The Girl with an Owl

Chapter 46

Around thirty minutes passed as they sat there, waiting for something to happen. Silence hung in the room pressing heavily on them, making the tension even higher. Even Bluebells' laughter had run it's course and stopped.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a piercing howl that made the hair stand on the back of Ajana's neck. Only then did she notice that more hair was there than there was a second before. It scared her and made her happy at the same time.

It meant that the potion was finally starting to take full effect. However, that realization made her feel many conflicting emotions. One of them was the need to be somewhere high up, preferably on a tree. In a blink of an eye, she found herself hanging from the chandelier without consciously remembering climbing it.

"Buahahha, neigh haha. You. Guys. Are. Hilarious." Bluebells barely managed to say before another fit of laughter took him as its own.

That was when Ajana noticed that they were truly an odd pair, and this time around she couldn't blame Bluebells for laughing. Kieran was standing on his hands and knees his head one of a wolf, howling more loudly than Ajana thought was possible which might have had something to do with the fact that the sound reverberated off the walls of Ajana's room.

She was surprised that no one came running into her room to see what was going on. On the other hand, perhaps they didn't need to do that, since they already knew what was going on. After all, they were all magical beings. They could probably sense magic being performed.

Ajana, on her part, was still hanging on the chandelier, her hands those of a chimpanzee. It took her more time than it should've to remember how to control her hands and let go of the chandelier. When she finally did, she landed on her feet that were also those of a chimpanzee at the moment they hit the floor.

"Is this norma..." Ajana tried to say.

However, her sentence was caught off by the animalistic scream that came out of her mouth. She could not remember how to form proper, human words.

"Yes, it's normal, relax. Breathe through it. Remember, you are still a human, just a human in the body of a chimpanzee." Kieran said as his transformation completed, and the amber eyes of a wolf were staring at her.

It was uncanny to see the wolf in front of her, in all its majestic glory, and yet to hear Kieran's voice come out of it. He seemed so calm and collected as if being the wolf was the most natural thing ever.

"Wow, you are a black wolf, that's super cool." Bluebells said having recovered his senses.

That was when Ajana noted the fact as well. Kieran was a huge black wolf with glossy fur that seemed very soft, it was magnificent. He had a perfect posture of a wolf that Ajana always imagined when talking about wolves, standing on all fours, head up high, snout raised as if he was about to howl at the moon. It was a magical sight to behold.

Ajana, on the other hand, was not looking so magnificent. She had all the physical characteristics of a chimpanzee, hairless face framed with fur, fur all over her body, ears, nose, and mouth of a chimpanzee but still... Something was missing. The look she gave off was one of an unkempt, sickly-looking chimpanzee.

Seeing her sad expression as well as her general appearance Kieran immediately realized what was happening. After all, his first transformation went on similarly. His general appearance was one of a mutt, not a magnificent wolf that he was now.

"Don't worry, we can fix that, the potion is still working. What you need to do is trust in yourself, believe that you are a glorious chimpanzee, and you shall be. The potion is reflecting your view of yourself, it's reflecting your confidence which is lacking in this very moment. Believe!" Kieran said.

"Yeah, you can do it!" Bluebells said.

He was trying to make up for laughing at his friend, and their encouragement did help. They made Ajana remember who she was, they made her remember her father's wise advice and the magic living in her blood.

"You are a power of nature, my dear. Since you were a little girl, you've managed to make your dreams come true, one way or another. You would either bore me and your mother to death, and we would help you out, or you would find another way, but you always found a way. Never forget that you, Ajana, will always find a way to do something if you truly want it." Ajana remembered her father saying.

"I am powerful, and I want to see my inner chimpanzee in all its glory." Ajana started muttering to herself.

Soon enough, her fur started becoming glossier and straighter. It was as if a magical comb had gone through it, unkempt fur was no longer present on her body. Her body started looking stronger and more lithe, and she felt much better about the new body. It didn't feel like a foreign body, but just another shape she could take.

"That's better." Wolf Kieran said as he noted the changes.

A few moments later, the transformation was complete. Had any human wandered into that room, they would have been extremely startled. Bluebells, a horse with wings, was lying on the bed again swishing his tail in excitement while a magnificent black wolf with piercing eyes stood facing a brown, energetic chimpanzee who could barely stop itself from jumping around the room. It sure was a sight to behold.

Ajana decided to check out how her transformation went, and when she took out the mirror again, she was very content by what she saw. She was a beautiful looking chimpanzee with chocolate brown eyes and soft fur.

"Wow," Ajana said.

"Yes, it is quite impressive for your first transformation. It's obvious that you possess strong magic that reacts well with the potion, if you learn to use your active magic you can be quite powerful, as far as I can see." Kieran said.

They were both very happy by how the transformation turned out. However, their contentment was short-lived. As they were looking into their transformation and thinking whether they should do some changes to prevent the funny in-between period, there was a knock on Ajana's door.

"Can I come in?" Cassie said.

"I... I guess so..." Ajana said.

She was very self-conscious about her new form and wasn't keen on sharing it with others, but Cassie's voice sounded serious. Ajana rarely heard the kind woman sound worried, but she thought she could detect a note of worry and something else in just that one sentence.

"I am sorry for bothering you, I know you were doing your homework, but... I... I need you to come with me." Cassie said.

It was a strange request, especially having in mind their present state, so Ajana was a bit started by the request. She couldn't imagine anything being that urgent, having in mind they had fixed the problems with the elves.

"Can't that wait until we are back to our normal form?" Ajana asked.

Walking around the house as a chimpanzee didn't sound very appealing to her. Her favorite fantasy characters from books and movies never had to do something as embarrassing as that.

"I am afraid it can't. The decision has been made." Cassie said.

That one sentence was like cold water on Ajana's face since Cassie's whole demeanor didn't speak of good news. Still, Ajana held on to a shred of hope as they quickly followed Cassie into the living room where more people seemed to have gathered than before.