Chronicles of the Sword in the Stone (remastered and continued)

Chapter 3: A Dream Come True

Her head was still spinning when the squirrel came to. That had been a very strange experience, and it was far more than she had expected. She shook her head feverishly to further rouse herself, when she suddenly felt something swish over her face with each shake of her head. Her eyes bolted open, and all she could see was a curtain of bright red. She moved her hands to her face and parted away the curtain, and her joy overflowed. 

It was hair! 

Human hair! 

It was long and reaching all the way to the middle of her back when it was behind her. But this was only the beginning of what could be-what was-the greatest surprise of her life. Her hands were also those of a human: furless, pink skin with five digits. She opened and closed them into fists while marveling at her new appendages, especially the thumbs. Her gaze then went down to her body in general. As could be expected, she was surprised to see that her body was clothed. It was a simple dress, even she could see that, that was dark red with gold trimmings and reached to about her shins. She was, however, barefoot, but this mattered little to her. Her excitement boiling over, she just had to know what she looked like now. She swiveled her head around and caught sight of a full length mirror. She quickly rose to her feet to dash over to it, only fall to the floor just as quickly. It then occurred to her that her tail, which had acted as her source of balance when she was a squirrel, was now gone. This meant she would have to become used to walking upright without it. Oh, well. What was life without its challenges?

Using tables and anything else her hands landed upon for support, she guided herself to the mirror. Her goal accomplished, she managed the will to stand and marveled at the reflection that greeted her. Her face was pushed inward as opposed to her prior muzzle, and she possessed red freckles all along her cheeks. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as they had been before, of which she was thankful. For a brief moment, she feared that she had lost her ears during her transformation since they weren't at their usual placed atop her head, but she sighed with relief when she realized that they were now on the sides instead, hidden beneath her straight red locks.

"Ha, ha. I suppose you like your new look, eh Lass?"

Somewhat startled, she whirled around to see Merlin with a large smile on his face. She mimicked the look, and opened her new mouth to say something, though only unintelligible blabbering made its way out. Merlin chuckled at this good naturedly.

"I told you from the beginning that you would have to learn about the ways of man, didn't I? If this seems like a problem, then I suppose I could change you back."

The girl immediately shook her head. Go back to being an animal? She most certainly would not. Merlin chuckled again.

"I thought as much."

"MARVIN!"

Merlin winced at the miss-pronunciation of his name. He made his way to the window and looked outside to see Sir Ector standing next to their cart in front of the moat. It was loaded down with their belongings, and Kay was sitting at the reins and ready to leave.

"HAVE YOU FINISHED PACKING YET, YOU BLASTED OLD GOAT?" Sir Ector boomed up at him.

"NOT YET!" Merlin exclaimed in reply. "JUST ONE MOMENT. AND MY NAME IS MERLIN!"

The elderly wizard pulled in his head and huffed.

"Pompous windbag! Is it really so difficult to remember a name?"

The girl giggled lightly at the moment, but then a thought struck her. Squirrels never named their young, thus there was nothing for her to be called. She tugged on Merlin's robe to gain Merlin's attention.