The Awakening

The warm brown eyes sparkled in the light of orange magic which lit up the little area she had made her home. She didn’t really know how long she had spent in the caves, but no matter what, electric magic energy had led her here. She knew it was from a magic source she had helped once. Sitting here in a stool, made out of manipulated stone by spells, she read in one of her books waiting for the spark to ignite. She knew it would be coming.

Minutes, hours or maybe even days. She wasn’t quite sure, but the pull of the known source of magic reached her and she looked up from the book. With a simple wave of her hand, the book disappeared, and the orange ball of magic followed her as she got up and started to walk down one of the many halls in the cave. As she got closer, she could almost feel how the electrical magic got stronger. By letting her fingertips run across each other it created music which would make one think of blue, light and electricity. She was in no hurry because she knew the source would wait for her. She had helped the source before, and she didn’t mind doing it again – it wanted her help. The music continued for a moment before she let her tongue split her lips and shortly after her lips started moving. A humming like muse joined the music. It looked like it was Philippa herself creating the muse with her own voice, but it was her magic. She was telling the source she was on her way.


“I have missed you,” and with those words she let the magic, she had flowing around in the halls, find their way back to herself before the magic was directed towards the blonde girl helping her though the full transformation.

She looked around in the caves she had wandered off too. She could have sworn Charles had been right behind her. But now it was like, the cave was closing in on her. A small gasp left her as she felt the magi around started to attach themselves to her. Almost like it tried to force her to change but being a shapeshifter, you never had to force it. Of course, there would come a time if you denied your animal not to come out, it would leave your miserable. But to be fair, Iris had felt that way for such a long time. With everything that was happening with her father and Eris, she hadn’t really been home and stayed at Charles. Even though she felt extremely guilty towards her father and Mary-Jane, mostly her sister, for not being there for her. She just needed time.

Breathing heavily, she started to undress herself, feeling how her bones shifted and her form rushed over her. But something was wrong. This wasn’t her normal form; she could feel it how electricity cascaded over the walls in the cave. Forming around the polar fox, that was now much bigger, almost in size range of a wolf. She looked up and saw a figure walking towards her. She felt so familiar, and so did her powers. She hadn’t noticed how it had sung, her magic before she was standing there in front of her. Iris leaned her head back and howled as the last transformation happened, and her nine tales made the transformation complete. Panting she lied down on the ground, whimpering not really knowing what to feel or say as her electric blue eyes followed the witch.

Philippa watched as the young girl transformed, how her bones grew and shrunk and repositioned themselves until she had transformed into a giant polar fox. She watched how the polar fox was studying her for a moment, and as the head was tilted backwards, Philippa started to help and manage the magi so it wouldn’t be too overwhelming. “Yes, Iris,” she said, noticing how every tail grew from her until the transformation was complete. It had taken a lot of energy and she could see how the kitsune was about to fall onto the ground and with a swift movement her magic made her levitate.

“It’s okay, my girl,” she almost whispered as she got closer. “I’ve helped you before, and I’ll do it again,” she spoke and finally introduced her hand to the snout of the kitsune. “You should rest, dearest. You’re safe with me,” she almost mused, “I'll let your half-brother know,” she explained. There was no need for Iris to worry about him. She should focus on herself.

She knew her name? Taking a step back, she felt the pain form from her paw up her left hind leg. Everything was so sore that it almost screamed at her to lie down and just rest. But as the woman said it was okay, my girl. It was like another memory rushed over her. She remembered, she remembered everything.  How she hadn’t been as old as she was now when she had teleported back into another time. She had been a young girl, around six years old. She had been in her Uncle Oliver’s home. Her younger sister had been admitted to the hospital. And he had offered to take care of her. Told her that she could look at everything, but she couldn’t touch his books. She had, and within a flash she had woken in a meadow that she didn’t know. She had screamed for her father, but she had been there. The woman standing there right now. Taken her in, and she had grown up with her. How long had she been in the other world before she had been sent home? Even though all of the memories were back, they were still muddle and hard to figure out.

Iris softly nodded as Philippa told her that she would tell her brother, and that she should rest. Even though a small voice told her that she might needed to move she didn’t. As the kitsune fell asleep on the ground right away. Filling completely fatigued after her transformation and the rush of powerful energy running through her body.

Philippa send the dear Kitsune a simple smile before she covered her mouth shortly and with a swift movement lashed her hand out to the side, leaving purple sparks to find the brother. The sparks would play a message for him and explain to him, that she was in good hands, and as soon as she was feeling better, she would be returning. She even let the sparkles say her name, so the brother could speak the message and who it was from to his parents. His parents knew who she was.

The kitsune fell asleep, fatigued by the transformation. With a light blow and circling motions, the giant being was elevated from the ground and almost flown to follow Philippa as she found her way to the spot where Philippa had been staying. Here she prepared for magical healing and energy for Iris to consume. She prepared a dress for the young girl and manipulated the cave to find a source of water, so Iris could take a refreshing shower or drink when she woke up. Philippa made sure that calming sounds were surrounding them and that she was always nearby to help if Iris suddenly woke up or was dreaming vivid dreams. After all, the transformation could do a lot to the little girl. No matter what, Philippa wasn't going to wake the girl up unless something seemed wrong. Iris needed all the rest she could get.

Iris had no idea where she was, how much time had passed after her transformation. The first thing she noticed was the aching of her limbs. She couldn’t pinpoint really where the pain radiated from. It felt like something had grabbed around her body and forced it down making it next to impossible to open her eyes. It felt like minutes before Iris figured out the source to why she felt like it was so hard to move her body. A simple blanket had been folded around her naked body. That couldn’t be right, why was she naked?
Iris let out a small, soft groan as she tried to move on herself. A slight hissing sound as she finally managed to move her arm to lift the simple grey fabric of her body. Eyes still shut, she managed to swing her legs over what seemed to be a bed. Where was she? The question roamed in her head, as she tried to see if anything smelled familiar. Something did, but not in a sense that she could make out or could really explain why it did. “Hello?” she whispered with a hoarse voice, trying to force herself to open her eyelids. Even if it seemed like they had been sealed shut by some invisible force.

Philippa heard how the young kitsune was waking up ever so slowly, which made her stand up with a little soft bun she had made for the girl to eat. It had healing properties. She could see how Iris had sat up. “Hello child,” she responded with a soft voice. “You are in safe hands,” her voice was almost like music. “I am going to take your hand,” she warned Iris before she took her hand and put the bun in it. “I am Philippa, a friend of the family,” she spoke softly, “Eat this, it will ease your strains and soreness,” she said, and gently guided Iris hand upwards, knowing that her body must feel heavy. She mouthed a few silent words, and one would be able to hear how her familiar crawled over the floor with a bowl of fresh water on its shell. She wouldn’t mind taking great care of this powerful being. Even if it meant that she had to guide her in every movement or wash her. She had done all of it before and knew that these rare creatures all experienced it differently.

Iris blinked with heavy eyes, looking towards the witch that came closer to her. It was like every muscle in her body was trying to pull downwards, as she lifted her hand to put something to eat in it. A friend of the family. A small smile formed over her lips, while she tried to figure out where she had seen her before, because she seemed so familiar. But then there was also the fact that she was sure that this wasn’t a friend of her fathers. She couldn’t’ really describe why she felt like that. But it was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, trying to scratch at her memories that she had unlocked. “I remember you” she mumbled, not really remembering why, but she did. Taking a small bite of the bun, she could feel the effects of it. How it almost washed over her body, making her exhale slowly. “From when I was back in time” she mumbled, taking another bite, having to close her eyes because of how tired they felt. Almost as if the sheer thought of keeping them open was exhausting.

The kitsune got her sight back. Philippa could tell this from the way she blinked. Poor soul. A smaller smile spread on Iris lips as she mentioned that she remembered her. “Yes,” she spoke softly, though it might be a mysterious reply. Philippa had managed to make sure the darling had been taken care of, seen her as her own and when it had been time, the girl had been sent home. It wasn’t like Philippa knew what her father had done to her memories, but the way Iris spoke, she was almost certain that they had been mingled with. She could almost feel it. Oh, how Killian, Cassian and Michelle should get a slap on the wrist and be told not to mess with memories and minds. The only thing was, Killian should know this already. Did the old man never learn?
She could almost feel every move the girl made, how she chewed on the bun, how the jaw, teeth and tongue moved the pieces around. “I’m sorry if the memories aren’t clear to you,” she whispered, helping the poor kitsune with every move she wanted to make, easing the amount of strength that it might feel like she was doing. “I’ve been taking care of you before,” she elaborated, to ease the strain on the girl’s mind. “I can help you remember, if you’d like. But for now, I think you should rest.” She spoke softly watching every move to be sure that the girl didn’t need support. “You can relax,” she reminded the girl. “You’re safe,” she assured. Iris didn’t have to fight to keep herself awake as of right now. She could rest. There was no hurry.

Iris gave the woman a small smile, she was right, her memories weren’t clear to her. But there was something so familiar over Phillipa that it almost came to her, with no issue at all. Even if the memories of what their relationship was still quite foggy, there was the feelings attached to them. Which sometimes was the most important thing at all. Because it made her trust her. Enough, that she finished the bun and then let herself fall back into the bed, her eyes heavy as her entire body begged for her to fall asleep once again.
Nodding, when Philippa voiced that she was safe, and that she could relax. Even though she knew that already, it was nice to hear it out loud. “I might sleep a little more” she whispered, and as soon as those words had left her lips, Iris fell back asleep. So much so, that she didn’t even notice it, or how fast it actually took her to surrender to what her body wanted her to do.