Episode One Hundred and Eighty-Nine: Glamourous

“Today, we will focus on how to glamour yourselves. This will let you be around non-magical people and remain safe.” Lady Twilight’s eyes focused on Indigo first, then on Aurora. “All of us are responsible to guard the secret of magic. Do you understand?”

Indigo nodded solemnly. “I will do better!”

“Aurua?”

The smaller dragon nodded, but said nothing.

“This will help.” She motioned to the Cat with a claw. “You are going to practice making yourself appear like cats today.”

So many questions bubbled up inside me as she explained the situation. How did one use a glamour? I knew several beings had used them in the shop, including the dragons. Though, it was less clear to me if that was a glamour, or just plain shapeshifting.

“Each of you knows how to gather your magic, the application is the hard part. You must will yourself to present as a cat. Fully present, not just appear like a cat.” Lady Twilight shimmered, and suddenly on the rug there sat a striped cat with bright purple eyes. Another shimmer, and she returned to her human shape.

“First, gather your magic…”

I closed my eyes and focused on the star inside my chest. I let it spill over into the rest of my body.

“Now, hold everything you know of cats inside your head, and put your magic into presenting as one.” Her voice drifted through the air.

I tried to do what she described, but whenever I pictured a cat, it was of the Cat himself. My magic flowed out of me aiming directly for him, still sitting on the table.

The rush of golden energy, with wisps of something else flowed around him.

He didn’t even flinch.

Indigo’s scales shimmered as she struggled with the task.

Aurora didn’t have any noticeable change.

My magic drained away, but not before touching the two dragons. A faint line connected the two of them, while much thicker lines connected the two to Lady Twilight.

Lady Twilight chuckled as the shimmering faded from Indigo. “Does anyone want to guess why it failed?”

“Cat, need Cat,” answered Aurora, before Indigo could. Her neck swiveled around to stare at the Cat. She lifted a claw and stepped a little closer. 

“Correct. You need to study what makes a cat, well, a cat.” She leaned closer to the Cat. “In this case, the Lord has pulled his magic tight to his body, and is only presenting as a cat. No one, unless they already knew, would be able to tell differently.”

Both Indgio and Aurora inched closer to him.

“You can come closer,” said the Cat. He suddenly stretched out two paws in front of him, in almost a yoga pose. “Make sure you pay attention to the fur and whiskers.”

Indigo let Aurora go first, sniffing him. Her eyes trailed along his entire furry body.

Lady Twilight caught my eye, and she leaned closer to me. “I don’t know if your magic will let you present as something else.”

I shrugged lightly. “There’s no harm in trying.”

“Maybe try, instead of presenting, just appearing.” Her eyes flickered up for a moment to the ceiling of stars. “Your abilities aren’t the same as a dragon, or the Fey. Trial and error is a noble path, especially when none of us have the knowledge to offer you another.”

“I mean, Betty did the ceiling, that isn’t from me.” While I loved every inch of the night sky above us, I hadn’t done anything to change it.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she replied. Her head snapped around to Indigo, who shimmered again. “Closer! Think less about your shadows, and focus instead on your magic in general.”

Aurora padded closer to Lady Twilight and chirped a few times.

I leaned back on the couch and studied the ceiling. This time, I reached out in that direction with my magic, like I did when searching for a bond.

The entire ceiling glowed.

It felt like me, somehow.

What the heck?

The dark blue, almost black, between each of the stars swirled in strange patterns the more I studied the ceiling. The flickers of stars twinkled almost like a movie theatre ceiling, but magical.

Whatever I’d done to create it, I didn’t know how to do so again. Or what went into the process. The more I stared, the more it reminded me of my ceramic mug, with the deep blue background and the stars scattered all over it.

“Yes Aurora, just like that.”

Lady Twilight’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

A small, rather scaly, cat sat on the coffee table next to the Cat. Her claws were still pure dragon, but her wings had vanished.

“Push more energy into it.”

Aurora flickered again, and this time her scales vanished and fur took over. The dragon claws softened and shrunk. A long tail flickered behind her. Then she slumped forward, all icy blue dragon again.

Lady Twilight picked her up as she curled into a ball. “Sleep, little one.”

Indigo chirped in concern, but Lady Twilight shook her head. 

She trotted closer to the Cat, and then shimmered yet again. This time, she became a small dark purple cat with bright green eyes.

Lady Twilight chuckled. “Try to darken your fur color.”

Indigo’s eyes snapped shut, but her fur firmly stayed the same color. After a few moments, she shook her head, but froze when her tail reached around herself before darting back. She twisted into a circle, chasing the much longer object.

The Cat chuckled. “You are close.”

Indigo’s eyes went wide when she caught her own tail between her claws. She dropped it, then shook. Scales flowed from her head until she returned to normal.

“I did it!” She held her head up high.

“You are very attached to your name, little one,” added Lady Twilight, softly. “Loosen those bonds, it is not your true name. You need not clutch it so tightly.”

The Cat’s warning about names returned, especially since I’d named her when he’d warned me not to.

“My name's perfect.” Indigo chirped brightly.

“But cats aren’t Indigo,” whispered Lady Twilight. She patted Aurora in her arms, who snored lightly. “While a cat, you need to be a cat…”