Her True Form

The river was within sight. Yvette flew over it, circling a few times. Perfect. The heavy rainfall had made it rise higher, but there was still space on the shore. Trying to ford it now would be dangerous, they’d need to find a bridge.

But for a merfolk it would likely be easy. If she could get Nautia into the water, all she would need to worry about was Gervas. She’d ran over the plan a dozen times in her head. She wished she’d had more time to explain to the two of them what she had planned, but so far the only thing she’d been able to communicate to the two of them without raising suspicions was that she was going to try and do something when they got to the river.

She really hoped they’d be as ready as she was. She knew what form she’d take, she knew where her friend’s weapons were and she knew where they were headed.

Now she just had to be ready when the time came.

Eeeeee! If it went well, she could hug Gervas again soon!

A part of Yvette wondered if that was a wise idea. She couldn’t hug him as a phoenix, she didn’t have arms. If she wasn’t careful she might even hurt him, being a living storm in many ways had some severe disadvantages. She’d have to turn back into a human. Unfortunately, while she was far, far stronger as a phoenix than she had been as a human, she could still only muster up the magic to transform a few times before exhausting herself. She might need that transformation later.

On the other hand, she DEFINITELY needed to hug him after all this time. They’d only been traveling together for a short time in the grand scheme of things, but it felt like they had been together for years now. To have him so close and yet not able to really touch him was torture. There were risks either way. She tried not to think about just how close she’d come to losing him forever.

How close he’d come to losing her forever.

They’d get out of this. Somehow. She swore. She’d protect him just like he’d protected her so many times. No, better. Because he was a lot better at not almost getting himself killed.

------

Yvette stared up at the storm clouds above. She had to give Metale credit. When she told him to make a raging, fierce storm he delivered. If she had been human still she’d have tried to hide in the nearest cave or possibly underground. The rain came down so thick that even she was struggling to see. They’d setup shelter as best they could, but in the soaked ground half of their tents had already collapsed. On top of that, despite the fact it was only a little after noon, the dark clouds overhead were so thick it was almost night.

The largest source of light was from the massive bolts of lightning that continued to tear through the sky. They never even managed to make it to the river before finally giving up, instead setting up what shelter they could and trying to brace through the storm.

Unfortunately she wondered if her plan was a bit too obvious. Curcel’s tent was one of the few still standing and there had been people running in and out of it all day. The soldiers he had under his command were miserable, surrounding the camp as if they were expecting an attack at any moment. Which, she supposed they would be.

Though she doubted they suspected it was going to come from within.

To her surprise, Curcel finally came out from his tent and started making his way towards her. “You!” he yelled at Gervas, his voice struggling to carry over the fierce winds. “Can’t you get her to do anything?”

Gervas just stared at him for a few moments before sighing. “How, exactly? She doesn’t understand me.”

“Just… do something! Is she responsible for this?” Curcel asked.

“How would I know?” Gervas asked. “Again, you’re the only one who can talk to her!”

“Useless!” Curcel yelled before looking up at her. He tried to speak, but after a moment he was coughing and sputtering.

Yvette couldn’t help being amused. It seemed that true naming magic didn’t work as well when the winds were too fierce. Then again, she knew how difficult it could be at times to use more complex spells when you were almost falling over from the winds. It likely wasn’t any easier when your magic was based on saying a bunch of words that, frankly, mortals weren’t really designed to say in the first place.

“”Oh great phoenix, ruler of the storm,”” Curcel finally managed to say.

Then again, she imagined it would probably be easier if he didn’t have to try so desperately to keep her appeased. She supposed she could try and tell him to just get to the point. She wouldn’t, but she could. She merely turned her head to look at him.

““Your servants are suffering through this terrible storm. We lack the ability to endure such fierce winds and terrible downpours. Is there naught you can do to aid us in this time of struggle?”” Curcel asked.

Yvette didn’t answer for a moment. Instead, she turned her gaze upwards. Could she do anything? Perhaps. But it wasn’t what he was going to like. Slowly she let the phoenix side of her take more hold to answer with the elements. She would see what she could do. Satisfied, he turned and headed back towards his tent.

Yvette spread her wings and gathered the winds around her, flying up. Lightning erupted around her before, finally, it struck her. She felt the power coursing through her, but it wasn’t enough. She’d need more. She turned the electricity to flame and kept going up.

A second blast struck her and then a third, causing her body to crackle with power.

It was time.

Hit hard, hit fast. She was the storm.

Yvette spun and dove at the ground. The water swirled around her, gathering to her body before turning to jagged shards of ice. It was only a few moments before she crashed to the ground that someone below seemed to realize something was wrong. By then it was too late and their scream was drowned out by the explosion of her descent.

Massive shards of ice rained down around Gervas and Nautia, surrounding the two and cutting the chains binding them. She then rose up and spread her wings once more before gathering the winds of the storm to her and then releasing them.

The ice held, but nothing else did. The camp was scattered to the winds, the tents torn apart and those unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast sent hurtling. For a moment even the rain seemed to stop, the water scattered from the mighty blast.

Yvette’s form began to shift and she fell to all fours. Within moments she was no longer the phoenix, instead a dragon turtle. But not like she had been before. Since she had last taken this form she had become far, far more powerful. While she was nowhere near as imposing or large as a fully grown dragon turtle, she still towered over the people in the camp. Or would, if any of them were still standing. It took her only a moment to make it to the remains of the prince’s tent and only a few more seconds to find Gervas and Nautia’s things. Or at least, she hoped it was. One of the chests were tipped over, Nautia’s trident sticking out. She shoved it back inside before grabbing the chest in her mouth. She then turned and retreated back towards the others.

One of the soldiers now blocked her way, but she honestly wasn’t sure why. His spear was snapped in half and he was shaking so bad she was amazed he could even stand. Still, he tried to get in her way. “P-please, oh great phoenix. We don’t--”

He was cut off when she gathered the winds and used them to throw him away. The phoenix in her wanted to strike him with lightning for daring to block her path, but so long as she was still herself she really didn’t want to have to take any more lives than she had to.

Yvette came to a stop in front of her cage of ice, scattering it a moment later. Nautia and Gervas were standing there, both speechless. She gathered the ice in her magic, slashing once more and cleaving through the shackles on their legs and arms, though the chains were already cut. She then knelt down for them, willing them to climb on.

“W-we’re on,” Gervas said after a few moments. She didn’t hesitate, rising back to her feet and taking off towards the river.

“Your mage is absolutely terrifying,” she heard Nautia say, her voice filled with fear. “I’m thankful she’s on our side.”

“Me too,” Gervas said, though to her own sadness she could hear the fear in his voice as well. Not that she could blame him. Were she in his position, she likely would have been just as terrified.

Yvette tried to shake those thoughts from her mind. They needed to go. She could worry about how scary she was after they were far from here.

------

Yvette couldn’t hold this form any longer, no matter how much she longed to. She had to give it credit, though. It moved through the flooded river with the same ease she could fly through the storm.

She was making good time. The storm had faded behind her and she tore through the river with such speed that she was certain she’d already knocked off a day’s worth of travel in just a few hours. Even with the two on her back.

Slowly, however, she crawled onto the shore and lowered herself so the two could climb off. Within a few moments they were off, dropping besides her. Neither said a word when she reverted back to her phoenix form.

For a few moments they just stared at her. Then, slowly, Gervas reached a hand out and pressed it to her side. “Yvette?” he asked softly.

Yvette couldn’t stop herself. She knew it wasn’t the smartest idea, that she shouldn’t have used one of her limited transformations for it. But she couldn’t take it anymore. Slowly she began to shrink down once more, turning human before his eyes. Both of them stared for a few moments before turning their backs to her.

“What’s wrong?” Yvette asked once she was human again.

“I uhhh, don’t, errrr,” Gervas said softly. “We haven’t managed to get you any clothes yet.”

Yvette blinked before glancing down at the robe she was wearing before she began to lightly snicker. Within a few moments she was fully laughing. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around before lunging forward and hugging him around the neck. He stumbled back, but hugged her back.

“Yvette?” Gervas asked. “Where did you--”

“Shhhh,” Yvette said gently. “Just… just hold me. Just for a little bit. Please. Just hold me close and remind me what it’s like to be human. I missed you so, so much. I just… I-I came back. To you. J-just like you said I would.”

“You did,” Gervas said, his hand softly stroking down her back. “But we need to go. We--”

“Just for a bit, please,” Yvette said softly. “We can run after. Just for now, hold me. Let me be held. I didn’t… I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” Tears started to fill her eyes and she squeezed him even harder. “I was so scared I might lose you. I was so scared after everything, I might… I might never see you again.”

Gervas nodded, still lightly rubbing her back. “I know. I was scared too. When you…”

“When I died?” Yvette asked. “It was so strange. I still feel… weird. Heh. Who would have thought? Trying to be a girl, I instead become a phoenix. But I am a girl now, at least. So halfway there?”

“Halfway?” Gervas asked.

“Now I just need to be human again,” Yvette said softly. “That and finish this spell.”

“Yvette,” Gervas said gently. “I’m not sure this spell is going to fix… this.”

“It’s the only lead I really have right now,” Yvette said gently. “Besides, I may have promised Jade I’d bring the spell back to them when I figured it out. She has some uhhh… girls like me there.”

“I don’t think there is any girl like you in this world,” Gervas said gently before his hand lifted up, gently stroking the back of her head. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Yvette said softly.

“Please don’t ever die again,” Gervas said gently. “After trying so many times, I never wanted you to succeed.”

“Sorry,” Yvette said sheepishly. “But hey, now that I’ve done it there’s no more need for me to try anymore, right?”

“So, where are we going?” Gervas asked. “You have a plan, don’t you?”

“Err, yes,” Yvette said softly. “I do have a plan.”

“Are you going to tell me what it is?” Gervas asked.

“Eventually,” Yvette said softly. “I’m working up to it.”

“Yvette,” Gervas said.

“It’s the best I have for now,” Yvette said. “Probably the safest. Which is, honestly, saying a lot.”

“Yvette,” Gervas said again, his eyes narrowing on her.

“There is a forest of fae,” Yvette said. “In theory, we could go from there to another place connected to the fae.”

“In theory,” Gervas said. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Yvette gave a sheepish smile.

“You’re serious,” Gervas said.

“We’ve helped the fae before,” Yvette said. “They were kind of grateful.”

“You helped a fae?” Nautia asked.

“O-oh! Right, hi!” Yvette said, her cheeks going red when she remembered that Nautia was still there. She finally pulled back from Gervas, who did the same. Judging by the red in his cheeks she suspected he’d forgotten about her as well.

“Are you two done, then?” Nautia asked. “What is this about fae?”

“Well, in theory--”

“I heard that part,” Nautia said. “But you helped one? Why? When? How?”

“Because she needed help,” Joan said. “A while ago. We fought off some trolls.”

“We helped one fae, one time,” Gervas said. “Depending on the fae for help in any way is going to get us killed. What other plans do you have?”

“Get captured by the prince again or hope that his sister is willing to let us go,” Yvette said. “I mean, if you want to explain to them that I’m a phoenix who was once a human but is only kind of a phoenix now, we can try that.”

Gervas sighed and shook his head. “This is a terrible idea, you know that?”

“But it is the least terrible choice we have,” Yvette said. “It’s not my fault they hate mages so much. I mean, I’m sure the prince hates them even more now so I’m partially responsible for that one. But he killed me, so it’s only fair. So! I never got to ask. What stuff did I get?”

“What do you mean, get?” Gervas asked.

“The chest,” Yvette said.

“Ah,” Gervas said. “My sword, armor, boots. Nautia’s trident and her armor.”

Yvette nodded before pausing. “Oh. That’s… that’s all?”

“That’s all,” Gervas said.

“So none of your other stuff?” Yvette asked.

“No,” Gervas said.

“Not even money?” Yvette asked.

Gervas just sighed.

“Sorry,” Yvette said softly. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Is this normally how you two operate?” Nautia asked.

“Normally we have a bit more of a plan,” Gervas said before glancing back towards her. “But yes, whenever Yvette finds someone who needs our help she does tend to run in over her head to try and ‘help’ them with it. Then we’re stuck dealing with the consequences.”

Nautia cringed at that before giving a nod. “Point taken, my apologies.”

“Though, that’s important,” Yvette said. “Gervas and I will have to go through the fae forest and try and get transportation from them. What about you?”

“What about me?” Nautia asked.

“I mean, there’s a river right there,” Yvette said before motioning towards it. “From what I saw, it goes out to the sea. You could escape.”

Nautia just stared at her like she was an idiot. She opened her mouth to speak, only to pause. She opened it again, only to stop a second time. Finally she lifted a hand to cover her eyes and shook her head. “Do… do you believe that I can, somehow, just swim into the sea and find my way back home? Even if I could get through the rivers and there were no traps set, that I would be able to just… swim there? Through hundreds of miles of water? With who knows what kind of wildlife?”

Yvette turned red before, very slowly, she nodded. “At least, I did until you said it out loud. It sounds kind of stupid now.”

“Because it is,” Nautia said.

“Nautia!” Gervas said harshly, glaring at her.

“My apologies,” Nautia said before giving another sigh. “I suppose I should come to expect such… ignorance. You are at least trying, if failing, which is better than some do.”

“Sorry,” Yvette said softly. “I mean, you are kind of the only mermaid I know. We’ll try and get you home. Promise.”

Nautia glanced between the two of them before nodding. “I… do appreciate that. I truly do. You could have tried to leave me behind, but you did not. However…” She glanced back towards the river. “Perhaps we had best continue on our journey.”

“We’re pretty far ahead of them,” Yvette said with a shrug. “I doubt they’ll be catching up anytime soon.”

“Nautia’s right,” Gervas said. “We shouldn’t take any risks if we can avoid it. Let’s go.” He reached back to grab her hand, lightly pulling her behind him.

Yvette blinked a few times when he pulled her. She couldn’t help feeling her heart rate getting faster. He was trying to protect her still. She wondered if it was because he still saw her as a mage or if it was because she and him were kind of… together now. That thought made her want to squeal a little bit. “Gervas?” she asked softly.

“Yes?” he asked, glancing back at her.

Yvette ran a little bit so she could walk besides him. “Do you, uhhh… do you still mean it?”

“That we need to keep going?” Gervas asked. “Because even if this is a bad idea, you’re right. It’s the best one we have.”

“No, the other thing,” Yvette said. “What you said before. In that cave. Could… you still love me?”

“Oh by the stars,” Nautia said before giving a light groan. “Mages, I swear…”

“Yvette,” Gervas said, shaking his head. “Of course I can. But we shouldn’t really be focusing on that right now.”

“Even if I’m a phoenix?” Yvette asked. “And takes me a while to fix this?”

“Probably so long as you focus on the task at hand and don’t try to kill him again,” Nautia said.

“NAUTIA!” Gervas snapped, his hand tightening around her’s.

“Wait, what?” Yvette asked. “Tried to kill you?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Gervas said.

Yvette just stared at him, letting him pull her along. “The ice?”

“Nothing,” Gervas said. “Let it go, Yvette.”

“No!” Yvette said. He tried to pull his hand away, but she didn’t let go. “What did she mean? Nautia, what did you mean?”

“It’s nothing!” Gervas said.

“Why don’t you just tell her?” Nautia asked. “Better than having her accidentally think she can do it again.”

“What did I do?” Yvette asked.

Gervas just gave another sigh before coming to a stop. “It was an accident, I’m sure.”

“Gervas, tell me,” Yvette said, struggling to keep the frustration out of her voice.

“You exploded,” Gervas said. “During the first few days you were a… after your change. That bastard tried to make you sleep. You were in a cage with me.”

“With us,” Nautia said.

“You destroyed it,” Gervas said. “Practically sunk the ship. I was… close at the time. I was wounded, but I survived.”

“I… I almost killed you?” Yvette asked softly, her voice quiet and weak. “I… I didn’t mean to.” She didn’t know why she said that, it felt so stupid and weak now.

“I know,” Gervas said. “You weren’t you. It’s fine.”

“We’re not immune to fire and lightning like you are,” Nautia said. “So please try to keep them away from us.”

“Nautia!” Gervas snapped, glaring at her.

“Don’t,” Yvette said. “She’s… right.”

“Yvette, you can’t blame yourself for things you did when you weren’t yourself,” Gervas said.

“But—”

“Were you in control?” Gervas asked. “If you had been, would you have done that? Would you have hurt me?”

“No!” Yvette said quickly. Even the phoenix side of her rejected the idea of hurting him. It even felt a little guilt at the idea that it had.

“Then you don’t need to be mad at yourself for it,” Gervas said. “You made a mistake, that was all it was.”

“I… I see,” Yvette said. She knew there was wisdom in his words. He was right. She didn’t, couldn’t, beat herself up over every mistake she made when she wasn’t fully aware of who she was. But nearly killing him sounded like it had been a pretty massive one. What if she lost control again and hurt him? “We should get going.”

“We are,” Gervas said before he started walking again.

“No,” Yvette said. “It’ll go much faster if I carry you two. We’ll cover a lot more ground that way.” She pulled her hand free from his. “The dragon turtle travels a lot faster than either of you.”

“You can only do that a few times a day,” Gervas said. “Will you be able to… well…”

“The further we get from them, the less danger we’ll be in,” Yvette said softly. “If they find us now, we’ll all be in danger. I’ll probably be fine, but you two likely won’t. I can’t take that risk.”

“She’s not wrong,” Nautia said. “They’re not going to do anything to hurt their precious phoenix. You and I, on the other hand, are just mages to these people.”

Gervas gave another sigh before nodding. She didn’t like the look on his face, though. She didn’t understand it. Or rather, she understood it too well. A mix of fear. Worry. Protectiveness.

They’d get out of here, though. She knew they would. Somehow. She’d find a way to fix herself. This would all just be a bad memory. She knew it would. It had to be.