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“What options do I have? What about the kids?” Chris argued.
“I’d like eyes like Auntie Dayshia too!” Emily said.
“What about glamors? You didn’t say it was impossible,” Chris pushed.
Henry nodded. “I’d have to speak with some people I know to see if there are any available options.” He scanned Baba’s spells to see if there were any glamor spells she had that might work. He pulled his mind away from a few that felt tainted with evil and was left with a few that might work. Again, he’d need Mahati’s knowledge of linking a glamor to someone.
“Can you turn into a Satyr?” Danny asked.
“Are you wearing your kilt?” Dayshia asked.
Henry gave her an annoyed look. “Yes.”
Beth looked at Dayshia with a curious expression.
“He’s forgotten on occasion and gave everyone a show. A big show,” Dayshia teased.
Henry stared at Dayshia until she dipped her eyes in apology. He next looked to Danny and nodded. He stood and faced the group, then dropped his glamor.
“You normally go around bare-chested in the winter?” Beth asked with a smile.
He returned her smile. “I don’t actually feel the cold too much, but I’m also rarely in my true state outside.”
“You don’t have feet,” Chris said, looking down at Henry’s hooves.
Henry nodded. “True, but hooves are tougher and extremely stable.”
Chris moved closer and looked into Henry’s eyes. “You don’t have goat eyes, but you do have floppy ears.”
“Also true,” Henry simply stated. “I also have three fingers and a thumb on each hand, but they’re much stronger than Human hands. I use my Human glamor to enable my hands to use a keyboard.”
Chris looked troubled. “How do I reconcile your existence with my beliefs?”
Henry blinked at the man in confusion. “Why should my existence have any impact on that? I’ve never claimed I nullify your beliefs. That would be terribly arrogant and ignorant of me. I certainly don’t have any answers when it comes to religion,” Henry assured him. He looked closer at Chris and saw he was struggling. “Look. Take some time to think about it. There’s no immediate need for you to decide. It’s obviously a deeply personal issue. You should feel comfortable about making it.”
“While I empathize with my husband, I don’t have any desire to leave my next state to random chance. I’m a rip the band-aid off kind of person,” Beth insisted.
“There are other races you might choose. That said, I don’t have a complete list, and with the purposeful lack of information on this, I can’t give you any real advice on the races. My circle of friends doesn’t contain that large of a selection,” Henry explained, and Beth raised her palms to stop him.
“It’s fine, Henry. I don’t need to see a catalog. I’m also happy to remain looking as I do, but if there’s an option which just incorporates a small cosmetic adjustment and a lovely one at that, it suits my needs.” She hugged her daughter and smiled at Dayshia. “If doing this proves it works, then it protects my children from random chance as well,” She glanced at Chris’ look of concern. “… should we decide to give them this option.” Her husband nodded.
Beth looked to Henry. “So, how do we do this?”
Dayshia turned to Henry. “Do you recall exactly how Tish was holding your hand on her stomach?” He nodded. She looked to her sister. “Maybe you should lie down on the couch.”
Beth stretched out on the sofa as Chris stood back, holding the kids as they watched. “It doesn’t hurt, does it?” she asked her baby sister.
Dayshia smiled. “No, I haven’t heard anyone report pain from the change. It certainly didn’t hurt for me.” Beth nodded, reassured.
Henry stepped closer. “Dayshia, place your palm on Beth’s stomach, skin to skin. Beth, you rest your hand on top of Dayshia’s, your thumb and first finger gently wrapped around her wrist. That’s good. Now keep it there until her change is complete.” Dayshia nodded seriously. He looked into Beth’s eyes. “This part is different. Tish ingested the Wild Magic, and we are going to deliver it externally.”
“Can’t I ingest it?” Beth asked.
“Uh, no. That’s not an option,” Henry said, and Dayshia snorted but quickly controlled her expression. “It’s the same energy, just a different delivery method, but I had to mention it. Still want to proceed?”
“Yes,” Beth indicated.
“Okay. I’ll give the energy to Dayshia, and she’ll direct it down through her hand into you.”
“I’ll do what now? I’ve never directed Wild Magic!” Dayshia said, looking up at Henry.
“When you feel it entering your body, guide it down your arm and through your hand into your sister. Invite it to follow with your will,” Henry explained.
“Oh! I can do that!” she responded.
“All set?” he asked and got nods.
Henry placed his hands on Dayshia’s back and opened his rift slightly.
“Oh!” Dayshia gasped.
“What?” Beth asked nervously.
“The energy feels good,” Dayshia grinned self-consciously, and Beth frowned at her. Dayshia concentrated and directed the pooling energy down her arm and out through her hand.
“Oh!” Beth gasped.
“What? What happened?” Chris asked nervously.
Beth’s body was tingling madly, and in places only her husband was supposed to assist with. “It feels really good!”
Henry kept the energy flow rate low as they were just aiming for a controlled accumulation, and it seemed to be going well.
Beth bit her lip and looked over at her husband. “I love you,” she mouthed as the tingles spread throughout her body. Then her eyes rolled back as she whited out when her transformation began.
They watched very closely, holding their breath as nothing was happening. The energy continued to seep into Beth’s body.
Henry shut the rift when he saw her change begin. He didn’t want to overload her.
Beth’s eyes began to grow, and her lashes extended and became feathery. “It’s working!” Dayshia squeaked.
“Keep your hand in place,” Henry insisted, and Dayshia returned to concentrating on her sister.
They watched Beth’s eyes grow and slowly take their new shape. Her lashes were long and beautifully feathered like Dayshia’s. When Beth relaxed, Henry lifted his hands from Dayshia. “It’s done.”
Dayshia lifted her hand from her sister’s stomach and straightened out her shirt. She looked at Chris. “She’ll need a few hours of sleep as the transformation takes a lot out of you.”
“Can I get my pretty eyes now?” Emily asked.
“We’re going to wait until your mother, and I can speak about it tomorrow,” Chris said to Emily then he turned to Dayshia. “Are you available to visit again?”
Dayshia looked to Henry, who nodded. He raised a finger to get their attention.
“This is incredibly important. Keep what you saw here tonight to yourselves. Don’t tell anyone that the change can be controlled. It’s not possible for me to do this individually for over four billion people. If word got out that we’ve figured out how to choose the race, that would be cruel, as it would lead to a great deal of pain and heartache for a very large number of people. And there’s been far too much of both recently for people to endure more,” Henry said seriously. He saw serious expressions and nods.
“I’m going to look into a way to get glamors for people. I’m going to work with those who know much more about magic than I do, so we can hopefully come up with a solution for everyone if at all possible,” Henry said, and Chris nodded.
Dayshia hugged Henry. “I think we should call it a night.” She looked at Chris. “Have Beth call me in the morning so I can fill her in on how her vision works.”
He nodded and kissed his sister in law’s cheek. The kids got hugs from their aunt and gave Henry handshakes.
Henry made his way to the front door and touched it to link it to the closet door at his place as it was becoming his go-to door for returning home.
He looked back at Chris. “You have a lovely home and a wonderful family. Thank you for dinner, and I hope to see you again soon.”
The man shook his hand and nodded.
Henry opened the door and ushered Dayshia through. She looked around, orienting herself as Henry closed the door and released the spell. “I’m home with company,” he called out.
The twins came charging around the corner with smiles on their faces, sliding to a stop just before Dayshia.
“You met Aadya and Maliha earlier, yes?” he asked Dayshia.
“Yes, hello!” Dayshia said to them with a smile.
Aadya leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against Dayshia’s affectionately. “Day Shaw.”
Before the woman could react, it was Maliha’s turn to rub her face against her other cheek. “Daysh.”
“Day-She-Ah,” Henry corrected gently. The twins looked to him and rolled the sounds around in their mouths.
“Dayshia,” Aadya said, and Maliha repeated it.
“Excellent!” Henry praised them, and they grinned happily at him. Dayshia saw their pronounced fangs and her eyebrows went up.
“Camila is very pleased with their improving vocabulary. We have a meeting this week with Nuru Onwudiwe to officially register them as Members of the Villamor family.
“Nurrrrrrrrrrrru!” Aadya crooned, rolling the ‘r’ happily until it sounded like purring. Her sister picked it up and chased her back to the living room.
“Just thirty more minutes of TV, then it’s sleepy time,” Henry called out. A crooning came back around the corner. He looked to Dayshia. “They fall back on the noises when they don’t have the words.”
Tish stepped around the corner with Celeste in her arms. The girl was looking very sleepy, so she’d likely just fed. Henry reached out his arms and gathered the baby against his chest. He sniffed her head, and she cuddled in, asleep in seconds.
“It’s not fair! I feed her, and she takes so long to fall asleep for me. Henry picks her up, and she’s out,” Tish moaned.Exclusive © material by Nô(/v)elDrama.Org.
He lifted his nose to look down it at her. “It’s my superior cuddliness.”
Tish snorted dismissively with a grin. Henry carried the baby to her room and got her settled before joining the two ladies in the hall again, where they had their heads together, speaking in low tones.
“Anything I can hear too?” he asked.