"Translocation is definitely cool," Nia agreed. "Mom doesn't do it often though, since it's a pretty demanding spell. Especially when you've got a lot to move. And, well, you already know this stuff isn't exactly easy to shift."
"Yeah," I grimaced. I knew just how heavy some of her furniture was, since I helped her move into the apartment when her parents were supposedly leaving for Ottawa.
Her queen-sized bed here wasn't anywhere near as big or cumbersome as the poster-bed she had in the magical realm, but it was still large and unwieldy, with a thick hardwood headboard. And her desk was solid walnut, not the typical lightweight particle-board stuff most people had. She even had a bookcase crammed into her bedroom, along with a full-size dresser.
Still, the thought of being able to move around with magic was too appealing to give up on. I couldn't help commenting, "Even if it's a tricky spell, it'd be pretty cool being able to jump to and from the campus with magic. And it'd be great for vacations! Forget about airports and flying, just poof to some tropical island paradise!"
"Not possible," my mistress stated. "Not even my mother would risk translocating a living thing. It's ok for inanimate stuff, but not safe for people."
She made a face as she added, "Supposedly a few people have attempted it, but none of them lived long enough to say what it was like."
That made me grimace, and I quickly abandoned my dream of instant magical transportation. Instead I looked around her room then came up with a more practical question for her. "If your mom's going to use magic to move stuff then what kind of packing do we have to do?"
"We need to round up all the loose stuff," Nia replied as she turned and opened her closet door. "Everything in here, all the stuff on my desk. We'll probably need to clear the bookcase. And I've got stuff in the washroom, and the kitchen."
That made sense. I nodded, "Alright then. Do we have boxes?"
My mistress smiled, then I felt her dip into that pool of magic inside me as she started conjuring up a bunch of moving boxes in various shapes and sizes. Soon enough the bed was covered in boxes, then she handed one to me and another to her father and set us both to work emptying the closet. Meanwhile she took a third box then headed over to the washroom she shared with Ivy.
It didn't take Mr. Brennan and I very long to empty out Nia's closet, then we moved on to the bookcase. Meanwhile my mistress got all her stuff out of the bathroom then took a couple boxes into the kitchen so she could start rounding up all her dishes and cutlery, not to mention whatever food she had in the fridge and pantry. It was somewhere around that point that I came to realize something I'd already sort of suspected.
I was a whole lot weaker now than I'd been in my original guy form. And considering I wasn't exactly a strong guy to begin with, as a tiny mousekin girl I was basically about as tough and rugged as a wet noodle. Back when I helped Nia move into the apartment I remembered being able to carry an entire box full of books. Maybe not easily, but I could do it. Now I couldn't so much as budge something that heavy. Even the boxes full of clothes turned out to be more than I could manage.
That realization left me with some new feelings to try and process, but that would have to wait until later since Mrs. Brennan finally arrived at the door. Nia let her and Sara in, then her mom gave her a couple keys and announced that our new apartment was on the fourth floor, unit forty-four.
So we stopped packing for a few minutes to go and check out the new place. It was on the top floor of the building, a corner unit with views to the north and east. On the one hand that was cool because it meant more windows and a bigger balcony than the place Nia shared with Ivy. On the other hand it was at the opposite end from the elevator, which meant having to carry boxes and things that much further.
Nia quickly picked which of the two bedrooms we'd be sleeping in and which would become the 'workshop', then we all returned to her old place to get on with the move.
That ended up taking us a good two hours, and it felt like a lot of really hard work. Even though I barely did anything, compared to everyone else. Nia and her dad carried boxes the normal way, and my biggest contribution was standing in the elevator holding the 'door open' button while they came and went. Meanwhile her mother and Sara used their magic to translocate all the big stuff.
I got to see it happen the first two times, but it wasn't flashy or anything. It was just a lot of Mrs. Brennan frowning and focusing while she held her familiar's hand. Then after a half minute or so Nia's queen-sized bed simply faded away. The same happened with her bookcase, after we'd finished clearing all the shelves.
Then when I followed Nia and her dad up to the new unit with the next load of boxes we found the bookcase standing against the wall in the new living-room, while her bed was there waiting for us in our new bedroom. The dresser faded into existence while we were there, and her desk and chair ended up in the other bedroom. Her sofa and TV joined the bookcase out in the living-room, then Mrs. Brennan translocated some of the heavier boxes as well.
The whole thing was over by about half past twelve. Nia gave her old key to Ivy, then we joined her parents and Sara up in our new place. That was going to take a bit of time to get used to, the fact that Nia and I were going to be living together. I probably would have been a lot more excited about the idea if I wasn't so weary. Not that I'd even done much, everyone else worked a lot harder than me. I still needed to process that too, in fact I'd probably need a full week just to get over the past forty-eight hours.
For now though I just sat quietly cuddled up against my mistress's side while we all took a bit of a breather after the big move. The place still looked sort of empty though, since half the stuff in her old apartment belonged to Ivy so it was still down there. We'd definitely need to get a few more things to make the place look properly moved in. Like for one thing there weren't enough chairs here for everyone, and we didn't have a table or anything to eat off of.
After another few minutes my mistress finally broke the silence with a question.
"So," Nia looked at her mom, "What's next? We need to get Kiki's stuff out of her dad's house. And we have to fix her ID, and sort things out with the college."
She gestured at all the boxes piled up around us place and added, "I can unpack this stuff later. Tomorrow maybe."
My cheeks coloured as I commented softly, "I need proper clothes too. The stuff you conjured for me this morning um..."
"Oh right," my mistress smirked. "When did that happen?"
I grimaced, "I'm not sure? I noticed about an hour ago, when my feet felt cold in the elevator."
Sure enough all my magic clothing had vanished, leaving me in nothing but my oversized hoodie. Fortunately we hadn't encountered a lot of other people during our trips up and down between the old and new units. And if any of those people did notice my bare feet they didn't say anything.
Mrs. Brennan told her daughter, "Dress your pet with magic again dear. Then I think we've all earned a decent meal. After that we can visit the shops, then we'll see about moving Kiki's things into your new home."
Nia looked back at me and grinned, "Hold still cutie."
I felt her drawing from that magical reservoir inside me once more, and despite her words I ended up squirming a bit as a bra and panties appeared on my body. They were followed by dark leggings and socks, then a pair of shoes. And finally a simple dress appeared beneath my big hoodie. At that point both of us were startled by a large stack of books crashing to the floor, as a half dozen moving boxes suddenly ceased to exist.
Mr. Brennan also jumped slightly at the noise, but neither Mrs. Brennan or Sara so much as flinched. The older witch looked to her daughter and calmly said, "Your magic will have received a small boost in strength now that you've finally bound your first familiar Nia. In order to see some real improvements however, you and your pet will have a lot of hard work and training ahead of you both."
"Yes mother," my mistress replied with a little pout.
We took another five or ten minutes to rest before the five of us were finally ready to start moving again, then we all headed out to the mini-van to go get some lunch. There were plenty of chain restaurants and fast food places at the big-box plaza on the west end of town, but Mr. Brennan took us east instead, to a little indie bistro on the other side of the river.
The food there was pretty good, better than any of the chain places anyways. And the service was decent too. After that we finally headed west to the big plaza, and once we got there Mrs. Brennan suggested we should split up.
"Your father and I will see about purchasing some additional furnishings for your new home," the older fae said. "While we're doing that you can focus on getting your pet a new wardrobe. And don't worry about the money, buy whatever you need to make the two of you happy."
I couldn't help smiling when I heard that, although it felt a little weird hearing her refer to me as Nia's pet out in public.
My mistress didn't comment on that, instead she smiled too as she replied, "Thanks mom! We'll meet you back here when we're done."
"C'mon cutie," she added. "Let's go get you some proper clothes."
With that she took my hand in hers and steered me across the parking lot towards one of the clothes stores, while her parents and Sara headed in the opposite direction.
The next hour or two went by in a blur, as my mistress dragged me through a couple different shops. It was a weird experience though because of the difference between my disguised body size and my true size. Like the only clothes we could find in my true size came from the children's section, while a lot of the stuff that looked like it would fit my disguised self was probably too big.
We still managed to put together a full wardrobe for me, but it was a bit of a challenge. And it left Nia more determined than ever to figure out how to make the clothes she conjured up permanent so they wouldn't disappear. And if she couldn't manage that, then she promised to learn how to make permanent magical alterations to the real clothes we'd just bought, the way she could change her conjured outfits around.
And speaking of the purchased clothes, despite the problems with sizes and stuff we still managed to buy a lot more than I'd expected. There were five or six bags in total, and they were heavy enough that I could only carry one of them while my mistress carried the rest back towards the rental van.
My cheeks were red as I commented softly, "It feels really weird being so weak now. I used to be able to lift as much as you, or maybe more? Now I can barely manage this one bag. And I was completely useless trying to lift those boxes earlier."
Nia gave me a worried look then whispered, "It's part of being a mousekin. I know it must be a big adjustment though. Are you going to be ok?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "I think so? I just need some time to get used to it."
My expression shifted to a frown as I admitted, "It makes me even more scared of my dad though. I could barely defend myself before, but now I wouldn't have any chance at all holding up against him. Or anyone else, for that matter."
"Please don't worry about that pet," my mistress responded. "I'm here, you and I will stay together, and I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."
I gave her a weak smile, "I know. Thank you."
When we reached the van we found the others were already there waiting for us. And the back of the vehicle was half full of boxes and bags and things. There was just enough room to stuff my new wardrobe in there too, but the back row of seats were full. So Nia ended up in the middle row beside Sara, and I had to sit on my mistress's lap. Which was a little embarrassing but also kind of nice.
That only lasted a few minutes though, for the short ride back to the apartment. Then came more work, hauling everything up into our new home. And once again I couldn't help much with that, but I did what I could.
It took a couple trips, then Mr. Brennan and Sara got to work assembling some of the new flat-pack furniture. There was a breakfast table with some chairs, a coffee table for the living-room, that sort of thing.
While they were doing that Nia asked her mom, "Do you want to do Kiki's ID now? Or are you saving that till the end?"
Mrs. Brennan looked to me and asked, "Do you have your old ID with you?"
"Yes ma'am," I replied as I fished my wallet out of my hoodie pocket. "Drivers license, health card, student ID, bank and credit card..."
The fae witch took my wallet and started pulling all the cards out, then arranged them in front of her on the kitchen counter. Which I could barely see, due to my tiny stature.
After she'd finished emptying my wallet she asked, "No birth certificate?"
I shook my head, "That's at my dad's place."
The older woman nodded slowly as a thoughtful look settled on her face, "I can conjure convincing forgeries with your new name and picture, but your best bet in the long run is to get the legitimate documents updated. That means filing for a legal name and gender change. When that's been approved you'll need to get the real ID updated, and that may require a little magic to ensure the clerk doesn't question any of the impossible changes."
"In the meantime the conjured forgeries will suffice," she added. Then she stated firmly, "Keep out of trouble though, because the fakes will not stand up to any serious scrutiny. That means avoiding police, and above all keep away from hospitals and doctors."
I planned on avoiding the cops regardless, since they were all buddies with my dad. I hadn't thought about medical stuff, but considering I wasn't human anymore it made sense to keep away from them too.
Meanwhile Nia rolled her eyes, "Yes mother we know all that. We'll look into the legal updates later, so if you could do some temporary ID for her that would be great."
Mrs. Brennan nodded, "Very well. Is she going to keep the same surname as before? Or have you picked something new, to try and further distance her from her father?"
"What do you think cutie?" my mistress asked. "Do you want a new last name?"
"I'd never even thought of that," I admitted with a frown. "It's a good idea though. Except I have no idea what it should be?"
Nia offered, "I could pick something for you. You said on Friday I could choose your new name, and you didn't specify that was first name only."
That made me grimace slightly, "Right. So um, what did you have in mind?"
"Muyskens!" she announced with a wide grin. "Kiki Muyskens sounds super cute, don't you think?"
My eyes widened as I looked up at her, "Does Muyskens mean what I think it means?"
"If you think it means 'little mouse' then yes it does," she replied with another grin. "So what do you think cutie? Wanna be Kiki Muyskens?"
I hesitated slightly as I tried to imagine being called that. On the one hand it sounded like something an eight year old might name her pet mouse. But on the other hand Nia was right, it definitely sounded cute. And I had to admit I liked being cute.
"Ok," I finally nodded. "It's cute and silly, but it works."
Next thing I knew most of my ID on the kitchen counter had been duplicated, and all the new cards identified me as Kiki Muyskens. Mrs. Brennan gathered up the new ID and gave them to me along with my wallet, then she gave the originals to my mistress for safe keeping.
I found myself staring at my new drivers license, and near as I could tell it looked completely genuine. Even better it had my new name on it, along with my cute girly face. And that all-important little 'F' in the corner. No mouse ears though, and it indicated my height as a hundred and forty-five centimetres.
Even though it was based on my mundane disguise instead of my true self I still ended up basking in the euphoria for a few seconds. Then I heard Sara pull something out of one of the larger shopping bags behind me, and it sounded like she was going out of her way to make it loud and distracting.
Sure enough the catkin spoke up a moment later, "Hey Nia, where did you want me to set this up?"
My mistress looked over and immediately choked back a giggle. So I turned around to look as well, then let out a little squeak of surprise when I saw what the catgirl familiar was holding.
According to the graphics on the box it was a 'Happy Home Deluxe Critter Cage Starter Kit' for pet mice. Complete with water bottle, food dish, activity wheel, multiple levels, and fun playtime tunnels for climbing.