One more truth for the road?
Sheesh, it sure did feel weird being so honest with all these seals for once. You were playing a game after all, why would you want to break the immersion by talking about why you’re actually here. Oh well, I mean you’ve had a good run, lied enough to make some progress whether it be good or bad.
“Well. I don’t know.. Uhhh. It’s kind of weird.” You mentioned, looking around suspiciously. You made sure that nobody was looking and when the coast seemed as clear as it could to you. You leaned in and whispered over to her and continued. “Well, I’m actually magic… This is some kind of mystical world, I’m actually a human and I’ve transformed into this creature. I’m trying to find a new costume but so far there’s been no leads. I’ve just been like, I don’t know, on auto pilot or something, like I’m just really not thinking my actions through or something…. I’m not some goddess or any kind of greater power. If everyone’s been listening to me cause they think that, then they’re wrong. I’ve manipulated you all!”
“Wait a minute. Did you say something about a magical transformation?” She questioned. “That’s really strange…” She continued. “Hmmm actually, I think I know of something that may help you.” she concluded.
“As I said, I’m sorry and- Wait a minute.” You were stopped right in your tracks. “You said you could help me?” you asked.
“Yeah! Uhm… why don’t you come with me. I want to show you something.” She said. Quickly, you decided to come along with her and before long the two of you were swimming your way to the shore.
It didn’t take long before you got to the shore, but the two of you continued to swim around in the area. “Here. I want you to meet a friend” She said before swimming around a bit.
Soon, the two of you saw a figure approaching in the distance. It was just a blurry figure from under the water, but before long, you started to see the image of a human starting to come through. You were a bit taken aback at first, but after he got close enough, you watched the seal starting to swim up to him.
“No wait!” you mentioned. Every one of your instincts told you that you shouldn’t be approaching a human while you look like this. Maybe not here, not now, they wouldn’t take well to seeing a creature like you. Still, you knew it was too late, you had no choice but to do the same as he approached the two of you. Soon, you saw the seal starting to swim around the strange human and you realized that the man was some kind of diver. The way he was interacting with the seal indicated to you that the two of them had some kind of relationship.
It took a while for you to feel fully comfortable to approach, but she kept swimming between the two of you, just to show you that he was fine. Also, when the diver noticed you, you were not a normal seal, you couldn’t help but focus on his absolutely shocked face.
“What the hell.” You heard him whisper to himself. He almost seemed a bit defensive, but the seal was doing well as a mediator between the two of you.
“It’s okay.” She barked over to you. It was a bit weird, you were able to understand them both but they couldn’t understand each other. If you were to translate anything between the two of them, it would be absolutely magical.
“H-hello there.” You said, waving nervously.
“Woah! Oh my god! I knew it! I knew these things were real!” He shouted.
“Hey, wait, uhh. Well not ‘real’ per se.” You mentioned. “I’m actually a human, yeah something something magic, but I transform with different ‘costumes’ and I’m just trying to find the next one.”
“Oh! Wow yeah! Yeah yeah! I heard something about this a long time ago…” He brought out a waterproof smartphone and started showing you a little article on people transforming with the use of costumes. He rattled off a bit of lore to you and apparently this was some kind of offshoot of skinwalking or something. Some kind of magic pocket opening up occasionally, through different random portals popping up across the world, through time, space, and even different galaxies.
You didn’t know anything about it, honestly, you just wanted to play this fun little game but surprisingly you ended up learning something completely new. You were a bit shocked and confused but at this point you were a bit exhausted about being a selkie. Even this body started to seem a bit different for you as you wore it.
Not long after you explained yourself, he offered to take you on even further, apparently he knew where the next transformation was located. You and the seal said your goodbyes, and you quickly went off with the diver.
“I didn’t expect a human to be able to help me out with this.” You mentioned.
“I’ve been studying this for a while. It started when I actually found one of these outfits and tried it on for myself. I took it and hid it away for myself, as I didn’t continue the journey. I was too afraid. I never thought to actually find someone actually going through this process.” he mentioned.
“Yeah, I mean… This is definitely an interesting path I’ve found myself down.” You continued. Before long, the diver helped to sneak you through the town and into his house. The town was actually pretty interesting and for a while, you wondered what kinds of things you could have done here had you gone a different route.
“Okay. we’re here.” He mentioned. You were quickly drawn to the appearance of the new outfit and with his approval you started to slide it over your old body. Like magic it formed to fit you and the diver was amazed as he watched the transformation taking place. Maybe he was even filming it, but you weren't particularly interested with exactly whatever he was doing.
All you could think about was how excited you were to start your next life. You were quite excited with what you had learned this time around, but you had almost forgotten, you probably wouldn’t be able to take that memory with you. Well, actually, it was so significant that you thought that you could, you tried your hardest to remember, just to keep it in mind as long as you could as the bright light started to engulf you. You clasped your hands together and just kept believing as you felt yourself starting to change and shift into the next transformation. You were quite satisfied with how you had gone about your latest transformation.
Written by Drifting Dragon on 16 December 2023
The end (for now)