Thorin's First Thundersday of Harvestfall, 1442, City of Luminara.

Elyssia re-materialised in the bustling market of Luminara. The cobbled streets shimmered from a recent rain, puddles catching sunlight like scattered coins. Somewhere nearby, a baker's bell rang. A pair of townfolk chatted over crates of steaming bread.

The sylvani stood quietly at the edge of the fountain plaza, her boots just touching the marble rim. The gentle hush of dawn seemed to wrap around the city like a prayer.

She looked down at herself, raising one arm and slowly turning it in the air, flexing fingers that no longer felt entirely like part of a costume. "Can't believe this is going to be me in a few days. Soon, it won't be just a character."

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, the hem of her gi brushing her thighs as she turned in a slow circle, trying to take in both the city and herself from a new angle. Her reflection in the fountain caught her eye—unfamiliar, yet slowly becoming less so.

Opening her party interface, she blinked. "Well, that's a surprise."

Her entire party was online.

A sudden tightness gripped her chest. She pressed the record button—somehow, her voice came out smoother than expected. "Hey there, Leoric, Kaelyn. Didn't think we'd catch you two online so quickly."

"Morning, Elyssia," Leoric replied before anyone else. "You two are on early. Shouldn't you both be at work? Something happened for you two to log in at the same time?"

Elyssia opened her mouth, then hesitated—until Kaelyn's voice cut in like a knife. "Let's address the elephant in the room. You've all seen the news, I'm sure. We can skip the awkward preamble, yeah?"

Elyssia winced faintly at the directness, but nodded to herself. She appreciated the bluntness—even if it stung. Better to rip the bandage off than to tiptoe around the truth.

Vaelith's message arrived before she could say anything. "Ah… No work for me today, doctor's orders. And about that, Kaelyn… Yes, I've heard. And I don't have any awkward questions for you, no."

Elyssia let out a sigh and then replied. "My work politely asked me to 'quarantine' myself. Me and Vaelith? We're in the same boat as you, Kaelyn—minus the whole televised reveal."

"Same boat, meaning what, exactly?"

"Sudden race and gender change?"

Leoric's response came next. "Oh. Then I guess what I suspected is true… And while we're on the topic—I'm changing too."

Elyssia's jaw dropped, but no words came. Her thoughts tangled in a blur of disbelief. Him too? Of course, it was possible—but hearing it from him still sent a jolt through her. She sank onto the rim of the fountain without thinking, legs folding beneath her as if they had buckled under the weight of it. Vanessa had been right. All of them. Every last one. But why?

Vaelith was the first to respond. "Four people. Same group. All transforming. And we all kept quiet about it. I guess we were all waiting for someone else to go first."

Elyssia exhaled, murmuring aloud, "To be fair, I didn't notice anything until this morning."

Then she hit record. "I doubt many of us realised. Like, I don't think Kaelyn even knew when she gave the interview." She crossed her arms. "Anyway—no use crying over spilt milk. We're all here now, so we should probably decide what to do."

"I don't know about you all," Kaelyn said, "but I was planning to hit level thirty. Unlock advanced classes."

"Oh, what for?" Leoric asked. "You didn't mention that to me."

"Just a hunch from my sister. She thinks unlocking the shifter class might help with… everything."

Elyssia's brow furrowed. Shifter? A hybrid class—multiple roles, fluid forms, adapting on the fly. A quiet realisation bloomed. Kaelyn had always looked so confident in her avatar's skin. But maybe that confidence had been an act. Armour. Maybe the transformation was not so comfortable after all. Not for her. Or rather, not for him, perhaps?

Maybe Kaelyn's confidence was the kind that cracked in private, never in public. Elyssia knew the type well. She had worn it for years—juggling parenthood, work, and loneliness, never once letting the cracks show in public chat.

She looked up. All around her, player avatars milled through the market—easy to spot with their garish outfits, oversized weapons, and glowing gear. For most of them, this was still just a game. No real-world stakes.

Ignorance is bliss, they say.

"Yeah, okay," she said. "I don't mind grinding a bit more. We'll probably need it, anyway. If we want to understand why this is happening—or if it can be reversed—those answers are probably somewhere in the game."

Vaelith slid in a message quickly. "Sorry, but… before we start all that—could we maybe reintroduce ourselves? Names, pronouns, that sort of thing?"

She paused for a second, then continued. "I don't want to accidentally hurt anyone by casually misgendering them. You don't have to share anything from outside the game. Just… whatever you want us to use in here, okay? I'll start. While we're here, you can call me Vaelith, Vae, or Jae—it's all the same to me. Please use feminine pronouns."

"Leoric, or Lee, if you prefer. Keep using he/him with me; that's fine."

"You probably all know this," Elyssia added, "but you can use my character name, Elyssia. Or just Ely. Or Emmy. She/her works."

A few seconds passed before the last reply came in.

"For now, you can keep using Kaelyn. Pronoun accordingly."

Elyssia frowned slightly at the phrasing. That for now... and the evasiveness. Still, Kaelyn had asked for pronouns that matched her character's name. That was something. Elyssia decided not to push further.

Still, she thought maybe she could coax some answers if she went gently.

"Everyone's good here, then?" she asked. "Nobody on the verge of existential collapse—something we should handle before a stressful boss fight?"

There was a beat of silence. Then Leoric chimed in:

"Look… I'm actually okay with what's happening. Both in-game and out. You don't have to worry about me. The only thing on my mind is… sometimes I wonder if how I'm reacting is normal, you know? Like, the game's making it too easy to accept. My sister's freaking out—enough for both of us—but I'm just… fine."

"Hmm. I'm fine, too, I think," Vaelith added. "But for me, it wasn't as simple as you're making it sound, Lee. I was very sick yesterday. I don't think any of you had it that bad, or you'd have noticed. So, no… the game didn't make me comfortable with this. If it's been smooth sailing for you, that's probably on your end."

"Huh. Could be. Guess I'm due for some introspection. What about you, Kaelyn? You holding up, all things considered?"

A longer pause this time. Then: "I'm mostly annoyed my family has to run and hide because of that reporter who doxxed us."

Elyssia exhaled slowly, nodding to herself. Still avoiding the question. But she let it go.

"One problem at a time," she said to herself.

"Hey, what about you, Elyssia?" Leoric asked. "You doing okay too?"

Her mouth opened before she even realised it. She had not said anything about her situation yet. Kaelyn and Leoric only knew Elyssia. They had no idea who Emmy was. This was it, then. The moment where she would cross the line between Elyssia and Emmy. She had not planned this far yet. But the words came anyway.

"Oh. Yeah. I'm good. Magical transition wasn't on my bingo card, but… it's been on Santa's list for a long time. This is actually a dream come true."

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"Oh—sorry, I didn't know. Huh. Well, congrats, I guess?" he replied with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, Lee," Vaelith cut in. "Me and Ely have been friends for decades, and I never knew this about her either."

Elyssia opened the city map interface, scrolling over to the crafting district of Luminara. "If we're serious about levelling, we should prep. I've got enough gems to cut into augment stones for everyone."

"Oh! If you're playing jeweller," Leoric said, "mind making some mana gems for Vaelith? I already gave her ring bands, but she needs someone to finish them."

"Sure thing. I'll check what cut boosts her casting speed."

Vaelith pinged. "I think I could make some upgrades if I levelled my weaver class some more. I'll teleport over to Umbraholme and keep myself busy until everyone's ready?"

"Oh, that's perfect. I was just gathering some boar hides to make myself some leather armour, and boots for you and Kaelyn. I've got some boar meat drops, too. Is there anything you can cook with that?"

"Definitely. I've got a bunch of recipes for that—though most of them are more useful for Ely."

"That's good. Nothing wrong with buffing our already OP tank," Leoric said. "Oh—and Kaelyn?"

"Yes, Leoric?"

"If you've got the time and levels, I could use a bunch of alchemical stuff. Blinding poison, acid phials, sleeping potions—stuff like that."

"Easy," Kaelyn replied. "Most of those are simple enough. What do you need them for?"

"If Elyssia can make me some custom arrowheads, I can craft a bunch of debuffing arrows. We don't have anyone with enfeebles in the group, but a ranger can wing it, assuming we stock the right arrows."

"Ah! I love where you're going with this. Enfeebled enemies hit like wet noodles. That makes my life way easier. Consider it done."

Elyssia grinned. Of course Kaelyn would see it that way.

"I'll knock up some arrowheads for you then, then. Kaelyn, you're due for a staff upgrade. I can handle that—if you can make me some phials of holy water. And while I'm at it, see if you can brew any kind of magical ink for Vaelith's grimoire?"

"Specifically, enchanted silver ink what I need right now." Vaelith said.

"Once I'm done in the forest, I'll go find you in town and offload the mats I gathered yesterday. Got a whole stash of cotton—you should be able to craft some gear upgrades for the whole party."

Elyssia smiled as the whole team got increasingly enthusiastic, the energy infectious. But then—"Vae?" she asked, the smile faltering as a memory surfaced from earlier that morning.

"What's up?" the mage replied, quick as ever.

"I, uh… promised my son I'd take a screenshot of my character dressed up in cosplay…"

Before Vaelith could respond, two voices overlapped:

"—Your son?"

"—Wait, Elyssia, you have a kid?"

Elyssia blinked. Right. She remembered the photo of Kaelyn's player—so young-looking. Maybe they had expected her to be their age.

To her relief, Vaelith did not take the bait. She just answered smoothly. "Okay? How can I help?"

"I was wondering if you could make me a costume," Elyssia said. "And, well… since Ewan knows you're playing too, he wants you in the shot. He asked for a group cosplay. Very thematic."

"I can try! Can you send me some reference materials?"

"No problem. He wants me to cosplay Fierce Deity Link—from the Zelda franchise. And I had the perfect pick for you: Nayru. Sending pics of both now."

"Hold up, señoras!" Kaelyn cut in. "You can't seriously plan a photoshoot without me. Zelda theme? Please. I'd make a killer Princess Hilda."

Elyssia tilted her head slightly. Something about Kaelyn's sudden excitement felt… revealing.

Leoric jumped in. "No offence, Kaelyn, but wouldn't princess Zelda work better for you, with the blonde hair and all?"

"Oh, bello, trust me. I'm way more Hilda than Zelda." She laughed. "I'll whip up some temporary hair dye to fix the colour problem. Let me know if either of you need some too."

Elyssia immediately noticed the Spanish expression sneaking back in Kaelyn's voice. She was perking up, which was great to see.

"Yep. We'll need hair dye. Green for me, blue for Vaelith, if you can pull that off."

"Sure! Dalo por hecho."

One more surprise. Kaelyn had been guarded and irritable all morning—but now she was perking up at the thought of cosplaying a dark elven princess? And not just any princess, but Hilda. From the dark mirror counterpart, Lorule. That felt important.

Way more Hilda than Zelda.

She filed the thought away. Someday, Kaelyn's story would make sense. But not today.

"You know," Leoric added, "I'd feel left out if I'm the only one not in the picture. My sister would never forgive me—she used to GPose everything back in the day. Think I could pull off a good Sheik?"

"You'd make a perfect Sheik," Elyssia said, grinning. "So we'd have—a god, a goddess, and two Zeldas from opposite realities?"

"A disguise and a Zelda-counterpart," Kaelyn corrected. "You know… I love this. We're knee-deep in magical weirdness IRL, and here we are planning a cosplay photoshoot."

"Yeah, well," Elyssia smirked, "my son still thinks video games are magic. I'm not about to ruin that."

"You know I'd do anything for Ewan," Vaelith added warmly. "And looking at these Nayru pics? I see why you picked her. She's got that mermaid vibe going. I'll start sketching ideas. Can you both send references, too?"

"Sure, I'll dig something up online," Leoric offered.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Vaelith said. "I'm going to teleport now. Come find me at the weaver's guild? And if you've got any cured leather, that'd help a lot too."

"Will do," he replied. "Hmm. I guess I'll need some hair bleach—Kaelyn, think you could hook me up?"

"Got you covered. I'll toss in some makeup gear too—just in case anyone needs to hide scales, freckles, whatever."

Elyssia chuckled. "This is not how I expected the morning to go. I was bracing for a deep philosophical debate about magic, dysphoria, and impossible transformations. Instead… Zelda cosplay circle and crafting party."

"I don't know about the rest of you," Vaelith said, "but I prefer things this way."

A pause followed—but this time, it felt easy.

"Yeah. Me too," Elyssia replied, already heading toward the goldsmith guild. "When life gives you lemons… you know the rest."

"Except," Leoric said, "I'm not sure it fits. I'm not trying to make the best of something bad. I'm just… enjoying myself?"

Elyssia nodded. "Right? Same here."

She had not expected to find joy in any of this—but joy had crept in anyway. Between the shared tasks, the laughter, the bizarre comfort of it all.

Kaelyn's next message came through. "Alright, I'll start with your special orders, Leoric. Potions incoming. How many of each?"

"Four? Five? One potion's enough for a bunch of arrowheads."

"Got it," Kaelyn sent. "I'll throw in a couple extra. Never hurts to have backups."

Vaelith messaged next. "I just arrived in Umbraholme. Leoric, drop the cotton at the weaver's guild? And if you've got cured leather to spare, I could use it."

Elyssia reached the steps of the goldsmith guild, her heels clinking against the polished stone. She paused at the entrance, listening to the cascade of messages from her team. Everything felt… realer, somehow. Not just the transformation. The camaraderie, the shared purpose, and the quiet, unexpected acceptance blooming between them all.

And the absurdity of it, too—cosplaying a video game god while her real body slowly shifted into that of a fantasy elf? That was not even the strangest part of her day.

The double doors swung open with a melodic chime, spilling warm lamplight into the entryway along with the faint scent of molten metal and gemstone polish. Elyssia stepped inside, nodding politely at the dwarven clerk behind the counter—a stoic woman with soot-smudged cheeks and goggles perched in her curls.

She made her way to one of the open workbenches and sat down, fingers brushing the polished surface as she pulled up her crafting interface. Radial menus bloomed around her, and with a simple flick, she summoned her stored materials: uncut crystals in a dozen colours, raw mana stones gleaming like frozen stars, and yesterday's carefully prepared reagents. She arranged them across the workbench like a painter preparing a palette.

One more message, before she got to work. "Alright team," she typed, "let's make some magic—both literal and figurative."

Smiling faintly at her own words, she returned to the interface, paging through recipe tabs not just for stats, but for style. When she reached the level-twenty range, her eyes caught on a familiar category: augment stones.

Versatile, under-used, and widely ignored by early-game players. Most hoarded them for endgame—slotting them only into max-level raid gear. To Elyssia, that always felt like a waste. The low-level versions did not scale, and high-level players who crafted them just vendored the extras for a pittance.

She would rather put them to use now—even if some would be obsolete in a few hours. At worst, they would serve as XP fuel for her goldsmith level. At best, they would give her team a real edge.

She picked up her cutting chisel and dragged a shimmering blue stone in front of her. A prompt appeared: Spell Speed / Accuracy / Attack Speed.

She selected spell speed and began to chip away.

"This one's for Vaelith," she murmured. "Should shave some time off her recasts."

Telekinetic Blast. Blink. Spells that relied on rhythm and speed. Every millisecond counted.

She moved with expertise; the motion flowing back into muscle memory. Chisel. Angle. Cut. Polish.

"To slot every inventory piece… that's seventeen stones," she murmured, already running the maths. "I'll do two dozen. That'll give her spares for future upgrades."

She slid the finished gem aside and reached for a ruddy-orange shard. A readout popped up: Ranged Power Increase.

"Perfect for Leoric. He'll eat this up."

Next came amethysts. She carved them for increased crit chance—not typical for tanks, but Elyssia was everything but a typical tank.

Finally, she pulled pale green stones. Mana Regen. An obvious choice for Kaelyn—her hybrid play-style chewed through MP like candy.

One by one, she filled velvet pouches by colour. Red for herself, green for Leoric, white for Vaelith and yellow for Kaelyn.

She tied each one closed with a thread of matching silk, then leant back to check her progress.

"You have reached level 26 for the goldsmith class."

New recipes unlocked. Elyssia scrolled further down, scanning past the standard upgrades until one caught her eye: Electrum Tiara.

Elegant. Functional. High spell stats and a subtle bit of flair. Perfect for Kaelyn and Vaelith. And perfect for their cosplay, too.

She tapped the schematic open. The materials would require rarer metals—electrum instead of silver—but the stat gains were worth it. And once the girls hit level twenty-four, they could finally equip them. It might delay the photoshoot—but Ewan would understand. Hopefully, he would see the effort they were all putting in.

He's going to be surprised, she thought, smiling to herself. Four adventurers standing together in-character, dressed to the nines in matching cosplay? He'll love it.

She packed up her remaining stones and tools, checked her coin pouch, and stood up.

She did not have any electrum on hand. Time to hit the auction house.

She sighed. Spending money on mats she could just gather herself always irked her—but they were short on time, and her team was counting on her.

Alright, she thought. Just this once.

And with that, Elyssia headed out into the city once more.

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