Mrs. Brennan's teasing aside, neither Nia or I were interested in dessert. Instead my best friend conjured up a mini-skirt for me so I'd be decent when we left the table. Then the two of us excused ourselves and hurried back upstairs to my best friend's bedroom.
And incase there was any doubt in my mind as to what my mistress had planned for the rest of our evening, my entire outfit vanished halfway up the stairs. Luckily we were out of view from the dining room, because from one step to the next I suddenly found myself wearing nothing but my collar, with its tag and bell.
When we reached her room she locked the door, then the two of us tumbled into bed together and spent the rest of the night 'strengthening our bond' as Mrs. Brennan called it.
That was as much fun the second time around as it had been right after the ritual, as both Nia and I continued to get more familiar with each other's bodies and desires. There wasn't any more magic that night, but we didn't need it. Instead we got more acquainted with each other the old-fashioned way, with good communication and plenty of hands-on experimentation.
In all it was a wonderful end to an incredible day, and after all but wearing each other out we drifted off to sleep cuddled up in each others arms, naked under the blankets. It was another fantastic night, and we ended up sleeping in again Sunday morning. Although I was pretty sure it wasn't anywhere near as late as we'd slept on Saturday.
"Good morning cutie," Nia whispered into my big mousie ears as she held me cuddled up tight against her chest. "How are you doing?"
I whispered back, "Good morning mistress. I'm good. Comfy. Don't wanna move."
She sounded like she was smiling as she replied, "Same. We're going to have to get up though, we're supposed to head back over to the mundane world today."
"Yeah," I sighed. Then I tried to prolong it a bit by changing the subject, "I was wondering, what other magic stuff do fae witches do? Or can you do? Like so far all I've seen you do is conjure that hand mirror Friday night, and a bunch of clothes yesterday."
Nia shrugged slightly, "Pretty much anything you can think of I guess? All the fantasy tropes, that sort of thing. Mom's basically a professional witch, she takes care of most of the magical needs around here. She enchants those light crystals we use in all the lamps, and the fire crystals we use for cooking and heating and everything. She also brews healing potions, provides fertility spells..."
Her voice trailed off then she sounded like she was blushing as she hastily added, "I mean fertility spells for the crops and stuff, not people. Or I guess people too, if that's what they want? But like, mostly to help the farmers' crops to grow."
"Ok," I frowned, "That's what your mom does as a professional. What about you though? What sorts of magic will I be helping you with? What kind of magic will I learn?"
My friend replied, "We'll probably spend a lot of time working on basic utility spells. Scrying, glamours, some enchantments. Charm spells are good for getting out of awkward situations, and sleep spells can be a peaceful solution to most threats. Basically there's lots of different stuff, too much to list it all."
"Was there something specific you're curious about?" she asked after a brief pause.
My cheeks warmed up but I nodded, "You'll have to turn me into a mouse sooner or later, right? I won't be able to learn how to that without you teaching me."
"Ah," she responded, and I could tell she was smiling again. "Like I said I'm not in a huge hurry to turn you into a mouse Kiki. I'm still a little scared of the risks. But if you're eager to learn how to control your form then we can start with small steps. Or if you really want to try being a mouse I'll figure out a way to do that so it's safe."
"Thanks," I mumbled. Then I frowned, "What do you mean about small steps?"
Nia explained, "We don't necessarily have to go straight from your current form to a tiny little mouse all in one go. I could try and make you an even smaller mouse-girl if you wanted? Or keep you the same size but try and make you more mousy. Like fur, claws, sharper teeth."
Hearing that opened up a whole new world of possibilities, several of which got my heart moving a little quicker. I gulped softly, "Oh. Wow."
She just giggled quietly before letting out a longer sigh. "Sorry pet, we really do have to start moving. Time to get up, get dressed, and see if my folks are ready to cross over."
I stifled a sigh of my own then nodded, "Yes mistress."
We took turns using the washroom again, then I sat naked on the bed and watched while Nia got dressed in one of her typical outfits. She started with another sexy set of panties and bra, but overtop of that went some loose torn black jeans, a simple t-shirt, and a jacket. And she had sneakers on her feet. Instead of her backpack she stuffed her phone and things into a smaller bag then slung that over her left shoulder.
Then she used magic to dress me again, in white running shoes, dark grey leggings, and a long beige tunic-style top that came down to my thighs. All that went overtop of my own set of sexy lacy undergarments. It turned out my collar had finally vanished overnight while we slept, but Nia brought it back again complete with the tag and bell. Then unlike at dinner the previous night, she told me to put on my oversized hoodie. Partially for the added warmth, but also to act as insurance incase her magic wore off unexpectedly while we were out in public.
Then the two of us headed downstairs together.
We found Mr. and Mrs. Brennan waiting for us in the kitchen, and both of them were all ready to head out.
They were dressed in normal mundane clothes today, although that didn't really mean much for Nia's dad since he seemed to dress the same either way. Her mom was different though, instead of another long black gown she wore slacks and a blouse, with dark shoes and an autumn coat. I noticed she didn't have a purse with her, but I figured whatever she needed was probably in her jacket pockets.
"Good morning girls, I hope you two remembered to get at least some sleep last night?" the older witch commented with a knowing smile. "If you need to rehydrate then get yourselves something to drink right now, otherwise we'll get something at Gruffudd's Grove."
Nia and I blushed as she quickly poured us both a couple glasses of apple juice. Then after gulping that down we were good to go, so the four of us set out on foot together. I noticed nobody bothered to lock the house up as we left, it seemed like they didn't need to worry about theft here. Then again odds were nobody was stupid enough to try and steal from the most powerful witch in town.
We were mostly quiet as we made our way south towards the village and the crossroads beyond. The weather was fairly typical for a mid-October morning, with a grey overcast sky and a bit of a chill in the air. At least it wasn't raining, although from the look of it that was probably going to change at some point during the day.
Passing through Kenrei's Cove in the daylight I got a better look at the place, and even after all the other magic I'd experienced in the last couple days it was still hard to believe this whole village was somehow hidden from the outside world. Especially with the community being right on the shore of Lake Sturgeon, that was part of the Trent-Severn Waterway so every summer there'd be literally hundreds of recreational boaters going past. And yet none of them would have any clue there was this little magical enclave right there on the western shore of the lake.
The other big difference from when Nia and I were there on Friday night was there were other people up and about this morning. Not a lot, but we must have seen over a dozen other fae and beastkin of various species. Most of them waved, or bid us a polite good morning. We all responded in kind, but we didn't stop to chat with anyone.
Soon enough we'd left Kenrei's Cove behind as we continued on our way towards the magical bar in the swamp. I still hadn't entirely gotten my head around that concept either. The crossroads part made some sense, like if they had this hidden magical realm it needed a doorway. Marking that spot with an open-air bar in the middle of a swamp felt like a really weird way to handle it though.
I was still pondering all that when we arrived, as indicated by the presence of stepping stones in the squishy ground and the strange silver gateway that marked the entrance. There was a guy there at the doorway to greet us, but not the same fae Nia and I saw the other night. This morning it was a tall burly wolfkin who looked to be in his mid-thirties, and I couldn't help feeling especially small and vulnerable by comparison. He had to be at least two meters tall, with broad shoulders and muscles everywhere. He had fangs too, which were very obvious when he grinned.
"Eabha, Tadhg!" he greeted Mr. and Mrs. Brennan in a happy voice. His big bushy grey tail even started to swish from side to side as he continued, "It's been a while since we've seen you two here. And Nia, I didn't realize you were over here too!"
My ears perked up slightly as I realized that was the first time I'd heard anyone mention the older witch's first name. I vaguely remembered she went by 'Eve' when I knew her in the human world though.
Meanwhile Mrs. Brennan replied to the wolfkin with a warm smile, "Hello again Wade. You're right, it's been a year or two. Tadhg and I need to pop back over with Nia for today, to take care of a few things for her and her new familiar. Kiki, this is Wade, he's one of the managers here at Gruffudd's Grove."
The wolfman looked down at me with a wide toothy grin, "Hello there Kiki! You're in good hands with the Brennans, nobody knows magic like they do."
"Hello Mr. Wade," I mumbled nervously as I did my best not to hide behind Nia. "It's nice to meet you sir."
He chuckled before turning his attention back to Mrs. Brennan, "You need some mundane food then?"
She replied, "Yes please, for all four of us."
"Make yourselves comfortable then," he replied. "I'll have something for you in a minute."
Eabha thanked the wolfkin then led the rest of us over to one of the tables. We didn't bother sitting down though since we weren't planning to stay very long. I ended up quietly looking around again, at the tables and chairs and the other furnishings, and decided the place seemed even stranger in the daylight than it had in the dark. There were a few other patrons around too, despite it being a Sunday morning. Nowhere near as many as I remembered from Friday night though.
A few seconds later a cute young wolfgirl approached our table carrying a tray. She looked a year or two younger than me, like seventeen or eighteen maybe, and I was positive she had to be Wade's daughter. Her hair and ears and tail were all the same dark grey as his, and there was a family resemblance in her eyes too.
"Here you go," she said with a smile as she placed four small glasses down on the table next to us, followed by four breakfast bars. The drinks looked like reconstituted orange juice, but it was served in small fancy crystal shot-glasses. The bars were standard pre-packaged cereal bars, flavoured with nuts and honey.
Mr. Brennan responded, "Thank you Tina. How long have you been working here with your dad?"
The teen wolfgirl blushed slightly as she replied, "Only a couple months now sir, and just part time. And only during the day shifts, dad doesn't want me getting involved with any night-time shenanigans just yet."
"Sensible as always," Mrs. Brennan commented as she picked up one of the glasses and a bar.
Tina bid us all a good day then hurried back the way she came while the rest of us picked up our drinks and food. Except I had to pull my hoodie sleeves way up out of the way first. It looked and smelled like basic orange juice, but I hesitated as I stared down at the tiny glass and the packaged food in my hands.
"It'll be ok Kiki," Nia assured me. "It's just normal mundane food."
I asked nervously, "What if it turns me back to my old self? When we were here on Friday you said human food would break the spell..."
Mrs. Brennan answered, "Even if there was some minuscule chance of that happening before, it cannot happen now. You're a mousekin, and you're my daughter's familiar. Any ties that may once have bound you to your original human shape were broken when you and Nia forged your pact yesterday afternoon."
"Although to be frank," the older witch added, "I sincerely doubt you were ever so tightly bound to your original shape. If you were then a few drops of fairy wine wouldn't have had such a profound effect on you in the first place, my dear."
My mistress pulled me closer to her as she said, "Mom's right, pet. You'll always be my little mousegirl, no matter which side of the veil you're on. All this is going to do is let you see the mundane side again, and let normal humans see you. They'll see you as a human version of yourself, but you won't actually become human. And you're definitely not going to be a boy again either."
"Ok," I nodded slowly. "Thanks for reminding me of all that."
Mr. Brennan suggested, "If everyone's ready then we may as well get on with it?"
"Indeed," Eabha agreed.
Without another word the two of them knocked back their juice like they were doing shots, so Nia and I did the same. Then my eyes widened as we put our glasses back down on the table, because the mundane drink was already starting to kick in.
The first change I noticed was actually the little glasses. They'd been made of perfect crystal clear glass, but now they looked like random trash we'd found on the ground. One was a familiar dented old tin cup, another was a faded beer can. Nia's looked like a filthy old paper coffee cup from one of those chain coffee shops. And mine was a gross-looking drinks cup from a fast-food burger place.
Then the cups seemed to vanish, along with the tables and chairs. In fact as I looked around I realized I could barely see any trace of Gruffudd's grove. There were just some faint ghostly shapes where all the furnishings used to be.
While I was looking around wide-eyed Nia and her parents all opened their cereal bars then started munching on them, so I did the same. That's when I realized the three of them looked different now too. I could still sort of see the beautiful fae family, but that was more like a ghostly echo.
Mostly what I saw was my tomboy best friend I'd known for the past eleven years, and her parents that allegedly moved to Ottawa more than a year earlier. Nia's hair was back to being a messy brown bob, while her ears and eyes looked normal. Same with Mr. and Mrs. Brennan. They looked older again too, like a normal middle-aged human couple.
I nervously looked at Nia and half-whispered, "What did it do to me, what do I look like?"
She suggested, "Use your phone's selfie camera and find out, cutie."
"Oh right," I grimaced.
I had to free my hands from my hoodie sleeves again, which was a good sign since it meant I was still small. And my phone's face-unlock feature didn't work either, which was another good sign. I put in my password then opened the selfie camera, and let out a sigh of relief when I saw the feminine face looking back at me on the screen. I still had shoulder-length sandy brown hair, and my eyes were the same deep dark brown too.
There was no sign of my big mousie ears anymore, which made me feel weird. I reached up and discovered I could still sort of feel them, same with my long slim tail. They seemed different though, like they were less solid, more ephemeral. And when I tried to move my tail around where I could see it there was nothing there, apart from a faint ghostly outline. I figured that meant the disguise was more like an illusion masking my mousekin body, rather than my body actually changing into something different.
I filed that thought away for later, and in the meantime I grinned and focused on the most important detail. "I'm still a girl!"
Nia smiled back, "Of course you are. Now c'mon cutie, let's not hang around the swamp any longer than we have to."
"Yeah," I agreed as I stuffed my phone back in my hoodie pocket.
Mr. and Mrs. Brennan led the way, and the four of us set off to the south again. We were basically retracing the path Nia and I took Friday night, but this time I noticed when we left the clearing that strange little detour took us through another thin metal arch. It was faint and ghostly, but I could just make out what looked like a spectral copper version of the silver arch at the north exit of the crossroads.
"Is that another magic doorway?" I asked as we passed through it. "How come I can see that now? I can still see sort of outlines of your real selves too, ontop of your human forms."
Mrs. Brennan answered my second question, "Your true form is one of the magical races Kiki. Now that you've uncovered it and visited the other side of the veil you'll always be able to see some echoes of that realm."
"That's how we can find our way back," Nia added. "And yeah Gruffudd's south entrance is the opposite of the north one, it does the same thing but for the mundane world."
Before I could respond the older witch commented, "That's enough for now. Let's not forget where we are, and stick to appropriate subjects while we're here."
"Sorry," I mumbled as my cheeks warmed up. I hadn't forgotten what Nia said about secrecy, but everything was still new enough that I could easily get carried away talking about it.
We'd only made it another hundred meters or so when my phone suddenly buzzed a couple times, with some new message notifications. I frowned as I fished it out of my hoodie pocket again, since I wasn't expecting to hear from anyone. Then my gut lurched when I saw the name on the notifications screen.
"They're from my dad," I gulped. "A bunch of missed calls and texts, from Friday night and all day yesterday..."