Lilly and Stacy were walking in the forest near Lakeside.
The two teenagers had often done this, in search of their father. Every so often they would see a rainbow, and get the idea to try and reach it... and from there, the world that was on the other side. A world of curious mystery. Most people have gone there accidentally, nobody (known) has tried to get there intentionally, though there were theories that government agencies were working on a way to do exactly that.
It had been a while since they heard 'directly' from Lucas, although they had heard indirect words from the time travelling angel. But given the element of time travel, it wasn't certain quite which version of Lucas they were talking to at this point, the present or future.
Lilly was wearing just a simple blue top and shorts, with her twin tails stretched out a hole made for them. Her red fur covered the rest of her adequately. It was easy to miss she was also barefoot with her furry legs in full view. Her red hair was a little messy from all the running and jumping.
Stacy struggled to keep up with Lilly, needing to rest as they crossed another stream. The human teenager did reasonably well, but her animal-changed sister was in her element in the forest.
"You okay?" Asked Lilly to her sister.
Stacy nodded. "I just need a minute, sorry."
The two siblings rested under a tree. "The forest seems bigger then it was before," said Stacy.
Lilly nodded. "Yeah... I think that's a good thing. If things start to look weird, we must be getting closer to the other world." She could almost sense how close they were to finding it.
Stacy took out a mobile phone and sent a message to their mother. She glanced back to her sister. "I don't think Mom likes us doing this," she said plainly.
"I know, but we have to. I know dad is still alive..."
"It isn't just about dad though. We need to find Gaia," reminded her sister. "This isn't a safe place for the whole Earth to be. In this sea of iridescent stars."
The squirrel teenager nodded. Of course that was important... but for some reason she felt like that was a more 'godly' thing. Lilly knew magic now, and a few basic spells... but it was hardly anything useful enough to find the Earth goddess. Something like that needed...
... it needed the numbers.
or a child- a real divine child of a god. None of which was available. The powerless Becca was searching for magic girl Six, and because of Cliff's disappearance into the other world... she couldn't let Jenny be involved. Artemis however was certainly the best one to keep looking, but for some reason Gaia was hidden from her view. It tormented the moon-girl a little given she was the one who explained who she was and was present for her awakening. Maybe she should have given her more time to explain how being a goddess worked- but how could she possibly have guessed Gaia would take the whole earth with her into an alien universe?
"I heard you got into some trouble when you were interviewed at the new magic academy," said Stacy.
Lilly glanced at her sister with a guilty look, as she cast a 'matchstick' spell on a campfire. It was good to set wood on fire. The fire burned, blue at first, then green before settling on normal yellow. That was one of the odd things about magic... sometimes things started in odd hues before looking the part.
"Won't you tell me what happened?" Stacy pressed on, gently pressing a hand onto her siblings soft fur on her left arm.
Eventually Lilly relented taking a breath. "They asked a question. I couldn't tell them the truth on," the furry teenager explained.
"What was the question?"
"What is the strongest spell you've ever done," the squirrel girl said glancing back.
"Oh..."
"They had a lie detection spell... so they knew I lied." Lilly's tails bristled as she recalled that for one brief moment... she was one with whatever the force of magic was. Even grown up she could never forget it. Emotionally and physically she was pushed beyond anything she had ever felt... when her heart broke upon finding the truth of Jenny's past. A past she now protected... as her personal vow.
"The most powerful spell... It's called the breech spell," said Lilly. "Melanie told me about it. Everything changes at that moment. A person is like a tornado... there are no limits to magic. You can do anything... absolutely anything. But if you use it... you might not come back."
"You came back though," said Stacy thoughtfully.
Lilly nodded and tried to explain it. "Yes but- I didn't do anything... the enemy... as they were, were 'nothing' incarnate. You can't do anything to them. But when I saw Jenny..." Lilly sighed again. She couldn't explain it. For that one moment she had everyone's life in her hands. And part of her- some dark horrible part, wanted to hurt Jenny... she held herself back, and hurt herself instead.
The squirrel-teenager turned back to explaining the nature of that moment. "It's the most powerful spell anyone can do. The Breech spell... it alters reality. Anyone can be pushed into it. All magic users are like small nukes. If emotionally they get pushed to something so dangerous... they push back, even breaking reality apart. I couldn't tell the teachers about it. They'll ask how I did it... and its... its a secret."
"You sure learned a lot about magic sis," smiled Stacy.
Lilly blushed a bit under her fur. Even if she was one of the ones that can do the 'breech' spell... its not one she wants to tell anyone.
The two siblings shared the tree quietly, even as it started to rain. After they rain they can go hunting for rainbows again.
"Lilly?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't have to answer this... but I'm curious. What's it like?"
"Huh? What's what like?"
Stacy leaned in a little closer looking to her 'twin'. "Being a girl... growing up as one.. and well... having four," she half smiled gesturing to her sister's chest.
Lilly was in stunned silence for about a tenth of a second. "Uh- You never asked about that before!" Lilly said with a shy laugh her twin tails twitching behind her.
"I'm sorry! I'm just... well curious." The human girl had to blush as she regarded her sister. Every day she watched her grow up and change a little, and she wanted to know what it was like. She had observed her take care of her fur, and working out which clothes to wear, and it was just so interesting to watch to compare herself to. Especially when they both started to wear bras.
Lilly gave it a little thought. "Well... growing up again was hard. Learning everything and being a girl... actually wasn't quite as difficult once I decided that this is what I wanted to be. I felt... lucky. I had a choice. How many get to choose that? I loved being with my new friends... and to get a chance to go to a magic school. Being a boy again wasn't... that important."
"And does that mean you're... attracted to guys now though?"
The squirrel girl looked a little awkwardly at that. "I- I guess." It was hard to know more. She was still young... and guys were interesting but... sometimes so were other girls, just not in the same way she could half remember. I mean- aren't you?"
"Sure," nodded Stacy. "But you don't find that weird? You were a guy yourself years ago."
"Um- maybe a little," admired Lilly. "I'm not who I used to be... but who is? This body... sometimes it just sort of 'insists' on things."
"You mean like when-"
"Yeah like that" Groaned the squirrel girl at the memory of her heat cycle. She was too embarrassed to talk about that. Each time it happened it was like a train journey that she had to wait for it to end itself. "As for these," she gestured to her four C-cup sized breasts- quite ample for a teenager, "well... they are there, I can't hide them. Wearing a bra helps, but the fur makes them itch a lot. Clothes in general just itch. All that polyester gives me static cling," she explained shaking her head.
At that moment they were interrupted by a high pitched voice. "Hello."
Stacy and Lilly glanced around. "Hello?" they both said in unison.
"Up here."
The two teenagers looked up to see a... talking owl? "Hello," said the owl again.
"Er... Hi. Are you a..." Stacy started quietly looking.
"Human? Oh No. I'm an owl. Always have been. Nice to meet you."
"...but you talk." said Lilly.
"I am of the other forest," said the owl. "This world is certainly strange."
"You're- you're from the other side of the rainbow?" asked Lilly excited.
The owl stared into them. "Yes."
The two teenagers glanced at each other. This was just... amazing! They had never heard of things coming from the magic world into their world.
"Can you take us there?!" asked Lilly excited.
"Who?" the owl said in almost self mockery.
"Us!" Said the two at the same time again.
If the bird could grin it just might have. Instead it started to fly, as they gave chase.
