"I'm only saying she's clearly interested," Mrs. Brennan responded calmly. "And considering she all but volunteered already, I don't understand your reluctance. I honestly think turning her down would be a terrible mistake, and a wasted opportunity."
The older fae woman was doing an excellent job of getting Nia all riled up, while keeping herself relaxed and her tone calm and amicable.
Sure enough I could hear the frustration in my friend's voice when she insisted, "That's because she doesn't know what she's talking about, and she doesn't know what's involved!"
"Please mom," Nia added wearily, "Just let it go, ok? There's more important stuff we need to discuss right now."
The two of them had been going at it like that for the last few minutes, while Mr. Brennan and I quietly watched and listened. At least we were all comfortable now, instead of standing in their front hallway.
Nia and I followed the older couple into a small cosy room just to the right of the entrance. The two of us were sitting next to each other on a comfy sofa, while her parents shared a matching love-seat. The room was dimly lit by a couple more of those glowing wall lanterns, but the thing that really caught my interest was a sort of fireplace or hearth set in one corner.
It was casting a dull orange-red glow over the room, and heat radiated off it just like a real fire. Except instead of burning wood there were a handful of large chunky glowing rocks or crystals arranged inside. Feeling the warmth coming off it and letting it heat up my cold feet left me with no doubt whatsoever that it had to be real magic.
The other nice thing was after we got comfy Nia's mom got us all some drinks. We each had a mug of something that I took to be the fae equivalent of hot cocoa. The beverage wasn't actually warm in a temperature sense, but it still warmed me up inside when I drank it. And it tasted great, like cocoa with marshmallows already melted in.
I actually worried it might have more fae booze in it, but Nia didn't say anything and she seemed ok drinking it so I figured it must be safe. I enjoyed another sip of that while the tense conversation continued around me.
"I don't really see how it makes any difference whether we discuss that other matter now or later," Mrs. Brennan commented. "And the bottom line Nia is you need help with your magic. You've stalled, you haven't made any progress in two years. You're at the stage where you need a familiar. I know it, and I know you know it too."
She nodded towards me as she continued, "Your friend has excellent potential, she'd make a perfect pet and magical partner, and she literally said she's willing to try. She wants to help you Nia. I want to help you. We could perform the ritual right now, you could have your first familiar before you retire to bed for the evening. Yet for some inexplicable reason you continue to resist."
"Do you hate magic that much?" her mom asked. Then she acted wounded as she added sadly, "Do you hate me that much?"
Nia was practically grinding her teeth by that point. She stated, "Of course I don't hate you, but if you keep trying to manipulate us then I might start! Stop being so obstinate and please just listen for once! Kiki doesn't know what's involved, she doesn't know what you're suggesting! She doesn't have the context, she doesn't know anything about this stuff, there's no frame of reference for her!"
Then she turned towards me and added, "Please don't listen to my mom about any of this stuff ok? You and I can talk about it later. Just don't agree to anything she says. And for goodness sake do not make any promises!"
"Alright Nia," I replied quietly.
Meanwhile Mrs. Brennan rolled her eyes as she commented to herself, "So dramatic."
"Oh very well then," the older fae woman added in a conciliatory tone. "We can move on to that other topic for now. Although I honestly don't see how it's going to change anything. Indeed, it might help cement your friend's decision? But if it makes my daughter happy then so be it."
"Thank you," Nia stated. Then she turned to me and apologized, "Sorry Kiki. I know you've been through a lot already today, I really didn't mean for you to end up being the subject of a debate between my mother and I."
"It's ok," I shrugged slightly. "I'm mostly just confused and curious right now, not upset or anything."
"Good," she gave me a weak smile, but that faded a few seconds later. "Like I said earlier, there's some serious stuff we need to discuss."
I nodded slowly, "I'm guessing this has something to do with those side-effects from the fairy wine?"
"Yeah," she sighed again. "My mother doesn't believe the fairy wine could have changed you like this. She says it's impossible -"
Mrs. Brennan interrupted, "That's not what I said. I merely explained that it was impossible for a few drops of fairy wine to transform a mundane human so dramatically."
My eyebrows crept up as I looked back and forth between the two fae women. Then I focused on Nia and asked, "So what does that mean?"
"It means you've almost certainly got some fae in your heritage," Mrs. Brennan stated. "Which isn't as unusual as it may sound. After all Gruffudd's Grove has been in operation for nearly two centuries, there's been plenty of time over the years for denizens of the magical and mundane realms to meet and... make acquaintances."
Nia gave her mom another hard look, but the older fae ignored it. Meanwhile I had another gulp of my not-hot-chocolate as I processed that news. I didn't feel as shocked as I thought I would though, which left me wondering if maybe I expected someone to make that suggestion.
It did leave me with another question though, "If there's some fae in my history then why'd I turn into a mousekin? Wouldn't I have turned into a fae, like you three?"
"Ah sorry for the confusion," Mrs. Brennan apologized. "I was using 'fae' in the general sense, to mean anything beyond the mundane. As for the exact nature of your heritage compared to your new form, that's not necessarily as clear cut as one might imagine. We're assuming the catalyst was fairy wine, and by their nature fairies tend to be rather mischievous and unpredictable. So too is their magic, and by extension, anything they produce with their magic. Which includes their wine."
She sounded almost like she was giving a lecture as she continued, "And as we're discussing possibilities and probabilities, having one fae ancestor actually increases the likelihood of there being more than one. Be it mousekin, other beastkin, or fae, once a human family has a little magical blood in them they tend to gravitate towards others with similar traits. Which likely explains why you and Nia found it so easy to become friends with each other."
"Uh..." I frowned as I tried to grasp everything the older fae was telling me.
Fortunately her daughter translated, "What she's saying is it doesn't really matter if you had a fae or beastkin ancestor, and odds are you might have more than one. The main thing is having that non-mundane blood is probably the trigger, while the actual outcome might have been a bit random thanks to the way fairy magic works."
I nodded slowly as that cleared things up a tiny bit, but I was still sort of lost when it came to the big picture stuff. After another few seconds I finally asked, "It all seems really unlikely though, doesn't it? I mean, even if some distant ancestor was fae or mousekin or something, I was still mostly human."
Mrs. Brennan replied, "As unlikely as it may seem, it's still much more plausible than the idea of a few drops of fairy wine turning a pure-blood human boy into a mousekin girl. Which in my professional opinion is impossible."
"Ok..." I nodded slowly. Then I looked to my friend again and asked, "So what does all this mean? Like you're acting as if it's a big deal and all, I'm guessing there's more to it? Something you haven't told me yet?"
Nia looked nervous as she replied, "We don't know for sure, and I don't want to scare you. My mother thinks -"
"How would you feel if I told you your recent transformation was not reversible?" her mother interjected. "How might you react if I said you're going to spend the rest of your days as a small mousekin girl?"
"Damn it mom!" Nia glared at her mother.
Meanwhile I just frowned as I started to consider that possibility. And I was left wondering why my very first reaction was a little surge of joy and hope. That thought left my cheeks warming up, while my thoughts moved on to the practicalities of the situation.
After a few seconds I finally responded, "I guess I'd be worried about a lot of things? Like what I'd do for accommodations, since there's no way I could keep living with my dad like this. Then there's college, I doubt I could keep attending classes if I was a mouse-girl."
"Or if I could," I added, "Then I'd have to find out about transferring everything to my new name. And of course there's the question of ID, would it be possible to get that sorted out too? I also need new clothes. And all that stuff takes money, so would I be able to access my bank account? Could I even get a job like this?"
By the time I was done both Nia and her mother were staring at me, but I couldn't decipher what either of their expressions meant. That awkwardness lasted another ten or fifteen seconds, before the older fae finally broke the silence.
"Interesting," Mrs. Brennan commented. "I asked how you would feel and you responded with a list of practical and logistical concerns, yet made no mention of your actual feelings."
I gulped as my cheeks heated up a little more, but rather than respond I found myself wondering what that actually meant. Well, that and the fact that my initial feelings were joy and hope. I also started wondering why I felt like I had to hide those feelings, why that felt safer than actually admitting them.
Somehow my non-reaction seemed to be exactly what the older woman was waiting for. She nodded once, "As I suspected."
She added bluntly, "You're pleased with that outcome. You're hoping it isn't hypothetical, that you really are stuck this way forever. Despite all those practical concerns you just described, what you really want is -"
"Mother that's enough!" Nia interrupted. Then she slipped an arm around my shoulders and asked me, "Kiki are you ok? Don't let her rile you up, she's just messing with you."
Despite my friend's interruption her mother's words continued echoing in my mind. My heart was pounding in my chest and my emotions were all over the place as I tried to grasp whatever point the older woman had been making. I was sure there was more to it than just messing with me for the sake of watching me squirm. And even though I had all those thoughts and feelings and everything all swirling around in my head, I was still paying enough attention to hear Mrs. Brennan when she actually backed down, for the first time since Nia and I got there.
"I'm sorry Kiki," the witch fae apologized. She even looked and sounded compassionate, which was another surprise. "My rudeness was uncalled for."
Then she focused on her daughter, "I know you're trying to protect your friend Nia, you believe you have her best interests in mind. You are wrong, and in my own way I am trying to look out for the both of you. Right now Kiki doesn't need protection or coddling, she needs the truth. But I concede there are gentler ways than mine to deliver it."
The older fae then rose to her feet and suggested, "It is late. Tadhg and I should retire for the evening, and I suggest you girls do the same. But please Nia, tell Kiki what she needs to know. And what she wants to know. Tell her everything, then trust her to make her own decisions."
Mr. Brennan had been silent through the whole conversation, but he got up as well. Then he and his wife both bid Nia and I a good night, before the two of them exited the room and made their way up the stairs. And just like that my friend and I were alone together in the small cosy den.
Once her parents were gone Nia let out a long soft sigh then mumbled, "So that was an ordeal. I'm sorry you had to endure all that. I'm sorry about my mother."
It took me a few seconds to find my voice, then I mumbled a quiet reply. "It's ok Nia. It's not your fault."
"I've got some questions though," I added softly. "A lot of questions actually."
She grimaced, "I'm sure you do. And I'll answer them if you want, but some of them might be difficult to hear."
I nodded, "Yeah I figured as much. So um, what was your mom getting at, when you cut her off?"
Nia's arm was still wrapped around my shoulders, and she gave me a supportive squeeze before explaining in a soft gentle voice. "Mom thinks you're trans. More specifically she thinks you're an egg, a trans girl who doesn't know she's trans. Mom thinks you wanted to be a girl, and that desire may have influenced what happened with the fairy wine. And instead of letting you figure that out and hatch on your own, she thought it'd be better to smash your egg shell open with a hammer."
By the time she was done my eyes were wide and my heart pounding again. I didn't know much about trans people, or what it meant to be trans. I assumed all the hate and vitriol my dad spewed on the subject was wrong, but knowing how he felt was probably the main reason I'd never bothered trying to learn more about the subject myself.
After a few seconds Nia continued softly, "I want you to know that whether you're trans or not, I'm your friend and I'll support you no matter what. And if you're not sure, then I can try and help you figure yourself out, if you like? And finally, I want you to know that if you do want to be a girl that's completely ok. If you want to be a girl then you're already a girl. Because only girls want to be girls."
"Um," I hesitated, "Ok. Thanks Nia."
"I'm going to need some time to think all that through," I added.
She gave me another gentle squeeze, "Of course. Is there anything else you want to know? Anything else I can do to help?"
I gulped then asked, "Was that other stuff really hypothetical? About me being stuck this way forever? Or is it true?"
"We don't know yet," she sighed. "The only surefire test is to give you some human food and see what happens. Either the spell is broken and you turn back to normal, or it doesn't and you remain like this."
That thought made me shudder, and I could tell Nia noticed it since she gave me another supportive little squeeze. "What if... What if your mom's right? What if I don't want to turn back? Is there some way to actually make this permanent?"
This time I felt her muscles tense slightly, like that question bothered her. Or rather, it was the answer she wasn't happy about. She sighed, "There is. And it's something we could do, but there's a lot more we'd have to talk about first."
I frowned slightly, then turned to look up at her. "It's the familiar thing, right? If I was your familiar then I couldn't turn back to a... to who I was before?"
"Yeah," Nia grimaced. "So I guess you want me to tell you all about that now?"
After a brief hesitation I shook my head, "Let's leave that for tomorrow. Your mom's right, it's late. And it's been a really long complicated day."
"I think I'm ready to get some sleep," I added with a little yawn.
My beautiful fae friend smiled, "Ok cutie. C'mon, I'll show you my room here. It'll be like your first girls' slumber party."
Just like that my eyes were wide and my heart started racing all over again.