Lucky Rabbit

Thaniel, Geraldine, Miss Cupcakes, Abbington, and Brook stared at Thaniel. The second Thaniel.

“You want to trade places with me?” real-Thaniel asked, his eyes enormous as he reached out and poked Pandy-Thaniel’s cheek.

Pandy tried to smile. She wanted this to be a fun adventure for the children, not something scary. “Yes! Just sometimes, though. And sometimes you can wear my necklace so you’ll look like Miss Haupe, but you have to be very, very sure no one touches you.” She looked around at the others. “You’ll have to help him. Can you do that?”

They all nodded, though Abbington looked a little more thoughtful than Pandy would have preferred. It was strange to be smaller than everyone else, and the Valley boy looked surprisingly strong and dependable as seen from Thaniel’s perspective.

Pandy thought, immediately followed by,

Shifting Faces cancelled.

Shifting Faces successful.

04:17:50 remaining today.

You know you can just go straight from one to the other, right?

Oh, it was so nice having her ever-helpful System back. But no, Pandy hadn’t known that, though she definitely would have figured it out. Eventually.

The kids had drawn back a bit as Pandy went from Thaniel-sized, to Bunny-sized, then back to Eurydice Haupe-sized in barely more than the time it took to think the commands. They were in a small personal study room in the library – something Pandy hadn’t even realized existed. That meant when Abbington backed up, he bumped into Brook, who helpfully liquified in the middle to give her boy more room, which only made it look like Abbington was some kind of slightly-translucent boy-capybara centaur. Pandy’s life just kept getting stranger, and that was something she wouldn’t have believed was possible just four or five months ago.

Reaching up, she unclasped the necklace Augustus had given her and transferred it to Thaniel’s neck. Pandy returned to being a badly-balding Ms. Wellington, while the boy looked like Eurydice, but wearing the Falconet school uniform. It really was neat the way the illusion magic adjusted the wearer’s clothes to the illusion, but Eurydice looked a little funny in a uniform styled for children.

Pandy eyed him. “We’ll have to get you some clothes that fit you, but look like something Eurydice might wear. It’s a good thing she prefers to wear pants.”

Thaniel-Eurydice shrugged. “I could wear a skirt. You can hide all kinds of things under there. I bet I could even wear a sword!” He reached down as if to grasp a weapon, and his hand went right into his own body. Unlike Pandy’s transformation, the illusion magic was surface-level only. That was why Pandy had warned against letting anyone else touch him while he was wearing it, but she hadn’t really considered the fact that he couldn’t even touch himself without giving the game away.

Pandy grimaced. “Pants and no swords,” she told him firmly. “And you’re going to have to practice-” Thaniel went to scratch his nose, and his hand disappeared inside the illusion’s belly. “Not touching anything,” she finished with a sigh.

Thaniel and Geraldine immediately began a tickle fight, with the girl thrusting her hands into ‘Eurydice’s’ gut, while Thaniel’s actual arms attacked her from beneath the illusion, and Eurydice’s arms waved around aimlessly. It was disconcerting, to say the least, so Pandy was almost glad when Abbington quietly asked, “Why ya doin’is?”

He was still standing in Brook at the time, so Pandy had to clamp down on an involuntary giggle as she said, “I’ll explain later, I promise. It’s just for a little while, and Thaniel will only pretend to be me from a distance.”

“Aww, can’t I teach class?” Thaniel said, dodging away from Geraldine’s latest assault.

“Yes, but no,” Pandy said, trying to let him down easy. “You’re just going to look like you’re talking to me, Geraldine, or Abbington where other people can see you. We’ll all meet in the music room for class, but then you’ll bring everyone down here. I don’t think anyone will even ask why we’re here, but if someone does, we’re studying for, um, an assignment about,” she cast her mind about, searching for a subject, but came up with nothing better than, “Prince Noah.”

All three children looked blank, but then Thaniel brightened. “The Pirate Prince?”

Pandy nodded. “The one who ran off for a year and came back claiming he’d been a pirate.”

All three grinned. “Can we really read about him?” Thaniel asked, then quickly clarified, “I don’t want to do a paper, though.”

Pandy laughed. “How about a presentation? Read about him, and then you can tell me about it next week. I’m curious if he really was a pirate, or if he just made that up. I wonder if anyone ever actually figured it out?”

“They did,” Professor Beeswick said as he slipped through the door behind them. The Dragon was short and slight for an adult human, but somehow his presence managed to completely fill the already-tight quarters. Everyone edged away from him, though he didn’t seem to notice as he looked around at them, his gaze pausing on Thaniel-as-Eurydice, who was partially inside the single desk. At least Brook and Abbington had separated.

“I’ll find some books for you. It’s quite an interesting story, actually.” One corner of his mouth turned up. “In fact, you might even recognize some of it.” Now the children definitely looked intrigued, but the librarian raised a taloned finger. “The best part is tracking down the truth for yourself. Research is truly the second greatest form of entertainment.”

Turning to Pandy, he said, “If you’ve explained, then we’re ready for your first foray into the world as young Thaniel. The rest of you can remain behind and continue to practice.” The Dragon eyed ‘Eurydice’s’ arm, which was mostly inside the desk, and raised a brow.

Thaniel yanked the offending limb back, only to immediately step partially into Abbington. He giggled, which got Geraldine started, and even Abbington had to duck his head to hide a smile. The Valley boy was far less guarded now that he wasn’t constantly under the strain of walking through a half-visible world.

Pandy smiled at them all, thinking,

Shifting Faces successful.

04:13:49 remaining today.

Everything expanded around her, but her perspective didn’t shift the way it did when she became a rabbit. She really did enjoy Bunny’s wide-set eyes and broad field of vision. Whenever Pandy was thrown into a stressful situation as a human, it was difficult not to instinctively pop back to a smaller, more agile form with a significantly better field of view. She had no idea if real rabbits could see as well as she could, but if so, it was amazing they hadn’t overrun the world by now, because surely nothing could ever sneak up on them.

Again, everyone else stared at her. She had to admit they had good reason, and not just the fact that their eyes were telling her Thaniel was here, while their brains told them he was there. Unlike the illusory clothing Eurydice had on, Pandy’s clothes were exactly the size they seemed to be. Her belt was working overtime keeping her pants up, and her shirt was large enough to be the dress Thaniel insisted he was willing to wear.

“I brought a uniform for you,” Professor Beeswick said, holding out a bundle of clothing to Pandy. She assumed he’d borrowed – or ‘borrowed’ – it from Mrs. Farrier, the seamstress, who always seemed to have a uniform available for any student who tore or outgrew theirs.

Pandy accepted it, but glanced around. How could she-? A brilliant thought occurred to her, and she thought,

Shield of Darkness failed.

Insufficient darkness.

Shocking, right?

Glancing around the brightly-lit study room, Pandy absolutely did not sigh. She could crawl under the desk, she supposed, but it was probably better to do something else. Keros swore he was trying to figure out how to give each of her personas their own outfit, but in the meantime, whenever she used Shifting Faces it automatically defaulted to Eurydice’s clothes. Which was still a thousand times better than being naked, so Pandy wasn’t going to complain.

With something that could only be described as a smirk, Professor Beeswick crossed the room, gracefully weaving his way between Geraldine and Thaniel-as-Eurydice so he could press his hand against the wall. A quiet click sounded, and a two-foot wide section of wall swung open, revealing another room, this one filled with neatly shelved books.

“Did you think I placed you in this room at random?” he asked, as he gestured for them to follow. “You may enter here only when I will it, and only for as long as I allow it. You may not open any book without my permission,” he pinned a bright-eyed Thaniel with a look, “and I recommend you keep any exploration to a minimum.” Now he looked straight at Miss Cupcakes, who was already sidling toward a dark shadow, her whiskers almost quivering with curiosity. The kitten glared back, but sat down and began grooming her tail exactly as if that’s what she had planned to do all along.

“You may change over there,” he finished, pointing to a sort of bay window with a comfortable-looking seat beside it. A steaming cup sat on a little table nearby, and a set of rich gold velvet curtains hung to either side, creating an already-private nook that could easily be further cut off from the rest of the room.

Pandy hurried over, closing the curtains before changing. She tried to go about it as automatically as possible, and only paused once, when she caught sight of her own reflection in the window. She was just buttoning her shirt, and the scars on ‘her’ chest were difficult to avoid. She touched one, then gingerly poked at the black rock that seemed to be embedded in the midst of them.

She’d already tried casting a few spells that morning, after choosing this as her next – and possibly final – shape, and found that she had no trouble using her magic. Augustus had also tested her with the school’s essence stone, finding that she still tested as pure Dark, without any of Thaniel’s conflicting elemental signature.

That meant that whatever was going on with Thaniel, even Keros’s magic wasn’t willing or able to copy it, but at least Pandy wouldn’t be helpless while she was in this shape. Not that helpless was a word she liked applying to Thaniel, but in a very real way it was true. He didn’t even have the ability to use basic spells like almost everyone else in this world, which put him at a distinct disadvantage.

Quickly, Pandy finished doing up the buttons, all the way to the top, just like Thaniel did in order to cover his scars. Then she tucked the tail of the shirt into her pants, buckled her belt, and shrugged into the jacket. She was as ready as she was ever going to be.

When she emerged, she found real-Thaniel with his illusory hand halfway through a book. He seemed to be attempting to look like he was just touching the tome, but he kept missing, much to the amusement of everyone else. He looked relieved when Pandy emerged from behind the curtain, then removed the necklace from around his real neck, which looked very strange, since his neck was in Eurydice’s pelvis.

Once he was himself again, he said, “If we’re going to be coming here for class, why don’t we just meet here in the first place?”

Pandy winced. She’d really hoped no one would think to ask that, but Thaniel constantly surprised her. “We want everyone to see you and Eurydice together.”

He held up the necklace. “Then why be me at all? You could just bring us here and then… what?”

Abbington nodded, while Geraldine’s brows drew together in thought. Pandy’s shoulders slumped. She should have known she wouldn’t get away with not telling them. She was a terrible liar. Hopefully, the fact that she looked and sounded exactly like Thaniel would do the lying for her when it came to the people she really needed to fool.

“We need you to be kidnapped,” she told Thaniel. “But we won’t risk you. I’m really tough though, so if we can convince the people who’re after you to take me instead, then we can catch them without anyone actually getting hurt. We’re going to make it look like you’re unhappy here, then see if anyone will take the bait. But to do that, you – or rather me – need to be seen doing things you wouldn’t usually do. Eurydice needs to be visibly and innocently teaching class elsewhere while all of this is going on. Then after the bad people are stopped, I can go right back to being your teacher without anyone the wiser.”

To Pandy’s surprise, Thaniel didn’t focus on the idea that if the plan worked, she would be captured by their enemies. Instead, he said, “But I can’t go to class if I’m ‘posed to be kidnapped.”

Pandy shook her head. “No, you’ll have to stay in Aug- Chancellor Blackwood’s quarters. But Geraldine and Abbington will be able to visit you, and someone will bring you food. You’ll probably get kind of bored, but-”

“That’s okay,” Thaniel grinned. “I can read, or practice swordfighting.” He settled into the stance Sir Harriet had drilled into him, waving a pretend weapon through the air.

Pandy laughed with Thaniel’s voice, then, entirely unable to help herself, she said, “Aren’t you worried-?” and clamped her mouth closed on the rest of the sentence.

Thaniel knew what she hadn’t said, however, and offered her a grin that barely wobbled. “That you’ll get hurt? Nope. You can do it. You can do anything.”