The One Where Quentin is Turned Into a Girl

The One Where Quentin is Turn Into A Girl

 Dean Fogg sat behind his desk staring at Jane Chatwin as if she had lost her mind, which was arguably true in this moment.

"You did what?" He asked again, hoping that he had misheard her the first time.

"You heard me correctly. I turned Quentin into a girl. He's died thirty-eight times already and I've changed almost everything I could. Why not try something new?" She asked as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

It may have sounded reasonable to Jane, but it was most certainly not to Dean Fogg. Messing around with fate like she always does is dangerous no matter the time loop.

"In nine months the Coldwater's will be bringing home a beautiful baby girl and in twenty years after that she will be accepted into Brakebills." She declared.

Dean Fogg knew that he couldn't change anything now, not after Jane intervened. Things were set in stone, at least this time. All he could do was hope that things went differently this time around.

*******

"Come on Q, we're going to be late to Practical Application!" Julia says as she half drags me down the stairs. For someone so small, Julia had the strength of an ogre.

With the recent discovery of magic, Julia could potentially have some magical fairy tale creature as an ancestor. It wouldn't be a surprise after all they have learned so far in their classes.

"We're not going to be late, Julia." I say in an attempt at calming her down.

Ever since we were accepted into Brakebills, her type A personality went into hyper drive and she became so focused that it was a little scary. Okay, it was a lot scary.

Before coming here, Julia always had to be the best in all our classes and unfortunately it was the same here. She was so obsessed with being number one that she didn't even care about anything else. She let her ambitions control her and she didn't care who she stomped on to get to the top, even if that person was me, her best friend.

Upon entering the empty class, we took our usual seats in the front and started to pull out our notebooks when the rest of our peers joined us. From the corner of my eye, I watched as Julia glared at Alice, otherwise known as her competition.

"Alright class, we'll pick up from where we left off last time." Professor March said as he came strolling into our class.

"Always pay close attention to the alloys. Um, iron has a neutral quality, whereas silver and gold have the effect of, uh, magnifying the effects of other components of the alloy and I would caution you to test for this each time before, uh— before using a knife for ritual work because a spell can alter the metal at a quantum level." Professor March droned on.

I couldn't help myself from fiddling with my magicians coin. It was a simple prop from a time before Brakebills, but I always found comfort in passing it through my fingers.

Professor March lost me completely when he started lecturing in German, a language that I didn't have much knowledge in. I was going to have to ask Alice for her notes later since I always felt like an idiot when I asked Julia for help.

"From the famous German poet and wizard..." He trailed off again as if he didn't realize he was going back and forth between languages.

I briefly glanced at the clock, watching the hands tick closer to noon. Even though class had already started, I was half wishing for it to be over, but something else happened instead.

The second the hands on the clock moved to the twelve, everything became still, like time itself stopped. I couldn't do anything when that happened, my body was stuck like the hands on the clock. Frozen, completely unmoving.

My eyes darted around to the people within my eyesight and it appeared that I wasn't the only one frozen.

Suddenly the classroom was filled with moths as a blue one landed on my hand. Fear coursed through me when I heard the soft steps of someone coming from the back of the room.

When a man stepped into the line of my sight, I could practically hear my heart hammering in my ears. Moths obscured his face, but I could see that he had six fingers on each hand.

His hands moved quickly as he preformed a spell. Professor March choked loudly until the horrible sound of his neck snapping echoed throughout the silent classroom.

Dean Fogg came running into the classroom and sent a powerful spell at the Beast, but it appeared that the moth man was prepared for this. He countered the Dean's spell and sent one of his own back. I wanted to wince at the sound of the Dean's hands breaking, but something worse came next.

The Beast tore out the Dean's eyes and then set them on my desk as if he was offering me a gift. His cold and bloody hands stroked my face as he gazed down at me.

"Quinn Coldwater," He said with a slight accent before he waved his hands at me.

In an instant, I could tell that I was no longer paralyzed by his spell. With quick reflexes, I sent a spell his way that sent him stumbling back.

It wasn't much help though because he was able to counter my spell and he sent me flying back into the wall. A loud crunching sound filled my ears as I screamed in pain.

"I always love when you fight. It's always interesting to see when Jane changes something, but this is impressive even for her." He chuckled as he came striding towards me.

Confused by his words, I struggled to rise from my position on the floor. With a simple wave of his six fingered hand, everything turned started to turn dark. I didn't know if I was dying or simply passing out, but in my last moments of consciousness I prayed for death.

*******

"Was it part of your plan for him to take Quinn?" Dean Fogg hissed through pursed lips. It was obvious to anyone that he was seething with anger.

Jane had the decency to remain silent as she looked down at her feet. She hadn't planned for her brother to take an interest in Quinn. He always had a peculiar interest in Quentin in the previous time loops, but this was completely different. Why would he steal Quinn right from Brakebills? Why not kill her as he had done in the past?

Then, like a hammer striking an anvil, it suddenly occurred to Jane. Her brother took Quinn, not because he had wanted to kill her, but because he wanted to wed her.

"Martin has taken Quinn for his bride." Jane said in horror at her realization.

Dean Fogg's didn't lash out at her like she thought he would. Instead he let out a loud sigh from his hospital bed.

"We're going to have to restart the clock again." He stated simply.

"No, she's still alive. Perhaps she can still defeat him. Surely her friends will want to save her. They can go to..." Jane started to say before the Dean stopped her.

"No, we can not let her suffer against him. We must restart the clock, now." He ordered.

Quinn Coldwater was as good as dead, being the prisoner of Martin Chatwin, and she would suffer if Jane didn't restart the loop.

"Okay, I'll restart the clock. Any special requests before I do?" She asked.

"Make sure there is a Quentin Coldwater," He said.

And with those final words, Jane restarted the clock once again, not knowing that it would be the final time loop.