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Die Role, by SpectralWolf, March 2020 (revised October 2021)

"She was an ordinary person... until she die'd."

Chapter 2: Dealing with changes

It was nearly Midnight when Mister Chen met Karen at the top of the stairs, beside her apartment door. The white wolf girl had only needed to wait there for a few minutes, since her route - out the loading dock door at the back of the shop, down the alley, and around the end of the block the Chinese restaurant was on - had been much longer than for her employer, who had been able to leave the shop via the front door and walk less than twenty feet to get to the apartment stairs. "I trust no one bothered you on the streets, as you came here?" Mister Chen asked.

"Not many people are going to mess with a muscular wolf my size," Karen replied. "Just how big am I, anyway? And can we get this over with? All the way here, I had to try not to think about the fact that I'm half naked and barefoot under this robe you loaned me." She was about eight inches taller now than her employer, a complete reversal of the height difference Karen had grown used to.

"Good. And my guess is that you are now six feet two inches tall. If I overlook the obvious height and gender differences, I still recognize much of your facial features and fur markings, despite the changes the curse of the necklace has caused. Here is your purse, but I fear there is no further need to hide your... condition... from Mia. She knows you are male now," the elderly red panda said apologetically, as he gave it to her.

Karen held up a hand as she accepted her purse, and said, "Shhhh! Come in, and then tell me, please. I don't want to talk about this where a neighbor might walk up and overhear us." She held the puzzle box in the crook of her arm while she got her keys out of her purse and unlocked the door. Then she opened her apartment, and turned on the lights as they both stepped inside. Once the door was securely closed again behind them, she said, "Okay, now, please continue. Why don't we have to hide what happened to me from Mia?"

"My apologies, your caution is most prudent. I would have suggested a more private location myself, but did not wish to intrude on your home," Mister Chen replied. "When I went to get your purse, Mia informed me that she had stepped into the break area just as you collapsed and changed your form for the first time, and hence she observed your initial transformation on the security monitors. She was... quite shaken by the sight. You see, she has seen several magical artifacts used in the three years she has worked for me, and has tried using a few, including the bracelet I showed to you. But never before has she witnessed magic which so completely transfigured a person's body. Nor was it at all clear to her why you unexpectedly increased in stature, like a legendary, shapeshifting werewolf. And then she had several customers come in, so she could not come down to see if you required aid. Besides, she was at a loss for how she could possibly aid you, as she knows little more about how magic works than you do. When she looked at the screens again, and saw I was with you, she returned to her duties, and waited for me to explain to her what had occurred. She could not hear us, of course. Only see us."

"I guess that's okay, though I'm still waiting for a full explanation of my transformation, myself. What did you tell her?" Karen replied. She nervously set the puzzle box containing the necklace that had cursed her down on her dinette table, along with her purse, and then glared at the puzzle box, as if it was a venomous and unpredictable creature, liable to bite her at any instant. "When will you come by tomorrow? You said you could bring me some clothes that fit?"

"Mia was reassured by me that you are not a dangerous magical creature, but rather that you were adversely affected by a newly arrived magical artifact. Nothing more. I did not even call it a curse," he replied. "I will bring you clothing tomorrow, I promise. Something less attention getting on the street than one of my brightly colored, embroidery covered silken robes. I fear none of my street clothes will fit someone of your stature. The crimson and gold of my robe suits you, but it is fortunate that the garment was large enough in the shoulders and loose enough in fit for you to wear it at all. Shall we say two in the afternoon?"

"Yeah, that will be fine, thanks," Karen replied. "You know, I've hardly ever consumed booze before, but right now, I really wish I could have a stiff drink."

Mister Chen took a cloth measuring tape out of his pocket, and measured her in several places, to get her correct clothing and shoe sizes, and then he said, "I have no drink to offer, but do wish to give you this, as a small recompense for this unfortunate curse. Use it as you see fit, to further disguise who you are, while... you are 'not yourself'. And once you are freed of the curse, you may keep it, or sell it through my shop, to help with your college plans." He held out his hand, and on his palm was the velvet bag containing the magical bracelet Karen had so enjoyed using to change her body's coloration. The bracelet itself was visible through the open mouth of the bag.

"I can't accept that bracelet! It's much too valuable!" Karen objected, without taking the velvet bag. "And this curse thing was my fault, not yours. I had no right to play with newly arrived merchandise, even if it had only been a harmless puzzle box, as I thought. Geeze, I've only been working for you a week, and I really screwed things up. And didn't you say there was something magical about how it was wrapped, that should have made it impossible for Mia or I to open it?"

"I must insist. I feel this is the least I can do, given that it was my lack of foresight and caution which exposed you to this calamity," he said, placing it firmly in her hands. "Yes, the wrappings were magically warded, as was the 'puzzle box', to prevent the unwary from being exposed to the cursed item that the box contained. It should have required reading and accepting the risk explained in the Chinese language inscription on each layer, on my part, or the efforts of a powerful mage if they could not read them, to get past those wards. Yet you apparently unsealed them, with no more effort than if they had not been there at all. I insist that it is my fault as well, because I have known since your job interview that you have... a most unusual affinity for magical items. I should have been more cautious."

"What do you mean?" Karen asked. "Like, except for this bracelet, I'd never touched anything magical before that day. Was what I did with this bracelet really that strange to you?"

"It was, yes. That bracelet... when I allowed you to wear it on Monday afternoon, the magic within it responded to your merest whim, allowing you to change your hair and fur coloration, and even your eyes, with what seemed like no effort on your part," Mister Chen replied. "I said nothing to you of how unusual this is, because I did not wish to alarm you, perhaps without reason. I had hoped to contact a true mage, to properly examine why this is so. And I had nothing else available to test your innate abilities with. As I told you, I am not a mage. But I am a magical scholar, and you activated a magical bracelet without using the intended methods for triggering it, bypassing the safeguards which were in place so that a whim or a passing thought did not change you accidentally, yet you remained fully in control of the changes it enabled you to make. I should have realized that other magical items might likewise readily obey your will. At the very least, I should have mentioned a potentially dangerous magical item was expected to arrive, and warned you not to open any packages."

"What... what are you saying?" Karen asked. "I didn't even believe magic was real until you proved it to me last Monday! I'm not a mage... am I? I mean, wouldn't I know, if I was?"

"I cannot say for sure," Mister Chen replied. "The requirements for the ability to wield magic are complex, in ways I myself do not quite comprehend. And this is not a good time to discuss the matter in detail, so late at night, when we are both upset. Perhaps tomorrow, we can sort this out. But I think, before this is done, we shall need the help of a mage, to lift your curse. Get some rest, if you can."

"I guess I'll try," Karen said. She looked ruefully at the bracelet, and softly added, "You know, on Monday, I thought I would do almost anything to own this nifty bracelet, once I saw what it can do. But this certainly was not what I had in mind. Thank you, Mister Chen. See you tomorrow, then. Good night."

They parted company, and she locked the door behind him. She turned the lights back off, saying to herself, "Maybe, when I wake up in the morning, this will all have just been a bad dream." Then she made her way in the dark to her futon couch bed, navigating just by the very dim light of a power strip's LED indicator light, near the far end of the couch.

She still had not found proper bedding to fit a futon-type mattress, so the bed was still folded up into its couch shape, with her sleeping bag lying lengthwise on it, and a small pillow at the far end. Without bothering to undress, she flopped on the couch and hurriedly laid down, eager for sleep to take her away from this madness.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, as her head struck the wooden armrest. Her feet were against the other end, but she was now too tall to fit on the length of the couch! Reluctantly, she turned on a floor lamp at the far end of the couch, and then got up and turned the main lights back on.

She walked over to the three-way mirror on the front of one of her wardrobe closets, and gazed forlornly at her reflection. "Please be a dream," she pleaded. But her reflection showed she was no longer a petite young woman, but really had somehow become a tall and muscular male wolf. She reluctantly unfastened the silk robe, and let it fall to the ground. Her sandals had been ruined, and she had tossed those in the dumpster on the way here. The waistband on her red plaid skirt was split open, and remained up only because her waist was now many inches larger. She had been wearing a white peasant blouse, and it was hopelessly shredded, with both arms and the back of the garment split wide open. Her upper arms looked to be nearly as thick as her thighs had been as a girl, and her thighs were even bigger! Her white sports bra was still intact, but quite uncomfortably tight around her larger diameter, but now very flat, chest. In fact, it was so tight that to remove it, she had to slip the bra downward, past her hips and to the floor, rather than up and over her wide shoulders!

She removed the damaged clothing, until she was just wearing her now too-small red bikini panties, which were held on only by a few threads on each side, the leg holes and waistband both having split apart. "Dammit! I just bought those panties this week!" She paused before removing them as well. She had taken a very brief peek inside her panties earlier, and knew there was now a male sheath beneath the damaged fabric, causing the bulge which she could all too clearly see. But she had never seen a male's genitals up close before. Oh, she had been skinny-dipping in mixed company before, but she had tried not to look at the guys' private parts. And none of them had been aroused, anyway. She took a deep breath and scooted the panties down around her ankles.

"Geeze! How am I ever gonna explain this to mom?" she asked herself. Even her voice sounded like a guy! She shuddered and tried to ignore the impulse to touch herself 'down there'... to explore how this new body 'worked'. "That cursed necklace somehow turned me into a guy, all right. Soooo... It's gotta be able to change me back into a girl, right? Don't panic, girl. I still know who I am. My body may be male, but I'm still me. Get some sleep, and Mister Chen and I will try to fix this tomorrow."

She unfolded the futon to make it a double bed, put Mister Chen's loaned silk robe back on as a substitute for her pajamas, which would never fit her now, and rotated the sleeping bag so she could lie down properly and sleep. Then she turned off the lights, and went to bed.

===

Karen had very disturbing dreams that night, ranging from herself suddenly becoming a monstrous werewolf, to deeply erotic dreams of herself as a male, engaging in sex with male friends she had known back home, but never dreamed of being intimate with. She awoke on Saturday morning to a very unsettling feeling in her groin area. She felt like she needed to pee, but... this was different than just a full bladder. She instinctively reached down to touch her groin, and recoiled as her hand encountered a very aroused male phallus, fully out of its sheath and knotted! "Oh shit! Dammit, that part wasn't a dream, was it?"

The apartment was still pitch dark. Her new light-blocking curtains were working rather well, but she could tell from the light around the edges and from faint traffic sounds outside that it was already well past dawn. She fumbled for her phone, which she had left on the futon bed's armrest, and checked the time. "Dang! It's ten fifteen? I already slept through most of the morning. Better get myself decent, before Mister Chen gets here."

She turned on the nearby floor lamp and groggily stumbled to her bathroom, trying not to look down at the engorged male organ that was sticking out from her groin like a flag pole, and bobbing obscenely as she walked. When she sat on the toilet, it was long enough that she had to readjust her position just to get the tip below the seat and pointed at the bowl. And then she had to hold the shaft, to point it downwards enough. But try as she might, despite a very full bladder, she could not pee.

She suddenly blushed and muttered, "Oh hell... you aren't gonna deflate on your own any time soon, are you?" Karen was a virgin, and this was the first time she had ever seen a stiff canine cock in person, let alone touched one! She had not even seen much online porn that showed them. But she had read several steamy and moderately erotic 'boddice ripper' novels, and belatedly recognized her condition as 'morning wood'. And those stories usually implied that it would take either sex with someone else, or masturbation, to get it to go down quickly... unless she wanted to take an ice-cold shower, which she detested the idea of. But those books had, fortunately, also included vague descriptions of how a guy could use just their hands, and perhaps some lotion or oil, to 'get a release'.

Karen had always been careful to keep her hymen intact, but she was no stranger to self-pleasure. She had been masturbating for a while now. Getting off with male genitals couldn't be that different... could it? She had a small bottle of strawberry flavored lubricant, which helped to prevent rubbing her clitty raw when she pawed off. So she got it from a bathroom drawer, poured a little on her hand, and tentatively started rubbing herself off.

At first, she was a bit frustrated. The pointed tip of her new cock did not seem to have an easily identified, concentrated spot, like her clitty, that was the most sensitive. So she massaged and stroked the whole exposed length, including the engorged knot. That certainly felt good, but the sensations still did not seem to be as powerful as when she stroked her clitty. When she finally started to make some progress, her hips started thrusting on their own, and she had to get off the toilet seat and onto her hands and knees to continue. She felt incredibly embarrassed as she used one hand to jerk off, while looking back between her legs at what she was doing, and panting uncontrollably.

When she finally did climax, the first spurts of semen caught her totally by surprise, and landed right in her open mouth! The savory taste startled her, yet... she actually found it rather pleasant? But it just kept spurting, splattering her face obscenely! She frantically held a hand over the tip, until she could crawl closer to the wastebasket and try to squirt the rest into it. Eventually her prolonged squirting stopped, her knot subsided, and she was finally able to get back to the toilet, and empty her full bladder.

She checked the time, and was appalled at how long it had taken to get her shaft unknotted and back into its sheath. "Nearly twenty minutes to get rid of that knot? How do guys manage to deal with this?"

Her right hand was soaked with canine semen, as was her face, and her other arm and her chest were also badly splattered. She felt like she reeked of sex! So she started up the shower, to wash herself off.

At about 11:30, while she was soaping down her chest fur, her hand suddenly encountered a hard object which had not been there a moment before. She blinked water out of her eyes and looked down. The cursed necklace was back around her neck! "DAMMIT! How did you get out of that box?" she exclaimed. And to make matters worse, she was feeling a strong urge to roll the die again! She shuddered in denial and finished her shower as fast as she could. Then she took the minimum time necessary to towel dry her hair and fur - just enough to not be dripping water all over the place as she rushed, naked, over to where she had left the magic box the necklace had been imprisoned in.

The puzzle box was still on the dinette table, tightly closed. There was no sign of it having been opened. Which meant it would probably be useless to try to tie it shut, so the sliding parts could not move to open it. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she performed the complicated task of opening the puzzle box again, then she shoved the cursed necklace back in its prison, and sealed it up inside. It was 11:45 am when she set it down, breathing a deep sigh of relief that the compulsion to roll the die had quite suddenly vanished, as soon as the box was fully sealed.

"Not yet, you damned thing! Much as I hope that you can fix what you did to me, I am not going to risk it again right now! Not without someone with me, in case you do something even worse to me!" she said, glaring at the puzzle box on her dinette table.

She was still shaking in fear as she fully dried her fur and hair, and brushed everything into some semblance of order. That necklace was just too weird. She decided her long, feminine hair looked quite out of place with her male body, so she tied it back in a low ponytail. Then she went back to the table, put on the magic bracelet, and stood in front of the trifold mirror, in the nude. "Okay, what should this guy look like?" she asked herself. She knew the bracelet only would change her coloration, and could see that her face would still, even as a male, bear a 'strong family resemblance' to her real appearance. A rather drastic color change would make it less obvious who she was. But she did not know what any males among her ancestors looked like. She was pretty sure her biological dad had been a timber wolf, but she didn't know if his fur was white, like Karen and her mom, or the more typical, darker colors. She had also never met her grandparents, on either side. She did, however, know what a few of her mother's male timber wolf friends looked like. She had even seen two of them naked, while skinny dipping with pagan friends. She tried to concentrate on one of them, while touching the magic bracelet. Her fur rapidly darkened to where her faint grey markings were now near black, in a mantling of mixed browns and dark greys on her head, face, back, flanks and shoulders, with her arms and legs and tummy fur becoming a darker, creamy white. The color change flowed down her tail, making most of it the same mixed dark grey and dark brown as her back and shoulders, and pure black at the tip of her tail, as well as black on the tips of her ears. Finally, her hair became a glossy, solid black color, and her blue eyes changed to golden brown. She stepped back and admired her handiwork, adjusting the darker markings until she liked what she saw in her reflection. The end result was no longer that family friend, but certainly looked nothing like Karen's coloration or markings. "Not bad," she remarked. "I'd date him... if he wasn't me... But I can't introduce myself as 'Karen' looking like this! Hummmm. How about 'Kraig'? Hi! I'm Karen's cousin, Kraig." she said to her reflection. "Yeah, I guess that will do. I'll be Kraig Wilson, ummmm, a cousin on my mom's side. No one here knows I only have my mom, and no other relatives. At least none who recognize me as such."

She safety-pinned a bath towel around her waist as a makeshift skirt, and put Mister Chen's silk robe back on. Now that she was calmer, she realized that the robe really did not fit her all that well. It was designed to close much more completely, fastened first with the waist belt she had secured it with last night, but then also fastened from neck to the right side of her waist with a row of close-spaced buttons. She could only fasten the two at the neck.

Once clothed, she fixed herself a pot of hot green tea, and set out her only two teacups, so she could offer some to her employer. Then she ate leftover Chinese food from the meal she had consumed before going to work yesterday, and settled down to await her visitor, with the puzzle box in front of her.

===

Mister Chen's knock on her door was quite punctual. So much so that Karen wondered if he had arrived earlier, and then patiently waited quietly outside her door, until the precise appointed time. He did a brief double take on seeing her new coloration, but then he merely nodded, and as he entered, he said, "Truly, you have mastered the use of that bracelet. A skilled artist would have difficulty painting those subtle color and shading variations. How long did it take you?"

"A couple of minutes, I think. But part of that was making slight adjustments, until I was happy with the look. I haven't seen the guy whose markings I was initially trying to replicate for, oh, I think two years." Karen replied. "But after I did him, I kept tweaking it until it felt right. This isn't him, it's... well, it's me!"

"Remarkable!" said Mister Chen. He handed her a pair of shopping bags which he had brought. "Well, first, here are the clothes and shoes I promised to bring. I am sure you want to get properly dressed. I included boxer briefs with a drawstring waist... they may be handy, when you resume your normal size again."

Karen accepted the clothes gratefully, said, "Thank you so much! There's hot green tea on the table. Help yourself," and ducked behind the wall of wardrobe cabinets to change. She stepped back out a few moments later, wearing loose fitting blue jeans, with a leather belt that was pierced all the way from the tip to the buckle, inexpensive black deck shoes with black socks, and a loose brown t-shirt. "I see the belt also allows me to cinch the waist of the pants way down. Good call. If I change, and become smaller again, at least I can roll up the cuffs of the jeans and be decently clothed. By the way, that damned necklace only stayed in the box for twelve hours. It reappeared around my neck at 11:30, while I was showering, just like it did after you rolled the die for me last night. But this time, as soon as it was on me, I felt that urgent need to roll the die again. I resisted it and stuffed it back in the box. The urge vanished when I sealed the box. That would have been at about a quarter to twelve."

"Indeed? I feared as much," Mister Chen said. "I spent some time last night studying the notes that were sent to me with the box. It said the artifact should be safely contained, but only so long as no one opened the box. Whoever opened it would then have to resist a very strong compulsion to open the necklace and roll the die. Yet even if taken out, it should be safe to examine and put back in the box, as long as no one touches the uncaged die within it. You see, the curse bonds itself to the first person to unseal and touch the uncaged die."

"Which was me," Karen said with a sigh. "The urge sure was strong, I have to agree. Is there any way to get rid of the curse?"

"I should hope so, but the notes do not address that point. They do, however, state that if someone is cursed by it, they likely are better off obeying the compulsion, rather than trying to fight it. The compulsion starts when cursed, and repeats each day after that. Trying to resist it for too long of a time will make you ill, at the very least. But they believe the artifact was never intended to actually harm the victim. The prince who had it made reportedly loved his concubine who he gifted it to. One presumes the random choices will, at times, restore your original state," Mister Chen said reassuringly. "And there is one other hope mentioned. The mage who sent it believes there may be a way to control the outcome of the changes. They do not know how to do that, however."

"But why would they send it to you? Were they trying to get you cursed?" Karen asked

"I think not, as they included the notes warning of the curse, and the wrapping layers also had warnings, if you can read Chinese," he replied. "I am well regarded for my skill as a magical researcher. Forewarned of the danger, they knew I probably would have successfully resisted the urge, and could have examined it for brief periods, and sealed it safely away again, as often as needed. But unfortunately, once the curse is active, the box can only keep the necklace and its victim apart for a short span of time. And the box apparently then has a limit for how many hours per moon it can imprison the activated curse. You said you felt compelled to roll it again, the moment it reappeared? This implies that sealing it in the box also resets the compulsion spell, and your ability to roll the cursed die. Well, if it remained in the box for half a day, it should do so again this time. This gives us some time to prepare."

"That's what I was hoping. I really didn't want to do it again, while I was alone. I mean, who knows what else it could do to me?" Karen said. "By the way, I figure it's best to plan on me being stuck as a guy for a while, since it seems the curse limits how often we can roll the die to change me. That's why I changed my coloring - to pass for being a different person. My mind still says I'm Karen, and that I should be female. But I can't be introduced as Karen when I look like I'm obviously a guy, right? So I was thinking of calling this guy 'Kraig Wilson', and you could pass him off as my cousin."

"That can work," Mister Chen said. "And how did you feel, after using the bracelet to make such a complex change? Tired? Hungry?"

"Not really any different," Karen replied. "I was already hungry, but I wanted to come up with a different look before you got here, so I would not be recognized when I go out. I was still hungry after, but not really any more than before. And I had just slept for about ten hours, so I'm not tired at all. Why? Should I be?"

"Almost anyone else would be exhausted, and most could not do it at all. From what I know of that bracelet, and from personal experience, most people got tired and hungry merely from making one major, solid-color change with that bracelet - a similar exertion to having walked a mile at a brisk pace. And that simple type of color change made no changes to the shadings of markings already there. It was more like bathing in a dye bath, and adding a color atop the existing coloration, though you could with the same effort go lighter, without first bleaching the old color out. Complex changes are much harder. Or they should be. I had expected you to try one or two simple, solid-color changes, and be done, too tired from the effort to wish to do more. The rapid-fire, complex changes you performed so effortlessly on the day of your interview were very unexpected, and surely would have caused Mia or I to pass out. So would attempting the very subtle and unique color and shading differences on your current appearance," he replied. "I can only assume that you have much deeper reserves of magical energy in your body than a typical person, or... that you can readily tap... other sources of such power."

"Wait... You... the tone of your voice... it makes that other choice seem like a really bad thing. Is it?" Karen asked, with a concerned frown.

"It... could be... depending on whether or not you can control where you get the power from, and how much you take," Mister Chen said. "There are ways to draw power from the environment - the heat in an object, the energy in sunlight, the power of moving things... I have seen a mage freeze the surface of a large pool of water, while powering a spell that drew heat from the area around her. These are all mostly harmless. But magical energy and life force are also closely related. Now if in fact you just naturally have a lot of magical energy, stored within you, like a battery, then you, or a mage who knows this, and who has an ability such as you seem to possess, could draw that energy from within you, without harming you. You might not even notice, if you were not a mage yourself. But if that magical energy is drained from you past a certain point, and whoever is doing so recklessly keeps trying, they then might begin to deplete your life force. It could weaken you physically, cause you to age unnaturally... or even kill you. You would certainly notice when it passes that threshold and starts draining your life. But without proper training to shield yourself from being drained, you might have no inkling of what was happening, and no defense against it. Legends of vampires are likely from persons with the ability to draw energy from others, who used it recklessly."

"Okay, now you have me seriously frightened," Karen said. "I don't want to hurt people, for sure! But is there any way I can shield myself?"

"Fortunately, yes. Even a non-mage like myself can learn to be self-aware, and can also discipline their mind to make attacks more difficult. Meditation, certain martial arts, and other practices can aid you, even if you cannot cast spells. I learned some of this in my own attempt to become a mage, so I can teach you the basics," he replied. "But as there are few mages in the world, an attack of that form is not likely. Especially if they do not know you are of interest to them.

"Good. But if I can do any of that energy stuff, doesn't that make me a mage? Just one with no training?" Karen asked.

"It does not, no. Nor does the ability to store or drain energy give one the ability to overcome wards or easily use artifacts. I have met mage's assistants who were excellent and willing providers of power for their Master's or Mistress's magical efforts, but who could cast no spells themselves. Either storing or draining energy are very useful skills for a mage, but there is more to it than that. You said you had skill drawing portraits? The ability to visualize complex images is likely why you can so easily recreate a fur pattern you have not seen for years. A keen mind and strong sense of willpower and intuition are essential, as well. All these, and the ability to either harness deep reserves of power within yourself, or to access other sources of power, you appear to have, yet you still may not be an untrained potential mage," Mister Chen replied. "In my case, I have only a little more inherent energy than the average person, and I can only with great difficulty access other sources, except for artifacts which are essentially magical batteries, which a true mage must add power to, before I use it. This limited how far I could progress, and was why I ceased seeking my goal. What it requires, beyond the training level which I reached, I do not know."

"So, what do we do now?" Karen asked. "Send a desperate call for help to a mage who makes house calls? Travel to Nepal or wherever, to seek a real mage? Call some magical version of 9-1-1?"

"On Monday, I will try to contact a few of the mages I know. One may be able to offer advice. We can also try some experimentation in my workshop, if you are willing. Perhaps, if I observe how you are affected through several changes, and given enough time to study the inscriptions on the box and the necklace, and on the die itself, I may find some answers. I am sure that, eventually, one of my mage friends will be able to aid us. But as with any specialist, it may take time to get an opportunity to see them," Mister Chen replied.

"I guess I will have to accept that. Don't really have much choice, do I?" Karen asked.

"I am afraid this is so," Mister Chen replied. "But before I go, I can, however, offer you a little more information on that bracelet. When a new person puts it on, it stores information about their coloration. No matter what changes you make with it, you can effortlessly change back to your true self. I was going to show you this before, but you rewrote your coloration so perfectly as to not need the information. Look on the inside of your wrist. See this symbol, which resembles a spiral, deformed into a heart? Touch that intentionally, and think that you wish to restore your true form, and it will happen. It somehow always can detect how you looked prior to any changes that the bracelet made. Likewise, there are a pair of symbols on opposite sides of your wrist, here, and here. And four more on the back of your wrist. Touch this one, and one of these four, and whatever changes you have made from your true form will be recorded. Then you may touch this other side and the one used to store a change, to recall it perfectly. When the bracelet came into my possession, it had stored in it three hair colorations, and one body fur color. Several variations have been stored and recalled since then."

"Oh, now that rocks!" Karen said. "That would be a lot easier than looking in a mirror and doing it!"

"Immeasurably so, for most people. For you, it may at least be convenient," he agreed. "So, have there been any other unusual occurrences since the curse affected you?"

Karen blushed and said, "Well... when I woke up, I was... aroused... But that's normal for guys my age, isn't it?"

"It is often known to occur in males who are still young and fertile," he replied. "Speaking of which, I would advise caution when engaging in sex, especially if you are in female form, and if you should feel urged to reckless activity. I cannot guess how your body might react, if you became pregnant, and then the curse attempted to make your genitalia male. Nor would I assume, even if as a woman you were on hormonal birth control, that as a male you would be infertile."

"I'm a virgin, sir," Karen replied. "And I'm in no hurry to change that. So sex should not be a problem."

"Do not be so sure," Mister Chen said. "The necklace was designed to be used by a royal concubine. It would amaze me if it was incapable of affecting how easily you are aroused, or how strongly you desire sexual relations. If you feel your desires or attitudes are changed in any way, be cautious."

"Well, okay, I will... So, what's next, then? Can we start trying to figure this out today and tomorrow, while your shop is closed for the weekend?" Karen asked.

"Yes, but I must first make certain preparations in my workshop," Mister Chen said. "I should also call Mia, to reassure her that you are unharmed. May I ask her to join us, later tonight? I do not think she will object."

"Sure, why not, at this point?" Karen replied. "When do you want me, and where?"

"Be at the shop at eleven tonight, if you please, and of course, bring the puzzle box, with the necklace still inside. I want to start before the necklace emerges on its own again. Also bring a change of female clothes and shoes," he replied. "Oh, and before I forget, here is a key to the shop's front door, for you."

Karen accepted the key, and said, "All right then, see you at eleven."

===

After Mister Chen left, Karen tried on her motorcycle helmet without its liner, and found the fit was acceptable. She also tried on her larger second-hand motorcycle jacket. That now fit as well, no longer too big for her. But then she looked in the mirror, heaved a deep sigh, and hung the jacket and helmet back up again. "No, as much as I would love to go out for a long ride, I'd better not. If I get stopped, the cops would never believe Karen's license was valid for this big guy!"

She looked down at the palm sides of both hands, and wondered aloud, "Are my fingerprints still even the same? Or did that change too? Oh geeze, even if I change back, will they be the same as before? How could I ever legally prove who I am, after this? Ohhhh, this whole situation is just one big can of worms! I can't even safely use my credit card! Well, maybe it would be safe to use it online, or to use it or my debit card, to get money from an ATM, or to buy stuff at a self-serve checkout station. But I'm glad I have some cash in my purse!"

She put her keys in one pocket, and some cash in the other front pocket, and headed out the door, locking it carefully behind herself. Her first stop was only a few blocks away - a thrift store, next to the rescue mission - to get a few more cheap clothing items. She got a good buy on a zip-up, hooded sweatshirt, and on a denim jacket. And even though she did not want to risk using her motorcycle unless necessary, she couldn't pass up a set of black motorcycle gloves that fit her larger hands. She also bought a fake leather 'fanny pack', thinking it could serve as a purse that would also not look out of place when worn by a guy. But more importantly, it was also just large enough to hold the puzzle box. The way things were going, she did not feel like she wanted to let that accursed thing out of her sight for long. She also bought a small gym bag. And by the time she was done there, she was feeling relatively confident about being out in public as a guy. No one seemed to notice anything odd about her. If anything, they seemed more courteous and deferential. Maybe 'male privilege' was more of a thing than she had thought? Or maybe they just did not want to make a big, muscular wolf mad...

She went back to her apartment to drop off the clothes, and packed the gym bag with what she might need later tonight - a change of her female clothes and shoes, and her usual purse. She left that on the dinette table, strapped on the fanny pack, with the puzzle box in it, and went out again.

After wandering aimlessly for a while, she found herself at the waterfront park. There was a craft fair going on, mostly sheltered under the end of one of the bridges that crossed the river. As she browsed the stalls, she stopped at a jewelry maker, and her hand instinctively went to one of her ears, to check on her earrings. As Karen, she had one piercing in each ear, and she had been wearing fake ruby stud earrings when the curse transformed her. Since awakening as a guy, she had not given them any thought. She found the studs were still in her ears, just hidden under the more fluffy fur that this form had near the base of his ears. She pondered getting a few pairs of more masculine earrings, but decided to wait.

As the sun started to set, she got some food from a market vendor, sat on a bench in a nice, sunny spot, and enjoyed people-watching while she ate. It took her several minutes to realize that even though she was a guy now, it was almost always other guys who she was checking out... looking at their muscular arms, tight asses, and flat bellies, and she even caught herself unconsciously smiling as they passed. In the past, while her interest level had not been very high, she had usually admired both genders equally. Well, she had remarked, after the second die roll last night, that she was perhaps more interested now in guys than in girls, hadn't she? There still wasn't a very strong attraction, to be sure. She was still a relatively shy virgin. But the male eye candy and beefcake on display here was definitely getting her... attention... oh, no... she looked at her lap, and realized she was getting quite visibly aroused again! Not knotted, thankfully, but there was a definite bulge straining the front of her jeans. And she had been relaxing like a man, with her knees spread wide apart. She immediately blushed, moved her knees a good 18 inches closer together, and looked around, hoping no one had noticed.

But with a sinking feeling, she realized that she was already being approached by a slender and rather femme saluki boy, in very short cutoffs and a rainbow striped tank top. "He was pretty cute, wasn't he?" the saluki said softly, flicking his long, auburn hair with one hand, and glancing in the direction of the last bare chested canine guy that Karen had been watching jog past her. "He's taken, though. Barry hooked up with an adorable Doberman femme, last month. Pity. But you picked a good place for people watching. This is my favorite place to watch for new people to meet. I'm Jessi. Haven't seen you around here before. Mind if I join you?"

"Uhhh, yeah, I guess. I'm... Kraig. I'm... visiting a cousin, who just moved here." Karen said, blushing and having trouble making eye contact. "But I wasn't... I mean..."

"Oh? I could have sworn you were watching that tight ass of his, as Barry jogged past you. I know I sure was. *sigh* Doesn't hurt to look, even when you can't get it, right?" Jessi said with a wink. "Hey, don't be nervous, honey. I'm harmless. I just flirt shamelessly. And honestly, most of the folks out at this end of the park tonight are as queer as a three-dollar bill, so you can relax and be yourself around here, even if you aren't out back home. Or is my gaydar completely out of whack tonight? Were you really scoping out that cute poodle girl in the tight yoga pants, waaaay over there by the picnic table?"

Karen sighed, "It's... not that, I just... ummm, look, yeah, I'm queer too, but I'm not used to, well... I, ummmm... don't have much experience, all right? And I really didn't come here to hook up. I mean, I'm sure you're nice and all, but... oh geeze..."

"Aaaaand... I just embarrassed the shit outa you, didn't I? Hey, I'm sorry, honey! And it's okay, really. I just thought, 'Hey, there's a really cute new stud over there. Maybe I should pounce him, before someone else does', you know?" Jessi said. "Consent both ways is totally required with me, sweetie. So no harm, no foul. But I'm gonna tell you honestly, you could Top me any time you want to. And I think whoever does land you is one lucky puppy! I'll leave you alone then. But... you can usually find me at Inferno, or at Chasers Club, if you change your mind."

"Oh well... I'm only 18. I... I don't go to bars and stuff." Karen said.

"I'm 20, and neither do I. Inferno has a few nice options for 18-20 entertainment, and Chasers is a queer teens and tweens club on Blake street, a few blocks North of Inferno," Jessi said, as he got up. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Kraig. And I was serious, that you could do me... you're definitely my type. But hey, if I'm not yours, that's cool with me too. Hope you enjoy your visit!"

Karen watched the femboy leave, with very mixed emotions. Then she slowly got up, and made her way back to her apartment, stopping at the deli to grab a sandwich and soda, in case she needed to eat while they worked.

===

When Karen got to the Curiosity Shoppe, only one light was on inside, back by the cash register. Mister Chen was waiting just inside the door. "Ah! Mister Kraig, you are looking well! Come in, come in, please. All is ready, and Mia is waiting at the door of my workshop for us."

After locking the door behind them, Mister Chen led Karen into the back room behind the cash register, and down the stairs to the basement, turning off the lights behind them as he went. Mia was waiting by the door to one of the two storage rooms which extended under the sidewalk in front of the shop. "Mia, may I present 'Mister Kraig Wilson'... otherwise known as our friend, Karen Bright. It will be appreciated if, when you see her like this in a more public setting, you use male pronouns, and address her as Kraig."

"Wow! Karen? Is that really you? And you've changed again - you were still white last night, right?" Mia asked, walking slowly around 'Kraig'.

"Yeah, it's me," Karen replied, holding up the wrist she had the bracelet on. "Mister Chen gave me his magic bracelet, so I could change my fur color, too."

"Woah! You even sound like a guy! And you did that coloring change with Mister Chen's magic bracelet? Wow! I've tried using it once, and I darned near fainted just trying to use that thing to do a black-to-purple ombre in my hair! You're amazing! Are you a trained mage?" Mia asked.

"Not at all. I never even knew magic was real, before Mister Chen proved it to me. But he says I have some sort of talent, at least for using magic artifacts," Karen replied.

"That's putting it mildly, my friend," Mia said. "So, what do we need to do?"

Mister Chen unlocked his workroom, using a different lock code than the other shop doors used, and led them in, turning on only the lights near the center of the room, as they entered. "As I explained earlier this evening, Karen has been affected by a cursed necklace, which was sent to me for examination. We do not yet know if tonight's experimentation will restore her petite female form, but we hope to at least gain a better understanding."

"And this will be safe, right boss?" Mia asked nervously, as she looked around the workroom. A table and three chairs were set up in the middle of the room, as well as a camping style cot with a pillow and a dark blue bed sheet draped over it, and a trifold Chinese room divider screen behind it. Surrounding the table and surrounding the cot were quite a few lights on stands, and digital cameras on tripods, all of which looked to be controlled by a small box on the table, which had wires running to each device. A kitchen weight scale and a laptop computer were also attached to that box. There were also three microphones, one at each chair. Slightly off to one side was a workbench, laden with small tools, a magnifying glass on a swing arm, surrounded by a bright, ring-shaped light, and a microscope, as well as several bottles of assorted sizes, shapes and colors, containing various liquids. It also had an array of lights and cameras aimed at it. The walls were lined with various bookshelves, storage cabinets, and chests, and there were strange symbols marked on the floor, ceiling, and each wall. "What is all this stuff? You've never let me in here before."

"I would not have involved either of you, if I thought it unsafe," he replied to Mia. "Indeed, if all had gone as planned, the puzzle box and its contents would have been safely locked in this room, and neither of you would have seen it, unless I had examined it and determined it to be safe. This room was set up for me by two of the mages I am acquainted with. They cast protective warding spells on the walls, floor and ceiling, to contain any harmful or malevolent forces which might accidentally be set loose by my magical research efforts. The cameras and other equipment are ordinary, but will permit us to record what transpires, from several angles, for later review. Some of the equipment records in the ultraviolet or infrared ranges. The lights, power, and fire safety apparatus for this room are also independent from the rest of the building. As for the curse, it has attached itself to Karen, and until we find a means of freeing her from it, the curse will remain with her."

"Gee thanks... this is quite a setup," Karen said. "So... you said there's magic protecting the walls, floor and ceiling. Some of those books and scrolls over there are magical too, aren't they?" She pointed to a specific bookshelf.

Mister Chen looked startled. "You can tell this?" he asked. "Can you... indicate which ones? Or are you merely inferring that it must be so, from what I have already said?"

"I... I'm not even sure why I said that, honestly. It just... felt right? I mean, it's not like anything in here was glowing like black light painted stuff, or anything. Hummmm..." She walked around the room slowly, with her eyes half closed, not touching anything, but occasionally reaching out to almost touch something. After she returned to where she started, she said, "Well, if I had to place a bet... it seems pretty likely for that hardback book on the reading stand, with a purple velvet cover and gold lettering on the spine, and a lock on it? And... those two scrolls, maybe... that one, too." She began to speak with more confidence, pointing to a chest and several other things, before shaking her head and saying. "I... think that's all? Or maybe my imagination is just in overdrive right now."

"How? You... you are almost entirely correct! Most of the enchantments are just to protect a rare book from being damaged, and a few of those scrolls which you pointed out are indeed artifacts, which allow a non-magical person to cast certain spells. But how could you know this?" Mister Chen asked.

"Well, I know the bracelet and the necklace in the puzzle box are real magic, and you said those things drawn on the walls, floor and ceiling are too. So I just... tried to find things that sort of felt the same? I didn't think it would really work..." she said.

"You 'felt' a difference? Perhaps this is your innate talent for using magical energies at work," Mister Chen guessed. "If you get any other unexpected feelings or impressions, please share them. Now, would you please place the puzzle box on that small platform in the middle of the table? It is a sensitive weight scale. I hope it will detect if the artifact within the box ceases to be contained. And... could you remove your jacket and shirt, Kraig? If the necklace returns to you, as I expect it will soon, I want to be able to record the moment it does so. Then we should all sit down."

"Well, okay. But I want to put the shirt back on when I try rolling the die again. I don't wanna be topless if I turn back into my female self again!" Karen said, stripping to the waist and placing the puzzle box as directed.

Mia asked, "So... exactly what are we expecting to happen?"

"That puzzle box was enchanted to serve as a containment for a cursed necklace. But once the curse was activated, it appears to only contain it for about twelve hours," Mister Chen replied.

Karen looked at her phone, and said, "The necklace appeared around my neck late this morning, out of nowhere, twelve hours after I locked it in the box, on the night I got cursed. I was in the shower at the time. And as soon as it showed up, I had a really strong urge to use it again. Fortunately, I was able to resist long enough to lock it back in the box again. In about five minutes, it will be twelve hours since then. So I guess now, we watch, and see if it 'escapes' again."

"Just so," Mister Chen agreed, as he tapped in a few commands on his laptop. "I have turned on all the recording equipment facing this table, and ourselves. Please be still and quiet."

They sat in silence until 11:45, staring at the puzzle box. And then there was a faint flash of light from the wards on the cube.

"Eeeep! Oh geeze, that felt weird! It's back!" Karen said, gesturing to the necklace she was now wearing. "The urge to roll the die is back, too. About like when it first cursed me, or the last time it popped out of that box."

"Try to resist, please," Mister Chen requested. "Can you take it off, and set it on the table in front of you, please?"

"I think so, yeah. Just a sec," Karen replied, as she unfastened the clasp below her ponytail, and set the necklace down. "It's gonna go back to my neck, isn't it?" she asked.

"Perhaps... Last night, you were frightened of the magic. You set it down and almost immediately backed away, as far as you could," Mister Chen said. "Try to wait more than five minutes, with it close to you. I want to see if, perhaps, you can keep it close, without actually wearing it. Let me know if you have any difficulty resisting the compulsion to open it."

"Not easy, but... okay," Karen replied.

"Now Mia, look at the necklace," Mister Chen said. "When I tried to help Karen last night, I was also able to open the necklace and roll the die four times for her, to effect a second change to her form. She was still the one affected, and I was unharmed. I expect each of us may do so, once per day. This is one of the reasons I asked you to aid us tonight. See the point where the chain meets the gold cage enclosing the die? That unscrews about four turns, to open the cage and release the die."

"Okay, I think I see how that part works," Mia replied.

They sat quietly for a while, and after five minutes, the necklace still remained on the table. So Mister Chen had Karen back away one foot at a time, waiting a minute each time, before moving further away. They eventually determined that it returned to her if she got more than eight feet away, with a five-minute delay after that, before it appeared around her neck.

"I don't know if I can hold off much longer, guys," Karen said, with a strained look on her face.

"Give the necklace to Mia, and she can try rolling it for you," Mister Chen said. "This will allow us to observe and record the change, and to see if that lifts the compulsion from you as well. Lay down on the cot, with your t-shirt back on, so you will not be harmed if it causes you to sleep again."

Mia took the necklace, opened it and looked at the die, and asked, "Weird. It's throbbing, and it feels warm. Sort of like it has a heartbeat. But should it be doing anything to me now? It just looks like a gamer's eight-sided die, to me. I don't feel any strange urges."

"You should, after the first roll," Mister Chen said. "Begin, please."

Mia called out the results of each of her rolls, glancing at Karen after each one. "4, 5, 5, 6. OH! Where did it go?"

They both looked at Karen, who had just passed out. The die, in its necklace, was around her neck, atop her shirt. As they watched, her body shrank in size, to Karen's original 4' 11" height, but it did not appear that she regained her breasts. The change took less than a minute.

"Karen? Can you hear me?" Mister Chen asked. He touched the sleeping wolf on the shoulder, and tried again. "Wake up, Karen!" he said, a bit louder

"Umfh. I'm awake... gimmee a minute." Their voice sounded more like a young boy's voice, rather than either Karen's feminine voice or 'Kraig's' deep, masculine voice. The drowsy, smaller wolf shook their head, and sat up on the cot, facing away from the others, and checked under their shirt, and in their pants. Then they gave a deep sigh, and stood up, while holding their pants up. Without turning around, they said, "Would you hand me that gym bag, so I can get dressed please?"

"Of course. Were we successful?" Mister Chen replied, placing their gym bag on the cot.

Karen did not reply right away. She picked up her phone and the gym bag, and ducked behind the screen.

"Not quite, no," the youthful male voice replied from behind the screen. "But the compulsion to roll the die myself is gone, at least..."

They stepped out again, wearing one of Karen's pink, boat-neck t-shirts, which they had shifted to expose one shoulder. And they were wearing one of Karen's red miniskirts, and a pair of her wedge heeled sandals. But they had no breasts, and there was a rather visible male bulge tenting the front of their skirt. They took their hair out of the ponytail, and used the bracelet to change their fur to Karen's white fur and markings, and then their hair shifted to a cotton candy pink. "*sigh* This time it made me into a gay femboy... My body may be small and girly, but what's in my panties is male, and so is my mind this time. And the only compulsion I am feeling right now is that I really, really want to find some big, muscular guy and make out like crazy! I'm more horny than I can ever remember being in my life! And I'm feeling kind of on the submissive side too, come to think of it."

"And you're adorable!" Mia said with a giggle. "Like you stepped out of the pages of a Yaoi manga comic!"

Mister Chen sighed. "It is as I feared. The curse also affects your sexual urges! The question now, however, is 'do we continue'? It is nearly one in the morning."

Karen took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, she said, "I'm almost tempted to quit for now, and go check out some of the night life that allows teens and tweens to join in... but... I did make a promise to mom... Even if she'd never recognize me like this. I... I think I'll be okay, until this thing makes me roll it again. And I still haven't touched it, so maybe we can get together fairly early tomorrow, and continue then?"

"As you wish. I shall examine the recordings we made. Ten AM, here?" Mister Chen replied. "But please, stay at home tonight!"

"I promise to be a good boy," Karen said with a giggle. "But I might stay up half the night, checking out Yaoi porn on the Internet!"