Julian had a vague idea of where Billy now went to school. If she actually reached her school though, it would be a lot more difficult to steal the stick from her if not completely impossible. She had to wonder if she could even make any magic out of it. The little squirrel seemed to do something with numbers to activate it... could she just use it to 'will' herself back to male?
She walked quickly, and briskly, finally seeing the squirrel girl walking alone after stepping off a bus. There were not too many people around her... she just needed to reach into her bag, and steal the stick. Just do it quickly-
... but she was just a child. Something about that struck her. It was kind of... amazing really. She seemed so cute in her school uniform- urgh! What was she thinking! "Damn female body," she said to herself. "Focus..."
The teenage doe followed the young child as she walked down the street. The squirrel girl seemed overly nervous for some reason, and there was no real anyway for Julian to 'sneak' up on her. So she just tried to walk casually...
Finally, she was next to her. The squirrel didn't even recognise her. This was perfect! The blue stick was poking out of her backpack, just a little too big to fully fit into it. The powerful object, capable of restoring her was in eyesight and graspable. She decided she had to go for it. Just take it, and run!
She slid the stick away from the bag-
...only to be startled by a sudden meowing sound. She glanced around. It appeared as if time had just stopped. The whole world had become grey. She blinked a bit as she glanced around. "What the hell is going on?"
...there was a cat...
It moved... without moving- just blinking itself through reality, going closer, and closer, until it appeared right into Julian's eyes, like some kind of helish phantom.
Julian swallowed. Lilly... had some kind of 'guardian'... What could it do? It was just some cat! She held the blue stick, as if it could guard her. "Stop! D-on't come any closer!"
meow said Sakura very threateningly. How could such a small thing look that threatening?
Finally Julian couldn't take it any more. She threw the stick at the cat to try and scare it away.
Suddenly, the strange time stop ended, and Julian glanced about looking very surprised. Lilly was picking up the blue stick not sure how it ended up outside her backpack. "Thanks Sakura," she said smiling to her companion.
Julian stared. No- No No! It couldn't end like this- "W-Wait!" She cried in the end.
Lilly turned to look at Julian. "Huh? Yeah?" she said without any hint of recognition.
Sakura hissed slightly.
Julian looked at the creature then at Lilly. What could she do? What could she say? "I... please... please help me..." she said in the end. She felt sickened and horrible to have to plead but Lilly was her only hope. If she couldn't steal the stick or force her, there was only one thing left.
Mercy.
Lilly looked at the strange doe wondering what was wrong. "Uh- yes miss. 'course I can help cause I help lots of people now! What you need?"
Julian wasn't sure how to go about this. If Lilly knew that she knew that she could do certain magics, then... she might be able to work out, who she was. She wasn't sure how many people knew... but... she had to try! "I- I was turned into this. I heard- that you could do magic. Please... could... you... make me... a man again."
Lilly gasped a bit her heart melting at the woman's words. She looked so sad at her. "I- I'm sorry. I dunno how... I... how'd you know I can... um..." Lilly has only done very few things... did someone see her?
Julian looked just a bit guilty now. Something about interacting with Lilly like this, was so off putting. It didn't help that the cat was giving her very dirty looks either. "I- I just know. I don't really want to say how... it... came at a high price," she whispered quietly. "Please... I brought my... my... antlers. If you could use them to make me a male at least?"
Lilly looked even more confused. "So.. you was changed into an animal, then turned into a girl? Tha's weird. I ain't heard the sunlight doin' that. But.. miss... I kinda.. I gotta conserve what I can do. Cause the magic aint gonna last long. An'... I really want to help you I do."
"Please! Just... I'll... do anything you want!" Julian said desperately.
"Can you maybe.. be a girl a bit longer? It ain't so bad. I found it hard at first but people have been nice to me since. An'..."
"I can't be a girl though! God why am I even arguing this with a child!" She said annoyed.
Lilly took a step back at that outburst not sure what to say. She felt sorry for this... person, but she was clearly acting a little weird. "Look um... I dunno. If I find out some way, I'll turn you back okay? Tha's all I can promise," she said sadly. "But maybe... you'll be okay after a while? Cause everyone feels that way at first but it really ain't so bad. Jus' a lot of weird things to get used to. Cause um.. I used to be a boy too," she admitted.
"I know," said Julian.
"Huh? you know? H-how?" Lilly asked blinking.
"I- I- just know," said the doe quickly. "What should I do... I'm now just... just.. prey..." she said almost to herself, and immediately regreted it.
"Oh... well yeah... I'm a bit well- yeah, I know what you mean by that." Lilly sighed. Julian certainly... taught her that. "Look... jus'... get on with things yeah? Cause if this happened maybe... you jus' need time to get used to it? I mean I think your really pretty! An' you ain't jus' pray. Cause I don't see any predators who are gonna eat you. An' I know bein' an animal can feel bad- but tha's only cause we make it feels bad. It don't make it a fact right? An'... I think you'll be okay. Your mom an' dad can help lots right? You... you have a mom an' dad yeah?"
"Y-Yeah..." she said tensing.
"Well... when I changed, they helped me a lot. I didn't even get out of my room for days. An' I had to go through... a lot. But I made friends, an' now... I dunno. Being a girl is jus'... okay to me. Sometimes I wish I was a boy again but I think I'm still me. Jus' the whole growin' up thing might be weird. I dunno how tha's gonna... work out. Point is if I can do it.. maybe you could too?" She then glanced at a clock. "Oh I gotta head to school! Sorry miss.. really. I really gotta go."
Julian was left on the street. She didn't get the magic stick in the end... and worse, she.. she just sort of 'choked' at the last minute. Was this body... changing her? Or was she always just so weak inside? Why did Billy's argument strike a chord in her too? Was Billy... right? That little kid?!
She had to go to her own school too. She was likely going to be late, and that could draw even more attention.
