My head felt like it was on fire. Red heat burned me wherever I ventured. I tried to escape from its grasp. This would not kill me. Not here, not now. I would rise. I was a phoenix.

I heard muffled voices through the fire. I had to concentrate. I had to find my way to others. I didn't want to be alone.

"…get here? Who exactly…"

They sounded so close. How could I get over to them? A figure emerged from the flames. It was a man with long brown hair. His blue-green eyes brought relief to me somehow. He held out his hand and called out to me. The roar of the red fire covered up his words. I immediately raced for his hand. He felt familiar and right. He gave me a slight smile and the fire disappeared. My vision was black, but I knew I was now in control. I forced my heavy eyelids open.

Everything was blurred at first. I blinked a few more times to wrap my head around what was going on. There were three guys staring down at me.

The one with the little black hat spoke to me first. "Are you okay?"

"I think so." I finally found a voice of my own. It sounded strange. I sat up. My head spun. I felt strange all over. A strange ache came from each follicle of my being.

"Where am I?" I said. I didn't recognize my surroundings. My clothes looked like that like I had red and pink paint splattered all over me.

"You are in my house," said a guy with an expressionless face and a beret. He had a clip in his hair in the shape of a cross. "Who are you? I don't know how you managed to get in here with out me noticing. There must be some sort of magic going on here."

I put my hand up to my head. "I can't remember." I couldn't remember anything about who I was. What was going on?

"Strong magic indeed. What exactly did you do?" he said to a floating pink thing by his shoulder. A vague idea of what it might be came to my mind. Was that a fairy?

She had a confused look on her little face. "I'm not quite sure. I couldn't tell what gender it was so I just made the complete opposite."

"I guess there's only one way to find out!" The guy in the hat moved towards me.

"Denmark, don't…"

It was too late. Denmark's hand was feeling around my chest. His face went slightly red when he found his answer. His hand lingered longer than I would have. I grabbed his arm and wrenched him to the floor. His body hit the floor with a thump. He gave a slight grunt.

The other two stared at me, eyes wide, but slightly pleased. "I'm a girl," I confirmed for them.

"So she's a girl who could look like a guy. That means she used to be a guy who looked like a girl. Do you remember anyone like that?" said the guy with a puffin on his shoulder.

"Nope, doesn't ring a bell," the one named Denmark said, finally getting up. He rubbed his shoulder. "It's kind of hard to tell with all that red stuff, though.

"What should we do about her?" the one with the clip.

I was started to get frustrated. How could they talk about me like I was not even a person? "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm really confused. I don't even like know who you all are."

"We should probably give her her stuff. I'm Iceland, by the way," said the guy with the puffin. He carried over two very big, very pink bags. Were those mine? The pink seemed like a bit of an over kill. I unzipped one to see if I could find any more clues about who I was. Everything was pink. I could hardly tell one article of clothing from another.

I opened the other bag. This one was a lot neater. Each article of clothing was neatly folded. The only pink thing in this one was a small tent. There was an olive green uniform near the top. I held it closer to get a better look. It smelled oddly nice. There was also a pair of camouflage pants and a black tank top.

"You should probably clean up a bit. I don't know how you got so red. I'm Norway. The idiot is Denmark."

I grabbed the bag with all the pink as I followed Norway to the bathroom. I didn't grab the other bag because I didn't want to mess up its subtle perfection. I closed the door behind me. I stripped off the clothes I was wearing. It looked like they had been fundamentally pink like the rest of the clothes in my bag. I let the water run over my body. Even the water came off pink. I ran my fingers through my medium length blonde hair. The warm water felt good in this cool environment. I ran my hand down my arm. The red splatter remained on my pink fingernails. They said I had been a guy, right? I sure had strange tastes.

I stepped out of the shower and was a bit chilled. My hands went knowingly through the open pink bag. It was like they had a mind of their own. My memories might have been repressed, but it didn't inhibit everything about my old self.

I pulled on a pink polka-dotted pair of panties. I strapped on a matching bra. I wiped off the condensation and looked at myself in the mirror. They fit perfectly. My body type obviously wasn't much different from the type I was when I was a guy. The only variation was my breast, which I admit were a bit small.

I pulled on a pair of tight pink jeans. I would've gone with a pair of tiny shorts, but it seemed a bit cool here. I added a long black tunic and tied a pink ribbon around my waist. I looked myself over. Did I look weird like this? After I was satisfied, I stepped out.

The boys were lined up waiting for me. Denmark's draw dropped when he saw me. Iceland blushed.

"Sorry, does this look weird?" I pushed back a wet strand of hair behind my ear.

"It's just…different I guess. You definitely don't look like a guy now." Iceland said.

"You look really cute. I'd even let you be my girlfriend. You should feel honored." Denmark said.

"Stop it," Norway said, grabbing Denmark's ear and yanking him away. He seemed like the only one unaffected. "You're embarrassing yourself."

"Ah ah ah, that hurts Norway!"

"I suppose you could stay here for a bit. That is until you lift your curse," Norway said to me.

"I'm flattered, but I think I have to figure this out myself. The answers are totally out there, I just need to find them." I had a feeling there was somewhere else I needed to be. Like I was being called somewhere. I thought back to the vision I had before I woke up. The man seemed oddly alluring to me.

I grabbed both of the pink bags. They were a bit heavy, but I could handle them if I went slowly. I headed out into the cool morning. My feet guided me down the hill. I passed by grasses that reached my thighs and stones that looked untouched for centuries. The smell of fish and the sound of waves came eventually. I was headed to the ocean. The fishermen on the wharfs turned their head toward me as I passed by. I must really look out of place. I knew these clothes were too much. Why in the world would I want to attract this much attention?

I paid fare on the first boat I saw. My eyes were drawn to the elegant writing on the side of the boat. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew that I was heading closer to where I needed to be.