Chapter Text
Mal was starting to doze off in my lap by the time Hannah finally found a parking spot, and once we parked, it was still a bit of a walk in order to get to our destination: the Salesforce Transit Center, a multistory transit hub spanning four city blocks, capped with a rooftop park and recreation area. It was a relatively recent addition to the urban landscape, and technically still unfinished—plans were in the works to link it to an ambitious high-speed rail line that would connect San Francisco with Los Angeles.
Most of San Francisco's citizens probably didn't know that the Salesforce Transit Center was also currently home to the oldest and most stable natural worldgate on the West Coast.
Sophia's directions led us to an empty storefront on the ground floor of the complex. "For Lease" signs were posted in the unlit windows, and a gray tabby cat was scavenging in an overturned trash can just outside the door. Around us, commuters rushed past without sparing a glance as I double-checked the address on Mal's phone. She was following along at my heels, and Hannah walked next to me, with Cocoa snug in his pocket dimension.
"I think this is the place?" I said.
"Looks empty," Mal remarked.
I shrugged. "It does look empty, yeah. But I assume that's, like, a magical illusion, right?"
The gray tabby cat extracted himself from the trash can and looked at us with interest. "Oh, hello!" he said. "Are you ladies looking for the worldgate?"
I stood there processing this turn of events for a moment before I answered. "Um. Yes. Sort of. Um…we're actually looking for the, uh, the Senior here, who helps maintain it?"
"...Oh!" Mal said, as if she'd just realized something. "It's you, isn't it? Are you Urruah?"
"One and the same!" the tabby replied proudly. "Dai stihó! Yep, I'm your Senior for now, while all the usual ones are away on the high road. Wish it left me more time for lunch breaks." He glanced wistfully at the trash can. "Ah well. Step into my office, and let's see if I can help you, shall we?"
He sauntered right through the closed and locked door of the empty storefront. Then there was a clicking sound, and the door swung open a crack behind him.
"What just happened? What did that cat say, Kate?" Hannah asked. "I don't speak Ailurin."
"He said he's Urruah, and he's going to try to help us," I explained. He was a cat…and he was a wizard. There were cat wizards! That was so cool! Wow!
We followed him into the empty shop. It was, in fact, empty, with no furnishings, no visible human occupants, and no light sources aside from the partially-blocked windows. A young black cat, barely older than a kitten by the look of it, sidled out of the corner of the room to join Urruah, staring at us.
"Ah, of course, manners," Urruah said. "I am called Urruah, and this is my apprentice, Sah'hli. Well met on the Journey, cousins. How can I be of assistance?"
"Okay, that I understood, and the fact that I understood it is cool as fuck," Hannah said. "It's good to meet both of you!"
"Urruah, Sah'hli, dai stihó to you both," Mal said respectfully. "I'm Mallory Avalon. This is my partner in magic, Katelyn Winters, and my friend and colleague Hannah Weiss. We've run into some difficulty with, uh, a body-swap situation, and we were hoping you could help us out, if it's not too much trouble?"
"A Person with a human as a partner?" Sah'hli remarked incredulously. "How does that work? Humans can't see hyperstring structures—can they even do magic?"
Urruah swatted her ear with one paw. "Of course they can. You should know by now not to be so close-minded." Sah'hli looked down in embarrassment, and Urruah turned back to us. "Body-swap problems, huh? The two of you switched, and you're having trouble switching back, I'm guessing?" He gestured to Mal and me.
I nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
"It would explain why your Ailurin is so good for a human, and why yours is so stilted for a feline. No offense," he added, looking at Mal.
"None taken," she said.
"Actually, I just have a magical ability to speak with cats," I clarified. "We're from a different magic system."
"Haven't seen one of those in a while," said Urruah. He paused, tilting his head like he was focusing intently, or maybe like he was listening to something. "Ah. Arcanists? That also explains a lot."
"What's an arcanist?" Sah'hli asked.
"Ask the Whisperer; she'll explain," replied Urruah in Ailurin.
"Who's the Whisperer?" I asked.
"You know how your local Advisory uses a book to help with her wizardry?"
I nodded.
"Well, that's more of a human way of doing things. When our wizards need information, Hrau'f the Silent whispers it directly into our minds. It saves a lot of paper."
"Hrau'f the Silent?" Hannah asked.
"Yes. Ah, what were some of the names you humans have for her? Thoth? Athena? She's one of the Powers that Be."
Ah! Of course. I didn't expect that Urruah would be working quite so directly with deific powers, but this new information certainly supported Mal's instinct to classify his style of magic as divine in nature. I could tell she was thinking the same thing, too—a brief twinge of surprise, followed by the feeling of gratification that she often gets when she's right about something.
"Let's get our claws into this problem of yours, though," Urruah continued. "Sah'hli, pop quiz, how would you go about helping them?"
Sah'hli thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "I would pull at the threads of the spell and unravel it. That would undo the effect with minimal expenditure of energy."
"Except it wouldn't work," Urruah said. "Look again."
The smaller cat stared intently at us. "Ah," she said.
"Exactly."
"Yeah, it's, uh, it's an instantaneous effect," Mal confirmed. "I have the spell to reverse it in my spellbook, but I goofed. I need human-like hands in order to cast it."
"We just need to turn you human again long enough for you to re-cast your spell," Urruah said, switching back to the Speech. "There is a slight catch, though!"
"What's the catch?" I asked.
"Well, I'm sure you know by now that all magic has a price. It's the laws of physics: you can't create or destroy energy. It has to come from somewhere. And in this case, that energy comes from…" He booped Mal gently on the forehead with his paw. "...You! If we use our wizardry to turn you human, the spell will naturally want to drain energy from the most accessible source, which, since you're an arcanist, would be your spell slots."
Mal caught the trouble immediately. "But I need my spell slots to prepare the spell. It would defeat the purpose of the exercise."
"Exactly."
"Well, that's not too bad, is it?" Sah'hli said. "I'm sure I can design the spell to draw energy from us instead."
"I don't want to take energy from you while you're managing a worldgate!" Mal protested. "You must need it more than I do! Surely there's some way the cost can fall upon me alone!"
"There is a way. And don't call me Shirley," Urruah said, with a hint of amusement. Then, noting the expression of glee on my face, he added, "Yes, I am familiar with human cinema, although personally, I've always preferred opera."
"He's actually a big ol' nerd," Sah'hli said conspiratorially.
"Hush, Sah'hli. I appreciate your offering to bear the burden yourself, Mallory Avalon. It's your right, and your choice. But the price for this may be more than you are willing to pay."
Mal flicked her tail proudly. "Try me. What's the price?"
"Probably about $25."
Mal and I both blinked. Hannah raised an eyebrow.
"That's how much it costs for a medium chicken and anchovy at the pizzeria down the way," Urruah explained. "Just get us some calories to refuel and we'll be fine."
"Sounds pretty reasonable to me," I said with a shrug.
"Why pizza, specifically?" Hannah asked.
"I like pizza."