Ryn of Avonside

A couple of days later, Ryn and the rest of the scouts left the grove, Jenna looking pretty much good as new thanks to the buns and their crazily deft use of growth magic. It was kind of incredible to be honest, and it had me thinking of so many other ways they could be applied to a problem. Meanwhile I had to stay behind, trapped in my much less magical battle with computer code. Maybe I should have gone with them after all…

Interpreting the Umare code was painfully boring — the most confusing, unsatisfying puzzle I’d ever attempted. Working on a problem so purely based in vibes and vague guesswork was, in my opinion, a circle of hell designed specifically for scientists. Not that I was really a scientist… I didn't feel like I could claim that title.

In fact, it was so boring that I finally tackled a silent elephant in the room. It really said something about the code stuff — that I'd rather go deal with a complicated social issue.

The issue I decided to tackle — the proverbial elephant — was whether or not to give the trans people from the Circle some mage-fruit. It'd give them the bodies they needed, but it came with some pretty big caveats. Like… the fact that it would yeet them head-first into the world of politics, danger, and arcane nonsense. It was better to discuss the option with them, though, so I left my code work behind and shifted to the Ring.

Making my way over to the clubhouse, I found Ayyan working the front door again. I tried to squeeze past him with a smile, but he intercepted me for a very awkward side hug. As soon as I was free, I scuttled down the hall to the trans common room. Lily was the only one in there, nestled into a sofa and reading a book.

“Cat!” she said, springing up to give me a much less awkward hug.

Smiling, I plompfed a load of trans-tea down onto the bench, then headed for and flopped into one of the comfy sofas.

“Let me message the others,” she said, pulling her phone out.

I nodded, my voice quiet. ‘Yeah, there’s something pretty important I need to talk about.”

Lily froze and looked back up, eyes wide with worry. “Well, that makes me real nervous. What is it?”

Oh crap. I just hit her with the always terrifying, we need to talk. Nobody ever likes that.

“Sorry,” I said with an apologetic wince. “It's transitioning stuff.”

She relaxed a little, though her fingers still hovered nervously over her phone as she nodded. Neither of us said anything, and the silence stretched out like an overtaxed length of wire. I could almost see the point of failure, where a small section elongates like it’s made of putty before it snaps. The extremely long pause did give me time to think though. The more I mulled it over, the more I realised something — the club needed a mage. Magic was only going to become more pervasive, and having someone to protect them from whatever arcane nonsense cropped up seemed… prudent.

It took around five minutes for the others to arrive, which was way too long for me. Like, I was just sitting there doing nothing, bored. Time is the worst when you're bored.

Amara arrived first, with a person I didn't recognise, and whose gender presented gender was too ambiguous for me to be comfortable putting a tag on.

“Catherine, hey,” she said with a slight smile. “This is Zack., he/him. He only recently came into the club for the first time.”

Zack, who was a little short, with a perfect close on the sides and long on top hair style that I didn’t know the name for, smiled awkwardly. “I was being super weird about it… but I ran out of T finally, so… you know.”

I gave a reserved little wave. “Uh, good to meet you.”

Before any more awkward first-meeting conversation could happen, Cris and Aiden practically tumbled through the door, laughing at a joke that only they understood.

“Ay, Cat!” Aiden said, crossing the room in two strides to pat me happily on the shoulder. He saw Zack a moment later and waved, “Oh! Zack, you came in!”

“More like came out,” Zack muttered with a sheepish smile.

“So, what’s the ominous summons about, Cat?” Cris interjected, plopping down into a sofa.

All eyes turned to me, and I grimaced as the attention blazed in like a spotlight — tangibly hot and far too bright. “Well, there’s been no progress with the transition magic research, so I’m here to give one or two of you a choice. A few mage fruit might become available soon—”

“No way, finally!” Cris said with a loud sigh.

Oh boy, that enthusiasm would need to be pruned back quick.

I raised my hand to stall him, and gave each one a look square in the eyes. “This isn’t a gift with no downsides. People want to get all sorts of things out of us, and they have a lot of very nasty, manipulative ways of getting them. You have to be ready to handle a lot of bullshit, and you have to be tough and, honestly, a little ruthless sometimes to keep your boundaries secure. It's rough, and you have to be sure you can handle it.”

Everyone took a moment to stare at me — many with a frustratingly disbelieving expression. Amara broke the silence by clearing her throat pointedly and asking, “What about you? They don’t fuck with you nearly as much as you’re making it out.”

I had to fight to keep from grimacing. I was going to have to get into the weeds with this whole thing, wasn't I?

“Fennimore, the mage dictator, hasn’t had a chance yet, and the university has been focusing most of their attention on Ryn because to be honest, if they get her, then they get me. It’s hard to fully explain all the subtle pressure they’ve been trying to put on us, but it’s there. Shit, I think the only reason that they haven’t been more belligerent with me is that they’re wary of Ryn because she tends to hit every asshole nail she sees with a hammer that’s three sizes larger than necessary.”

“You say that like it’s bad, but it’s working, isn’t it?” Lily commented wryly.

I shrugged with one shoulder. She wasn’t wrong. An overwhelming response was typically a pretty good way to stop small scale bullshit. It wasn’t the small scale stuff I was necessarily worried about, though…

“True,” I conceded softly. “Either way, I think that at least one of you should become a mage so you can protect the club — the Circle of Queers. I just think it should be someone who is sure they know what they're getting into amd can handle the heat.”

“What, and you think some of us can’t?” Amara asked, puffing up with consternation like a disgruntled husky. “You seem pretty, uh… non confrontational.”

Cris with his arms crossed and expression frustrated, said, “Yeah, no offence, but you're…” He waved his hand vaguely towards me.

Looking down at the floor, I considered my options. God damn, that was rude as fuck. Why were people always underestimating me? Like, sure, I was a private person, and kinda reserved, but that didn’t mean I was weak or scared. In fact, right then, I felt… angry.

Standing up, I reached out with my mind and telekinetically clamped down on each forearm in the room that wasn’t mine. A flicker of confusion crossed their faces as the pressure hit, but I didn’t give them time to adjust. When I looked up, I wasn’t Catherine anymore. Not the human version, anyway.

Tarnished copper-colored thorns erupted across my hafornsu, sprouting along the lines of my pattern like barbed wire. The room went dead silent. Good.

“Let me show you some things,” I said, my voice rasping and grinding, like it had picked up some thorns on its way out of my throat.

With a twirl of my wrist, I yanked them into my grove. The shift was abrupt, like flipping a table. Anyone sitting landed on the ground with an unceremonious thump. The others froze, caught somewhere between fear and confusion. Perfect. My eyes swept the group, taking stock.

Lily was pale, her eyes wide and shimmering with the promise of startled tears. Zack clutched his chest like he thought his heart might jump out. Cris and Amara? Horrified. Horrified and desperately, visibly wishing they could rewind time to unsay whatever had set me off.

Aiden was the first one to react, stumbling forward to put himself between me and the others. “Cat, cat, wait, hold on!”

Despite myself, a smile tugged at my lips. Him. He'd get the fruit. At least, I'd suggest it was him, but ultimately it should be their decision — once they actually understood what they were getting into.

Pulling my thorns back in, but keeping my hafornsu out, I gestured to the lush, glowing cavern around us. “This is my grove. It's my personal pocket realm, and the source of my power. It's where—”

A small fluffy body wiggled up my leg, back, and then onto my shoulder. A ferret materialised there in a tumble of puffed up fur and sharp claws. Beady little black eyes glared at everyone else, while he made the most adorably disgruntled honking sound.

“Dude, chill,” I murmured, stroking his head fondly. Internally, my heart was so full. The little critter instantly knew what was happening and came to back me up.

Feeling the emotional support from my brave guardian ferret, I let my demeanor relax a bit. “Sorry for the fright. I'm going to show you all some things now. Just… so you understand a little more why I'm giving warnings rather than just throwing fruit at you.”

They all looked at each other like they were pooling change for a parking meter, but, like, instead of coins it was bravery. Then, with varying levels of grace, those on the ground scrambled to their feet.

Giving a nod that I hoped looked decisive, I turned and headed for a patch of spell-plants that would hopefully help get my point across. Behind me, I heard the shuffle of tentative footsteps.

When we got there, I waved my hand vaguely in the direction of the nearest flowers without meeting anyone's eyes. With my anger fading, I felt really self-conscious.

“So, um… each species of plant is a different spell. I can call on them to cast that spell,” I explained. Glancing over the plants quickly, I chose one species and pointed to them. “These pretty yellow flowers here, they— so I needed a way to quickly anchor something to the ground. It was honestly just for like, high winds and stuff.”

“The way you said that sounds really ominous…” said Lily, looking both curious and anxious, like a mouse peeking out of its hole because it smelled food.

With an apologetic nod, I elaborated on why this spell was… scary. “When I cast the spell, it creates a bunch of plants that fire these barbed harpoon things out of the ground around my target. They all stick in, with vine ropes to pull the object safely to the ground. Unfortunately… if the object is, like, a person…”

I made a squishy crunching sound and vaguely mimed out a person getting pulled quickly to the ground by hooks embedded in their flesh.

“What the fuck,” whispered Lily. A quick glance showed me similar sentiments echoed in everyone else's expressions.

Well, that was… honestly, about the reaction I was hoping for. I hoped they didn't really fear me when I was done though… maybe I should tone it down at the end? Gah, this was so nerve wracking. Come on Cat, stay the course, you can do damage control afterwards.

Clutching at my poker face, I moved on, pointing out another spell plant — this one, a shrub with little blue flowers. “So um, this one went through a similar… process. I had a problem and— Well, it creates a sudden burst of caustic vapour that clings to any surface. It will burn through anything organic, eating flesh, plants — anything. I can either dispel it, or let it eat the target until they're nothing but sludge.”

“Catherine, why?” Lily asked, her voice pleading for me to make the war-crime plant make sense.

My resolve crumbled, and I gave her a soft, apologetic look. “I needed a way to clear foliage that didn't start fires. I definitely didn't set out to create this… I realised its other applications later.”

They all stared at me in quiet consternation, which made me sheepishly turn my attention to my ferret. God, this was the worst social interaction I'd had in a long time. Teaching people a lesson they didn't want to learn was fucking tough, especially when they were friends 

Brushing a finger over my ferret's little nose, I avoided their combined gaze and continued, “I have a lot of spells like that. I create them for a very mundane purpose, then realise it's capable of making someone's last moments really, really horrible. So like, what I'm trying to say is… Imagine what a malicious, self absorbed, entitled, powerful man would do with the same powers.”

“That's… scary,” said Zack, his hand reaching out to clasp at Amara’s.

I nodded somberly and looked up. “That isn't a hypothetical. His name is Lord Fennimore. He knows about us. Anyone who becomes a mage will end up on his radar. That’s why the person who becomes a mage has to be at least a little tough… because they need to be ready to fight against that level of malice.”

For a moment, they were quiet, until Amara motioned for a huddle, and they began to whisper. I waited awkwardly while they spoke, and of course, internally panicked over the fact I’d probably ostracized myself from their group. I would definitely be upset if I were on the other side of this. Like, scary spikey girl rips me out of my dimension and tells me about horrifying shit she can do? I'd never look at them the same again.

Still, by the looks on their faces, I at least got my point across. They were definitely—

“Hey, Catherine,” said Aiden, interrupting what was probably another downward spiral. “We kinda see your point now, obviously, but I think all of us would rather take the transformation and deal with the social consequences after. I mean, no offence but we all kinda already made that decision. The only difference is that we have actual power if we go with this.”

I frowned. Then, I frowned again, but deeper. They had a really good point. All of them had made the decision to transition, despite the potential consequences — social and… more.

Nodding slowly, I said, “Okay, if that’s—”

“But,” he continued, giving me a warm, wry smile. “Based on this, I think if some of us had the option, they’d go for something different? I don’t know, we can see there’s a lot of baggage attached to being a mage, but who doesn’t want magic? You’ve been trying to find a way to change us without this, and…”

A thought occurred to me, hitting me like a bolt of lightning from the sky when he said the word different. We already knew there were more types of mage, so what if only one of them became a Garden mage, then the rest…

“Let’s go back to the clubhouse,” I said, and after giving them a moment to understand what I meant, I whisked them back to the Ring. That way, they could sit and drink tea while I babbled.