Chapter 7 – A Storm Rages
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Chapter 7
The sound of wind and heavy rainfall greeted me as I woke. Opening my eyes I found myself back in the inn room, a damp towel placed over my forehead. Willow was beside me, her arms wrapped tightly around me as she slept. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Alex was watching me, he frowned as I turned my head to look at him.
“Do I even want to know what happened?” Alex sighed.
“Not really...”
“Tell me anyway. Do you know how much Willow cried when we woke up to find you weren't here? Or how terrified she became after you were found unconscious in the stables? Nothing we did would wake you, and you were running one hell of a fever.”
“I'm sorry, I was testing something out, I didn't realize it would take such a toll on me.”
“What's done is done, just make sure to apologize to Willow once she's awake, you really scared the hell out of her.”
“How long was I out?”
“Most of the day. Now then Liz, tell me... what were you trying to do?”
“I was... trying to talk to the horses.”
“Talk to the horses?”
“Yes... I thought I had an ability that would allow me to have a real conversation with them, but it backfired. Something crazy happened, I was able to fix it, but doing so completely exhausted me. I'm not one-hundred percent sure why though. It's not like I used any world-shattering magic or anything.”
“Listen, I know you said you prefer maintaining your mysteries, but we're on your side. None of your secrets are worth selling, the demerits outweigh the positives. So, rely on us, take us with you when you experiment. I'll help you through it.”
“I... thanks Alex,” I chewed my lip, wondering if it would be better to come clean about Margaret or not. Ultimately I decided that it was worth telling Alex about her. We'd only been together a few days, but I really did want to be part of his family. Even if we didn't feel like family now, we could if I actually tried, but if I kept everything bottled up, there was no way we'd ever be a family from the depths of our hearts.
“So... umm... have you ever known anyone who has memories of their past life?”
“We have stories about warriors who retain their knowledge through various lifetimes, but no such person has ever been confirmed to exist.”
“Well, I'm one of those people. I perfectly remember the person I was before I became the person I am now. The ability I tried to use, it was something I could do easily when I was her, but something I've never done as the present me. When I tried to use it my body changed, I actually physically became my past self.”
“How'd you change back?”
“I used a power I never obtained in my past life, that was all it took to trigger a reverse transformation.”
“And after you changed back, you collapsed?”
“Yes.”
“How'd you feel when you became your past self?”
“Feverish at first, but I felt fine after everything settled.”
“Hmm,” Alex scratched at his chin with his thumb. “Do you have any desire to do this again? Is there any value to being your former self?”
“She certainly has a few abilities that could help at times. The problem is... she's not human.”
“You mentioned elves before.”
“She's not an elf either, she's a kitsune.”
“I've never heard of a kitsune before, mind explaining what that is?”
“They are foxpeople. They look mostly human but instead of human ears, they have the ears of foxes atop their head, and a large fox's tail growing from the base of their spine. They're fast as hell, and they can use foxfire which is a special magic unique to their race.”
Kitsune also gained the ability to shapeshift into a werefox form, but that was added in the game's third expansion. By then, I'd already abandoned Margaret, so I never got to really test the ability and see if it had any value. The best thing about the kitsune was the fact that their foxfire magic could be used regardless of what class you chose, so a lot of players who chose the Berzerker and Hunter classes favored the race. It helped that the speed buffs worked well with their respective playstyles.
“I can understand your hesitance. If you control yourself you can live a relatively mundane life as you are, but in the body of your past self, you'll turn heads no matter where you go.”
“Yeah, it's not a body that I should inhabit if I'm going to be anywhere public.”
“Assuming you're going to turn into her again, we'll need to test and make sure you won't collapse like this every time. With the weather as it is, I doubt we'll be going anywhere for a few days, so if you'd like to test it now, we can wake Willow and let her know what you're going to do.”
“Eh? You're... okay with me doing it, now?”
“My major concern is making sure I never see you collapsed like that ever again. So I'd like to help you test this ability of yours now, so we know how to handle it later. Better to strike while the iron is hot and we're free of any other obligations. Of course, if you're feeling dizzy or sick at all, please tell me. You just woke up, I don't want you collapsing on me again.”
“I feel fine, let's do it,” I smiled and gently shook Willow until the young girl's eyes snapped open. The moment she saw me she tightened her grip on me, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Onee-chan!”
“Shh, Onee-chan's here, I'm sorry I scared you, I'll never do it again.”
“Willow, Liz would like to try some very special magic. Is this okay with you? She's going to stay here in the room with us.”
Willow nodded and after a few hesitant seconds, she released me, eyeing me warily as I stood. I was dressed in the gown I'd worn before, with my clothing and armor laid to the side. I decided to remain as I was, to test if items that belonged to this body would fade when I changed. If items that I'd removed were left untouched, perhaps I could sell off some of Margaret's jewelry. I certainly didn't want to be dressed so gaudily in real life.
“I guess you changed my clothes, Alex?”
“Sorry... I tried to wake you first.”
“No it's fine... you're my dad now, so it's okay. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't the innkeeper or anybody I didn't know removing my clothes.”
“I made the right call then, in assuming you wouldn't want a stranger to touch you.”
“Alright,” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. There weren't any creatures in the room to talk to so Song of the Wild was pointless. What else did Magararet know that wouldn't cause any trouble if I used it here? There was the Song of Healing, which made minstrel one of the three classes that could heal, four if you counted the druid class added in the third expansion.
Opening my eyes I looked at Willow and suddenly I had a thought. The Song of Identification was an early game ability that allowed everyone in a minstrel's party to see the status of monsters. It was invaluable, even in late-game raids, as a low-cooldown ability that'd reveal the current health of dungeon bosses. Perhaps with it I could catch a glimpse at Willow's information, and gain some insight that'd help me teach her magic.
“Song of Identification,” This time, there was no feverish feeling. Instead, I felt a bit of nausea as my vision shifted and my body morphed into Margaret's. The moment my transformation finished a painful headache assaulted me as information pooled together in my mind. None of it made any sense. I was definitely glimpsing some underpinning truth of the world, but it came to me in symbols I couldn't fathom the meaning of. Ultimately, my plan to see Willow's status was a bust.
“You're quite decorated,” Alex said with an appraising whistle. Willow who was now a full head and a half shorter than me gazed at my new form in wide-eyed confusion.
“Willow, it's still me,” I smiled and gingerly reached out to pet her head. “Just because I look different doesn't mean I'm a different person.”
“Onee-chan... y-you have doggy ears now!”
“Fox ears,” I giggled. “But close enough.” Turning to look at the equipment I'd left laying aside, I grinned seeing that it was all still there. I really could just strip items off of myself, as long as I wasn't touching them when I changed, they'd be left behind.
“You look quite young,” Alex noted. “You still don't quite look your age, but I guess you could pass as an adult if you wanted.”
“Too bad I can't use this form around anyone else,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, flopping my fluffy tail into Willow's lap. “Guess I should just stay like this for a while?”
“We know that you passed out when you tried to change back right away, so yeah. Stay like this for the night and try to reverse it tomorrow morning. That should give us an idea about whether you need to wait, or if you'll just pass out every time regardless.”
“Got it.” I began to remove my armor while Willow carefully petted my tail. It was a feeling unlike anything I'd ever experienced before, a bit ticklish, but overall enjoyable.
“Mind if I inspect your ears?” Alex asked once I'd removed the garish breastplate and pendants Margaret had been equipped with.
“Go right ahead,” I replied leaning my head forward.
As soon as he had permission Alex began to fondle my ears, inspecting them inside and out. Much like Willow petting my tail, having Alex touch my ears caused a pleasurable ticklish sensation that when mixed with what Willow was doing filled me full of a rather embarrassing fuzziness. I literally could not stop my tail from wagging back and forth, slapping Willow with it a few times before my younger sister decided to pounce on top of it.
“Impressive. Seriously impressive, once again I'm absolutely awed by your world, Liz.”
“Is there absolutely no chance you have people like this here in your world?”
“No chance,” Alex chuckled. “But, you haven't eaten anything all day. Would you like me to go get you something?"
“Yes please.”
“I assume you want something meaty, now that you're part animal?”
“I don't have any particular cravings at the moment, I think anything would be fine.” Now that Alex mentioned it, I was feeling a bit peckish. Was that because I'd never eaten anything in Margaret's body? Or was it because I was hungry before and biological sensations were shared between my two forms? That was something else I needed to experiment on.
Alex left the room right as a blinding flash of lightning lit up the darkened sky outside. Hardly a second later a thundering boom caused everything to shake, making Willow squeal and leap into my lap for comfort. “It's okay,” I cooed petting Willow's head. “There's nothing out there, it's just a storm.”
Probably won't be any more chapters till Friday cuz I gotta go on a trip. <3
6
Oh yeah it's just a storm...that coincidentally started after she used her spell. Just a normal storm, she couldn't possibly have summoned a storm elemental or spirit or something...nope!
Thanks for the chapter.