Through Smoke and Ashes

Thirty Two||Shapeshifter

The forgetfulness I had was like a plague on my brain.

I was standing in front of a wall full of mirrors with maids rushing around me in a frenzy. Although I disliked when the women pulled at my hair and poked at my face, I couldn't help but admire the enormous mirrors in this room. I had never seen such things before. In Acrine, my home, mirrors were a rare thing because of how expensive they were. However, my mom had a small, hand-held mirror surrounded by pure silver that dad had gifted to her. When she wasn't using it, she kept it in a box to keep it protected. She told me how much she cherished the gift, and one day, when I was older, she would gift it to me.

As a younger girl, I fawned over the object, always wanting to see it. I understood the value of it was not because of how expensive it was. The simple act of giving a gift like that held sentimental meaning behind it.

Looking at myself now, I did not recognize the grown woman before me. I had caught reflections of myself in the rippling waters while I was on the island of Aeberuthey, but they were distorted and did not capture the whole image. Here, I could see how much my figure and appearance had truly changed. I was scrawny before and lacked muscle. Now, I could see the toned definition of my hard work paying off as my skin pulled tight around the newly formed muscles covering my arms. I was nowhere near as muscular as the men in this Academy, but I had enough to let others know I was not a fragile woman. The blue in my eyes that surrounded the brown glowed deeper with an ancient power. I thought I had received half of my mom's eyes, but I know now that I held half of Naxan's eyes. They glowed brighter than I have ever seen eyes do so before.

My whole appearance had changed, but I still looked like me. Just with a little more spice added into the mix.

Naxan stirred in my mind as he heard my thoughts. "Twoleg," He hummed.

"Nax."

"Bustling dragon's den," Naxan said. Through his eyes, I saw him watching the Academy. People were sifting in and out of the open doors, moving around in a hurried yet precise way. I would have compared it to a beehive.

"Tonight is a fancy event that these people put on every year. There's going to be a lot more people than this."

"Swarm."

A sudden worrying thought crossed my mind. There would be a lot of people here, and it would be crowded. Would Nax become overwhelmed?

"Malady, you must be still." One of the housekeepers said beside me as she put something onto my face. I learned her name to be Evangeline, but she told me to call her Eve. I watched in the mirror as she put on what I would call makeup onto my face.

I pulled back, shaking my head. "None of that, please. I don't want to look like a fool."

Eve clicked her tongue as she scowled at me. "A little bit then?"

I pursed my lips, deciding on whether or not I should allow it. I hope Eve's definition of "a little bit" was close to mine. Nodding my head, I closed my eyes and kept quiet even when I thought there was too much being put onto my face.

Once I no longer felt brushstrokes or odd liquids layering my skin, I opened my eyes. My eyelids felt heavy as I stared at myself in the mirror. I refrained from making a face of disgust as I saw the person staring back at me. She was unrecognizable. The skin on her face looked flawless, lacking the blemishes the sun had freckled her skin with. Her eyelashes were longer and darker, illuminating her eyes to look brighter than they were already.

I'm sure other girls would love to look like this, but I disliked it immensely. I looked like someone I was not, a doll made of porcelain that could easily be broken.