Graceful Reprise (Story)

To say that Diana was nervous would be a massive understatement. She gripped her knees tightly as she sat in the waiting room and stared, wide-eyed, at the tile beneath her. Her heart was racing.

I should just leave, she thought to herself. I can’t do… this! What am I thinking!? Despite her reservations, she didn’t move. Every thought, muscle, and bone in her body urged her to run, but she stayed. No… I have to do this. She’d never let me live it down if I left now.

“Diana Riko?” an assistant called through a now-open door across the room. Diana swallowed, stood up, and walked over to her. It was a miracle that she didn’t stumble. The assistant smiled gently and motioned for Diana to follow. “I’ll take you to the discussion room and Emily will be with you shortly.”

And just like that, she was alone again, in another room, in another chair. The room seemed entirely barren despite the desk and chairs. The walls were featureless. Cold. She had seen this room before, but it felt different this time.

The door handle flicked down and the door opened. Diana turned to look, only to find what appeared to be a woman made entirely of water. A gently spinning, diamond-shaped crystal was suspended in her chest, and her hands ended in white, rubber gloves. Emily. She seemed…? Surprised? It was hard to tell, her expressions weren’t always right. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Mrs. Riko?” Emily asked inquisitively, and she made her way behind the desk. “What are you doing here? Is Corinne okay?”

“Y-yeah, sh-she’s fine,” Diana struggled to say. Why was talking so hard all of a sudden? “G-great, even…”

Emily looked relieved, but also puzzled. “I’m glad to hear it. I was worried about her, you know? When she decided against staying with us, instead wanting us to drop her off at her house, after you abandoned her here… Well, I knew Corinne would need a lot of love and support, and frankly… I wasn’t all that confidant you could deliver that anymore.”

Diana frowned, but refused to look Emily. She stayed quiet for a while. “I… I was wrong to leave her. She needed me, and I failed her. I’ve… already apologized to her. But truly, she is happy. I’ve… I’ve never seen her smile this much.” A smile teased at Diana’s mouth when she said that, but anxiety took over soon after. “But after what I did… things are… difficult, between us. I’ve tried! I’ve tried to be the good mom that she needs, but… she doesn’t trust me anymore. She… she thinks that I hate what she’s become, that I hate what she is…”

“But you do, don’t you? You practically said as much during her Change,” Emily said, somewhat harshly.

Diana winced. “I mean, yeah, I did, but… I was scared! I wasn’t thinking straight. I’ve never liked The Changed, sure, but… I always saw them as weird freaks that were far too obsessed with their own bodies. But Corinne… She’s not like that. She’s still her, underneath all the… fur and whatever. I was worried, especially after her first… milking, that she’d just be some sexualized freak, craving sex or…” She sighed. “But she’s still her… Still my little Corinne. She can even fly now, sort of. She flew up to our second story balcony from the ground… She… was so excited, even if it did tire her out a lot…”

Emily crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. She stared at Diana for a few moments and then asked, “Why are you here, Mrs. Riko?”

Diana blushed fiercely and tightened her clenched hands. She didn’t find the strength to vocalize what she needed to say next.

Realization washed over Emily suddenly. “No… You!? You’re joking, right? You can’t be serious…”

The older woman’s heart was pounding in her chest. She opened her mouth, but no words came. This is it. This your last chance. Just tell her you made a mistake, and that you’ll be leaving now. Apologize for wasting her time, and just go home. Voice trembling, she instead said “I… want to volunteer for The Change.”

Emily just stared. “Why?”

“Do… do I need a reason?” Diana’s glance caught Emily’s, who was still waiting for an answer. “L-like I said, Corinne doesn’t really trust me anymore. I want… I want to prove to her that I’ve changed, that I don’t hate her, and that I don’t hate the people like her… And I want to understand what she’s going through, what it’s like to have… new body parts you don’t understand, or can’t fully control, to learn all over again just who and what you are…”

“That’s pretty selfless of you. You’d change everything about yourself just to relate to your daughter more?”

“Of course!” Diana said fiercely. “I’d do anything for her… When… when the only thing that seems to take away her beautiful smile anymore is… me… I have to do something!”

Emily thought for a moment. “Okay. This will be a good test anyway, we haven’t had any older volunteers before!” Emily starts entering info into the terminal on her desk.

“H-hey… I’m not that old…” Diana insisted.

“All of our subjects thus far have been no older their mid-twenties. We’ve hypothesized that The Change has rejuvenating properties, that it would make its subjects feel younger and more energized. We’ll get to see how right we were. Now, what did you have in mind? I don’t think we can replicate what happened to Corinne, though, if that’s what you’re after.”

Diana shook her head. “No… I assumed as much, and even if you could, I don’t think I’d want that. Corinne’s very strong for being able to cope with a body like hers, but I don’t think I could. That said, I thought about it a lot. I was originally tempted to go with something no one could judge me for too harshly, like cat, but… That would kind of just… defeat the purpose. No, I’d have to go for something…” She sighed. “Weird.”

Emily tilted her head. “Okay. So what do you want?”

“Um… Jellyfish,” Diana finally admitted. “I-if it’s possible!”

The water woman grinned. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting that! I think we can make it work. But again, I have to warn you - the standard procedure stuff. The Change is unpredictable. We can guide it towards where we want, but we can’t control the specifics. Common side-effects would be breast growth, widened hips, the growth of additional nipples or breasts, the growth of additional appendages, massively increased fertility, and a small chance of spontaneous pregnancy. We’ve removed pregnancy from the structure, but it still occasionally finds its way back, somehow. So we have to warn everyone that it’s possible, though unlikely. If the form you assume prevents you from taking care of yourself, either monetarily or physically, assistance will be provided.”

These were the same warnings given to Corinne, so Diana was already prepared. Though she didn’t like the idea of most of these, especially the chance of pregnancy, all she could do is accept it. “I know. I understand the risks. I want to continue anyway.”

“Perfect. I’ve just sent Sam the request, so we’ll get some tests done and head over to the, eh, Changing room,” Emily explained.

What followed was a blur of blood tests, physical exams, and paperwork, part of which she had seen already with Corinne. Next thing she knew, she was sitting in a massive white room, empty besides a hospital-styled bed and a large, blacked out window. She knew what was beyond that window: it was the observation room that she stood in just over a month ago to watch Corinne’s Change. Except now she was on the other side of the one-way glass. She knew that Emily and her plant-like assistant Sam, would be watching through that glass, seeing what would become of her.

A dull throbbing in her right arm ensured that she knew there was no backing out now. The microbe that carried The Change was already coursing through her, and no matter what happened to her, nothing could stop it. She swallowed nervously.

Though she had been slightly cold in that room, as her normal attire had been replaced by a loose hospital gown, her insides began to warm up. Her cheeks were flush, and her vision spun. The Change had begun.

Her fingers tingled ominously, and she watched them shift color from her normal peachy shade to a light sky blue color, starting at the tip and soon racing up her arms. Just before her elbow, the color shifted to a deep, rich cobalt blue. The intersection of the colors was a hard line with some intricate swirls and dots laced into it. It looked as if she were wearing long gloves, except it was her skin.

As the dark blue color spread to the rest of her body, she noticed it was doing more than just changing its color. Her skin felt… good. It was smooth, free of wrinkles. Flawless. Huh. Maybe… this isn’t so bad. I mean, what’s so bad about being blue anyway?

As the color spread over her chest, her nipples turned to sky blue like her hands, and a warmth blossomed in her breasts. Figures. What the hell is with this thing and boobs, anyway? Pleasure begin to build as her breasts swelled slowly. She had always had a fairly moderate chest size, but they were plenty noticeable now. She reached under her gown and cupped them with her hands, but soon they overflowed her palms. They were… surprisingly soft and supple. They felt really nice in her hands, too. Well… at least Derek will appreciate these… she thought, imagining her husband back at home.

Her thoughts were broken as her breasts reach their final size and warmth shifted downward, just below them. She finally decided to remove her gown like she had watched Corinne do, and shifted her breasts out of the way to get a better look. Shining like two points of sky blue in a sea of cobalt, she watched a second pair of breasts develop and swell just below her first set. D-damn it! As they slowly expanded, she panted helplessly. With now four points of blossoming pleasure, her thoughts were starting to scatter. Wh-why… jellyfish don’t even have breasts to begin with, this…

These breasts didn’t grow to the size the first ones did, content to stay large, but not remarkably so. Diane fretted as she felt another pair of nipples form below those breasts too, but these didn’t grow much at all, merely the slightest bump to suggest what they were, hardly noticeable with everything else going on.

F-focus, Diana! They’re just… they’re just boobs. It’s fine! Corinne has extra breasts too, so at least I know what they feel like now. In fact, Diana was more impressed that Corinne was so composed and not dying for sex or anything – these extra nipples and breasts were extremely distracting.

She tore her eyes away from her chest to watch the blue color stretch down her legs, swapping to the light blue color around her knees like it did at her elbows. A similar lacy pattern appeared at the color swap here too, making it look like she was wearing stockings.

As she looked down at her legs, something colored a translucent light blue dipped into her vision. Quickly, she moved her hands up to grip it, only to realize that was coming from something growing out of her head. Without a mirror, all she could do is feel it. It was a strange, bulbous, bubble-like thing that sprouted from about her hair line, completely enveloped her hair, and ended at the back of her head. It was like a weird, drooping beanie hat, except it was clear and actually a part of her body. Inside the bubble, her hair receded back to make room for several large crests with sky blue markings. Behind those crests grew a number of red-orange structures that curved over her hair. It looked like a strange, biological crown. As she drew her hands away from her bell, her hands brushed her ears, only for her to realize that they had grown longer. What the hell? Am I elf!? What’s going on…?

Just below her ears, three small tendrils sprouted from her head on each side. She couldn’t move them, but she could feel them. Weird…

Suddenly, her back seized tightly. She gasped, unable to move. What’s… she thought before she felt… something. Something stretching, something pushing out of her back, something lengthening… Six somethings, actually. She shook nervously, still frozen in place, until she loosened up again. Panting, she twisted her shoulder to look behind her only to see six long, moderately thick tentacles had spouted from her back. They started dark blue at the base but shifted to a light blue halfway to the tip. They didn’t have suckers or anything really defining - they were just featureless tentacles. Cautiously, she reached for one with her left hand and grasped it. She pulled it around so she could look at the tip in front of her. It felt so weird, having extra appendages like this. She could feel the muscle under her skin, skin that was now slightly rubbery and shiny, but still smooth. Then, she twitched the end of the tentacle she was holding. A chill went up her spine. I can move them. Oh, this is so messed up… But… I guess… It’s not that bad.

She guided the tentacle to coil up on itself, testing its flexibility, and it could move very fluidly. Huh, these things might even be useful, once I figure out how to control them...

Just when she thought The Change was done, however, her sides began to burn, and soon, so did her neck. She was about to groan in reflex, but her lungs betrayed her as they began to burn as well. She couldn’t breathe! She slipped from her perch on the hospital bed and fell to her knees on the tile below. Slits appeared along her side and on the sides of her neck, feeling wet in the cold air. After what felt like an eternity, her throat reopened and she took in a lungful of air, coughed, and was left panting on all fours. What the hell was that!?

Once she had caught her breath, she sat up and felt her sides and her neck, running her fingers across the new openings there. Gills, she thought, that must be what these are… Can… Can I breathe underwater now? Wait, jellyfish don’t have gills, not like this anyway… Half the stuff I grew doesn’t make any sense… Then again, I specifically went into this not knowing what to expect anyway.

The feverish warmth of The Change slowly subsided, leaving Diana slowly growing colder in the sterilized room. There was motion outside of her door and with a mechanical hiss, it slid open to reveal Emily. Sam followed shortly behind her.

“So, how do you feel?” Emily asked.

Diana thought for a moment, and then said, “Weird.”

Sam nodded and smiled. “Yeah, that makes sense.” Sam walked over and held out her hand for Diana and helped her to her feet. “Do you feel any… well, better, I guess? More energized, stronger, healthier?”

“I mean, I was fine before, but…” Diana arced her back and stretched out her arms and spine. Her tentacles undulated slightly as well. She sighed, content. “Yeah. I think so. My back doesn’t hurt at all anymore, even though these boobs should be killing me,” she said jovially. “I can’t really explain it, but I haven’t felt this good in years. Um, is there a mirror somewhere so I can see myself?”

“There will be. We’ll need to run some tests first – we need to make sure everything went smoothly and take some notes on the effects The Change had on you besides the base transformation,” Emily explained. “Then we’ll walk you over to the tailor and have some clothes whipped for you. You’re skirt probably fits just fine, but you can’t wear normal shirts with those anymore,” she said, gesturing to Diana’s tentacles.

Diana nodded and followed the scientists out into the hall. As she left the harshly illuminated room and into the darker hallway, however, the walls around her lit up with a soft blue color. Diana’s eyes went wide as she held her light blue hands up to the walls, only to watch the walls light up more the closer she got to them. The light was coming from her. “I’m… I’m glowing,” she said, stunned.

Sam smiled softly. “Bioluminescence,” she explained.

Diana looked herself over and realized that everywhere her skin was light blue, those were the parts that were glowing. To her embarrassment, this meant that her nipples were also glowing, but she tried to ignore that. “This is so weird…”

“Well, that’s what you wanted, right? Weird?” Emily offered.

“Yeah, that’s true. I’ll have to wait until I get a better look at myself to say for sure, but… I was worried that I wasn’t going to like it, that I was doing entirely for the sake of relating with my daughter, but… This is actually… kind of cool. Every change that happened while I was in there freaked me out a little, worried me more and more, but now that it’s done… I don’t know.”

Sam grinned. “Think you’ll live?”

Diana looked over and smiled. “Yeah. I think I’ll manage.”

Soon, she was whisked into another flurry of tests and examinations seemingly more intrusive than the last. No part of her, old or new, was left unchecked. Eventually, she was being escorted to the tailor’s main lobby area. While Diana and Sam waited for the tailor to arrive, the now-jellyfish-like girl walked over to the full-length mirror in the room. She stared at her new self with wide eyes, eventually stepping closer and gently placing her hands on the mirror’s surface. She stared closely at her face and the structures that had developed on her head beneath her bell.

Her eyes had changed somewhat, becoming almond-shaped, and the whites of her eyes were now black. Instead of blue, her eyes were now a vibrant, slightly glowing teal color that contrasted beautifully with the black around them. Her eyebrows were gone, but they had been replaced by glowing, light blue patches that still gave the impression of eyebrows. Her ears had also grown longer, reminiscent of an elf or, perhaps more accurately, a nymph. Her nose had vanished, leaving only a small protrusion on her face that somehow didn’t ruin the look. She did realize that she can’t smell anymore, however, which was quite strange. Altogether, between her almond-shaped eyes, larger ears, and the assortment of crests that made up of the top of her head, she had an exotic, almost alien, kind of beauty - the kind of thing you’d only see in movies.

Diana took a step back to look herself over again. Her breasts drew the most attention. Her top pair had a perfect droplet shape, the main bulk of which was the size of grapefruit, or perhaps somewhat larger. They rested on the pair beneath them, which were likely Cs. Below that were two more nipples with only the hint of breasts behind them. She wouldn’t need a bra for those. Still, she technically had six breasts now, which was mind-boggling. Something she also didn’t notice before during The Change was that her body was altogether much shapelier. Her waist was slightly thinner, and her hips and butt slightly larger. It wasn’t too pronounced, especially with these breasts demanding so much attention, but… it felt good. Still, a thought arrived in her mind and once there, she couldn’t escape it.

“I look like some alien prostitute from a sci-fi porno,” she said aloud, still looking in the mirror.

Behind her, Sam was reduced to a small laughing fit. Once she recovered, she responded jokingly, “I can imagine worse fates!”

“I mean, yeah. I, uh…” Diana glanced over her shoulder at Sam. “I’m not complaining. It is kind of embarrassing though. I’m not… you know, the flirty type? I can’t say that being hot is a bad thing or anything, heck no, but… I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of attention…”

“Well, you’re married anyway, right? It’s not like you’re going to be going to bars or clubs or anything. Realistically, more than your figure, it’s the rest of you that’s going to draw more attention. You’re literally glowing, after all,” Sam pointed out. “Still, try to enjoy it. According to what we can see from the tests, The Change repaired or reversed a lot of age-related damage during the process, so… for all intents and purposes, you’re in your twenties again. Seems like a good deal.”

Diana’s brow raised. “Really? So wait, I don’t just feel younger, I actually am younger?”

“Well, yeah,” Sam started. “The Change rewrites you from top to bottom at the cellular level. We had speculated that this would, incidentally, repair damage brought on by aging, and it seems like we were correct. There’s nothing distinguishing you from a college freshman, medically speaking.”

“O-oh… Wow…” She didn’t know what to say. She was now closer in age to her daughter than her husband. That… was weird. But she wasn’t really, right? She was still 41, her body was just more youthful now. Lucky Derek, she mused, thinking of her husband again.

“The tailor should arrive soon, and then we’ll send you on your way. I’m sure you’re dying to get back to your family and all,” Sam says as she goes to leave.

“W-wait!” Diana said suddenly. Sam turns around, giving her an inquisitive look. “Um… I just want to say thank you… and… and sorry. For the way I acted during Corinne’s Change. It was bigoted and unprofessional of me. So thank you for… giving me this chance.”

Sam smiled softly. “Yeah. Sure thing. You were just worried about your daughter; we can’t really hold that against you. Also, Emily’s satisfied now too, anyway. She’s the one that tweaked your formula.”

“Wait, what? Is that why some of these things didn’t make sense? The tentacles, the gills, the boobs; those weren’t supposed to happen?”

“Nope. Well, the extra breasts might have happened anyway, The Change likes to do that for whatever reason, but she just forced it. Jellyfish on its own would have been too boring, she said. So she spiced it up a bit.”

“Oh…” Diana didn’t know how to feel about that. Still… she couldn’t really work up any feelings of anger or betrayal. If the gills really do let her breathe underwater, how could she be upset about that? That was cool. The breasts are a bit much, admittedly, but the tentacles… though extremely weird and somewhat confusing for her brain to sort out, if she ever figures out how to work them, they could be extremely useful. “Well… Tell her thanks, I guess.”

Sam grinned. “You bet!” And then she left the room. Diana watched her walk down the hallway through the windows and then turned back to the mirror. She never imagined herself becoming one of The Changed, but now that she is… She has to admit that it’s not so bad.

<~~~~~~>

An epilogue of sorts? There may be more to this story, after all, there was mention of Corinne's dad - Diana's husband. I have a lot of other things going on that needs to be taken care of first, but we're not done with arc yet.