“So Em, wanna know why I tried to put a spell on you?” Kat asked me. I nodded in agreement, it was bothering me since I found out she was the same cat I saw that night. Why’d she go from comforting to attacking me?

“Unlike what those two would have you believe, I wasn’t assaulting you or trying to cause you harm,” Kat said.

“Nonsense!” Victoria exclaimed, “Why else would you put her to sleep, with nobody else around to keep watch of her!”

“To help her escape, escape her old life and build a new one in the fae world,” Kat explained with a smile. “I’ve been looking to go back for some time now, I had a nice vacation here in the human world.”

“But why?” this time it was Sam who asked. “Why give her that chance, it reeks of classic fae tricks to me. You better not plan on hurting her!”

“You wanna know why?” Kat asked, Sam just nodded but still glaring at her for almost taking me away.

“I came to the human world for adventure, but this place is soooo boring,” Kat said as she slumped her shoulders. “No monsters, very little magic, about the only thing worthwhile here is this TV thing I’ve watched.”

She walked away from me and sat down on one of the chairs before continuing her story.

“I wanted to go on an adventure, and I realized while I was here in this world that going alone would be lonely. I wanted to find someone young who is at the end of their rope. Someone who wouldn’t mind going on a trip and abandoning their old life. At least for a while.”

“That's just kidnapping!” Sam exclaimed. “If you want someone to go with you, then at least ask! You were just going to steal her without saying anything!?”

Kat put on a thinking pose, her hand to her chin with her eyes closed, as she seemed to ponder Sam’s words. “Ah!” She exclaimed.

“Oops,” she said with a guilty expression as if it just dawned on her that she was indeed about to be a kidnapper. She looked at me and said, “Sorry, guess I should have asked first.”

“Uhm..apology accepted?” It felt weird, forgiving your would-be kidnapper. She stood up and walked back towards me, a serious expression on her face.

“So, I'll ask properly this time!” She exclaimed. “Emma, would you like to accompany me to the fae realm and go on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure!”

If I had been asked this an hour or two ago, I would have laughed it off as the talk of a crazy person. The idea of there being an entire realm dedicated to the magical, it just sounded unbelievable. There was still just one issue with the idea of a classic fantasy adventure. 

“I can’t fight Kat, I’d be useless in an adventure. Assuming that this world of yours is like all the fantasy stories I've heard about, I'd imagine there are monsters and such.”

She nodded. “Yep, there's some big mean beasties over there. Ah! Don’t worry, I don’t expect or intend to have you fight. I'm strong enough to protect both of us after all. I just wanted company during my adventures.”

I still wasn’t sure I wanted to go. I just found people who accepted me here, and while I was upset at my parents abandoning me. It wasn’t like I wanted to just up and abandon everything else I had left. An adventure did sound fun, but I'm not sure about leaving Victoria and Sam. 

“I'm sorry Kat, I think I have to refu-” I tried to say before she cut me off.

“Instant transition,” she said two words that completely stopped my train of thought. “I can offer you the body you deserve, using magic of course. It would be much more effective than anything the human realm can offer. I can only cast such a spell over in the fae world, I can’t do it here. You’d have to be over there to keep the spell going forever, you can return to the human world but if you spent too long here, the magic would fade in time.”

The thought of having the body of my dreams, but never being able to return without risking losing said body. That made me feel sick. Do I take the magical transition and abandon ever staying permanently on earth. Or do I stay in the human realm and rely on modern medicine, and hoping that I can get on insurance now that I’ve been kicked out. 

“I just don’t know Kat…” I eventually say, glancing over to Sam and Victoria who are staring at me with a worried expression. “I just found a place I can call home, and two wonderful people to share it with, and you're asking me to drop it all just like that.”

She looked at the two quiet witches watching our conversation. “You know you wouldn’t be saying goodbye forever right?” She said to me.

“Huh?”

“They’re witches, making a portal to the fae realm would be a piece of cake. They’d be able to visit you whenever they wanted. Plus you can come to visit them for a short while whenever you want. You’d only risk losing the magic if you stayed here for an extended period of time.”

Victoria finally spoke up. “Nobody has built a fae portal in ages! The magic was lost to time, some even believe it to be a myth.”

Kat’s face lit up in surprise. “Oh, so that's why people stopped visiting. That explains it I guess, here catch.” Her eyes shimmered, and she tossed something from her previously empty hands. It looked like a magical ball of blue light, it stopped mid-air in front of Victoria who slowly but cautiously reached over and grabbed the ball. The second she did the ball disappeared and she gasped.

“There, instant knowledge on how to build one,” Kat said, with a smug proud grin.

Victoria just sat there with her eyes wide open. She muttered. “This easy? How’d this get lost in the first place? It would only take a week or two of setting it up and we could come and go as we please…”

Sam ignored her and turned back towards me with a worried expression. 

“Emma, please.” She said, “You can’t trust the fae, they make deals to scam people and are known to trick others.”

Kat seemed to be slightly offended as she replied. “That's just all a load of crap. Only a few do that, but to my knowledge, humans do the same thing. Would you judge your entire species based on the actions of a very low minority?”

Sam seemed to recoil a little bit. “Sorry, you’re right. But still, I don't want to see Emma leaving for a new world! She's my best friend and I don’t want to see her getting hurt!”

“Sam…” I whisper. I didn’t realize she cared that much for me...

“Sam,” Victoria repeated, seemingly out of her daze of thinking over the fae portal. “Remember what I’ve said before about my sibling. I’ve seen what dysphoria does to someone, and I don't want anyone to suffer as he did. If Emma thinks this is what she wants, then I say we support her.”

“But-” Sam started. 

“Katherine is right,” Victoria said. “That portal could take us back and forth to the fae realm, you’d be able to visit whenever you wanted to.” She turned to me and with a small smile, “If this is what you want, then I say go for it. You’ll always be welcome here no matter what you choose.”

I could feel a smile forming itself on my face, and my eyes getting wet but Sam spoke before I could.

“Emma.” She said, “I agree with Auntie. If this is what you want then I fully support you and your decision. Just know that I’ll be visiting frequently once we get this setup, I have to make sure you're safe after all.”

“Don’t worry, there isn’t a safer spot than by my side,” Kat said with a smile. “I’ll make sure she stays safe and well.”

She and Sam shared a lasting glance, seemingly having some sort of secret conversation with just their eyes before they both nodded. 

I guess my decision has been made for me. I'm glad I don’t have to worry about never seeing them again, and as long as Kat told the truth then I can see them whenever I want. The idea of both an adventure and obtaining the body of my dreams is just too appealing to me. 

I turned to Kat before speaking up.

“I accept, let's go on an adventure.”