That night Giovanna dreamt of climbing a tall mountain. In the dream she was wearing a white robe. Just like with the lovage concoction, she would have loved that robe in different circumstances. But she knew why she was wearing it this time. And suddenly it felt like the most uncomfortable fabric in the world. The hike was difficult and Giovanna only climbed the mountain because she wanted the ritual to be over.

  Soon Giovanna saw the summit of the mountain. She felt relief, but more because she finally could rest. On the summit there was a ke with dark blue water. In the ke there was another woman-looking person wearing the same kind of robe.

  “Welcome,” Giovanna greeted that person and sat in the ke too.

  Giovanna closed her eyes simply wishing for the night to be over and for her to return to her room.

  The other person bathing in the ke grew interested in Giovanna. They knew why she was there. She was there for the exact same reason as them.

  “Hey, how many times have you done this already?” they asked. “You don’t have to answer if you’d prefer so.”

  “Eighth,” said Giovanna, not even opening her eyes. “And I hope the ninth time will be the st.”

  “I see… For me this is my seventh time. And I hope this one will be the st.”

  Giovanna felt a bit of connection with the other person with the ke. She knew what they were referencing. Even if she didn’t know anything else about them.

  “I hope so too,” she said.

  Suddenly that person’s eyes started to suddenly close and their head became heavy.

  “Looks like my night is ending,” they said. “Well then… Goodbye!”

  “Goodbye!” said Giovanna.

  They closed their eyes, fell face first into the ke and disappeared. Their ritual has ended and they returned to their bed wherever in the world it might have been.

  Giovanna weirdly liked these meetings in the ke. Those ephemeral moments of meeting someone performing that same ritual as you for any reason. Maybe someone that is still searching for their desirable results. Maybe someone that has already realised what the results they want and are aiming for them. Or maybe someone that already achieved their desired results and now wants to hide them. Just like her right at that moment.

  Giovanna sat back and tried to rex. She really wanted the night to end.

  In the morning Giovanna felt just as sleepy as in the evening. The candle has completely burned out. Giovanna threw it out to tidy her room up a bit. Then she dressed up in a hurry and without thinking about her looks. For breakfast Giovanna ate a bowl of cereal without milk. This time she preferred the quickness of preparation and consumption over health benefits. After breakfast Giovanna rushed out of her ft without even doing her usual morning tarot reading. She did not need it that morning. And she simply wanted to quickly leave the house.

  Sarah felt weird about her day at school. She did not see Giovanna at all. Sarah was worried about her friend. Was Giovanna feeling well? Was she sick? Was she in trouble? Or was her absence actually reted to the visit of her parents?

  Sarah couldn’t help, but think about it on her way home. She really hoped Giovanna was alright.

  When Sarah arrived home she noticed that aunt Caitlyn had a guest. A boy about Sarah’s age. He was sitting at the dinner table and was likely waiting for a meal. He saw Sarah and greeted her.

  “Hello, Sarah. You didn’t expect to see me like that, did you?”

  Sarah remembered how once Ursu told her that she is afraid of newly met people. At that moment Sarah understood perfectly what Ursu meant.

  “How do you know my name?” Sarah asked the mysterious boy.

  Just at this moment aunt Caitlyn entered the room ughing.

  “Don’t worry, Sarah,” aunt Caitlyn said. “It’s Giovanna.”

  Hearing the name of her friend Sarah became ultimately confused. That was Giovanna? Just yesterday Giovanna was a girl. And in fact she has been one since Sarah remembered. There was only one logical expnation.

  “Some magic shenanigans again?” Sarah asked.

  “Yes, you’re right,” said Giovanna. “But let it be known that I don’t like it a bit.”

  “Hold up, is that why you weren’t at school today?” asked Sarah.

  “Yes, I…,” said Giovanna. “I prefer not coming to school looking like that.”

  “Girls, how about you go to Sarah’s room to talk about this?” said aunt Caitlyn. “And in the meantime I’ll finish cooking the roast beef.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Giovanna. “Well then… Let’s go…”

  She threw her masculine body off the chair and began shuffling up the stairs. Sarah followed her upstairs.

  Just before her room Sarah remembered a seemingly insignificant encounter. Lily the selkie. She remembered how selkies use different names in their seal forms and their human forms. Maybe it was the same with Giovanna?

  “Do you have a man name?” Sarah asked.

  Giovanna hesitated whether or not to tell Sarah. But she decided she could actually do it. She’s gonna use that name with her parents anyway. So she should let Sarah know just in case.

  “When I’m like that you can call me Giancarlo.”

  “Okay.”

  They went inside Sarah’s room. Sarah closed the door and the guest sat on the bed.

  “So, Giancarlo… You had something to expin to me, right?” asked Sarah.

  Hearing that name made its user suddenly feel disgusted. She realised she couldn’t listen to it when she didn’t have to. She indeed had some time to forget that.

  “Actually, wait! Please, still call me Giovanna! Unless my parents are listening,” said Giovanna.

  “Alright,” said Sarah. “But can you finally tell me what is going on, Giovanna?”

  Yes, that sounded better.

  Giovanna gulped and tried to expin.

  “Do you know what transgender means?” Giovanna asked.

  “Yes, I do,” said Sarah.

  And suddenly a realisation fell on her like heavy hail.

  “Wait… Are you transgender?”

  “Bingo!” Giovanna said. She ran her hands across her masculine body. “This is how I was born.”

  Sarah needed some time to process everything. She still did not understand some things about the situation. It still seemed abstract.

  “May I ask you some questions?” Sarah said.

  “Yeah, sure. Go on,” said Giovanna.

  “First of all, can you change your body because of some kind of magic?”

  “Precisely. There exists a ritual that allows you to do so as you sleep.”

  That seemed logical to Sarah.

  “Well… That expins how you could change so quickly and unexpectedly,” Sarah said. “But I still want to know one more thing.”

  “And what is that?” asked Giovanna.

  “Don’t answer if you don’t want to, but… You never mention this and suddenly you appear in my home looking like an almost grown man. Why?”

  There were a few questions hidden in what Sarah asked. Giovanna tried to answer each of them.

  “If you want to know why I never told you, then it’s because I simply never saw it as necessary. Since I can have a feminine body, I prefer to keep silent about it and only disclose it when it’s necessary. They call it stealth. If you want to know why I’m here, then it’s because I don’t want to go to school looking like that. They don’t know and I’d prefer to leave it like that. And if you want to know why I changed back…”

  Giovanna paused as if she hesitated. Or as if the answer was painful for her. But Sarah remembered some things. She remembered Giovanna felt uneasy about her parents coming home. And that she specified that she wants to use her masculine name only when her parents are around.

  “Your parents don’t know yet?” Sarah asked.

  “That’s right,” Giovanna said. “I simply don’t know what to do about it.”

  “I see… Well… I hope it turns out well.”

  “Thank you. I guess I have to come out sooner or ter.”

  Meanwhile on the other side of the city Angelo was going to Giovanna’s house. The demands from Lord Alfred have left him with a serious dilemma and he wanted to seek advice from his girlfriend.

  Unfortunately no one was home. It wasn’t surprising to Angelo since it was te school hours. He was about to leave and visit someone else when he noticed two people walking to the house. Angelo knew these people. They were Giovanna’s parents. They knew him as their child’s friend. Angelo always wondered when she would tell them the whole truth. Not only about her identity, but also about their retionship.

  “Oh! Mr. and Ms. Alighieri! Good morning!” Angelo greeted them.

  “Ah! Good morning, Angelo!” Ms. Alighieri smiled.

  “Fancy seeing you here at this hour,” said Mr. Alighieri. “Is our son not at school?”

  “He is, it seems,” said Angelo. “You finish high school, take a gap year and suddenly you forget how the timetables work.”

  Everybody ughed at Angelo’s joke.

  “Well, tell him hi from us if you meet him,” said Mr. Alighieri.

  “Roger that,” said Angelo. “I’ll be going now.”

  And so Angelo left. He wondered who he should visit next. He really needed some words of advice.