When I woke Saturday afternoon, it was in a daze. Looking over at Val, I could see she was feeling no better than I was, except she was still asleep. Her skin seemed more pale than usual, and I could swear when she opened her mouth I saw her canine teeth jutting quite a bit further out from her upper jaw than the rest of her teeth. I decided she must have gotten a pair of those higher priced vampire fangs that some stores carry around Halloween, which at the time made sense since we were in the middle of October. Her being more pale than usual I marked off as a lack of keeping hydrated through the night. I set out a glass of water on her bedside table and hopped into the bath.

After a prolonged time relaxing in the suds, I made the effort to extricate myself from the too comfortable tub. Drying myself off, I made my way over to the mirror. Looking into the pane, I noticed that I looked... different. It wasn’t anything major, but something seemed wrong. My nose looked more pointed, my face seemed more angular, and for a brief moment, I could swear my eyes became a solid bluish color until I blinked. Am I hallucinating again? Did I have a reaction to something last night? Did I stay in the tub too long? I shook my head and slapped my face gently.

I walked out of the bathroom and got myself dressed in my casual clothes since there were no classes today either. I then checked my email, responded to an email from my little brother Emrys, and I looked at my crystal. Apparently I had gotten a quick message from Shuri asking if I wanted to grab a bite while I was in the bath. A hurried affirmative was typed out and I grabbed my rucksack that I kept a sketchpad and some pencils in. I hadn’t done any drawings since before I got kicked out of my old school, so I wanted to stretch the old artistic muscles today.

I hopped out the door and made my way toward the cafe like I always did and caught Shuri on her way there. We stopped in at the closest thing to a grill there was in the amazing assortment of restaurants in the cafe. It never ceases to amaze me how much stuff they pack into this place and still call it a cafe instead of a food court, I thought as we made our way over to the bakery section. We picked out some rolls and some pitas, and then we made our way to one last shop to grab some carrot sticks and celery. After which, I suggested we find a spot on one of the rooftop terraces and have a real picnic.

It took us the better part of twenty minutes to find the right spot, but when we did find it, I was blown away once more by the beauty of the school. The sun, hanging just above the treetop, made the bright colors of autumn cry into the air for the eyes to drink in. Shuri’s form outlined by these tones of red and yellow made me immediately fish out my pad and start drawing. I don’t remember wholly how long I was drawing, I don’t remember when my vision changed Shuri from the beautiful girl I knew into the lizard creature I saw when I finished, but I do remember the fear that jolted my heart when I stopped drawing and looked up.

I gazed into the deep chocolate brown eyes of the lizardman and screamed. The sudden sound confused the creature, Shuri’s voice echoed out from the throat of the creature, “What’s wrong Lauren? Why are you screaming?”

The creature stood up, the tan and brown scales reflecting the sun in a way that made it seem bigger, almost like one of those kaiju films where the monster is outlined by the setting sun as it walks away. It stood between me and the door with a look of... concern? Yeah, that was definitely concern and worry on the lizardman’s face, and those wells to the soul that we call eyes appeared hurt. “Lauren?” it asked again, sounding like my screaming had hurt it’s feelings.

I slowly stood up, tried to catch my breath, and at some point I stopped screaming long enough to ask, “What did you do to Shuri?”

The creature balked, “I am Shuri. Lauren, did you hit your head?” It moved forward, extending a clawed hand toward me.

I recoiled and rubbed my eyes, the creature was still there when I opened them again. Its face was a mask of emotional pain, presumably from my reaction to her.

“If you’re Shuri, then why do you have claws? Shuri is a human, not an overgrown lizard!” I shouted at is, backing up further, hitting the wall behind me with a little more force than I had planned.

“Lauren, I don’t know what you’re seeing, but I assure you, I AM Shuri. I AM your friend. I need you to tell me what you see. Maybe we should go get Val or Fianna. You’re probably just tired from the dance last night.” The lizardman tried to reason with me, and... I was willing to write off everything as a hallucination again.

“Shuri... You look like those sketches of those lizard people we went over a while back in class. You’re scales are tan, like your normal skin tone, but there are patches that are closer to your hair color. This sin’t the first time I’ve seen this happen when I was near you. You need to tell me now, what teh hell is going on?” I all but vomited the words, each pause like a heaving breath between sprays of bile.

“Lauren, I think we need to see Fianna. Can you trust me enough to come with me to see her?”

I assented and walked behind the towering lizard, just now noticing how much taller than I she was. Where Shuri was easily six feet and full of muscles, this creature was almost nine feet and lithe as... well as a lizard. The rippling of muscles under the skin was impressive, the lack of clacking as the talons on the floor lent credence to the idea that this creature was just a hallucination. I breathed a sigh of relief as we got closer to Fianna’s office, if anyone would know what was going on, it was her.

It took a moment for Fianna to open the door, and when she did I could see... something was off about her as well. Her already pixie-like face was even more angled, like mine was in the mirror this morning. There was a line across her neck, and... were those cross-shaped stitches? I blinked, but the marks didn’t go away. I looked her in the eyes, but those couldn’t be Fianna’s. They were silver orbs, devoid of pupil, and they looked alien.

When she spoke, there was this echo, like she was speaking from a ways away. “Is there a problem, Ms. Niggina? Ms. Sidhe?” She looked between the two of us, confusion crossing her brow.

“Who are you? Where is Fianna?” I asked, backing away from this imposter.

The creature touched her head, a look of exasperation crossing her face. “Lauren Sidhe, I have not the faintest idea what you are on about. I am Fianna, we went to the dance last night. Did you consume something that is having an adverse reaction to your person?”

Lizard Shuri turned, again the look of concern masked her face. “Lauren, what are you seeing? What’s Fianna look like to you?”

I sucked in another breath to calm myself and described exactly what I was seeing. I saw a look of surprise and confusion cross the face of the impersonator. That couldn’t be Fianna, just like the lizardman couldn’t be Shuri. My mind just started to throw up defences, I couldn’t process this right now... and for a brief moment, they were back to being themselves. Then they were back to the horror show I had been talking to.

“Lauren, I’d like you to come into the office with me for a moment. Ms. Niggina, I’d like you to join us. I was told this might happen...” the Fianna “fake” said, turning and entering the office.

I cautiously followed, keeping myself nearest to the door so if things came to it I could bolt. We all sat down, a nervous tension in the room, and the Fianna creature poured a cup of tea and pulled at a bow on the side of her neck. The bow came undone and she pulled the cross-stitches out in one graceful flick of the wrist. I heard the door lock next to me even though nobody had been next to it, and I felt my throat constrict. I’m going to die here.

“Lauren, how much do you know about...magic? Beyond what you’ve gone over in your mythos class, how much do you know?” the Fianna creature asked.

“I... I know what is written in book. I know what is written in tabletop role-playing games. I know a little about video games too. I don’t see how any of that...” I trailed off, a smile had crossed the Fianna thing’s face.

“Alright, let me ask this, what do you know about the magic of a ‘glamour?’ Can you tell me what that means to you?”

I paused a moment, thinking about all the books I’ve read, the movies and television I’ve watched, and the games I’ve played. I began to organize my thoughts, one step at a time. Weren’t glamours a part of illusory magic? Like some kind of... disguise?

“A glamour is what creatures use to hide their true selves. In some cultures it’s how a non-human entity blends in with human society. It’s like a spell to alter one’s appearance to seem like the local mundane persons.” I said aloud, finishing the thoughts that I’d started to organize.

A look of approval crossed the face of the Fianna thing. “Very good. Now, do you know what species of creature can see through a glamour if they try?”

I was drawing a blank, so I shook my head.

“The sidhe, the fae of my homeland, are one of the only creatures that can discern the true image behind the glamour. Some Sidhe, it is said, can dispel a glamour by a touch.” She said, a look of sudden realization crossed the Shuri beast’s face.

“You mean she’s a Sidhe? Like not just in name, but an actual Sidhe? She’s seeing us as we really are?” Shuri-lizard asked, an incredulous look crossing her raptor-esque face.

“Lauren, I’d like you to close your eyes and focus on what we look like during a regular day. When you have that image in your mind, open your eyes.” The Fianna thing said.

I did as I was asked. I pictured Fianna’s face from last night, the face from before we kissed. I then imagined Shuri as I saw her during classes. Once I had both images firmly in my mind, I opened my eyes... and they were there. Fianna and Shuri were there in the office with me. I wasn’t trapped by those monsters anymore. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now that you know what is happening with your body, I suppose we should discuss what happens going forward.” Fianna said this as she slowly... removed her own head? That’s not possible! My brain screamed at me as Fianna put her head on her desk, eyes looking at me, her face a stoic representation of her internal process.

“Lauren, you were one of four girls in this academy who was not privy to this fact: All the girls here are of extraspecies origin. What that means is, and I say this in utmost seriousness, every single girl here save three are creatures of lore and myth. Shuri, as you already know, is a Sumerian Lizardfolk. I am one of the few female Dullahan in Ireland. You, as your name implies, are a Sidhe. Your mother was the Leanan Sidhe. As the successor to the fae muse, you have no small amount of her powers. The charm, the way you work yourself into the minds of others, the innate ability to dispel a Glamour, all of it.”

“No, I can’t be. Faeries don’t exist. Myths are just stories to explain the world around humans. There’s no such thing as magic. It’s just some kind of drug or something, I’m just having a bad trip! That’s all!” I all but shouted, my normally calm and playful exterior deteriorating at extreme speeds.

“Lauren, was your mother named Lea Sidhe?” Fianna’s disembodied head asked, a look of minor irritation creeping across it.

“How... how did you... that’s not even in my file...” I mumbled, a feeling of dread crossing my heart.

“Your mother was one of the most amazing women in the history of Avalon Academy. Her sudden disappearance twenty years ago rocked the fae communities of the world, and now you are here, following in her footsteps. It had to be more than a coincidence, and then... here.” Fianna’s headless body opened a drawer on her side of the desk and pulled out a picture frame, passing it to me with the glass side down.

I took the picture and slowly flipped it over. The face looking back at me was... “Mom?”