A Creature of Habit
H.B. Operandi
Chapter I
A Creature of Habit
It was the end of winter, the sun streamed through my windows awakening me to the scent of poppy seed muffins and the last dirty chai of the season. The cafe that I happened to live above was the best damn place in the whole town. There was pretentious coffee shop on the other side, but this one was home. The walls had history, the workers had sass, and they made the best damn muffins around. I stretched my legs awkwardly off the pile of sheets, blankets, and pillows that made bed and stumbled my way into clothes. I checked my face before heading out.
Most guys are looking for crust in their eyes, or maybe an unkempt beard; while I too was doing that, I also had to make sure my face wasn't half bear, cat, owl, squirrel, raccoon or any other furry creature. I had a lot of explaining to do once for leaving the house with a tail. My name is Trenton Jones, and I am a shapeshifter.
An Animagus to be more precise, but if you really just break it down, I'm a witch.
Last November, my friends got into a tussle with this real jerk of a witch who tried to go all zombie-cliche on the town. Luckily new girl was there in time. She's been a real hoot to be around, and she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Plus it was about time for little miss spooky pants to get a friend. The other two can be a little, oh how should we put it…intense. She made a nice balance to our little troupe of witches.
But that was all behind me as I neglected my jacket and happily bounced down the steps to Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Animagi were quite strongly tied to seasons, and I could smell the new day dawning. It was time for spring- thus, time to fling. As if to celebrate living through the season of cold, death, and isolation. The smell of poppy always made me yearn for the excursion.
"Good morning Jules." I said as I walked in.
Jules, the owner, greeted back with a "Howdy. Usual?"
"Actually I think I'm going to go for the poppyseed today."
She smiled as I lay the cash upon her oak counter and grabbed a cup for coffee.
"How's business?" I asked casually.
"You know, same shit as always- nobody ever leaves this damn town, so I’m never short a crowd. That gal that moved in was my only new customer in a dog's age." She eyed the muffin as I brought to my nose lovingly. "You off on another one of them roadtrips?"
I smiled at her, "Maybe- how'd you know?"
"You do it damn near every year, and ya always have a poppyseed before leaving."
I winked at her, "I'm a creature of habit."
I grabbed my stuff and sat in the corner of the nearly empty coffee shop. I pulled out my phone and began scrolling my usuals. Social media, followed by regular news, and then my news; that is, news of the animal world. I start by keywording specific creatures, typically ones that I've already practiced. Then I follow it up with any variation on 'acting strangely' and viola! There's probably a witch behind it, and therefore there's a book to be gotten. I'm a collector; all animagi are. My habit happens to be the very textbooks that make our group more powerful. Sort've lucked out.
Today though there was nothing. It kinda plateaued my excitement for the morning. For a brief moment I entertained the idea that I had finally taken care of all the pests- but that would be naive; I knew for a fact there were many of us out there.
And everyone has their own agenda.
Shortly thereafter I went back to my apartment upstairs with lackluster energy. Normally there would have been something posted about strange behaviors in animals, but there was radio silence upon the web. I double checked my emails, and triple checked my alerts settings- all in vain. I quadruple checked all of the books that I had to make sure there wasn't one I was missing, left unread, neglected in one of these many massive piles. Not all of them were magical books, some were history lessons, some were regular books and a small but growing pile of textbooks were Atom's. Alas my efforts were futile and only left me frustrated.
Every book that I had, which detailed a specific animal and how to achieve the perfect representation of it- I had already read. I retired to my armchair with the utter distaste that I would have to skip it this year. I mulled that thought over and found it didn't actually depress me. I'm almost thirty- let the kids have the fun.
There was a knock at the door, a fast three followed by a pause and then two slow ones. If I lived a day or a lifetime, I’d know that knock anywhere. “Persie” I said, smiling to myself as I leapt from the armchair to the door.
I swung it open and sure enough there was my kid sister in magic, Persephone, standing in a Himalayan beanie and a beat up nap sack. Back when I was a teenager, I stayed with this magical family in Alaska, she was only 7 then but we hit it off well, it’s great when I get the chance to see her and check in.
“Brother!” She yelped as she embraced me in a huge hug; or rather I did, she. Standing at 5 foot nothing, Persephone was almost pixie-like in appearance. She entered and I offered her tea, knowing that would be the first thing on her mind. She plopped in the chair I was just sitting in.
“It’s warm- you haven’t been stewing have you?”
“How’d you guess?”
“You’re still here. I could’ve sworn I would be leaving this at your doorstep until summer.”
“Leave what?” I asked as I poured her cup of Jasmine and Lavender.
“A gift!”
“You didn’t have to get me anything, where’d you go anyways?”
“Nepal- but I can get to that story when you get back…”
Hesitantly I handed her the cup and sat down next to her, “I’m not going.”
“What?! Of course you’re going! You never miss spring fling!”
“I don’t have the books, or the practice, or even the energy this year.”
“Well I have just the thing to cheer you up then!”
She pulled out a gift wrapped in green paper, with a bow and a handcrafted tag that elegantly read: To my Fox.
I pulled it apart and saw the back cover of a book; given it’s size and age, a magical one.
“Woah! Lil’ sis doing the legwork! Nice job, where’d you get it?”
“Nepal- again...but seriously that’s not the best part, flip it over!”
I did, on the front cover was the signa of the animagus, a purple ‘A’ that was more or less a triangle with two tails. I flipped it open and on the front cover in magical ink was the silhouette of a hummingbird, shimmering in silver.
“Oh my, how did you-”
“Plucked it off a plucky necromancer.”
“Oh we had one of those- what’d he do, try to raise an army of the dead?” I laughed.
She looks with a grim face, “No, he was killing a whole bunch of monks over and over but keeping them from passing over.”“Ooh-that’s messed up.”
“Anyways, he had one of these books. I think one of the monk leaders was an animagus, so he would’ve been the first to actually go.”
“He actually- killed them? I thought-”
“I found a few that were actually dead...probably because they were witches and therefore, capable of stopping him.”
There was a moment of dark silence.
She broke it with a peppy, “SO! Does this change your mind about your venture.”
I spoke honestly, “Maybe- but there’s no way I’d be able to get it down in time. The jump date is the next full moon.”
“That’s tonight.”
“Precisely.”
“C’mon! I got this to you specifically for this year! Don’t tell me you forgot her already?”
Suddenly I was washed over with nostalgia, my heart skipped a few beats as I remembered her fondly.
“No- I haven’t forgotten; I just got used to not thinking about her.”
Luckily there was another knock at the door, which allowed me to not get into that conversation any deeper. I hadn’t thought about my love in some time, and bringing her back wasn’t exactly my goal for the day. This knock was only three in succession, most likely one of the troupe. We were having our weekly meeting today.
I opened the door and Michelle entered.
“God, there was so much traffic at the coffee shop today- I picked up the rounds this time.” She said holding up a carafe.
“What’s this?”
“Excuse me?” Persie said with a tone of offense.
“What? You’re excused.” Michelle had a tone of petulance.
“THIS? I’m a person, thank you.”
“Well excuuuuse me, I’m not used to seeing new people in Trenton’s home.”
“No, you’re not excused- and truthfully I can say the same thing. Who the hell are you?”
“Ladies, please-” I tried.
“I don’t like her attitude.” Persephone stated.
“Well I don’t like your outfit, what are you supposed to be? Bohemian bitch?”
“UGH! That’s it, I’m done- I’m not going to do this.” She grabbed her sack and smiled at me, though I could tell she was biting her tongue “Thanks for the tea fox, I’ll be going now.”
“I understand-” I started.
“Good.” Michelle said.
“Read that book- go on your trip.” She said, and then adding before she left “Find love. Lord knows you deserve it.” She slammed the door on her way out.
“Jesus- she was rude.” Michelle said.
“She is my sister.” I stated
“Well I’m sorry but your sister has an attitude problem.”
“Both of you do- it’s not really either of your fault, I just didn’t expect her to show up.”
“What are you talking about-” Michelle said curtly.
I sighed, “It’s a magic thing….you both are elemental- whenever two of the same discipline get together there’s bound to be conflict.”
“So you’re saying my natural instinct to not like her- was magical?”
“More or less yeah.”
“Well I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, there was just something off about that girl.”
“My feelings are okay-” I said, then I glanced at the book and questioned my own statement. I picked it up and ran my fingers across the signa on the cover.
“What’s that?” She asked, and I was glad for a change of subject. I don’t like when my favorite people are at odds.
“A new book of magic- one for me. It was a gift from her.”
“What’s it about?”
“Haha- she’s trying to play cupid, but I don’t know if it’ll work.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, years ago- I fell in love; but I missed the boat.”
“Huh?”
“We were from different worlds-” I said thinking back to those times fondly. “She was a hummingbird, I was a snowy owl...it was never meant to be.”
“Awww star crossed lovers!”
“Well, at least I think the bird was a she, I never understood much about hummingbirds…”
“What do you mean ‘think’? Wouldn’t you know? Wouldn’t it make a difference?”
“Haha- I’m Pansexual, gender doesn’t matter to me.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have the capacity to love all beings, no matter what shape they hold.”
“Well did you ever tell her...the...hummingbird?”
“I couldn’t speak the language.”
“You mean birds speak?”
“Yeah, and just like humans there are different languages and different cultures. Knowing about one, doesn’t mean you could fit in like one.”
I could feel the confusion radiating from her so I went back to one of my easiest explanations.
"So you spend a day in Spain- Much of what you know about how to act, speak, walk, treat others….all of that- comes from stereotypes. It all comes from what you hear and know about the place; second hand. You can't be in another's shoes for only a day and think you fit in."
She bit her lip and caught up, "Is this a metaphor about racism?"
I genuinely laughed, she was quick! "Haha- you could say that you know what a hummingbird looks like, but you can't determine what's best for the hummingbird until you've lived as them."
There was a knock at the door, but I could tell I was nowhere near done with this conversation.
Chapter II
Show & Tell
The rest of the troupe poured in, and I could read in their faces there was one question they each had.
"Coffee's on the counter."
"Books to the right."
"Great show love, you nailed it."
They each smiled in their own delirious way. Saturday mornings were extra special with this group. It was mainly Michelle who was enough of a morning person to keep up with my schedule. I closed the door behind them and continued my speech.
"So as an Animagus I must work to both perfect and expand my collection of personas or- whatever the animal equivalent to persona is…"
"You don't know what it's called?" Luna spat.
"There's not exactly a consensus on what to call it- it's not like all the Animagi get together to discuss it…can you imagine the mayhem?"
Michelle once again wasn't clued in- I never minded explaining the intricacies of the magical world but I had become acutely aware of how old I was getting.
I took a sip and a breath and continued, "Anytime two witches get together, they either click or they clash. Click means they group up- regardless of whether or not they like each other or have similar beliefs in how magic should be practiced."
"Clashing is when two witches of the same type…as you just experienced…are at odds REGARDLESS of whether they like each other."
I took another sip, eyed her and thought about it. "Shame too- you'd loved her and she'd adore you."
"I highly doubt it….sorry." Michelle said with a tone, but then quickly remembered why she held it.
"How'd this all come about?" Atom inquired, nose stuck in his book.
"She had her first clash. Then she was asking about how my powers work."
"How do your powers work?" Ruby asked
Luna grabbed her cup and plopped belly down on a bean bag, "This'll be good."
I looked around at their waiting eyes. "Wait a minute- do NONE of you know how I do my thing?"
They all wagged their heads.
"Shoot-me…"
I took a deep breath, this was one speech that I had not practiced in quite some time.
"Okay- So in order to transform I have to focus on specific body parts, pulling, shifting and shaping them until they resemble what I need them to.”
“Does it hurt?” Luna asked.
“As much as you’d imagine...at first, eventually over time you get used to the feeling.”
“Is there anything that you can’t turn into?” Ruby asked.
“Sure, I’ll give you an example. Ask me what a bunny looks like…"
There was a hesitation, Michelle says, "What does a bunny look like?"
In what appeared to be a fluid instant to them, was a 'no longer' excruciating experience for me. Pressure was placed upon my head while simultaneously tugging my ears back. I could feel my clothes melting into the skin, simultaneously hairs sprouted through the layer. My bones shrunk, my skin tightened and finally my vision blurred and darkened. I was for all intensive purposes; bunny-like.
It wasn't until I hopped around and acted like a bunny would, did they gasp. I know because I heard it very loud and dramatically. Instinctually I wanted to bound off- however I quickly remembered that I didn't need to channel the fear.
I morphed back and got a round of applause. "I did so well because I spent a lot of time as one."
"And the cat?"
"Oh cats are easy; I’d even say it's a rite of passage for my kind."
"Why's that?" Michelle asked again.
"Because their personalities are so unique and human-like, that as long as you can get the look down, you can still be you. It’s almost cheating, you don’t even have to try to fit in."
Luna smiled.
"Now for something more complex…Ask me what a horse looks like, but then after- ask me what a unicorn looks like." I could see the looks of excitement on their faces. Even Atom's curiosity was peaked.
Another series of physical changes that were more unpleasant than the rabbit. There's something indescribable about having your face pulled into the shape of a horse's.
Michelle squeed at the final shape, Luna said "cool."
"What does a unicorn look like?" I couldn't tell who said it, but I knew it was said. I smiled inside and did my best unicorn impression. I thought it was my best one yet…the others however…
What they saw- was the horse’s face sprout a bloodied, shriveled arm from its forehead, the eyeballs melting in their sockets, the fur looking decayed, and the limbs atrophied. What they saw- was a horror; and what they saw in terror, I felt in pain. Trying something like that was excruciating.
Satisfied I put it away. Smiling at their horrified faces.
"Hung out with a lot of horses but never met a unicorn."
Ruby spoke up, "So mythical beasts are out of the question?"
"Ah they are mythical, but that doesn't mean they're fictional." I beamed at her. I was loving this. “Wanna see something fun?”
They all nodded with excitement.
"Go ahead, ask me what a demon looks like." I looked around, their horror returned. I couldn't blame them.
Surprisingly it wasn't Luna who asked, but Ruby.
This one wasn't painful, but shameful. I felt the skin in my back rip as two bones protruded. With an extra push I sprouted lily white feathers. My wings extended and at the same moment I felt my feet rise from the floor, levitating me before them. I opened my eyes just in time to see the color drain from the world, and they in time to see the color drain from me as well. I was completely made up of shades of grey. I let my arms drape out, my bare chest rippled with muscles. I knew without a doubt I was the image of perfection.
"Oh my god." Michelle gasped.
"You look like…"
}AN ANGEL?{ I whispered without moving my lips. They each heard it booming in their heads.
}GO AHEAD…ASK ME WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE.{
They all grabbed their temples, as if to try to mute my voice. They all looked like they didn't want to know. That they may go mad if they look upon it. They would be right if I actually was one, but as an animagus I don't have that power.
"Do it." Luna whispered.
I turned directly to her, threw out my hand and burst into flames. My eyes were bright with the power of suns, my touch could melt worlds. My infiniteness could drive mortals to unspeakable acts. I was made of the multiverse. My body no longer a solid form but made up of the vastness of galaxies.
"NO!!" She screamed, balling up.
"ENOUGH!" Ruby shouted, but with fear in her voice.
I snapped my head to her }SOMEONE AS DEDICATED AS YOU MUST LEARN THAT THERE ARE OTHER FORCES OUT THERE BESIDES YOUR OWN. ARE YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR HIGHER UPS?{
"no." She whispered in her head.
With that I shoved my wings back below my flesh and returned to normal- the color flushed me with a warmth that cannot be described; only understood when one loses all their color.
"You've had your fun…can we please…" Ruby said with a shaking in her voice.
"I'm…I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb you…I got carried away." I felt kinda bad for getting excited. It's not often I get to show those two off.
"So does that mean you've spent time as an angel AND a demon??" Atom asked.
I nodded solemnly. It was a difficult and morbid tale that is never easy recalling.
"The thing is you need to forget what you think you know about angels… They are incredibly powerful and more often than not they use that power to terrible means. Demons are just as bad, but they treat you like royalty in comparison."
I could tell they weren't comforted, "Look, it's nothing you really have to worry about, the angels very rarely interfere with humans OR witches."
"And the demons?" Michelle asked
Luna pre-empted me, "You don't have to worry about it, because we will all meet them at the end."
I nodded solemnly once more.
“What do you mean?”
She turned to Michelle, "All witches go to hell."
"What??" She yelled.
"It's the price we pay for our gift. At the end- is only suffering."
I said, the weight of it not lost on me.
"Many witches try to seek immortality, but nobody has been successful." She continued.
"What about Heaven?" Michelle asked.
"Well…that's the kicker…Everyone else gets in, no matter what; non-magical people that is. It's just our gift that becomes our curse." I said.
"And we already have a short life span." Luna concluded.
"WELL. On THAT note…can we please get started?" Ruby walked around from the corner and plopped in what would have been my seat. I was thankful for the transition.
Atom shifted nervously in his chair. “Well I have been working on a new wand, nothing too fancy just a different method of imbuing it. Nothing to write home about yet" Ruby was pleased with the update.
"I found an obscure page on bouncing spells off the moon, but I don't see how that can be helpful- or even accurate. At least that's what it seems like it's saying. It's messy and disorganized. I still don't know if who ever crafted it ever succeeded." Luna finished.
"I...Uh" Michelle started nervously, she picked up a box from her bag and plopped it in her lap. "I have a little show and tell." She smiled. Ruby was curious, and to be honest so was I.
"Everyone." She lifted the lid off the box, revealing a bunch of stones. "Meet Mochi." She dumped the rocks on the hardwood floor. Nothing happened.
"Honey have you been sleeping?" Ruby asked sincerely.
"Have you been smoking the RIGHT magic?" Luna joked.
"Hold on." She said, taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
We all held our breath waiting to see what she was going to do.
Suddenly the rocks clacked together and formed a small human like shape. It stood on legs, had what seemed like arms, and what could be taken for a head. It bounced up on its legs and proceed to turn its top rock to 'look' at all of us. There was something strange seeing such a creature. I was meant for creatures but this just seemed weird to me.
"He's a golem." Michelle beamed a smile, obviously proud. Mochi then bounded up into her lap, the rocks that it was made of apparently were held together by some force we couldn't see because it clacked as it moved when the stones bounced together.
"He's CUTE!" Luna squealed.
"Isn't he?" Michelle cooed. "Mochi show them what I taught you."
"What is he, a pet?" Ruby asked, still eyeing it the way I felt.
Mochi then took all of the stones that made him up and balanced them on top of each other making a tower, with its ‘head’ at the top.
"You taught it that?" Atom asked
"Well I’m kinda not really sure what to do with rocks when they come alive."
"You don't need a pet right now."
"He's not a pet!" Michelle firmly stated. "He's an ally of sorts. He's just young right now. From what I've gathered they can get big, and scary tough."
Ruby cocked an eyebrow, she always likes knowing our magic is powerful enough to save our collective asses.
"How'd you figure this out?"
"Well you remember those skates I told you about? This is kinda just the next generation of the same thing. I have an intention and he does his best to get it done. He's generally happy to do so."
Mochi dropped back into her lap, but as a pile of stones with the head bouncing happily at the top.
"Doesn't that hurt?" I asked.
She bit her lip and nodded. "You get used to it.”
Ruby curtly said "Work on it, if it needs to grow up then you should make it a priority. Not top priority, but work on it none the less."
Ruby then turned her eyes on me, "What about you?"
"Didn't I already go?"
"No, not really."
"Well what do you want to know the books are tended and the-"
"When are you going on your journey."
Oh, that question. "I...I'm thinking about it...and I think this year I'm going to stay home."
"WHAT? Why?"
"Well I think the troupe-"
"The troupe is fine, don't use us as an excuse."
"Well it's coming up soon and I don't have enough time to practice this new creature."
"That's hardly adequate"
"I just...I don't know. I haven't decided." I was irritated at her bossiness.
"Think harder. We need a new book."
"Yes commander."
"I'm serious."
The next few hours took forever. I was doing my best to keep tidy, and not dwell on the gift from Persephone. but by the time everyone left I was such a mess that I just had to dive into it.
It was glorious.
It was complex.
It was Hummingbirds.
Chapter III
How to Hummingbird.
{October seventh 1841-from the diary of Powderflash}
It is often the case where a young animagus feels the need to make the quickest, easiest or more thoroughly 'least painful' way of achieving transformation. In many instances that would suffice. This will not be applicable when attempting the North American hummingbird. In many other cases, using the limbs of our torso to be our wings, would work and certainly be preferable. In the case of the hummingbird however it will cause many a witch either limited flight or even none at all.
The foot is what is necessary, it needs to be melded into your back. It is in the power of the foot that the bird can achieve the kind of mechanical turbine response to power those wings. As your ankle becomes the main joint, your calf and thigh must scale to respond. The wings of a Hummingbird must be accurate in their formation, complex in their design. I warn you, this is not the transformation for a young witch, or at least one without a sense of endurance and tolerance to pain.
Another mistake that would occur is transforming the mouth of the witch, to a beak. To put simply, it's only 1/4 mouth; the rest is nose. I'm sure you know as well as I do how difficult and painstaking that can be, but it must be done. Firstly their sense of smell is incredible therefore needs to be tuned correctly, secondly a big mouth is an easy way to pick a fight in their world.
Lastly, use your time wisely. There is a lot of energy expenditure in maintaining flight. Food is a dramatic requirement. On the flip side of that, getting too full will end up putting more weight on you; while that is good for defensive or even offensive tactics, it will require even more energy to control your flight.}
Trenton leaned his head back against the window frame to which he sat. His den long since empty, exactly like his patience. The book was filled with information, but those three passages seemed to be the main point. The book was more of a sketchbook than a textbook- his branch was always deemed more creative. There were hundreds of diagrams of hummingbirds, their foods, their poisons and any other scrap of information the witch who wrote it deemed necessary. All of the magical books were like that; handwritten, carefully crafted or crazily scattered- they were the notebooks of their kind. That's what made them so hard to find, so valuable, and of course dangerous.
He was lucky in the aspect that Powderflash had kept a keen eye on the flowers and therefore drew them with great detail. This would make finding food much easier. His sketches of the birds however were slapdash in comparison and lacked the finesse of the flora. Trenton assumed, (accurately) that the witch went on to be a plant of some sort. He thought back to the vision of hell that occurred that morning. Having to show a witch what their everlasting tormentors look like is never easy- but he still feels that they should see it sooner or later. All witches go to hell, so why not be prepared, right?
In the case of the animagi it was just a matter of when. Having the ability to shapeshift into any living being has the advantage of choosing one's own lifespan. Many end up avoiding their fate by taking the form of a tree. When logging reached it peak, the fires of hell burned a lot brighter. Though more terrible of a fate came from the witches who were turned into furniture. Doomed to live with the humans in silence, mutilated and degraded by them. Only once they are finally burnt to ashes do they get their reprieve- right into the arms of torment even more unimaginable by the living.
That is the price of power.
The 'culling of the youth' had existed for centuries; each Animagi would spend a season as a particular living creature. It had been known by many names (spring fling being the most common) but Trenton has seen it written thusly in books of an unimaginable age. Back then the emphasis was on courage, instinct, survival- It was meant to thin the herd.
The battles between Animagi were bloody to say the least. Other witches would come and watch. In the time of Rome they built a palace for the battles. Witches feasted on religious activists, and in turn were slain by gladiators; all over the lands. It was one of the few times the magical world and the regular one collided.
Trenton stared longingly out at the pale moonlit street; though he was not alive for these games, he had narrowly survived his own culling on several occasions and grew weary of them. It had also been a long time since he met up with any other witches during the period- mostly he just learned the habits and cultures of the other creatures and avoided getting eaten. He found his mind wandering back to when he spent a winter as a snowy owl- it was a time of much learning. Owls are perceptive animals and learning to see what they see can give a witch the advantage of pre-study.
It was during this time that he first lay eyes on her- he still doesn't know her name, but the hummingbird that stole his heart. It was, as they say- love at first sight. He tried to keep up with her but they were from different worlds and he couldn't even begin to try. His wings once long and majestic seemed bulky and unrefined. His language, though old and wise sounded cheap and forced. She flew away into forever and he was unable to follow. He never quite let her go from his mind. He had spent many nights dreaming of her, haunted by his inability to get any closer.
The moon revealed itself from behind the clouds, gaining fullness with each passing moment. The hour of culling was approaching and his patience was wearing out. He would have to decide soon.
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