Ari nudged Fai’lana in the morning. “Rise’n’shine, Fai! Time to get a move-on. We gotta get you a new look!”

The slender platinum-blonde woman stirred, and mumbled “Five more miinutes.”

“Ok. Then I’m eating all the breakfast by myself.”

“Mmm? Food?” she mumbled as her stomach growled loudly. She sighed. “Oh-kaaay, fine. I’m getting up.”

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and then realized she was half-naked, thinking her primary set of clothes were still hanging over the door to dry… but when she looked overat the table, not only were there two plates of food, but a neatly folded stack of her clothes.

“You’re awfully diligent this early,” Fai’lana said, an eyebrow cocked upward.

“Yeah… I was bored. I’ve been up a couple hours now,” Arisa replied.

“Ugh. I’m never ready to get moving until daylight is warming my windowsill.”

“Well Fai, if you’re gonna be an adventurer, you’re gonna have to start getting up early. Gotta get the jump on the day, and more importantly the monsters. So get used to it, your ladyship.”

Fai stretched, stumbled over to the table and flopped into the chair, delicately picking at her food. “Ok, Ari. Guess I should hurry up and get ready.” She pulled on her shirt and pants between bites of the egg and ham Ari had gotten for them. It was really good after not having had much of her dinner last night. She pulled on her boots, bandolier and belts, sheathed her dagger at her side, and slung her bow over her back alongside her pack.

Ari, meanwhile, had inverted her top, and it looked suddenly less like some kind of ninja's robe to a fairly normal blouse in a fairly average shade of brown, and the face wrap around her neck was quickly flipped inside out to now look like a red scarf. “That seems rather handy in your profession.”

“You should see some of the places I have pockets hidden.” She waggled her eyebrows playfully, and the virginal princess blushed a bright crimson as she realized what she meant. Ari just giggled and gave her that wicked grin again. Flustered, Fai’lana walked out the door, leaving Ari to follow.

They went down to the innkeep, and Fai’lana apologized for the inconvenience the night before. She was glad she’d brought money for the journey with her, and banked a fair portion, taking only what she needed with her day to day. Having some coin to stay at the inns was nice. They left, and Arisa led her down some dark alleys to an unmarked shop, opening the door for her, then following her inside.

The shop was dimly-lit, well-organized, and clean. It looked like everything could be quickly evacuated in a moment’s notice, without leaving a trace. Arisa spoke to the woman behind the counter.

“Tess, darling, how you been?” she asked.

“Business is good. Been awhile. The girl, is she who I think she is?”

“Not for long, if you catch my drift. This is Fai. Fai, meet Tess. She’s gonna doll you up. Her specialty is changing people’s looks in a way that can be undone eventually, but not easily detected.”

“Now, Ari, don’t go giving away my secrets. So what are you thinking to change here?”

“Hmm... hair and eye color, obviously… we can get some new armor for her elsewhere unless you happen to have some good stuff that ‘fell off the wagon’ recently around?”

“I may be able to help with that. Give her a bit of flair, but keep her not easily recognizable?”

“Bingo.”

“So, miss Fai, given any thought to the look you’d like to take on?”

“Oh! No.. I really hadn’t realized that could be done,” she mused, “I thought I might just be looking at wigs or something… uh… Reddish hair? I always thought that was pretty.”

“Nice choice,” the black-clad lady said, a thoughtful look on her face, “Eyes?"

“Blue. Definitely.” She’d always loved the shimmering blue of the river near her home… “Blue like clear water.”

“Oh, lovely…. Caerulei Oculi Crescere Aura Capillos Aeris” she incanted, and after a moment a glow formed in the air around Fei. She felt a bit of a tingle come over her, then Tess held up a mirror in front of her, and in it she beheld a person she almost didn’t recognize at all.

“Oh my gods… I-is that ME?”

“Yep, gorgeous,” Ari said, “That’s all you. Ok let’s look at some armor.” Tess handed her the mirror and she reveled in the face that was, but was not, her own. This was perfect. She could be herself, and not worry about people knowing who she was… the family's trademark silver hair and lilac eyes were gone, leaving a head of coppery hair and deep blue eyes behind… it was scary, but immensely freeing.

“You’re a mage with some combat training, right?” Tess called from the other room.

“O-oh, yes! I am,” she called back. After a moment Tess came from a back room with a set of beautiful lightly-armored clothing in a pretty shade of salmon with silver decoration.

“It’s enchanted to recharge your mana quickly and add a few levels of defense without restricting your movement for casting and fighting… it may have come from a deposed noble in another country whose estate was left behind… but it looks just about your size, Fai.”

“Oh wow. How much is all this gonna cost me?”

“Well, knowing who you really are, and that you have Ari as a friend… I owe her… and I figure you might be in a position to help me later… so for now, let’s call it 100 silver.”

“C-can you really... No, I’m not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Thank you, Tess. Thank you so much.”

“My pleasure, Fai. And remember, that’s who you are now. Don’t slip. I’m sure Ari will remind you. She’s very good at what she does.”

“I won’t Tess, I hope we can do business again.”

“See you then. And later, Ari.”

Arisa went up and hugged the shopkeep. “Later, Tess,” she said, and grinned that shifty grin of hers.

And Fei walked out of there, feeling truly free for the first time in her life.