The Unified Soul

Breaking in!

Four days. It had been four days since Garroth was turned into a werewolf by Aaron's eyes. And though their friends were happy that Garroth was alive and well, things started to go downhill quickly. And this was the day that things started to get worse for the families affiliated with the Ultima.

Airis and Garroth sat on the couch, the little girl helping Garroth understand the anatomy of his ears, tail and the rest of his newly structured body while the others went about their daily business like nothing had changed. Garroth, by whatever miracle, had been able to get up and move around by the third day of lying in bed due to the transformation. It astonished everyone in the house, especially after what Aphmau told them about her own transformation.

She told everyone that it took her several days, nearly a week to be able to get out of her bed and move around, and even then she still had a lot of pain to move around in. Garroth, however, was moving around with less pain and already trying to control his ears and tail. Derek was curious about this situation, since he and Garte knew that Garroth had a Forever Potion tested on him, but that still wouldn't explain his rapid recovery. Even with his increased strength from the potion he would still have agonizing pain for at least five days. But here he was, sitting straight, talking coherently with hardly any signs of pain.

"Garte..." Derek said to his close friend as they watched Airis smile at Garroth, "This can't be possible. He should still be in bed in great pain, and yet he's sitting and talking like nothing's wrong."

"I don't understand it either." Garte sighed, "But all I know is that my son is alive and well. A werewolf now, but still alive, and that's all that matters."

They had seen many things when working on the Forever Potions, and though they knew that these potions were powerful, it saved Garroth's life but they didn't understand how it erased the pain so quickly. Then they thought about what Airis had been doing for the past few days, the magic she was using on Garroth each and every day. Garte didn't understand Airis' magic, but Derek did. It was the same kind of magic she used on Aaron during his recovery time at Falcon Claw. Not everyone could see it clearly, but Derek could easily see the darkening circles under her eyes, the softness of her tone of voice, and the way her movements were slowed down.

"All right, Uncle, ready to try twitching your ears now?" Airis asked.

"I'm ready." Garroth smiled and nodded.

"Okay then. Now, twitching your ears is natural for a werewolf, but since you were born human this won't be as easy. All you need to do, is think about how you twitch a finger or a toe. Eventually you'll get it."

Garroth nodded and closed his eyes, focusing on the idea of twitching his ears and tail. He tried for several minutes, but he could hardly feel his ears much less twitch them on command. Eventually he stopped trying and Airis giggled at his frustration.

"Don't worry, Uncle, you'll get used to it." Airis said, "Ears and tails are weird to get used to, but you'll get the hang of it."

Just then, Aphmau walked into the room, her ears and tail hidden from view as she walked over to the two and sat down next to her daughter.

"Hi guys, how's the ear and tail lesson going?" She asked pulling her daughter onto her lap.

"Airis is a really good teacher, Aph. She's even been helping with the weird feelings from the ears and tail." Garroth said.

"Yeah, Airis helped me with that, too." Aphmau smiled and hugged Airis tighter, "She truly is a little miracle worker."

Airis smiled at the comment, happy to know that she was helping. At that moment, Aaron and the rest of the family came in to see how Garroth was doing. But with them all gathered around, the most horrifying news came to light.