Green Canyon Magic - Ch.20 - Current Events (Patreon)

"Oh my gosh!" Stef exclaimed as she grinned at something on her phone. "Have you seen Flora's latest post? She's absolutely freaking out about those selfies we shared before dinner!"

My tails started wagging again as I smiled back, "Not surprised cutie, considering I'm still freaking out about those myself."

"Yeah same," the catkin admitted with a happy little purr.

After we got over the shock of that news out of America, it took us both another couple minutes before we realized we could take selfies again. Two full weeks after our magical transitions, Stef and I finally got to see our new faces for ourselves. And that led to a whole new wave of euphoria, for both of us.

I was positive Theo was baffled by how the two of us were acting. Or maybe he thought we were both completely narcissistic or something, as we sat there staring at our own faces on our camera screens. Even now I was still opening the selfie app every so often, just so I could see my new face again.

"Anyways we should probably think about getting some sleep," Stef added after they stifled another yawn. "It's been at least an hour since Theo gave up on us and went to bed."

"Yeah. Good thinking," I nodded in agreement, then finally put my phone down.

It was only a half hour before midnight, and up until today we'd been going to bed not long after sunset most nights. We were both excited to be back in touch with all our friends though, so needless to say we'd spent most of the time since Gaia's visit catching up on everything we'd missed and letting all the important people in our lives know we were ok.

We even opened a private group chat with a few of our closest friends, the ones we agreed to invite to come and join us on our new land. And that's where we'd posted all our new selfies, along with some beautiful sunset shots of the lake taken from just outside our front door. We even included some pictures of the interior of our comfy subterranean home.

About the only break we'd taken from the texting and surfing was when Theo reminded us for the third time about food. So we put our magic-powered phones aside for a half hour and finally made that dinner we'd been planning when Gaia first arrived.

Then as soon as we were finished eating the two of us were back online again. Theo curled up in between us and watched quietly for a while, but eventually he got bored enough to head off to bed by himself.

And that's where we found him when we entered the bedroom. Our little wildcat was curled up sound asleep in the exact middle of our bed. Stef and I carefully climbed in from either side, then did our best to cuddle around him.

It took me a little longer than usual to fall asleep, once again I had a lot on my mind after Gaia's latest visit. I eventually drifted off though, and the late night meant I ended up sleeping in later than usual the following morning. In fact I didn't actually wake until a certain wildcat started gently bapping and pawing at my nose.

"There you are," Theo commented as he watched my eyes open. "Stef said there's coffee waiting, and breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks Theo," I yawned.

As I stretched I realized I could smell the coffee, and the bacon my enbyfriend was cooking. That got me moving a little quicker, and after pulling on some clothes I followed the wildcat out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Sure enough there was a mug of coffee waiting for me on the table, and I scooped that up with a wide smile.

"Thanks cutie!" I said after my first sip. Then my smile faded as I finally noticed the thoughtful frown on the catkin's face.

I set my mug back down and moved to their side as I asked, "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

The catkin pulled me into a hug, then after we exchanged a kiss they replied, "Nothing wrong with us, my little star. Just more disturbing news from around the world."

"I'm happy we can reach out to our friends again," they added, "But I'm having second thoughts about keeping up with current events."

I held them close and gave them another kiss before asking, "What have the Americans done now?"

Stef shook their head, "It's the Australians this time. There's another minute or two before breakfast's ready, if you want to check the news for yourself."

"Thanks love," I gave them one more kiss, then went to get my phone from the living-room.

By the time I'd returned to the kitchen I'd found what I was looking for, and sat down at the table to drink my coffee while I caught up on the events from the other side of the planet.

Apparently both Australia and New Zealand were part of a joint treaty with the USA, where the three countries were supposed to back each other up in matters of national security. So after the States attacked Gaia's mountains and incurred her wraith, Australia decided this 'ANZUS' treaty was more important than any sort of common sense. So they officially declared war on Gaia.

It wasn't clear if they tried attacking their own impossible mountain though. That was located near some existing mountains in a wilderness zone along the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Instead the news focused on the Aussie's real mistake, and it seemed like a big one. Their government issued a press release bragging that Gaia's ambassadors and representative had been arrested and charged with espionage and treason. Even worse, nobody seemed to know where they'd been taken or what was going to happen to them.

And as if arresting Gaia's embassy staff wasn't enough, the Australians also made it clear that they wouldn't give in to the Earth Mother's demands. They planned to continue extracting and shipping coal and other fossil fuels same as always. They even committed to stepping up coal production if there was a shortfall elsewhere in the world.

Gaia's response was fairly predictable. Another new impossible mountain appeared in the middle of Canberra, either destroying the capital city or at least cutting it off from the rest of the country. And a third mountain rose up in the sea off the coast of Queensland, blocking a major shipping lane that passed through the Great Barrier Reef and cutting power to one of the main ports the Aussies used to export coal.

As for the last member of that ANZUS thing, it seemed like New Zealand had more sense than the other two. Their government officially denounced both the American and Australian actions, and announced that they were planning on working with Gaia to try and find a peaceful solution to the situation.

"Here you go my little star," Stef said as they set a plate of bacon eggs and toast down in front of me.

"And this is for you Theo," they added as they placed a bowl of scrambled eggs and bacon bits in front of our wildcat friend. Then they finally joined us with their own plate of food.

Theo and I both thanked Stef, then as we all started eating I sighed. "I sure hope no-one else tries attacking Gaia. Or any of her representatives."

"Same," the catkin agreed. "And I really hope our Aussie counterparts are ok."

"They should be fine," Gaia's local representative said in between mouthfuls of eggy goodness. "We already know the humans can't hurt any of us."

I nodded, "Right. And the Australian team has their own magic, just like us. So it's just a question of using their powers to get out of wherever they were taken."

Theo added, "I don't imagine those humans we met the other day would have much luck if they tried to arrest the three of us. Their only hope would be if we agreed to go with them."

Stef looked thoughtful for a second or two then smiled, "You're right. Thanks you two."

I smiled back as all three of us continued our breakfast. And after we were finished I took care of the washing up. Then Stef and I ended up sitting in the living-room with our phones again, checking our messages and catching up on our friends' responses to all our posts last night.

So far none of them had agreed to permanently move out here with us, but three of them were really interested in coming out for a visit. Not just to see the land and our new home, but to see us too. They were really excited about our magical transformations, and wanted to see us in person.

So Stef and I spent some time messaging back and forth with them, to try and figure out the best way to get them here for a visit. Meanwhile it didn't take long for Theo to get bored again, and after a little while he wandered off mumbling something about fresh air and hunting.

"Have you checked your emails at all?" my enbyfriend asked at one point. They were smiling as they continued, "I just got one from my manager. I'm officially fired now, and he said not to bother using him as a reference. Oh well, I guess that means no more minimum-wage retail work for me."

I giggled but shook my head, "Not yet. I guess I should have a look though? I'm probably just as fired. So much for that glorious career flipping burgers..."

My voice trailed off when I opened the email app, and my smile quickly faded while my ears folded back. Instead of a message from my boss I found something a lot more ominous.

Stef obviously noticed how my mood suddenly shifted as they asked, "What's wrong?"

"I got an email from my dad," I replied quietly as I stared at his name on my phone screen.

Their eyes widened and their own ears folded back as well. Their tail even puffed up a little as they asked, "Are you going to open it?"

After thinking it over for a couple seconds I sighed, "I guess I should? Looks like he sent it three days ago."

Needless to say, I wasn't exactly on speaking terms with my parents. They'd never accepted that I was trans, in fact they were borderline hostile about it. They always deadnamed and misgendered me when they were talking about me with other people, and they did it with me too unless I put my foot down. They were just as bad about my relationship with Stef, and didn't respect my enbyfriend's pronouns at all either.

Stef slipped an arm around my waist and gave me a gentle squeeze as they said, "You know you don't have to open it. You don't owe them anything."

"I know," I nodded slowly as I leaned against their side.

After thinking it over for a few seconds I decided, "Things are different now. We've got land, we've got a home, and we've got the best jobs in the world. I'll never have to turn to my parents for help ever again. They can't control me or hurt me anymore."

Armed with that new feeling of empowerment I tapped on my dad's email. Then I held my phone angled so Stef could see it too. Except my eyes widened as soon as I started reading, because his message was nothing like what I'd been expecting.

It opened with the words "Hello Stella," and seeing him use my real name right off the bat was almost jarring. My ears slowly stood up and my heart rate increased as I read the rest of the email.

"I hope this message gets through to you, and I hope you don't just delete it unread. Your mother and I are worried about you Stella. Please if you get this, will you let us know you're ok?"

"You know your mother follows your social media account. So we knew you and your partner were going camping together at Thayatal National Park, and you were due back from that trip over a week ago. Your mother says there haven't been any posts since before you left, and now we're worried sick that you got caught up in all the craziness that's been going on with those new mountains."

"We've tried to call you but none of our calls have gone through. We even contacted the government, they set up a website and a help-line for people with friends or family in the affected area. According to them everyone has been accounted for, but they have no record of either you or Stef being found in the park."

"Your mother and I dropped in at the restaurant last week, but you weren't there. We asked one of the other employees, but according to him you hadn't returned yet from your vacation. We even tried your apartment, but there was no answer. We can't help worrying that something's happened and you've gone missing. But we also can't discount the possibility that you're simply avoiding us."

"Your mother and I have been doing a lot of soul-searching these last two weeks, since everything went crazy. And especially since Gaia's speech. We realize it's entirely possible that you're safe and sound, that you've simply decided to cut us out of your life. Perhaps our calls aren't getting through because you've blocked our numbers? Maybe you didn't even go camping at all, maybe that was just a story you made up to buy time while you and Stef moved away, to start a new life somewhere far from your parents."

"And if that's the case then I realize we can't blame you for it. It's our fault for pushing you away, and we're sorry for that. All I ask is that you let us know you're safe. Please? If you don't want anything more to do with your mother and I just say so and we'll respect your wishes. But please Stella, the not knowing is making us both sick with worry. Please write us back. Please let us know you're safe."

By the time I got to the end of the email my emotions were all over the place. There was definitely some joy, that my parents finally seemed ready to accept me for who I am rather than who they wanted me to be. And I noticed that dad even referred to Stef as my partner instead of just 'friend' or 'roommate'. The fact that he didn't misgender either of us was another big plus.

On the other hand there was some skepticism, maybe even a little anger, that it took a world-changing event to get through to them. That it wasn't until I'd disappeared that it finally dawned on them that maybe ignoring my identity and disrespecting both my enbyfriend and I might possibly have consequences.

Eventually Stef broke the silence between us as they asked softly, "What are you thinking, my little star? What are you going to do?"

It took me another half minute before I finally responded, "I'll write them both back, and let them know we're ok."

"I haven't decided what else to say though," I added after another little pause. "I need to think about that for a bit."

** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Lucy who commissioned it! **