Ashe
I woke up in a cold sweat again. According to the clock it was just past three, so I pushed myself up to sit and slightly startled myself further when my fingers touched August's arm. I surprisingly still wasn't used to sleeping with another person in the same bed. I checked his face and then watched his chest rise and fall momentarily before deciding that he was still asleep.
Suddenly, a twisted feeling in my stomach started up and I ran to the bathroom, vomiting the second my knees hit the floor in front of the toilet. It felt like it had gone on forever. Once I finished, I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on catching my breath. When I opened them again, I gasped and leaned back over the toilet to get a better look.
I had thrown up blood, a lot of it. I'm pretty sure that's all that came out. I felt my anxiety spike and I scooted away from the toilet, trying to think of what to do next. My head felt heavy and dizzy so I rested it in my hands, with my knees supporting my arms.
A faint knock sounded by the door and I peeked up to see Magna with, as usual, a cup of tea. I shook my head and motioned her away from the bathroom. She stepped into the room anyways and with a glance at the contents of the toilet, pursed her lips. "Today's the day, although it's quite early to be experiencing any symptoms," she tapped her chin as if in thought.
After a moment her eyes darted to mine and she froze, her expression slowly morphing into one of awe. I scrunched my face in concerned confusion, she parted her lips as if to say something but, nothing came out.
I lifted my brows at her, silently pressing for an explanation. Instead, Magna simply turned and walked out. 'What the hell,' I thought to myself but quickly shook it off. Even if it was important, I still wasn't sure I trusted her to tell me what I needed to know. I'd wait and ask August.
"Hey," as soft at it was, I still jumped in surprise when August's tired voice came from the doorway. Speak of the devil I guess. I let out a small groan and pointed at the toilet, "can you explain?"
He gave it a short glance before sitting in the floor next to me, "uh, well it's not supposed to happen this early in the day but, step one is the toxin flush. Anything that doesn't aid in your immortal health will be purged from your body, it usually takes a few hours." I just nodded.
'Great, another few hours of what just happened and I might die,' I thought to myself. "You won't die from losing whatever is forced out but, you are going to need to drink blood when the first step is finished," he said hesitantly while fiddling with his thumbs. "Please tell me that's the worst of it," I said, already knowing that it probably wouldn't be.
I had been briefed on what to expect, but even so, I knew you had to experience something first hand in order to truly understand it. Everyone experiences everything differently, I groaned. He sighed and went to wrap an arm around my shoulders but before he could, I felt myself lean towards the toilet as more chunky blood exploded from my throat. "Don't touch me right now, it's too hot in here," I gasped out once I could speak again.
I heard the sound of the bathroom window opening and a gust of cool wind brushed over me. It didn't come with the relief I expected, instead it sent me into another vomiting frenzy as my body felt like it had been dipped into an ice bath. The chill bumps that sprinkled my skin were almost painful, "holy fuck, shut the window," I managed to get out through chattering teeth.
August closed the window again, but waited near it encase I was hit with a wave of heat. If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was starting menopause on my twenty-first birthday. I suppose transforming into a supernatural being is probably worse, I'd never know. My head began throbbing and I sat back on my heels to keep balanced, the dizziness had only been getting worse, "I think I'm going to pass-."
***
August
I caught her before she hit the ground. Her skin almost burned like a fire, nearly causing me to drop her. I lowered her slowly into a laying position so that I could get cold water started in the bath. When I had gone through this, that's what had helped me and I was hoping it would help her too.
"Bring lavender, basil, ginger and vervain, and throw on some chamomile tea," I spoke sternly to Magna through the Shadow. I opened a drawer under the sink and pulled out amethyst, citrine, jasper and onyx stones as well as some candles.
As I finished setting everything up, Magna walked through the door carrying herbs in one arm and tea in the other. "Set the tea on the counter, we have to get her to wake up," I said as I grabbed the herbs from her and began hand-measuring the necessary amounts. Last, but not least, I sprinkled sea salt along the edge of the tub and lit the candles.
"Help me set her in there," I said as I grabbed Ashe's upper body and gently lifted. Magna grabbed her feet and mirrored me as we carefully placed Ashe's limp body into the water. Once I was satisfied, I took a step back and nodded for Magna to begin her part. I wasn't evolved enough for this kind of magic and we couldn't afford to screw this up.
Magna began chanting in an old pagan tongue while using her hands to direct the energy where it needed to go. I was supposed to be paying attention so that I could learn, but all I could focus on was the new glow coming from Ashe's skin. I'd seen several transformations over the years, no one glowed like this. Maybe it was the soul connection, maybe there was more to her than any of us knew.
Ashe jolted into a sitting position, splashing water out of the tub in the process. I rushed past Magna and dropped down to Ashe's level, "you're okay, stay there, the water will help you through it."
I was going to continue coaxing her into relaxing but, her eyes caught me completely off-guard and froze me in place. Surely it couldn't be the soul connection causing me to see this, one glance at Magna confirmed that for me. They were quite literally glowing, as if they were moons inside her head. "What? Why are you guys staring like that it's making me nervous," she said hoarsely.
She groaned and gripped her head with her hands as she squeezed her eyes shut. "It's only been two hours and you're already showing physical changes, nothing to be nervous about sweetheart," I said softly. I turned to see Magna had already left the room so I grabbed the chamomile tea fused with blood from the sink and held it out to Ashe, "this will make you feel better."
She took it reluctantly and slowly drank it. Her body visibly relaxed and she sighed as she pulled the cup away from her lips. A look of regret crossed her face, "am I going to throw that back up?" I gave her a small smile and shook my head, "passing out after step one usually means step two is on its way, it could begin in an hour or it could-."
Before I could finish what I was saying, she let out a blood curdling scream. "Or it could start now," I finished with a sigh as I stood and took two steps back to give her space. Step two would probably be the most painful for her, physical changes were nearly the worst part for any of the Shadow Breeds experiencing a transformation. Feeling your bones stretch, snap and morph is something you only expect to go through in nightmares.
Another scream and she slammed back into the tub, her neck snapped back at an unnatural angle and her jaw locked open as the cracking of teeth sounded through the bathroom. I ran my tongue over my own teeth as the memory of my own fangs appearing flashed through my mind. A choked yelp broke me out of my thoughts and I noticed Ashe was sitting up again, holding her hands over her mouth with her eyes still squeezed shut.
I kneeled by the tub again and reached out to gently move her hands from her face, she still kept her eyes shut. "Here, let me help you with the pain," I coaxed her. I rested both hands on each side of her face and started by caressing her cheeks, wiping away tears in the process. With a little extra pressure, I began massaging the corners of her mouth, "this next bit may seem weird but, please trust me." I said softly and she nodded through choked breaths.
I slipped my thumbs inside her lips lightly and began rubbing small circles on the gums of her canine teeth that had sprouted into a set of sharp fangs. She started to relax again before opening her eyes to look at me, I felt her muscles tense upon making eye contact. I gave her a smile of assurance but, quickly realized she hadn't tensed up out of anxiousness. Based on the look in her eyes, we were experiencing the third step at the same time as the second, another extreme oddity in her transformation, and I needed to tie her down as soon as possible.
"Magna, rope, my room now, it's time," I commanded through the Shadow as I reached into the water to lift Ashe out. She ran a finger over my chest in wide circles as she looked up at me with those big silver eyes, glowing with lust.
I almost tripped as I entered my room and hurried over to the bed. A smirk grew on her face, "Gusty, you're not really going to tie me are you?" She pouted playfully and I noticed her voice had also changed a bit. It almost sounded like what I assumed silk would be like as a sound. I bit my bottom lip and her eyes dropped to stare at them as she licked her own. My heart seemed to skip a beat as the smell of strawberries and vanilla hit my nose.
Magna cleared her throat from the other side of the bed, startling me so much I almost dropped Ashe, who didn't seem to care or even notice that Magna was in the room. I quickly laid her in the bed and grabbed the rope Magna tossed at me.
Ashe pouted more dramatically this time, "August, please, we could have so much fun." I visibly gulped. 'You've waited this long, you can wait a little longer,' I thought to myself. "August Stone, get yourself under control, she is not in her right mind right now, remember? Her brain is so overwhelmed that she doesn't even realize I'm in the room," Magna's warning tone cut through my thoughts and I finished tying Ashe down. "I'm sorry Ashe, we can't do that right now," she jerked at the ropes with a huff.
Her face changed into an expression of anger and I braced for whatever she was about to spew at me. "So you can show me your dick in the shower, but you can't give it to me? What are you scared of? Do you think I'll dominate you and ruin your ego?" I cringed and spared an embarrassed glance at Magna who actually seemed to be holding back a laugh.
Ashe was smirking again, "I probably would if you didn't have me tied down." I simply rolled my eyes and sighed. I took a moment to study the state she was in, she wasn't tense but the sweating had begun. "If it gets too hot let me know and I'll open a window for you," I said to her, regretting it almost immediately. "Or you could take my clothes off," she wiggled her eyebrows at me and I ran a hand down my face. This phase was going to be a long one.
Magna and I both continued to study her while she struggled with the enchanted restraints. Her legs were longer by a few inches now, her muscles had thickened but they weren't tense anymore. Her skin was softer, with an ashy-pink undertone and her aura glowed off of it even brighter, her hair had become an even brighter shade of red and her eyes still appeared as if they were two little moons in her face. The white lines within the silver iris parts of her eyes began to swirl slowly. Her face, it had changed too. Her jaw was now square, yet still feminine and her fangs just barely peaked through her slightly parted heart-shaped lips. Her eyes had become more almond shaped as well.
It had been about thirty minutes and Ashe had passed out again. "She's beautiful isn't she? She reminds me of the moon and sun, if they were personified as one entity," Magna spoke in awe. I was rendered speechless but, nodded in agreement. "I hope to be the stars and clouds for her then," was all I could think to say after a few minutes of silence. Magna looked up and tilted her head at me, "hope isn't necessary August, you already are." A smile tugged at my lips, but I knew that was something Ashe would need to state herself before I accepted it.
A few hours went by and she was still out cold, it was around four in the afternoon now. Normally a transformation wouldn't have started until around lunch, yet here we were, early afternoon and she was finishing up the last phase through her sleep. My mind kept wondering what she'd do or say once she woke back up, and how she'd feel.
For some, the experience was as simple as the transformation, but for others it could be enlightening. In my peripheral I noticed movement on my bed, turning from the desk I'd been sitting at, I realized she was waking up. I rushed over to the side of the bed, cut the ropes and watched as her eyes slowly fluttered open and quickly squeezed shut again, "holy shit the colors in here are bright." She groaned before touching her neck, "it changed my voice?"
I smiled in amusement, but it quickly faded as she jumped off the bed and ran for the bathroom. I forgot about this part. The aftermath was like coming off an acid trip and dealing with a severe hangover at the same time.
I hesitated on whether or not to follow her yet, but as I turned to do just that, I noticed that she was already standing in the bedroom doorway again. "Ashe," I started, but I didn't get to finish what I wanted to say before she marched over until we were inches from each other. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, "mint and chocolate," she said as she exhaled.
I cocked my head at her and before I could even ask what she was referencing, her mouth was on mine. For a moment I caved and leaned into her kiss, inhaling her beautiful scent in the process, but I quickly pulled back, still unaware of how clear her thinking was now. Confusion flashed through her eyes before she doubled over and grabbed her head as if she were experiencing the pains from earlier all over again, but even for a hybrid the transformations were a one time thing and the aftermath shouldn't be that severe.
She dropped to her knees and I dropped with her, grabbing her biceps to keep her from hitting the floor too hard while she kept her hands on her head. "Ashe, sweetheart what is it? What's happening?" I asked desperately while searching her face for an answer. "Get it out of my head, I don't want to see this, make it go away!" She screamed and pleaded.
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