A few moments after the chanting began, she remembered about the mysterious girl, and snuck out of the shop to confront her.

The moment the door opened into the world, a small pail of dust fell on top of Adria, bringing out a sneeze, as well as Adam. Once he regained his composure, he looked around, searching for the mystery woman.

“Looking for someone?” The girl asked, as she announced her presence.

Adam looked at her directly into her eyes, as his mind stalled out in the process of thinking how to negotiate with this unknown person.

“Ah, so you want to know just how much I know, Adam?” She asked with a cockey attitude. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Lexryna, goddess of mischief from Aesigrath.”

Adam’s jaw dropped. He tried to sound his volcoal cords into words and sounds, however this surprise left him mute.

“You can call me Lexi if you’d like.” She stated, in hopes that Adam will reply.

“Why..?” Adam asked softly, still trying to wrap his head around the issue.

“I… needed help, when I noticed your powerful life force.” Lexi explained, “and I found something unusual, so I… tried a few things…”

“So you’re the reason I’m like this?” Adam asked.

“You miss understand, I was trying to help you…” Lexi explained with depression in her voice. “Someone else tampered with your essence… I tried to help….” She began to twirl her black hair to distract her softly from her obvious depression.

. “Adria!” Evelyn called out. Adam turned to wave at her, and Eve approached him.

“That’s-“ Adam was quickly cut off as he turned back to Lexi to find that she disappeared without a trace.

“Adam? What’s going on?” Eve asked softly.

“The goddess of mischief was just here, like two moments ago!” Adam began to pace, trying to figure out what happened.

“Calm down, I believe you.” Eve said softly as she held Adam’s hand gently. Adam slowly came to his senses, and noticed Blake was missing.

“Where’d Blake go?”adam asked.

“His family came and took him on a vacation overseas.” Eve replied, remaining calm.

“Right… I remember him talking about that…” Adam replied, as a lonely sensation came over him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Eve smiled sweetly.

. Evelyn and Adam were walking back to Adam’s house as he explained what Lexi told him to Eve, and the sun slowly came down along the horizon of Jacinto. “Wow…” Eve said softly to all this information. “I can’t believe that a goddess had come onto contact with you, like a real goddess!” Eve had a certain sparkle to her eyes as she got excited. Street lamps began to softly illuminate the streets as the sun crept further down to its rest. After a while of them just talking, they arrived at Adam’s home, which was already lit, and shadows moved about from within. “Is that your parents?” Eve asked.

“No.. they shouldn’t be home yet.” Adam said as he began to look at the area surrounding the house. He quickly grabbed Eve and snuck towards the window to spy on whoever it was that had invaded his home. He gently pressed his index finger to his lips gesturing to eve to be quiet, as he went to look in the window, however as he stood up, he bumped his head on the now open window. Staggering back he held his head in pain as Lexi giggled to Adams misfortune.

“If you don’t hurry up, supper is gonna be cold!” Lexi shouted out through the window.

“Lexi, why are you in my house?” Adam asked as he softly held his head in pain.

“You’re Lexryna?” Eve asked in the form of a gasp to her surprise.

“The one and only.” Lexi smirked proudly. “And I cook.” As she gestured them in they found the kitchen a mess and a pot of purple stew that emitted an aura of death. Adam gagged as his body came onto contact with the field of death-stew. Eve knew right away that there was trouble afoot, and began making a better upper that wouldn’t kill anyone. Lexi let out some complaints as she tried to assist Eve, who didn’t need the help at all.

. “Let me cut the vegetables then.” Lexi said, as she reached towards the work station.

“No.” Eve said as she stared at the goddess as if she were asserting her dominance over the goddess. “This is a simple recipe, it won’t take long.” Adam lightly scratched his head with a soft smile.

She really is amazing, isn’t she? Adam thought to himself as he tried to think of what Lexi needed. Lexi strider towards him as Eve was preoccupied, with a strange smirk across her face.

“Why don’t we talk about your condition a bit?” Lexi suggested as she took a seat next to Adam, getting flirty with him as he tried to retreat his way back. “Don’t you worry, I won’t bite… hard…”

Just then, a raw white onion flew across the house traveling at what seemed to be the speed of sound, as it struck Lexi in thru forehead, and bringing tears to her eyes. Lexi began bickering with Eve while a single thought crossed Adam’s mind:

. I might die here…

As supper was served, Adam tried his best to retake control of the situation.

“Alright Lexi, why are you here?” Adam asked.

“I didn’t think you had some kind of god or goddess tracking device.” Lexi replied.

“Would almost be better off without.” Eve sarcastically remarked.

Adam turned to Eve with a slightly troubled face, and turned back to Lexi. “How do we know you’re not bluffing?”

“Bluffing?! Preposterous!” Lexi shouted in an offended tone.

Adam paused for a moment. “Aren’t you the goddess of mischief?”

Lexi then paused. “Fair point.” She thought about it for a moment. “I suppose there is no real way for you to know if I’m telling the truth or not…”

“But a goddess, doing something for free?” Eve interrupted.

. “But the legends say that they helped everyone…” Adam said, “Unless… There’s more to it than what the legends tell?”

“Ah, keen intuition.” Lexi replied. “Within those of Asghrath, we have a particular rule: in order to receive, one must forfeit something of equal value.”

“Equivalent exchange…” Adam said softly as he began thinking deeply about the situation in hand. “So you’re willing to help, if I help you with..?”

“Honestly?” Lexi replied as she began to softly blush. “I’m just…. Well, lonely I suppose.”

“No, you can’t date Adam, he has too much on his plate.” Eve stepped in, with a defensive tone, her face getting softly flustered at the thought of them dating.

“N-no, you miss understand…” Lexi stuttered as she tried to gather courage to speak freely. “I… don’t have any friends… I’m not even sure what ‘friends’ are supposed to do…” her head hung low as she avoided eye contact on such an embarrassing topic.

Adam turned away to think about Lexi’s response, when he noticed the time. “2200 already?” he said softly.

“You could just say 10 pm…” Lexi said, cutting off the rest of Adam’s sentence. Eve and Adam looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. “Pm? Like, Post Meridem? And am for Ante Meridem?” the boy with sapphire coloured hair and the girl with ruby coloured hair both shook their heads as if the goddess of mischief was speaking another language.

“Let’s just get ready for sleep.” Adam said as he let out a yawn and stretched.

“Great, so do I sleep in your bed?” Lexi asked casually startling Eve. The thought of them sleeping together made Evie blush and feel embarrassed, and jealous.

“I-I’ll sleep over too!” Eve said suddenly, blushing brightly.

“Are you sure Eve?” Adam asked, “last time we had a sleepover, was when we were kids.”

“Oh?” Lexi sounded intrigued. “Hoping to get a little..?” she had a smirk as she gently nudged Eve.

“Alright, ill get blankets.” Adam said as he drowsily got up.

. Later through the night, Someone gently opened the door to Adam’s bedroom and softly snuck closer to the bed. “A-Adam?” Eve’s soft voice spoke.

Adam rolled towards her still half asleep. “…Can’t sleep?”

Eve softly nodded and Adam lifted his blanket to invite her in. As she gently climbed into his arms he thought about the time when they were younger, Eve had the same issues. “she’s still the same” Adam thought to himself as she snuggled up to his chest.

. “That’s it?” Lexi asked, breaking the silent night and startling Evelyn and Adam out of bed.

“Lexi, what are you doing?!” Adam asked with an aggressive tone.

“Hello, goddess of mischief here.” Lexi replied as if that was reason enough to justify her actions. Eve turned to Adam with a slightly upset look on her face. Adam opened his closet and pulled out some rope and gestured to Eve a question of sorts, and her face lit up with happiness. They tied the goddess of mischief to the guardrails of Adam’s upper level and the two seemingly in love lovebirds returned to bed for the rest of the evening.

Lexi had a smile on her face after they left. “Such an act of desperation.” She giggled to herself, before the smirk across her face faded quickly. “Wait, what if I’m hungry? Oh gosh, I’m already hungry..!”

Her remark was met with a cold silence.

“Hey… Its morning.” A certain someone, who was still tied up, called out. “I’m starving…” she complained.

Adam began to stir awake to the sound of Lexi complaining, and felt a warm, but restricting presence latching to him.

Adam looked over and saw Eve holding onto him tightly and still fast asleep. Adam smiled at the sight of her sleeping so soundly as Lexi managed to somehow make her way to the door of Adam’s bedroom.

“Kiss her, see what happens!” Lexi demanded, wanting to cause some mischief. “Grab her ass! Tits! Stick your finger in her nose, something, anything!” she continued to whine. As Adam ignored Lexi, he began to softly pet Eve’s hair as she began to wake up to his touch. Once Eve realized what was happening, she blushed brightly and hugged him tighter.

“Boo! I want food!” Lexi continued, until they eventually gave in and crafted a simple breakfast.

“Thank you for the food.” Lexi and Eve said to Adam, as he served them bacon and eggs.

“I gotta ask,” Adam began, “how do we go about finding the other gods and or goddesses of Aesirgrath?”

“That’s Easy, we go find them.” Lexi answered as she enjoyed the toast of bacon.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Eve replied.

“Well, we go around town, ‘nd if I see an Aesirian, then we talk to them.”

“How do we know if its one or not?”

“You won’t, but I will.” Lexi smiled.

Once they were done cleaning up after breakfast, they ventured out to find someone from Aesirgrath. Lexi tried explaining to them that Aesirians have special abilities that can alter their appearance in different aspects. As she was explaining, Adam sneezed, not once, but twice, giving him a slight dizzy spell.

“Bless you!” Jean said as he was passing by. “Say, who’s your new friend?”

“Who, me?” Lexi asked. “I’m Lucy, Adam’s new girlfriend.” She smirked proudly. This tipped Eve off as she grabbed Adam’s left arm.

“Quit doing that!” Eve Exclaimed.

“I’ll do what I want!” ‘Lucy’ said as she grabbed Adam’s right arm and pulled away.

“Uhm… stay safe out there…” Jean said nervously and got away with haste, fearful of the rivalry the girls began to express. As Jean walked away, Lexi’s facial expression turned serious towards the park, that was thriving with children, parents and young lovers.

“There’s a Aesirian nearby…” Lexi said as she dropped Adam and began to look frantically. She was truly troubled as she tried to find the source of what she felt.

“There is a lot of people around, its possible that you’re overwhelmed.” Adam expressed. “Maybe splash some water on your face, to kinda. give you a bit of a restart.”

“That’s a good idea, here Lexi, I’ll take you.” Eve offered, and Lexi nodded softly and slowly followed her.

Adam, now alone was looking all around the park. Anyone can be Aesirian, huh? He thought to himself. He tried to look for anything out of the ordinary, something that he wouldn’t recognize. Something began to tug his shirt.

“Hey mister! Come play with me!” a little blonde girl, about preschool age, asked cheerfully.

Adam looked around him, thinking she was talking to someone else. “Me?” he finally asked.

“Yesh chu!” she said, sounding absolutely adorable. “I’m making a sand castle, and you need to help me please!” She said as she began pulling Adam away. When he arrived at the sandbox, the foundation of what seemed to be more like a sand fortress was quite impressive.

“Tada!” she sounded proud of herself.

“Did you really do all this by yourself?” Adam asked.

The little girl nodded. “but I can’t reach now…” she said as she gave him a bucket and small sand shovel. “You’ll help, right?”

Adam couldn’t dare refuse the look that this random girl was giving him. He began to add on to this sandcastle fortress until there was no more sand to use, and stretched as tall and he was standing. The girl was overjoyed by what Adam had accomplished.

“Yay!” she cheered. “Now, can you build me a secret fort?” she asked happily.

“I really should get back to my friends.” Adam said, as he stood up and brushed the sand off his clothes. A strong wind swept through the park, blowing the marvelous castle down upon him, and with the dust getting to his face, he let out a large sneeze.

“Play with me more!” the girl demanded, as she climbed on top of Adria. “Please… I don’t have any friends…”

Adria softly hugged the girl as she sat up. “We can still be friends you know.” She smiled.

The girl softly looks up. “I.. I like your hair…” she said softly.

“What’s your name?” Adrian asked.

“Harmoni, you bitch!” Lexi ran over furiously, and Eve barely able to keep up.

Harmoni stuck her tongue out at Lexi. “She’s mine, you can’t have her! My friend!”

Lexi, beginning to blush, kicked more dust into Adria’s face, making her sneeze again, turning her back into a boy. “How about that?!”

Harmoni smirked as her body suddenly turned more mature with large breasts but still a somewhat childish face that complemented her blonde pigtails. “I’m okay with this.” She smiled sounding more mature.

“Sh-Shut up! Loli big boobs!” Lexi yelled at Harmoni.

“I’ve already called dibs,” Harmoni explained. “His essence is already helping me.”

“So you tampered with Adam’s life force thing?” Eve asked.

“No..?” Harmoni said, sounding confused.

And so they explained the situation to her.

“So that’s why nobody else changes genders when they sneeze.” Eve explained thoroughly. “I’ll ask again, is the fact that you ‘borrowing’ his life force causing this?”

“No, if course not!” she shouted. “I’m a goddess of architect, structures and stuff, even if I wanted to do something like that, which I don’t, I couldn’t…. Maybe its Lexi!” she glared at Lexi.

“Hey, its not me doing this.” Lexi said softly.

Adria let out a sigh. “Great…” she said softly to herself, just as she looked over, Harmoni was right there, in the form of a child again, into Adria’s face.

“Do you have any games?” Harmoni asked.

Will this end? Adria thought to herself.

Chapter 3 An Act of Desperation~ was originally published in Bless You! on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

. “Remind me again why I have to carry this bag around?” Adam requested as they walked throughout the streets of Jacinto, small crowds of people waiting ever so patiently, lining up to hopefully grab the baked goods that the venders were making, that filled the town’s streets with an enriching, flavor-ful smell.

. “What happens if you sneeze?” Eve replied as she almost trailed off by a rich, floral scent, with a sweet aroma to it. Eve changed her headings, to follow the sweet scent. “If you wear that as a girl, people might think you’re a slob.”

. “Oh, so no harm done since Adam is a slob.” Blake verbally poked Adam.

. “You still have that notebook from the other day, right Adam? Don’t lose it.” Eve gave a heartwarming smile that made Adam think of his conversation with her father, making him blush softly. Eve finally found the source of the delightful aroma, as a warm beverage vendor was brewing their drinks for the morning.

. “Sure is brisk this morning, isn’t it?” The young lady behind the counter smiled at Eve as she handed her a paper cup of tea. After paying for the drink and thanking the lady, Eve took a sip of her tea, and felt the pleasure of satisfaction overtake her body for a brief moment as the warmth touched her very soul.

. “This is where we part ways for today.” Blake announced to the group. “My parents are talking about going on some trip somewhere and I need to get some facts straight.” After waiving goodbye, he left in a sepreate direction as Eve and Adam continued on their quest.

“So this is kind of like a date?” Adam smiled softly. Eve’s face went bright red at the thought, and forced him to sneeze.

. “Oh my, bless you!” A mother said as she walked with her tiwo kids through the streets, quickly dissolving into the crowd.

. “N-not a date!” Eve said as she got flustered. Shortly after Adria got changed into more fitting clothes, they arrived at the library. They quietly scurried through a multitude of different sections, Eve grabbing a wide assortment of books for Adria to carry. Once they picked enough, Adria placed them on the table, as some dust blew into her face, almost making her sneeze if it weren’t for Eve to prevent it.

. “You want me to read all of this..?” Adria asked.

. “No, I want you to study your notebook.” Eve replied, as she started skimming through the textbooks. Adria sat across from her, and opened her notebook. How to act like a girl was the title. As Adria read through, she tried adjusting herself accordingly in things like posture, and how to carry herself.

After some time had passed, Evelyn found nothing in relation to Adria’s condition. “I’m starving… Lets go to the Café!” Eve suggested. Adria had a worried look on her face.

. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Adria asked softly, worried that she would get hit on again.

. “Good point. Luckily you can change back again!” Eve said with a cheerful smile.

. Evelyn walked into the café with Adam and ordered their usual fries. The same young man that had hit on Adria was there again, and mistook Adam for Adria. “Playing hard to get I see!” He flirted. Adam turned to him with a confused look and stared at the server until he came to his senses, and carried on with his duties.

“So, I’ve got a question.” Adam said as they sat down in their previous spots, fries and drinks between them. Before Adam was able to get any more words out, Blake barged in, running full force to them, and came to a screeching halt. His face began to turn red as if he was being boiled from within his own body. He then ran to grab a feather duster from the janatoral closet, ran back to Adam and forced him to sneeze.

. “Please go out on a mock date with me!” Blake begged Adria. The server was about to say “Bless you” but noticed the girl he was trying to go after was taken by another man, left with his own tears of defeat.

.

. “Let me get this straight.” Evelyn spoke in an angery tone. “Haley, the girl you’ve had a crush on since, like, middle school, the very same Haley who manipulates people, and if that wasn’t enough, is into actual drug use, asked you out on a date?”

. “Y-yes…”

. “And instead of asking the friend who actually is a girl, you chose to ask the one who uncontrollably switches from one gender to the next?”

. “…A-also yes…”

. “WHY?!” Eve barked.

. “W-well… I just thought since Adria is technically a guy, it might take some of the pressure off…” Blake softly explained.

. “She must be up to something…” Eve said calmly and tried to think.

. “Eve’s right. There’s no telling what Haley would use you for.” Adria added.

. “I get it you two…” Blake said with a depressed tone. “What should I do? I just… feel like there’s more to her than that.” As any lovestruck young adult, he had desperately hoped to at least put the effort into trying.

. “Evie, what should we do?” Adria whispered as Blake zoned out in his own thoughts.

“Blake, have you ever watched any of those really old spy movies?” Eve asked, with an idea to help Blake safely try to date the dangerous woman of his dreams.

. By the next day, they had made prepreations for Mission: Date! The plan was Evelyn and Adam would be on a sepreate date, and follow Blake and Haley. If things looked as if they were getting out of hand, they would react to help Blake out of the situation.

Blake was standing by the central water fountain in Jacinto’s town square, as Haley approached him. She was stunning, with a black skirt that went just above her knees, an orange crop top, for the much nicer summer day, and had blonde curly hair.

. “That bitch…” Eve muttered. “Going so far, and to do what to my best friend?” She was determined to find out Haley’s ulterior motives.

. “Where would you like to go, Haley?” Blake asked cheerfully.

. “Lets go to the park!” Haley said, with a happy attitude. As the traveled to the park, they seemed to enjoy their time. They sat under a tree to take shelter in its shade, as Adam brought Eve a drink and sat next to her on a bench. “Evelyn, do you mind if I ask you something?” Adam asked. Eve’s face grew redder by the minute, as she had a feeling what subject Adam would want to talk about.

. Please, not that… Eve thought. Anything but about who I like.

. “Do you… like Blake in that way? Is that why you’re doing this for him?” Adam asked.

. Eve let out a soft sigh. “No…” She replied softly. “Both of you mean a lot to me. In case you haven’t notice, I don’t have any other friends.” She started to softly stroke her hair as she tried to calm down her nerves. She worked up the will to say something, but before she was able to get a sound out of her mouth, they heard something from Blake’s conversation.

. “So, who’s the girl with the blue hair?” Haley asked, seemingly cheerful about it. “I thought Adam was the only one you hung out with that had blue hair?”

“You mean Adria?” Blake asked, with a confused look on his face.

“Right, I remember someone saying that she’s your girlfriend. “Is that true?” She asked, with more emphasis.

. “No…” Blake said softly, still unsure.

. “So you won’t mind if I take her off your hands then…” Haley said, kissing his cheek sweetly and left him sitting there. Eve and Adam rushed to Blakes side to see if he was okay.

. “So she’s really after you, Adam…?” Eve asked.

. “Does this mean that Haley is a lesbian now?” Adam asked.

. “That’s hot…” Blake mumbled, in his own little world.

. “Maybe we should consider talking to my dad,” Eve suggested. “You may very well be in danger.” Eve had a worrisome look towards Adam.

. Just as Adam sneezed, Jean just happen to walk around the corner.

. “Bless you!” He said cheerfully. “Wow do you look a lot like your cousin Adam, you could diffidently fool me!”

. “Dad, How long were you there for?” Eve asked, growing nervous that the secret had been exposed.

. “Not long, I’m just doing some patrols.” Jean replied.

. “But aren’t you a Detective?” Adria asked.

. “I am, but sometimes I need to get out and stretch my legs.” Jean replied with a smile. “I did notice you guys were talking about Haley though. Please call me if anything comes up.”

. “Will do Daddy.”

Later on in the day, the crew decided to part ways with Eve’s father and return to their favorite café to review their notes. With a plate of fries, and Adria constantly looking over her shoulders to this new threat, the crew remained uneasy.

. “So…” Blake began to break the silence. “What do we know?”

. “We know…” Adria tried to think of something as she gently nibbled on a single fry, but was unable to think of anything.

. “We should do something.” Blake suggested. “You know, to take the stress off.”

. “This coming from the one who was just on a date with a siren.” Eve remarked. Blake was giving Eve a death glare as Adria stretched back when suddenly a button from her shirt popped and hit Blake between the eyes. Eve and Adria’s faces went completely red from the sequence as Blake was oblivious to what actually happened.

While Eve and Blake tried to figure out what they should do next about Adria’s problem, Adria decided to go outside for some fresh air. She walked out into the soft breeze, which gently tickled her nose as she walked over to a fountain in the front yard of the area. She smiled at the fountain as she watched its gentle flow of water glisten against the sunlight. Adria reached her arms out to stretch when another breeze blew softly across her face, and she let out a sneeze.

“Bless you!” a girl’s voice said, coming from the opposing side of the fountain. As Adam slowly peeked around the fountain, he saw the girl, on her knees smiling as she observed the flowers. She looked at him directly in the eye staring a moment with her bright red eyes, and blushed brightly, desperately trying to hide her face with her hooded scarf of an ruby red color. “I-I’m sorry.. I- I’m n-new to town…” she stuttered, as she continued to avoid his slightly confused gaze.

“Uhm…” Adam began to worry if he was coming across as a predator of sorts, softly scratching the back of his neck. “Wh-Which flowers do you like?” he asked softly.

The mysterious girl froze a moment, and just as she was about to say something, Evelyn and Blake’s voice reached across the area, carried along with the season’s gentle breeze. Adam looked towards them and waived. “Sorry, that’s me they’re..?” He looked back to where the girl was, but had disappeared without a trace.

“Are you alright?” Blake asked as he gently put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “We figured we should head over to Shenanigans.”

“Oh yeah, the tournament today.” Adam replied.

“Let’s go already!” Eve smiled as she pushed them into motion, and they headed towards their favorite game shop, called Shenanigans.

“Well if it isn’t my three most favorite customers!” a man with glasses said, as he welcomed the group into the simple layout of the game shop. He was a tall man, wearing a vest with a name tag that read Lennard. The store was most famous for its partnership with a game called Duel Monsters, a game where you need to use monsters to take out your opponents Health Points, or HP for short. There is a few ways to achieve a win, but the most common is through attacking your opponent until their HP reaches Zero. Lennard rubbed his hands constantly and had troubles making eye contact. “A hope you guys are here for the match up, it’s a pretty slow day. I might even have to call Dylan…”

“To judge, right?” Blake asked. “That guy has insane cards, but doesn’t know how to use them.”

“Well, you’d be surprised.” Lennard replied. “He’s made some adjustments. Why don’t you two go ahead and sign in. Evelyn, will you be cheering from the bench again today?”

“Yes, I will be.” Eve smiled sweetly.”

As Eve went over to the small café, Blake and Adam went to register for the match, when someone caught Adam’s attention. Another young lady, with black hair. He went over, but as he approached he began to realize that she wasn’t the same person as before. She looked at him with deep green eyes and smirked.

“Do I know you?” Adam asked, as he grew more and more confused.

“Nope, but I know all about you, Mr. Fenix.” She stated. “Including your ‘strange’ condition.”

“What?” Adam asked, trying to act like he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“I could just tell you, but that’s no fun. How about a wager? Win this tournament that’s happening, and then maybe I’ll talk.”

“That doesn’t seem fair at all.” Adam said, trying to negotiate. She flicked his nose softly, a let out a harsh sneeze. When Adria opened her eyes, the green-eyed girl had disappeared.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t see you come in.” Lennard said as he approached Adria. “Have you any interest in Duel Monsters?” Adria nodded, and went over to the registration, and looked to see if anyone that was registered seemed different. Unsuccessful, she went to her assigned seat.

The first two matches went well for Adria. Some had noticed that her deck recipe was similar to what Adam used, with minor adjustments. With 40–55 cards to use in one’s deck, it makes it difficult to tell whether or not it’s an exact copy. Her third match went rougher, losing more than half of her HP, but still coming out on top. Then, she matched up with Blake.

“So. Has anyone caught on?” Blake asked as he cut Adria’s deck.

“There’s a girl that says she knows.” Adria replied, after cutting Blake’s deck and handing it back to him. Blake took a moment after drawing five cards.

“Hmm.. that doesn’t sound good. Pass turn.” Blake said.

“Draw.” Adria said softly as she pulled a sixth card from her deck. “She said I need to win the event… Normal summon a monster in attack mode.” Adria said. “End turn.”

Blake shook his head softly. “Then at the very least, I’ll do what I can to make it seem real. Draw.” He looked closely. “Set two and set a monster in defensive position.”

Adria’s turn. After drawing another card, she activate a spell card that special summons a stronger monster, and defeated Blake.

“I just bricked, there was nothing I could do.” Blake smiled. “She saw right through my bluff.”

“There is one more person, which our new-comer must face before winning today’s event.” Lennard said. “Everyone, please welcome, Dylan!” a man, with more of a belly and shorter than Lennard walked through the door.

“Adria was it?” Dylan asked with a smile. “Let’s do our best!” Adria softly nodded. As their match began, Blake joined Eve, and filled her in on what Adria said.

“WHAT?!” Eve burst out. “What do you mean?!”

“You would need to ask Adria…” Blake mumbled softly.

“I hope she can pull this off…” Eve settled down, but held her hands tightly together.

“This is the first time Dylan is actually doing well! I feel bad for that newbie.” One of the other players said, as Adria was very low on HP but Dylan barely has a scratch on him. Adria drew her last card as a pale and fearful look over came her. She gently placed two cards face down, and passed the turn to Dylan. He drew his final card, and pondered the moments at hand, before placing his card back to the top of his deck.

“I forfeit the match. Congratulations Adria!”

Bless you! Chapter 2- Where Do We Go? was originally published in Bless You! on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

. “…Can anyone tell me why, the orcs of Josgrenth wanted to do the Coup?” An older man made up of scales and a long snout with tendrils hanging above his lips, as he walked about a classroom, staggering in his old age. “Anyone? How about you, Mr. Adam Fenix?” his raspy voice broke through.

. “Didn’t Josgrenth want to rebel because they had troubles understanding the gifts from Aesigrath were just something to give them a boost?” The young man stated, as he roughed up his sapphire blue hair. “I don’t mean to be rude, but they depended on the aid of Aesigrath, right Mr. Eirdrent?”

. “That’s correct!” Mr. Eirdrent smiled while he stroked his tendril moustache, and turned to his white-board to write down Adam’s answer. “And straighten up your posture boy, it’ll make your shoulders stiff.” Adam adjusted as per needed. A girl with blazing red hair beside him raised her hand and waited patiently. “Ms. Evelyn Havoc, you better not ask me a hard question,” the teacher complained, as he continued writing slowly while never turning away from the white-board.

. “Why is it that nobody has heard anything from Josgrenth or Aesgrath since the orcs tried the coup?” Evelyn asked in a soft voice. Mr. Eirdrent gave a soft chuckle as he finally turned around.

. “Young lady, I need you to understand something for me.” He gestured his hands softly, hoping to emphasize his point, the light gently glistening off his dark colored scales, “Even I, a draconian from the Dresgarah territory, not to be confused with Draegarth, home of the druids, want nothing to do with their debacle.”

. “But Mr. Eirdrent, if the territories worked together…”

. “I’m not sure why exactly everyone does nothing. The orcs have been known for their stubbornness.” Mr. Eirdrent said softly, adjusting his posture. “But if you think of certain things like, if an elf from Hylierah were to try to help an orc from Josgrenth, they would just but heads and get nowhere, because they’re both passionate about their ideologies.” Just as he finished his statement, the bell rung through the school signifying the end of the school day. “Adam, a word before you leave.”

. “What can I do for you today Mr. Eirdrent?” Adam asked as he stood near the teacher’s desk. Mr. Eirdrent joined him and rifled through some papers, letting one drift on top of his desk, and tapped on its surface.

“We need to talk about this.” Mr. Eirdrent said as he exasperated himself trying to sit in his chair.

“The gift from Aesigrath was our pristine waters given to our lakes and we utilize by making a fountain at the center of Jacinto, one of few moderate sized towns within Miystahr.” Adam answered with a cocky attitude.

. “Smarten up boy.” Mr. Eirdrent exclaimed as he slapped his walking stick against the desk. “Unable to sneeze is not, a skill.”

“Oh… That…”

. “Adam, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. But you need to straiten yourself out, and quickly. This is the last break before your graduation, and you need to know what it is you want to do with your life.” Mr. Eirdrent explained. “Do you know why that I, a draconian, am here teaching in a school in the Miystahr territory of all places? Because I’m damn good at it.”

“What kind of carrier path do you want to take? What sort of thing has hooked onto your curiosity?” Mr. Eirdrent continued, as he made gestures while seated as if he were talking to his class again.

“Mr. Eirdrent, I don’t think- “

. “Boy, fix your damn posture!” Mr. Eirdrent enforced, cutting Adam’s sentence off. “Here’s what I’d like you to do over this break, think of it as homework.” He pulled out another worksheet and set it beside Adam’s previous assignment. “Do this, and there might still be hope for you, in terms of setting you on the right path.” He smiled gently.

Adam nodded and left the classroom into a swarm of students rushing to leave the school behind on their break. Everyone was softly shoving or attempting to squeeze by the crowds until one student shoved another to the ground.

. “You should watch your step, tubby.” A young, well built man said harshly.

. “Hey, back off him. We all know your body-checked him to the floor.” Evelyn stepped in, firmly standing her ground. “Apologize now.” She demanded.

. “Just leave it man,” Another jock stepped in, “She’s that narc…” he whispered, and managed to convince him to leave.

. “Are you okay Blake? Eve?” Adam asked as he held his hand out for Blake to help him up.

. “I’ll be fine.” Blake said, brushing the dust off his shirt that was loose around his rounder figure.

. “You always let him bully you like that, why don’t you do something about it, Blake?” Eve asked.

. “Are you kidding?” Blake replied, “That guy is twice my size, and on the football team, he’s making a living off tackling people!”

. “I don’t think that’s actually true.” Adam chimed in as he led them down the near empty hallways. A few stragglers remained, shortly clearing out after they’ve collected their items from the lockers. Adam opened his and quickly collected his things. “What are you two doing after?” he asked.

“I’m actually running late; I’ve got some last-minute homework I need to finish up.” Blake said, softly scratching the back of his head. “Wanna meet up at Ray’s tomorrow?”

“Sure thing!” Eve and Adam said together as they waived goodbye to their friend who rushed down the hallways.

. “What about you, Evie?” Adam asked blushing ever so softly.

. “Sorry Adam, my dad needs some help with something right away.” Evelyn explained.

. “Oh? Who knew a police officer needed so much help.” Adam said, laughing gently.

. “It’s about what it is that he needs help with.” Eve giggled. “I’ll text Blake later about going to Ray’s, but let’s plan to meet there around 11:00, okay?” She had a sweet tone, as she waved goodbye to him and left the school leaving Adam all by his lonesome, and shortly left to go home.

. “Mom, Dad? I’m home!” Adam called out as he entered his house.

. “Hi, your mom and I got called out to another business trip, we’ll be gone for a while. Do take care, and if you need anything don’t hesitate to call!” Was written on a note stuck on the fridge.

. Again? What kind of trip this time? Adam thought. He proceeded to make a sandwich from a previous occasion and began playing his favorite game on his gaming console. He played it for hours, so invested that the outside world turned into a white noise until his eyes began to burn softly when he finally decided to get up from his sofa.

I can’t believe it’s already 0230… he thought to himself as he glimpsed out the window looking into the night. He cleaned up and got ready for bed when his phone sounded off, alerting him of a new message, and he groggily viewed it.

“Would you rather be trapped in a time-space void for all eternity or change genders every time you sneezed?” The email said, with a picture of two buttons but no senders address.

“The second choice obviously… I can’t sneeze anyway…” He mumbled softly as he gently pressed the button marked, and fell asleep soon after, not noticing the screen still active.

The doorbell rang, jolting Adam awake and jumped out of bed. He started looking for his phone, when he noticed the clock. 1230.

I am so late. He realized when the doorbell rang a second time. He dashed towards the door but slipped and fell down the flight of stairs.

“We’re coming in!” Blake announced as Eve barged in first, noticing Adam upside down on the staircase. As Eve helped him up Blake went towards the fridge, finding the note Adam’s parents left.

“We couldn’t get a hold of you; your phone keeps sending us straight to voicemail.” Eve explained. “What time did you end up going to bed, anyway?”

“Uhm. 0200 ish…” Adam replied hesitantly.

“Are you okay?” Blake asked, “Your nose seems to be twitching a bit, hey maybe this is the day you finally sneeze!”

“Ha, ha.” Adam replied sarcastically, “I’ll be fine, thank you.”

“Hurry up you two, we were supposed to be at Ray’s Café an hour ago!” Eve announced, rushing them. Adam promptly got dressed and joined their adventure. Along the way, the breeze swept through the streets softly and not many people were out on this first day of the holiday. As the wind continued blowing softly, the more Adams nose itched and twitched.

“What game could possibly keep you up that late?” Eve asked with an irritated tone. “It’s bad enough that you slept in so late.”

“I-it was…” He took a deep breath as his nose tickled more, stopping dead in his tracks, “Aaahh…?” his breathing gave the impression he was lightly winded, and another soft and gentle breeze swept across them as the impossible happened.

“Wa – Chooo!!” From Blake.

“Ihtch- chuu!” From Evelyn.

“AAAHHH – CHOOOOOW!!!” From Adam.

“Ah, bless you youngsters, don’t be catching any colds now!” said a nice elderly man as he passed by.

Shocked, the two turned to see if Adam, who has never sneezed, was all right. What they weren’t expecting was to find someone else entirely in the same clothes as their friend. Eve and Blake looked at each other, and back towards Adam in their confusion.

“This isn’t right!?” They both exclaimed. As they took their second look, they began seeing the same traits that Adam had, as he was now a girl. The girl before them had gotten dizzy and fainted, Blake lunged toward her to catch her.

“What do we do?” Blake asked in a panic.

“I don’t know, I’ve never heard of anyone sneezing so hard they change genders!” Eve replied, also panicking.

“Right, but there must be something about someone losing consciousness, right?” Blake asked, “I mean, doesn’t your dad send you to routine first-aid classes?”

“R-right…” Eve started holding her head as she tried to remember what to do in such a scenario and being overwhelmed by the situation wasn’t helping. “Let’s take her to Ray’s, its close by and we’ll be able to get him-er, I mean, her, water or whatever she’ll need.”

They promptly proceeded to their destination, as they arrived Blake gently set Adam’s girl body down on the bench and was sent to get food while Eve stayed with him-or her, to ensure they were not in any medical danger.

“Fries for us, three colas and a water, as requested.” Blake said as he arrived.

“Three?” Eve looked at him with a confused look. “Why three colas?”

“Well… because Adam loves cola…” Blake replied softly. As they were discussing the topic, Adam caught the scent of the fries, and groggily sat up.

“Mm… Fries?” Adam asked with a higher voice, not noticing as he reached to grab one. As he was about to put the fry in his mouth, he paused, noticing the difference in the size of his hands. “What’s… happening?” He asked, as he started to notice all the changes.

“Adam, just, remain calm for now.” Eve said, holding his shoulder. As he looked at Eve, his face turned more fearful, as he noticed that everything around him had gotten bigger.

. “I-I need… to go to the rest room…” He said softly with a shiver to his voice, as he hastily headed there. he quickly barged in, locking the door behind him and turned the light on, staring into the mirror. “E-everything has… changed…” he said, as he looked upon his girl form. His hair grew longer, and was a brighter color of blue, his body shorter, and his waist was slenderer. The one thing that caught his eye the most, was his boobs. Just as he was about to inspect his new chest, Eve opened the door.

. “Let’s not go there just yet.” Eve said with an irritated look. “Come back to the table, and we’ll discuss it.” Her voice was soft, and helped Adam feel more at ease as she followed her back to the table.

. “When did you get a lock pick?” Blake asked as he was munching on fries, waiting for them to come back.

. “My dad is a police officer, remember?”

. “That doesn’t answer my question.” Blake replied, pointing his half-eaten fry toward her. Evelyn brushed his comment off and sat down, Adam following her lead.

. “Adam, is there anything you can think of that may have caused this to happen?” Eve asked.

. “I can’t think of anything off the top of my head…” Adam said softly.

. As they were conversing, the clerk walked up to their table with another plate of fries.

. “Oh, sorry, we haven’t ordered anymore yet.” Eve informed.

. “I know, this is on the house, for the new girl.” He smiled, placing the plate on the table, and leaving back to his post. Blake noticed a slip of paper underneath and inspected it.

. “Numbers…? Oh… Adam, you just got hit on.” Blake said.

. Adam pressed against her head firmly trying to wrap her mind around the situation. “Oh, by the gods please help me…!” She mumbled.

. “Love to, except…” Eve said, giving a pause. “You need to remember if there was anything out of the ordinary last night.”

. “Well… I guess there was that text message…” Adam softly said, “I don’t remember it very well, but there was a button that said, ‘change genders every time you sneeze.’”

. “And you’re just remembering this now?” Eve grew irritated.

. “It was at 0230!” Adam said defensively.

. “You said you went to sleep before then!”

.

. “Hey! Let’s stay focused right?” Blake jumped in. “Adam, do you still have that text message?” Adam swiftly looked but was unsuccessful.

. “Why don’t we go shopping?” Eve suggested, “We can try different things to see if this is reversable or not.”

. “Great idea! But why shopping?” Blake asked.

. “Because I have something very important for you to get. It’ll be a secret though, so I’ll text you the details.” Eve smiled. Blake, hopping to impress, headed out right away. “Now that he’s gone, we can get you a new outfit.”

. “What’s wrong with this, Evie?” Adam asked.

. “It doesn’t fit you properly, and there are certain things you need as a girl.” She explained as she got up. “Let’s get going already!”

As the two girls walked through the streets to the shopping plaza, a place that has all sorts of stores that usually have anything required locally, Adam struggled with her new body.

. “This is tough… How do you do it?” Adam asked.

. “It helps when you have clothes that actually fit.” She said as she led him into the clothing store. Evelyn’s eyes lit up as she browsed some of the outfits. Adam, who’s never really thought of wearing such niceties, held her arm softly to subdue her unease. Suddenly Eve started piling clothes of a verity of tastes on Adam. “Try these on!” Eve said excitedly. Adam blushed brightly as she looked at the clothes.

. “Um… Eve?” Adam said softly. “A-are you sure…?”

It took Eve a moment to understand, and then realizing that Adam has never ventured near those kinds of things.

.

. “I-I’ll help you…” Eve said, blushing as well. They carefully stepped into the change room, and Eve promptly blindfolded Adam, and changed her clothes.

After trying all sorts of clothing, they finally finished and paid for everything. As they stepped out, and Adam looking like a beautiful girl, with her hair pinned back, a lovely black tank top, and a grey skirt with tight shorts that stopped just below her knee’s underneath, Adam took note to Eve’s current mood.

. “You seem to be enjoying yourself, Eve.”

. “Yeah, I’m sorry I got kind of carried away.” Eve smiled.

. “No, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” Adam said as they walked around a corner, meeting a couple of street toughs.

. “Hey there good lookin’!” one called out. “I bet that outfit would look better on my bedroom floor!”

. “Isn’t that redhead the Havoc chick?” The other said, lightly tapping his friends’ shoulder. “Never thought I’d see her with another woman! Tell you girls what, hang out with us and we’ll show you how real men do things!”

. Blake, from out of nowhere, sprinted in and wedged himself between the girls and the street toughs. “Ad-Adria, Eve, sorry I was late.” He chuckled, as the street toughs lost interest and left.

. “I’m surprise they left so soon.” A man with short dark red hair approached the group. He wore a simple suit and tie, with a shiny badge with the police insignia of Mystahr, the man straitened his tie and scratched his head. “You guys okay?”

. “We’re okay dad!” Eve smiled. “Oh, did you get my text?”

. “Yes, and its fine. I’m sure you staying at Adam’s tonight will be better than him all alone. His parents already contacted me.” Eve’s dad smiled. “I’m also very sorry, where are my manners, my name is Jean Havoc, Evie’s dad.” He reached out to shake Adria’s hand.

. “Adria here is Adam’s cousin. She’s in town for a short while.” Blake said softly, feeling the pressure of lying straight to an officer’s face.

. “That’s why you look so familiar!” Jean laughed. “Will you be joining them as well Blake?”

. “I’m not sure yet, I might need to work.” He replied.

. “Well however this evening turns out for you all, just call if you need anything. And maybe keep a short leash on the boys.” Jean smiled as he joked as he left to continue doing his work.

. Eve turned to Blake changing her attitude like a flip of a coin. “Did you get what I asked for?”

. “Yes ma’am!” Blake said cheerfully thinking he did a good job, as he pulled out a notebook with a perverted design, not realizing.

. “Blake…” Eve said softly, hoping to give him the benefit of the doubt. He noticed and shoved it back into the plastic bag he was carrying and pulled out a beautiful leather hardcover journal. Eve gently took it from his hands and admired its rustic design. “This will be perfect…” She softly whisperd.

. “So, what do we do now?” Adria asked.

. “We head to your house and try to find a way to change you back!” Eve said cheerfully, as if she were a little girl heading out on an adventure.

As they ventured back to Adam’s residence, the group tried a multitude of different things, trying to find a way to change Adria back to Adam. They arrived at the house, with no luck. Adria opened the door and cried as they all went in. “Life as I know it is dead…”

. As she sobbed, Eve ventured around, having a feather duster catch her eye. She picked it up and closely examined it, as Blake was trying to console Adria. Eve joined the two, and gently tickled Blake’s nose until he sneezed, and doing the same to Adria.

. “E-Eve… Wha – ” She began breathing deeply and letting out a loud yet cute sneeze.

. “Bless you?” Blake questioned as he looked at a smoke cloud that quickly disappeared revealing Adam back to normal, except for his outfit.

. Just as Adam was about so speak, the doorbell rang. Adam began to panic, not wanting anyone to see him in his current state, Eve snuck Adam up the stairs as Blake answered the door.

. “Hiya, Mr. Havoc!” Blake said.

. “Blake, where are the girls?” He asked gently.

. “Upstairs, I think Adam was up there as well, getting a game.”

. “Ah. I see.” Jean softly stroked his chin. “Could you fetch him for me?” Blake nodded and went upstairs.

. “I can’t believe you made him wear a bra.” Blake snickered.

. “Can it, don’t knock it until you’ve needed it.” Adam took a defensive stance as he quickly got changed into something more gender appropriate and dashing down to talk to Jean.

. “Sorry about the wait, what can I do for you?” Adam asked, as he tried discreetly straitening his clothes.

. “I was just wondering if you knew if Eve was dating anyone…” Jean said, softly smiling. “I don’t think she’s comfortable talking about that to her single dad, so I thought since she thinks so highly of you, she’d let you in on those kinds of things.

. She thinks highly of me…? Adam thought. He began thinking about her, and how he’s always had a crush on her. How her gentle smile always cheers him up, and how she’s always loyal to her family and her friends. “She hasn’t said anything to me about it.” Adam finally answered. “She’s a great person though. Whoever manages to win her heart would be a lucky guy.”

. “A lucky guy indeed…” Jean observed Adam’s behavior. “It’s almost as if you want to be that guy.” Adam blushed brightly to that remark and was left speechless. Jean busted out into laughter. “I’m sorry, lemme make it up to you, I’ll buy you guys some pizza.”

. “Th-That would be great…” Adam softly whispered. Jean left, still giggling about Adams reaction as Adam remained zoned out. Once he was out of sight, Adam sneezed once again, turning back into Adriahh

Bless you! - Chapter 1, Where it all began~ was originally published in Bless You! on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s just life.

Says every member of this doomed race that believes their own arrogance to be superiority.

Life isn’t supposed to be fair.

Is what they tell you, making you believe that they’re reassuring you’re overthinking or overwhelming over reaction… over.

Isn’t there a better way to go about things? Simple things that one thought to be no harder than tying their own shoes, unlike Billy who wears slip ons because he’s 90+ years old and can’t bend over like he used to.

Every time I thought I was just about to have a grasp on “What I’m supposed to do” I’m pushed into a situation where I have no choice but to send myself back to square one.

You’re the one who made that decision

Shouldn’t apply to when you use a collection of currency you had set aside, fully intending on utilizing it as a down payment for a shelter to call your own, instead of bringing your unborn child up in your parents house as they secretly cuss you out as your baby cries in the middle of the night, disturbing every sentient being that resides, “Because you needed new tires to continue driving to your work”

I for one, am sick of society. And I have failed my role as a member of the human race. Pathetic.

.

As I grew up I learned how to reload ammunition. Weld and fabricate. Anyone could count on me to make some stupid financial decisions like buying a Welding generator with no chance at becoming a journeyman, or apprentice for that matter. As I continued growing, I felt like I was getting brainwashed, into thinking I wasn’t allowed to have fun. I wasn’t allowed to say “I want to try that.” That “it won’t suit you.” But there’s always some kind of lure that gets you to try. And that’s important, just to try. Because even if you try, no matter if you fail or succeed, you obtain knowledge. And knowledge is powerful in its own. A skill, whether it be binding steel by melting it at a temperature sought to only be that of the surface of the sun, to mixing a cocktail for a friend. Every day is a battle. It’s important to have that one think to be okay at. To build on it. If you don’t like it, move on. You tried. That’s what counts. The struggle is the fight for who you are, or who you want to become. Stay fighting. Stay safe. Don’t hesitate to try something else. You never know what kind of knowledge you could obtain by just trying it.

I’ve tried a lot of things so far. Some stick, some don’t. And thats okay. I don’t know if I’d be able to list them all, to be honest. But I’ve tried lots of stuff. Trying shouldn’t be embarrassing, nor should failure. It all offers an important lesson.