Chapter 19

Hayden wanted to rush through everything, but her new hair made that task incredibly difficult. After a brief rinse, Eleanor whipped the towel off of her and sent her straight back. "Maybe with an inch of guy's hair you could get away with that. You're a disaster. You need to soap everywhere, then I want you to use like… a ton of conditioner. I should smell it so strong my eyes water. Got it?"

She did. The second time Hayden stood in the steamy water until it actually started to make her feel relaxed. She had Liz to help spread the stuff around, floating the bottle to where she couldn't see. Once it was in, she just stood there for a few minutes, letting the hot water wash over her.

"This is nice," Liz thought. "I worried you stopped caring about being clean."

Hayden could lie to almost anyone, but not her daemon. She rested across Hayden's shoulder, occasionally nudging her to step further into the water, or back out again. 

"Still doesn't feel real. My reflection should be back any minute." Hayden's impressions about her powers were right. She didn't need Liz to help her send thoughts anymore. She had become psychic too—at least a little bit.

The kitten stuck her tongue out. "That's how I felt when I settled. But then I realized I liked it much better this way. I wanted to be solid sometimes, instead of changing whenever our mood changed. Maybe you'll like it better eventually too."

Hayden turned away from the tap, letting the water wash through her hair. After being a tangled mess, it felt so wonderfully satisfying that she sighed—only deeper, and longer. She caught herself, blushing deep red. "Don't say it," she said, glaring down at her shoulder. "Not a word."

Liz floated off her shoulder, shaking herself out in a wave of moisture. She hovered right in front of Hayden. Soaking wet, her body looked much smaller than normal. Because she was, of course. "You were purring!" She pushed on Hayden with a little burst of psychic force, pressing her back into the stream of hot water. Where it felt the best, washing out waves of fruity-smelling conditioner. "Do it again!"

She might have—it didn't seem to be a voluntary reflex, and this was finally getting an itch scratched that had been there since the night before. But then Eleanor peeked through the open door. "Almost finished in there? If you wanted to take your time, you didn't have to make me wait."

Hayden nodded sheepishly. Once the water finally went clear, she switched it off, then emerged for whatever punishment Eleanor had in store for her. At least she let Hayden dry off and wrap herself up with a fresh towel first.

That turned out to be a comfortable chair in front of the brightly lit mirrors, a section the guys' bathrooms didn't have. Loch hopped up onto the counter, changing again. This time into a little red and black feline radiating heat. Hayden and Liz both stared, the same way they did whenever they saw a new daemon for the first time. Every new form they saw probably had its own fascinating array of uses.

In this case, the use was obvious, as the seat even had a bench for him beside Hayden's hair. "I don't usually have to deal with it when it's so long," Eleanor began, gesturing at her with a brush. "But I'm going to show you the technique. You might want to have a servant help with this. The good news, you won't have to wash it every day. Just every day you get all gross."

She leaned the chair back slightly, then walked behind Hayden, running her fingers through her damp hair. Despite what she threatened earlier, her grip was surprisingly gentle. Hayden closed her eyes, settling into the seat. "Could you cut it off?"

Eleanor chuckled. "You think my mother wants to keep hers so crazy? The higher your unity gets, the less you'll be able to control some things. Besides…" Her fingers slowed, enough that Hayden opened one eye to watch. "I've never felt anything quite like this. It's so soft."

She nodded, closing her eyes again. "Ahuiliztli is even softer. I guess it's a mew thing."

Eleanor said nothing for a long time. With the steady, radiating warmth of her pokémon, Hayden's hair began to dry, and she started using a brush instead. 

Before too long, Hayden was drifting. With the warmth washing over her and Eleanor brushing out her hair, she truly relaxed for the first time since her transformation. Hayden started purring again. Liz did too, curled up on her lap. She wasn't even sure where the sound began.

"I told you it wasn't all bad," Eleanor said, much quieter now. Like someone trying not to disturb a baby. "I don't want to take this away from you, but could you please stop floating out of the chair? Your hair is going everywhere."

Hayden squeaked, then settled abruptly into the chair again. "S-sorry. Liz, why'd you—"

"Because gravity is stupid," she said, sticking her tongue out. "You can't be comfortable with a whole planet pulling on you. I know you liked it."

Hayden glared back, but said nothing. She couldn't lie to her own daemon, so she didn't bother trying. 

Eleanor went back to what she was doing. It still felt nice, though Hayden never fully relaxed like she had the first time. Part of that were some of the persistent tangles, which occasionally jerked her back to reality whenever she got too comfortable.

"I'm going to braid it for now," Eleanor explained, about twenty minutes later. "When you've had it a little longer, you might want to do some other things. And when we have visitors, my mother won't let you choose. She always made me wear a traditional style to meet with other Great Families. I'm sure she'll make you do the same thing. There must be a traditional mew style."

Hayden nodded absently. "Yeah, I've seen it. A long thin braid, thicker at the end. Like her tail." She held up the pokémon resting in her lap, so Eleanor could see.

"Oh, yeah. You make anything that tight, and it's super uncomfortable. You're gonna hate wearing one of those." Eleanor took another twenty minutes to finish. Finally she patted Hayden on the shoulder, then rose. "You're good. Now we find you something that actually fits."

Hayden groaned, but didn't object. What had started as a warm, comfortable towel was now getting uncomfortable, pressing into her skin. "Do you have anything that isn't too girly?"

"Sure." Eleanor took her arm, leading her back to her own bedroom. She fished around in a drawer for a few moments, then handed something silky over to her. "Put those on. Both of them, no arguments."

She did. The meaning of that requirement soon became quite clear to her. Of course girls wore two different things, she'd have to remember that. Maybe shirts wouldn't be so irritating if she remembered. Besides, once she was wearing them, she didn't feel quite so exposed anymore. Eleanor didn't leave her this time, but she wasn't paying attention either, instead focused on going through her closet.

Of course she's not. She's a girl. They change together all the time, just like guys do. Did that mean Hayden wouldn't think Cody was cute anymore? Now that she was a girl too, she wouldn't like them. Wasn't that how it worked?

"My mother is going to parade you around the same way she does me," Eleanor said. "But you shouldn't be forced to wear that all the time. How about…" She took a length of something and wrapped it briefly around Hayden's chest, then her waist. "Hmm. You're too little for most of my things. But we already knew you were the little sister."

"We could change," she suggested. "Into a bigger pokémon. We can still do that, can't we Liz?"

Her daemon nodded. She floated past Hayden's back, turning over in the air. "I thought about it. But you're still recovering from changing last night. I think you need a little more time. I don't know how much you'll change when I do."

Haden nodded appreciatively. Her daemon had realized something she hadn't thought of yet—there was more mew in her now. That meant if they changed into other things, she would be more… different. Maybe I can use that to be a boy again.

There was some potential there to explore. But she'd only just started feeling comfortable enough that she didn't want to hide in a corner and sulk. She would give that a little more time. 

"Here. My pichu outfit should fit you. Almost nothing's smaller than that. Except joltik, but Loch and I haven't found a use for that yet."

She offered Hayden a pair of shorts and a bright yellow top, without any sleeves. Hayden took them, turning them over. "Aren't these a bit… short?"

"Not for you," she responded. "First, turn around. That bra's not on right. You clip it in back like… this. Now get the rest of that on."

She did. The shorts did fit, though they didn't even reach her knees. The top was similar, soft fabric that left her arms completely exposed, and didn't hide the straps over her shoulders either.

"Almost perfect! I kinda think it suits you. Maybe not the yellow, but the black shorts aren't bad." She guided Hayden over to the mirror, one hand on her shoulder. "You can't tell me you don't see yourself wandering through the forest this way." She let go, walking away from the mirror towards one of the walls. "Shaymin sometimes wear less. They like feeling the sun on their skin."

Eleanor froze, expression focused. It took her a few seconds to settle back into the form of a shaymin. She scooped Loch up into her arms, then rejoined Hayden beside the mirror. 

With both of them dressed so casually, she could almost imagine she was looking at a sister. There was something undeniably different about being beside one of her own kind. Not as strong as when Eleanor had copied her. 

I wonder if we'd feel different if we were shaymin too. Hayden didn't know which of them had the thought first—but they both agreed. It wouldn't be that much harder to adapt, compared to everything else they'd done so far. Hayden changed too. 

She had to imagine what that version of her would be like, but she'd seen enough shaymin since coming here to know how they acted. Small, like she was. With green hair and a little flower growing over her ear. She'd be more timid than the old Hayden. She had grown up wandering the streets and rooftops of Sunyshore.

This version would look a little like Eleanor, raised behind the cloistered mansion walls, away from the concerns of real people. But that only would've given her more time to explore. This girl had little scars and bruises all over her body, from spending almost every day out in the trees, surrounded by wild pokémon. She wasn't afraid of them like Mew Hayden, she knew them by name.

Then she opened her eyes, just in time to catch Liz out of the air, and hold her protectively against her chest, the way that Shaymin House did. Quiet, dignified, confident. When she spoke, even her accent had changed. "How did we do?" Closer to Eleanor's than her own.

Eleanor gaped, mouth hanging open. Her daemon recovered faster, squirming in her arms to get closer to Liz. "You did it! You figured out your first legendary!"

Liz nodded proudly. "We've been watching you for months. It's not like we didn't learn."

Hayden's reflection was different. Her skin even looked softer, a little like Lady Gracidea's. Her hair was green, though still trapped in the braid that Eleanor had tied. Even so, it now fought against containment, a frizzy, voluminous cloud of disorderly hair. Did we get it right?"

Eleanor finally recovered. She circled around her, then gestured to the pillow. "Put her down. Let Loch look at your daemon."

Loch hopped down after her, sniffing at the new shaymin. After a few seconds, he broke away, looking up with bewilderment. "How are you doing this, Liz? You smell real!"

"I don't understand the…" Liz looked away suddenly. "Wait. There's something there I didn't notice. You've got… lightning underneath. It's different than me."

"Mythicals can always tell," Loch agreed. "No matter how much we practice. They smell us, and they know. They usually pretend not to notice."

Eleanor took her shoulder again. "I like it. Maybe we could convince mother to let you go to our next ball this way. So long as you don't get any ideas about inheriting from me. You're not really a shaymin, no matter how you look."

Hayden nodded absently. She wandered over to the window, then pushed it open. Bright yellow sun streamed in from outside, washing over her. Eleanor was right about how nice it felt. She bent down, scooping up Liz in her arms so she could feel it too. She took a slow, deep breath in. "Mhmm. We're going out there."

Eleanor's bedroom was fancier than hers. She wouldn't have to climb out the window; there was a balcony here. A balcony on the ground floor, so really just a nice place to sit connected to an exterior door. She opened it, and stepped out onto the patio. 

Eleanor followed, a hint of frustration visible on her face. "Hayden, we're not finished yet. You don't have shoes."

She shrugged. "Why would I?" She leaned on the railing, breathing deeply. "Lady Gracidea said I could go out again once I had my powers. Don't you think last night is enough? I wanna see the forest again."

She turned her back to the sun. Without even realizing what she was doing, one hand undid the pink band holding her hair together. It shook back apart, spreading behind her into a curtain of bright green. How could she have missed this? She belonged out in the garden. Not the fake one of the same flowers around the house either, the real one. Where there were wildflowers, and pokémon helped her find berries that humans didn't eat.

"Okay, okay. Hayden, you're…" Eleanor looked away. "Come back to earth for a second, Hayden. Think too much like my father, and you'll wander out into the woods never to be seen again. Don't forget we're people, okay?" She thrust something into her hands—a pair of socks, bigger than Hayden had ever worn before. She opened them, and found they were much longer. "Put those on. I have boots you can wear too. You daemon is your pokémon half. Keep some human thoughts in your brain."

Hayden obeyed. She pulled the socks all the way up to her knees, then the boots. She would've cooperated with almost anything so long as it meant she could go. At least her torture would count for something. Now that her powers had grown, who could deny her?

"There. You'll be glad you're wearing those when your daemon gets tired and has to change back. This is your first time, so… it should really be any second now. Should've left your hair how it was."

Hayden nodded sheepishly. "I… didn't mean to undo all your hard work. I'm grateful for what you did. But I still want to go. I've been trapped in this house for too long."

Out there, maybe she could think straight. The sun and fresh air called to her, demanding her to join them. Maybe even Cody?

"Sure. I can't stop you. But how about we eat first? Loch and I haven't had breakfast. We're starving."

"Okay." Hayden nodded. "But I'm going after. You can come if you want."