Miriam Blockley was an aspiring young DJ. She was invited to come and work in a city named Derby, by some mysterious strangers. Strapped for cash, she agreed, signing an extensive contract in the process.

To Miriam's dismay, her "employers" turned out to be Faeries, who stole her away to the Spirit Lands. She was taken to the smog-choked city of Derby, and held in bondage by the magical contract she foolishly signed. She was sold to the Low Line Club, to work as their new DJ. Miriam was forced to learn the Club's baffling music equipment, and arrange mixes out of the bizarre Fae music on offer. But learn she did, and just as well. Her Masters would have killed her otherwise, or worse.

Miriam's time at the Club was a blur. She was never sure how long she worked, every day. It seemed the Club never slept. Patrons were always coming and going, drink was always flowing, music was always blasting. She just worked until she was about to collapse, or did, then slept as long as she could in a pokey loft with no soundproofing.

The endless work, light and sound changed Miriam. She took on a ratlike aspect, as many did in the filthy streets of Derby. But she also became infused with the lights and sounds of the rave. The pain faded, and the labour, and for a while she drifted in an insensate fugue.

Miriam was brought back to her senses by the arrival of another human slave: a girl named Sam, who had been bought simply to wait tables. Miriam met her on the back-stairs of the club, crying from fear and homesickness. Sam's pain reminded Miriam of all her own loved ones, and the two bonded over their shared grief.

In their chatter, Sam revealed she was under a much less draconian contract than Miriam. Miriam revealed that she knew where their paperwork was kept, but the terms stopped her from getting near them. With their shared knowledge, the two soon destroyed their contracts and escaped, fleeing Derby together. They stayed together all through their trek through the Spirit Lands, and their eventual return to Earth.

Back on Earth, Miriam found that scarcely a week had passed since she was abducted. Stranger still, no-one recognised that she was a humanoid rave-rat. Everyone just saw her as a human. But at the same time, no-one recognised her as "Miriam", either. Everyone just saw a black woman with gaudy clothes. Sam, who hadn't had time to change much, passed as herself much more easily.

With no money, nor any way to prove her identity, Miriam almost ended up sleeping on the streets. But she was found by members of a local gang of sorcerers, known as the Night Court, who could see her true form. The sorcerers took Miriam in, and explained that she was a Changeling - a human changed by the transformative forces of the Spirit Lands. There were many other Changelings in the Night Court, all working to rebuild their old lives, or start new ones, after being derailed by Fae abduction.

With the Night Court's help, Miriam was able to change her illusion, to appear as her old self to muggles. She was able to slip back into her old life. She took up the False Name of "LevelZ"; her DJ name from before her abduction. And in time, she found a job working as a mundane DJ. For as traumatic as her Fae bondage was, and as much as Miriam hates her abductors, she can't help but love her new form. Music is part of her very being, now. She can no more resist its call than she can resist drinking water, or breathing air.

This is who she is now, and she intends to own it.

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A commission I bought of one of my OCs. The artist is u/DisabledAnimals on Reddit, or possumtail_ on Instagram. They did great work, and were lovely to work with.