Ventus dreams that she is floating in a strange place of mixed silver and black. From here, she sees herself gesturing her hand while a surge of mana leaves her. This surge of mana seems to drag a copy of herself from what a scientist would refer to as a parallel universe. The echo appears right next to her, and acts independently, yet with the same will as Ventus herself.
While she is in this dream her body, more specifically her brain, is in overdrive. Her optical nerves are changing, becoming more efficient. Current neural pathways improve, and new ones also improve at the same time.
Devices beep in a nearby lab, but the scientists are fast asleep, having stayed up far too long. The devices monitor atmospheric mana concentration, and unbeknownst to anyone, all of the mana in the air for several miles floods towards Ventus, fueling the changes in her brain. While this does happen for every awoken on their first rest after their awakening, the world is only just getting rudimentary devices to detect it thanks to remnants of devices in the caverns.
An hour later, the changes halt, and a mist forms next to Ventus, rapidly forming into an echo of her, pulled from another place. This echo smiles widely, snaps her fingers to copy Ventus’ mana outfit, steals her debit card, and then travels the much clearer threads of space/time fabric to buy buckets.
Upon arriving at the nearest hardware store, she walks in confidently, nine tails flared behind her, trying to draw as much attention to herself as possible as this is the only real way to prank the original. She grabs two carts that she piles full of metal buckets. She only stops when the shelves are empty. Paying for them with the stolen card, knowing the details due to still being Ventus despite being an alternate version. Not really caring about the consequences of the expense due to believing that the original will be compensated, she repeats this in two more hardware stores across the city before taking them all with her to a lake.
Minutes pass as she fills each one with muddy water from the lake, before finally traveling back to the dorms, each one traveling with her.
An hour and a half passes as she precariously places one of the filled buckets onto the doorframe of almost every door in the dorm beside the original’s and Avery’s, in part due to the original probably dodging it, and in part not wanting to face the consequences of dirtying the original’s tails and ears. As for avoiding Avery’s door, well there are slight feelings of attraction so she won’t ruin it for herself.
Right as she’s placing the last bucket, with a while remaining until dawn, she hears Vincent clear his throat before saying “Really Ventus? Not even a full day and you’re causing mischief? Well, I say this, but you’re a bit blurry. No matter, you’re coming with me.”
As soon as he makes that declaration, the echo sees Vincent approaching from all directions, and travels along a nearby thread, reappearing at the end of the hallway, halfway hidden by the corner. She mockingly waves her tails to taunt Vincent before traveling on the threads again and again every time Vincent gets close. Laughing as Vincent gets more frustrated due to her mocking him every time he misses.
The chase only stops when the sun hits Ventus’ window, causing the light to fall upon Ventus’ face. As she stirs, her echo pouts and then waves at Vincent, before mouthing “Bye, the real one’s waking up, and this is probably the only time I’ll be able to do this,” as first her ability to speak is returned, and she vanishes. Not traveling along a thread this time, just returning from the place she came from.
Ventus reaches up to rub her eyes gently as she starts to uncurl, tails unfolding from covering her and waving slightly as she can still feel them.
Becoming fully alert, Ventus opens her pure white eyes, tails waving as she feels her body before gasping. Her sight has changed, the double vision having merged, allowing her to see the fabric vision with color and transparency. At the same time her thoughts seem clearer, more responsive, and her mana, oddly moving for some reason, as if behind a lock. Within said lock, it surges at the slightest thought, slowly breaking the lock down.
Deciding to get ready for the day, she grabs the remaining outfit that was provided. It is pink as well, but has something extra that makes Ventus smile. It is a carved wooden pin that looks like a stylized fox. Someone was clearly playing a gentle prank by providing this, but Ventus grabs it happily. Staring into the window to see the faintest trace of her reflection, she puts her hair into a bun, sliding the pin into place so that the fox looks to be sitting on the bun, while her ears twitch around happily. While yes, it is a bun, it is quite sloppy, which makes sense for being the first time she’s styled her hair into one.
Mostly happy with how it looks, her tails start stirring the air within the room as she admires her face in the window’s faint reflection. Minutes pass with her staring at the faint reflection, before she sighs and grabs the outfit. “I’d best get presentable for whatever the debrief will be.”
She then starts to change, cutting the hole for her tails in the same way she did for the pajamas last night, and starts slipping the clothes on. Noting with mild curiosity that her mana cloth undergarments now only have traces of the shimmering ruby, being mostly black with silver threads all throughout, akin to black calacatta marble.
While her top is off, and her new pants halfway up her legs, her door is slammed open, crashing against the wall. The only thing preventing it from falling is the wall it is now leaning against, the hinges having shattered from the force. A very angry Vincent is fuming in the entrance. He marches towards Ventus even as she blushes wildly and covers herself to the best of her ability using her arms for her chest, and her tails for her waist and hips. The pants she was slipping into fall back to the floor in a heap of fabric as Ventus backs away slowly, soon hitting the wall as Vincent glares, bags quite visible under his eyes.
“You’re coming with me, you will be explaining why you were putting buckets above everyone’s door, and why you led me on a chase for a couple of hours when I was trying to get you to explain yourself. You’ll also explain how you disappeared.”
He then grabs her arm and starts leading her towards the building’s old office, which has been repurposed into a command center. His anger is so great that he doesn’t even notice her state of being mostly undressed.
As Ventus starts digging her heels into the ground trying to stop, she only manages to slide on her heels. She even tried to channel her mana into her outfit to cover herself better. Despite the mana coursing through her body, it is still trapped behind that strange lock.
Vincent is too strong for Ventus to stop. Perhaps if she had used her tails as well that would have done something. However, that would reveal more than she wants to, so all she can do is sputter, clearly confused. This ramps up several times over as a number of the dorm rooms open, the occupants getting soaked by the muddy water with yells of surprise.
Vincent actually growls as he looks back at Ventus, shouting at her “This is all your fault. Don’t expect to get away with it,” before he continues to drag her.
Stumbling up the stairs after Vincent, she finally manages to bluster out “Wait Vincent. I-I don’t know what’s going on, but stop, please. You’re humiliating me.”
Finally looking at Ventus properly at that statement, shocked out of his rage by the clear shame in Ventus’ voice, he stops. His eyes scan Ventus’ body, lingering at her partially exposed breasts barely covered by her bra and arms, before looking lower. To him, the only things preventing Ventus’ exposure are her tails, not seeing her panties due to them being completely covered in fluff.
Vincent gets stuck staring at Ventus, appreciating her beauty without care, as Ventus gets more and more red with embarrassment, finally slapping Vincent as she screams “Pervert” before running back to her room. She lifts the metal door off of her wall, placing it mostly back in it’s place before sitting against it, not caring about the pain her tails are sending through her due to being crushed between her back and the door.
Avery happened to open her door as Ventus passed. She blushes as she sees a seemingly naked Ventus running into her room, being at an angle that she doesn’t see the thin band of the bra, nor the strap of her panties. Both were unseen due to Ventus’ tails. Gulping, she goes back into her room, red as a ruby. Before her door closes, numerous fluffy plushies can be seen on one of the beds in Avery’s room.
Minutes later, having taken many deep breaths to calm down, she stands up and manages to slide into her clothes, frowning at the snags she feels in her tails due to sitting with them compressed so much behind her.
She grumbles about Vincent when there’s a knock on the wall next to her door. Smoothing her shirt and pants, she moves the door to see Vincent, a hand print on his cheek redder than a lobster. Pausing, Vincent starts to enter the room only for Ventus to slam the door back into it’s place with a booming noise, causing Vincent to hit the ground several yards away from the door, flat on his back. Ventus then yells through the mostly closed door “I don’t want to see you right now Vincent. Let me calm down, or send someone who didn’t do what you did.”
Blushing wildly at the memory, brought fully back to mind, she rushes over to her pillow and buries her head into it, trying to calm down. Her tails lash at the air as though trying to hit invisible enemies.
Another knock on her door brings her back to the present, as a voice enters the room through the door. “You’re needed at the central office. You’ll be escorted, so please don’t cause any problems.” The voice then coughs before adding “And please make sure you’re covered.”
Blushing at the comment, her tails hit the bed hard as she stands up, the frame groaning from the force but managing not to break. She walks to the door and sets it aside to see three soldiers in full tactical gear. One in front at the door, and the other two on either side and two feet back.
“I’ll go, but just so you know, I have no idea what’s going on, at all. I just woke up, was getting ready for the day, and then was dragged out of my room against my will by a perverted awoken.”
The front guard nods before sliding some handcuffs onto Ventus. The cuffs have spiraling patterns across them, with a gem at the lock on each cuff. They cause her mana to be sealed as they lock into place. Her body instantly feels as if it is weighed down by a mountain. The fabric of space/time she sees around her no longer flows, but clings to her, trying to keep her in place “You’ll get to plead your case to the commander. Until then be quiet.” The only benefit to these cuffs, is the pressure causes her trapped mana to break the lock faster.
Ventus is led to the central office. Climbing up the stairs near the front of the manor, she has to resist the sticky feeling of space clinging to her. The giant gilded door at the top slides open with a hiss. Within the room, there is someone with a bull’s head, horns on top, and a bulky red body, the red only visible on the face and arms as his outfit covers the rest.
The bull man gestures for Ventus to sit, Vincent is also in cuffs in the other chair. As she sits, the giant door slams shut, hissing as it locks into place.
“First things first, I’m your commanding officer Lamu, and despite looking like a Minotaur I’m more of a bull demon, please don’t make that mistake.”
Vincent shrugs, used to this greeting at this point, as well as being in trouble. Ventus on the other hand smiles at the commanding officer, tails waving. “It’s nice to meet another awoken who changed bodies without immediately being hostile.
Lamu sighs, before pulling up the recordings, one viewing Ventus’ room, showing she was asleep the entire time, and the other showing different angles of someone looking like Ventus, but with a slight static blur.
“It is my opinion that you awoke some new ability while you slept, and due to you being asleep it went out of control. The researchers have many questions, but before I can let them see you I need to know something. Who are you really?”
Ventus freezes at the question, her tails stiff and ears flat as she stumbles her words, finally managing to say “I’m Ventus.” Despite wanting to ask about the cameras in her room, she can’t manage to get another word out.
Lamu shakes his head “No one by the name of Ventus lived in this city for its entire recorded history. So again, who are you? What’s your relationship to Brad, given you had the key to his house. I have my suspicions, but I need to be certain before I can give orders.”
Ventus starts sobbing quietly, unable to speak past the knot that formed in her throat. Though unnoticed, the room starts shuddering softly, the walls bend slightly towards Ventus, the fabric they consist of is swallowed by the cuffs Ventus has on.
Vincent speaks up, sounding very tired. “Lamu, sir. Please leave Ventus alone, her original body was Brad’s, which can be verified with a DNA sample. Sure there will be some differences, such as extra traits, and the fact she’s a woman now, but it will clearly have similarities to her parent’s genetics. I will however, demand no one outside of this office knows, because despite the trouble Ventus has caused, she seems incredibly happy in her new body. No need to cause drama by revealing it to the others, lest they demand her be sent to the West wing. Besides, when I made my mistake, I uh,” he scratches his cheek, red emerging despite his attempt to prevent it, “got a good look. There shouldn’t be any problems.”
Lamu frowns, and loudly shouts, “You will not demand anything from me Vincent, especially since you’re part of the problem here.” His volume then lowers as he turns to Ventus, tone softening “Look Ventus, I understand the situation you’re in now. I won’t be telling anyone outside of here, but you need to behave.”
Sighing loudly, and considering something, he finally states, “As punishment you’ll be without pay for two weeks. Nothing else will be done, and this won’t be recorded in your service record.”
He then turns towards Vincent, eyes twinkling in silent mischief “On the other hand, Vincent you’re docked two weeks pay, which will be sent to Ventus’ account, due to how you shamed her.”
Ventus blinks, swallowing hard as the knot in her throat starts to fade, Lamu’s promise to not mention it soaks in as tears bead at her eyes. “Thank you sir.”
Minutes pass before Ventus continues, fully in control of her emotions again, “What are my orders Sir? I may be without pay for two weeks, but that doesn’t mean I don’t work, does it?”
Chuckling, Lamu nods “For these two weeks, you’ll be doing tests, assisting the researchers. Especially with your mana that caused those cracks in the air. Yes I’ve reviewed the footage of the cafeteria incident.”
Ventus nods, before standing up and turning around, quietly asking “Can these get removed now? They’re very uncomfortable, it feels like my body is holding up a mountain.”
Alarmed, Lamu scrambles up with a key to unlock them, jumping over the desk just to be quicker. “That shouldn’t happen, they seal mana yes, but in no way should they feel like a weight.” He scrapes the key against the lock a few times before he unlocks Ventus’ cuffs, noticing that the door is slightly ajar, folded towards Ventus.
As soon as they are unsealed, a burst of energy emerges from Ventus, her body phasing slightly before solidifying again, to her, the threads in her vision flow naturally once more. The fabric that folded into her because of the cuffs returns to its rightful place, walls becoming straight once more and the door being in its proper place with a loud clicking sound.
Lamu frowns, before adding “Well that’s something different. You’re hereby ordered to never put mana suppression cuffs on, or let them be put on. The only exception is by the researchers in case they wish to observe the interaction.”
Rubbing her wrists, her tail tips curling in happiness as she feels free again, she nods and walks to the door. “Understood sir, I’ll find Todd and have him lead me to the researchers” before passing through the door as if it wasn’t there, her mana having broken whatever that lock was. Letting her use her abilities again.
Ventus walking through the door silences Lamu for a moment before he holds his left hand over his face. “We need to completely redo security if there are monsters with similar abilities as her. Good thing she’s going to the lab, better tell them to make her tests their priority.”
He sighs as he presses a button on his desk, shooing Vincent out of the opening door. Taking a deep breath, he smiles weakly as he thinks of his daughter’s smile, using the memory as strength. He then sends out the message, “Priority shift notice: You’re going to want to put all of your efforts into understanding Ventus’ abilities without going overboard. That means no harmful tests. Oh, and give her her computer back, I don’t care if you strip its components out, copy the storage, and purge the storage of viruses before putting the copied one into the case with new components, she gets it after your research today. Funding approved for a new build for her if necessary. This is because of the broken phone she brought. It is emanating mana, so it is a valid research topic. Before you start on that though, retrieve what data you can and transfer it to a new device, which you will hand her. Be sure to include that new GMT app on the device”
Chuckling from the thought that he got one over on Vincent finally, he looks closer at the cuffs, the spiral patterns seem to be warped, and the gem has faint cracks in it. Frowning, Lamu contacts Todd, telling him to bring the cuff to R&D, sending out a message that it’s lower priority then figuring out Ventus’ abilities, and their limits more specifically.
cassandr4· Jan 1, 2026
