Her True Form

Yvette was, mostly, certain that Gervas wouldn’t be angry at her. His door wasn’t even locked, so why would he be angry? Apparently he was talking with the council on her behalf. Or trying to. She wasn’t certain he’d be able to get a meeting with them, anyway.

Then again, his grandmother was here. If she was supporting him, then that alone could open doors. They’d be more likely to listen to him than they would her. Maybe. Probably.

Now she just had to wait for him to come back to his room. Vala had left already. The room itself had almost nothing in it to even show Gervas was staying here. Aside from a spear, a shield and a sword. Because of course. Why would he have personal effects when he could come armed with whatever weapons he could get his hands on?

How long had it been since they’d seen each other? Would he even recognize her? Well, she supposed he’d know this form at least. She’d taken it as the phoenix. But now it was really her. She glanced down at Unceasing Storm.

That would be awkward. She was still one person, kind of. But now she had two bodies. Would he accept that? Accept her? As much as she wished that it was just Unceasing Storm that was nervous about that, they both were. After all, they were a part of each other. Even if there was a physical barrier between the two of them, it didn’t feel like they were really separate. Even with two different names, they still felt like one whole entity.

If Gervas rejected one of them, he rejected both of them. But he might not see it like that. Before she’d changed, she wouldn’t have either. But now it was fact and both of them were scared that would be the case. She wondered if it was silly to feel that way. Here she was a guest of the Mage Association awaiting a ‘deal’ that could be offered at any time, possibly getting the very thing she wanted from her very first day.

And her biggest fear was that Gervas wouldn’t be able to love her anymore.

Still, she believed in him. He’d put up with everything else from her, surely this wouldn’t be what drove him away. Once the two met, surely he’d understand and they could work everything out again.

As a team.

She lifted a hand to her chest and let out a slow, calming breath. He’d--

The door started to open and she couldn’t help herself.

“Gervas!” she yelled before lunging across the room and hugging him.

There were a few moments of silence before she realized that the person she was hugging wasn’t wearing a tunic or chainmail. More importantly, they didn’t have that strong, earthy scent of his. Whoever this person was smelled of flowers. Soft, gentle, warm. Pretty, even. They were wearing silk. Slowly, Yvette pulled back and looked up at the person she had hugged.

She looked nearly as surprised as Yvette felt, her blue eyes wide. It allowed Yvette a few moments to look her over, at least. Long, flowing red hair, a perfectly clean and almost shimmering master’s robe. Despite the robe she didn’t look that much older than Yvette. A prodigy of some kind?

Everything about her screamed poise and grace, elegance given physical form. A beauty that couldn’t be imitated except maybe by the fae.

Which made it all the more startling when the woman finally regathered herself and glared at her with a look of pure disgust. “How dare you touch me, you filthy journeyman. Who do you think you are? What are you doing here?”

“W-what?” Yvette asked softly, taking a step back. “I-I thought this was Gervas’ room. I was told--”

“And what do you need my son for?” she asked, taking a step towards her and lifting her right hand. “I’ve had more than enough of you lesser mages stumbling underfoot. Go. GO! Before I have you reduced to apprentice or worse!”

Yvette didn’t move, staring at the angry woman. She didn’t radiate grace, poise or beauty at all anymore. Just anger. “What? You’re… Gervas’ mother?”

The woman growled and grabbed Yvette’s arm and tried to yank her.

Yvette twisted her arm back and broke the grip, pulling herself towards Gervas’ bed. She reached back and put a hand on Unceasing Storm, their powers coming together once more. “You’re Gervas’ mother?” she asked again.

“Who do you think you are, child? A mere journeyman shouldn’t--” Then, however, the words died in her mouth. She looked down at the phoenix and then back up at her. “You’re the phoenix mage everyone is talking about? You’re a journeyman?”

“I’m Yvette the Unceasing Storm,” Yvette said. “And you are Gervas’ mother?”

“… I am,” she said. “Myrna. My apologies, I thought you were a…” She trailed off. Finally, she sighed and waved her hand.

------

“Err… miss? Would you mind?” the woman asked.

“What?” Yvette asked before yelping, taking a step back. “O-oh, my apologies. I ummmm… I thought you were Gervas. You’re… not. You’re definitely not.”

“No, I’m afraid I’m not,” she said, with a small smile. “I’m Myrna, Gervas’ mother. I… take it you must be a friend of his?”

“Uhhhh, something like that. I am Yvette the Unceasing Storm,” Yvette said, taking another step back and pushing her hand against her phoenix-self. “Wait. You’re Gervas’ mother?”

“Yes,” Myrna said. “My apologies for star--”

------

“DON’T TAMPER WITH MY MIND!” Yvette yelled, Unceasing Storm rose into her arms and released small bursts of electricity crackling in all directions.

Myrna yelped, pulling back. “W-what? How did you--”

“Don’t you dare tamper with my memories,” Yvette said, unable to keep the anger and hatred out of her voice. “Gervas told me all about you, about the things you’ve done.”

Myrna took a step back from her, her eyes wide and a little frightened. “H-how did you--”

“What do you want?” Yvette asked. “Why are you even here?”

“Can’t a mother wish to see her son?” Myrna asked, giving a small little smile. It was almost friendly.

Yvette didn’t buy it for a second. The woman had already tried to tamper with her memories once over a slightly rough meeting, she severely doubted her reasons for being here were so simple and mundane. She just glared in response.

“Any mother would wish to meet with their child after so much time apart,” Myrna said. “I am merely here as another master to help come to a decision about what to do about you.”

“You’re a member of the council?” Yvette asked.

“I am a master, aren’t I?” Myrna asked. “Though, I suppose it must be… difficult for you to fully understand. As you are still just journeyman, aren’t you?”

“I’m a fallen mage,” Yvette said coldly.

“That’s merely a title,” Myrna said dismissively. “I’ve heard enough to understand that, frankly, such archaic rules should be dismissed.”

That made Yvette pause, her eyes going wide. “W-wait, what? You mean… the forbidden spell?”

“Of course,” Myrna said. “Magic like that shouldn’t be forbidden. Mages like us must be free to experiment, to develop our craft. To build on the talents of our brethren. Limiting ourselves based on the fears of mages in the past is hardly a way to reach our full potential, now is it?”

“It isn’t,” Yvette said. “So… you think if a mage wants to switch their gender, they should be able to?”

“If a mage wishes to be something else, who has any right to tell them otherwise?” Myrna asked. “Magic is our gift. Our right. We hold the power to remake the world in our hands. And well… a phoenix, that is new. We’ve never had a phoenix mage before. I really must tell my son how proud I am of him. Gaining the favor of such a unique creature.”

Yvette couldn’t help but feel there was something she was missing there, but she couldn’t help it. It felt so good to finally hear a mage agree with her for once. “Exactly! If the rest of the council could just understand, I could help so many people. I’m not the only girl who was trapped in the body of a boy. There are so many people like that. Probably some boys trapped as girls, too! Imagine how terrible it must be for people without magic, who can’t transform even for a little bit? I probably would have eventually gone mad if I hadn’t learned how to be a girl sometimes! There are so many people I could help fix with this.”

That, however, made the smile fall from Myrna’s face. “What?”

“People,” Yvette said. “I want to master this spell and help everyone who needs it to transform. To--” Her words were cut off when Myrna burst into laughter. “What… what’s so funny?”

“Oh, you really are such a sweet, naive thing, aren’t you?” Myrna asked. “You hope to master this spell and then just… use it on everyone? In the world? Who wants it?”

“Well… yes,” Yvette said softly.

“Can you even begin to imagine how exhausting that would be?” Myrna asked. “Wasting your magic on all of those… mundane… creatures? It’s one thing for a mage to be something else. But to waste your time on your lessers? There are so many more important things you could do with your power.”

“My lessers?” Yvette asked. “They aren’t my lessers. A mage is supposed to help people. To use our abilities to--”

“To serve, to protect, to guide,” Myrna said dismissively, rolling her eyes. “You don’t actually buy all of that, do you? That’s just what we tell the normal people. The boring, the mundane. The simple. There’s one mage for every… what… fifty simpleton? Do you really believe it’s your duty to serve them? To be a slave to their whims, their needs? We’re special. Unique. We have power they could only dream of. To shackle yourself to them is a waste of your potential.” She then gave a soft sigh. “I can see you’ve spent too long around my son, haven’t you? If ever there was a waste of potential…”

“Gervas isn’t a waste of anything,” Yvette said firmly.

“He could be a mage nearly as powerful as I if he would just focus on it,” Myrna said. “Instead, he runs around, playing with swords and spears like his waste of a father. Why would anyone desire to be mundane, when one can be extravagant?” For a moment, she shimmered, doing a little spin. Her robes sparkled like gold, symbols made of ruby and sapphire forming across the surface. Gold dust shimmered around her, a--

“ENOUGH!” Yvette yelled, shaking her head and dispelling the illusion. “You’re nothing even approaching extravagant. I want to help people. So does Gervas. I’d rather be ‘simple’ like him a thousand times than ever be your ‘special’.”

“I see,” Myrna said, scowling at her. “I suppose it is like tossing tomes before peasants. There’s really nothing else for us to discuss if you’re so… set on being… pathetic.”

“There isn’t,” Yvette said bitterly. “I’ll let Gervas know you’ve come looking for him. But please, leave.”

Myrna’s scowl only deepened but, with an angry huff, she turned and stormed out from the room.

Yvette sighed and fell back, letting Unceasing Storm go and just laying there for a moment. The phoenix gently pecked her chin.

“Thanks for helping me there,” Yvette said softly. It felt weird to thank herself, but she felt it was important. She was fairly certain that was how she managed to break that first spell of Myrna’s. Both she and the phoenix were one, tampering with the mind and memories of one didn’t change both of them. So long as one of them remembered things as they were, then she couldn’t be altered too much.

But she really didn’t want to give Myrna a chance to figure that out. The less time the two spent together, the better. Even that short encounter had tired her out.

She couldn’t imagine what a childhood of it would have been like.