“Hi.”

“Um… I came to get you. Lorrie has something for us in the Enchanting Chamber.”

Ares perked up. They normally weren’t allowed in Lorrie’s workspace. What was going on that she wanted both Ares and Eris there?

“Alright,” he grunted. “Let’s go.”

He wrapped his arms around his stomach as he walked up the stairs to the next floor. Eris beside him had a bounce to her step, though. Ares had to resist the urge to scowl.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “Why are you so excited?”

“You’ll see,” Eris said, eyes sparkling.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

Eris grinned, but didn’t say anything more. She led Ares down the hallway until stopping at a dark wooden door. Without knocking, Eris opened the door and entered with Ares right behind her.

This was a pretty small room with stone walls and no windows. Against the walls were a series of cabinets that Ares knew contained all of Lorrie’s reagents for her work. Various other enchanting tools hung on shelves and from hooks on the wall. In the middle of the room was a stone table with runes etched right onto the surface. Electronics and enchanted objects would interfere with the raw magic used in the enchanting process, so the room was lit by a candle chandelier hanging from the center of the room.

“Good, you’re here,” Lorrie said, standing next to the table. A small rope necklace with a silver teardrop pendant was sitting on the table next to her, along with a silver hand mirror. “Eris, will you do the honors?”

Eris nodded and picked up the pendant, holding it up to the light.

“We’ve been working on this in our spare time over the past few days,” she explained. “It’s enchanted to cast an illusion of your true form, so everyone will be able to see who you really are. It only lasts for up to six hours, and needs just as much time to recharge after it’s used, so you won’t be able to wear it all the time, but I hope it helps you feel more normal while we search for a real cure.”

Ares was stunned. Without waiting for an answer, Eris stepped forward and placed the pendant over his head. When she stepped back, she was smiling. Lorrie picked up the hand mirror and passed it to Ares.

He took it with shaking hands and held it up. In the flickering candlelight, Ares could barely make out his face at all. He… he didn’t recognize the face in the mirror. He looked like he could be his own twin brother, but it didn’t come with the spark of recognition he was hoping for.

But it was his face either way. They’d given him back his appearance, even if it was only temporary. Ares’ vision started to blur from tears again and he choked back a sob. In another moment, he’d grabbed his sister in a hug and she replied with an “oof!” Then he let go of her and fell into Lorrie’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I shouldn’t be crying.”

“Shh, it’s okay, dear. You can cry if you need to.”

“Yeah, Ares, there’s nothing wrong with crying.”

Ares sniffed.

“I’m sorry for being such a burden on this family,” he continued. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Lorrie turned to Eris and asked, “Can I have some alone time with your brother?”

Eris nodded and left the room. Once she was gone, Lorrie placed a hand on Ares’ shoulder and locked eyes with him.

“Ares, you are not a burden,” she said slowly.

“But I am,” he protested. “I even caught Hestia telling Vega that I was taking time away from her studies.”

Lorrie sighed.

“What Hestia said is wrong,” she said. “I don’t think she meant ill by it—she’s just stressed—but she should not have said it. You are a member of this family, and we are all eager to help you because you deserve it. You got that?”

Ares sniffed again and buried his head in Lorrie’s shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around him.