Green Canyon Magic - Ch.26 - Big Decisions (Patreon)

"Huh," Charlotte frowned while her cute fuzzy ears wiggled slightly. "It says here the European mink is critically endangered. It's actually extinct from most of Europe, according to this. And of course climate change is one of the big reasons why."

Then she added, "I wonder if me becoming part mink is meant to be some sort of statement? Like to support an endangered species or something?"

Flora teased, "Or maybe you turned into a semi-aquatic mammal because you're so obsessed with swimming."

The little mink-girl giggled, "Maybe? Speaking of, who's up for another swim now that we've finished breakfast?"

That earned her a couple eye-rolls, from her girlfriend and my enbyfriend. The four of us were sitting outside on the benches next to our fire pit. We had a nice breakfast and now we were just relaxing and enjoying a little more coffee. Charlotte asked to borrow my phone, apparently she wanted to read up on minks so she could learn a little more about her transformation.

After a sip of coffee Flora sighed and her expression became more serious again, "As much as we both wanted this, it does mean we're now looking at some big decisions."

"We were supposed to pack up and leave tomorrow," she elaborated a moment later. "We're both expected back at work on Monday. As happy as I am about getting a magical finish to my transition, the ears and the tail mean I can't just show up at work and pretend nothing happened. The furry additions are too obvious."

After a glance at her girlfriend she added, "And it's even worse for Charlotte. I mean, her transformation is even more noticeable. Between the big tail and the height difference and the hair colour and all that, people might not even recognize you at first, cutie. And when they do figure out it's really you, they're probably going to freak out a bit."

"Yeah you're right," the mink-girl pouted. That turned into a grimace a moment later when she looked at the two bicycles leaning against the stone wall, "I don't even know if I'll be able to ride my bike anymore. I'll have to adjust the seat down as low as possible, but it might still be too big for me now."

Flora looked like she was doing her best not to smile at that comment. It took her a few seconds to get past the amusement before her expression became serious once more, "I'm more worried about the rest of the trip. You know there's going to be an awful lot of questions when we try and get back on the bus at Oberfladnitz. And even if we get through that ok, odds are we'll be stopped by soldiers or other officials when we try to get on the train at Zellerndorf."

Stef's ears drooped as they frowned, "You're right. Word's already out there about folks with animal ears and tails being Gaia's employees."

"It might even be dangerous for you to head back now," my enbyfriend added as their expression grew darker. "Especially since you aren't really working for Gaia, so you don't have her protection. You don't even have any magic to defend yourselves yet."

I pointed out, "They might have magic by tomorrow though. We both figured ours out within a day of our transformations."

"Maybe more swimming would speed that up?" Charlotte asked with a hopeful smile.

I couldn't help grinning at that, "It definitely couldn't hurt."

The two of us ended up giggling, but Stef and Flora remained serious.

The tall deer-girl sighed, "I know we were just talking last night about how nice it might be to stay here indefinitely, but the reality is we only packed enough clothes and things for a half-week trip. Neither of us were prepared for this visit to turn into a long-term thing."

"It's true," Charlotte sighed. Then she pouted, "Although I'd still have problems with clothes even if I brought my whole wardrobe."

Stef grimaced, "That's a problem all four of us have in common. My little star and I have made do with what we brought, but that magic changed all of us. I think Theo's the only one who hasn't had to worry about ill-fitting outfits."

The mink-girl's cheeks coloured as she mumbled, "Skinny-dipping's one thing, but I don't think I'm quite ready to become a full-time nudist."

"Especially not with winter just a couple months away," Flora agreed.

After a slight hesitation I asked, "So what are you two thinking? Are you still going to head home tomorrow? Or perhaps you could extend your stay here a bit longer? I don't mean forever, but give yourselves another week maybe, to figure things out?"

Stef added, "We've been talking for weeks about possibly visiting Hardegg to do some shopping. Maybe we could find some clothes there for all four of us? We certainly have more than enough money, thanks to Gaia we've got more Euros than we know what to do with."

"Maybe we could even figure out how to order a boat," I added with another smile.

"And some fishing gear?" Flora responded with a smirk, while her ears flicked in excitement.

Even Charlotte looked interested, "Then we could stock up on wine again too."

"So is that our plan for today?" my enbyfriend asked as they looked at our friends, then finally fixed their gaze on me. "Are we finally, after all this time, actually going to hike out to Hardegg to do some shopping?"

I thought about it for a moment then shrugged, "I mean, I suppose we could try and contact Gaia first? Maybe there's something she can do for Charlotte and Flora? She's been sending us food, maybe she can get us all some new clothes too? And maybe we could get some wine added to our regular food deliveries?"

"Is there any chance we could get our own magic phones?" Flora chimed in. "I've managed without my regular internet fix for a few days, but if we're going to be sticking around another week or two I might go a bit stir-crazy without being able to check my socials and catch up with my other friends."

"Same," the mink-girl nodded. "Thanks for letting me borrow yours Stella, but if we're going to be here for a while it'd be great if I could get my own."

Our little wildcat friend had been quiet since we all sat down for breakfast, but he finally joined the conversation at that point. He raised his head up from where he was laying curled up next to Stef and announced, "Gaia's busy right now, but she said she'd drop by for a chat in an hour or so."

"I've told her about our guests," he added as he lowered his head back down and closed his eyes, "So she knows we have a mink and a deer staying with us."

Our friends exchanged an uneasy look as Flora asked, "Gaia's coming here? We're actually going to meet her?"

"Sounds like it?" I shrugged. Then I addressed Theo, "Did she actually say she wanted to meet Flora and Charlotte? Or is she coming to talk with us about official business stuff?"

He didn't even open his eyes as he replied, "She's coming to meet our friends. I mentioned the stuff you all were discussing, about clothes and phones and wine and food, and she said she'd come by for a chat when she was done whatever she's doing now."

"That's..." Charlotte's voice trailed off and she grimaced slightly. "I don't even know what to think about it? Like half the world believes she's public enemy number one, while others are acting like Gaia's more powerful than god. And of course some are claiming she's a demon. But she's coming to meet Flora and me? Just because we're not sure what to do about clothes and stuff?"

Stef looked like they were trying not to laugh too much at our friends' amazement. The catkin shook their head as they explained, "Gaia's actually pretty easy to talk to I think? Once you get over the fact that she's literally the whole entire planet personified as a teenage girl."

"It's true," I agreed. "She seems a bit distractible, but she's nice. And she's been really generous with us."

My enbyfriend nodded, "Definitely. So don't be scared, don't let her freak you out. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"We'll try," Flora replied, although she still sounded a little spooked at the thought of meeting Mother Nature in person.

Charlotte and her girlfriend looked at each other, but the mink-girl kept quiet for another half minute or so. Then her expression shifted to a mischievous grin as she suggested, "Since we've got an hour or so to kill before we meet Mother Nature, is anyone else up for a quick swim?"

I couldn't help smiling back at her, "Sounds good to me! An hour's plenty of time for a quick dip."

Stef was about to respond when my phone suddenly buzzed with a notification, so I picked it up to have a look.

"Is Mother Earth sending you texts now too?" Flora asked in a half-joking tone.

"Nope," I shook my head as soon as I saw the name on the screen. "It's from Susanne, she's replying to the message we sent yesterday."

My enbyfriend asked, "What's she say?"

Our little wildcat's ears perked up as he looked over at me and added, "Is Hannes coming to visit again soon?"

"Yeah," I nodded. Then I read out the president's message, "Hello Theo Stef and Stella. Thank you for reaching out to me yesterday. On behalf of the people and government of Austria I apologize for the delay in the negotiating process. You can expect to meet with Mr. Huber again tomorrow, and he has been granted full authority to negotiate on behalf of Austria. Please don't hesitate to contact me again if you have any other questions or concerns."

Theo sounded like he was smiling as he closed his eyes and commented, "Good. I'm excited to see him again."

Stef smiled and gave our furry friend some ear scritches as they said, "I'm glad too. It sounds like the government is finally ready to take all this seriously."

"I still can't even believe what your life's like now," Charlotte commented quietly. "The magic and the amazing home and all that stuff's wild enough as it is. But you've also got a direct line to Gaia, and it's no big deal for her to just pop by for a chat like it's nothing. Now you're getting text messages from the president, and she's apologizing to you for the government being slow? It's crazy."

Meanwhile Flora had a distracted frown on her face. The deer girl slowly shook her head as she pointed out, "It's the weekend. As wild as it is that you're getting messages from the president, it seems even wilder to me that she's taking care of presidential business on a Saturday morning."

"And maybe it's no big deal for her to send a text message," she added, "But you've got a government representative coming to meet with you tomorrow. Which is Sunday. It makes me wonder if something's happened in the last few days, to make the government suddenly sit up and take notice?"

Stef and I shared a worried look, then I opened up the news app on my phone to check. As soon as I saw the headlines my ears drooped and my expression fell. I glossed through the top story then grimaced as I summed it up for my friends.

"People are starting to get sick in Vienna. It's the water thing that they've been talking about for the last three or four weeks. It's not just hitting rural areas, or other countries anymore. Now it's in the capital."

"Oh," I added as I saw the next part. "It's even hit members of the government. Our 'friend' Karl Pierer, Minister of the Interior, was taken to hospital yesterday afternoon."

My enbyfriend sighed, "I guess that explains why the government is suddenly eager to work with us. And why nobody's pushing back against Hannes acting on behalf of Austria anymore."

"Yeah," I nodded slowly.

We were all quiet for another few seconds, before Charlotte spoke up again with a hopeful smile. "So on that happy note, who's up for some swimming?"

That earned the mink-girl a few more eye-rolls, but nobody complained. And there were no objections either, so we all made our way down to our cosy little stone dock next to our private swimming hole. As usual Theo curled up and slept on the dock, but the rest of us joined Charlotte in the water.

And while Flora and Stef and I enjoyed a nice relaxing swim, it was obvious our semi-aquatic friend was suddenly in her element. In fact Charlotte spent almost as much time under the water as she did swimming on the surface. And either way she could easily swim circles around the rest of us. In fact it wasn't long before she was laughing happily as she raced up and down the length of our quiet little inlet.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed with a giddy smile on her face. "I love it!"

I couldn't help grinning back at her, "I'm glad you're having fun."

Flora agreed, "You really do seem at home in the water, Charlotte."

"Actually now I'm wondering if that means your magic will have something to do with water?" she added a moment later.

Her girlfriend giggled as she swam a quick circle around the deer-girl, "I sure hope so! It'd be a waste to give me anything else!"

"That's another reason to keep swimming," I pointed out. "Stef and I first got our magic after an unexpected dunk in the lake."

Charlotte nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! I'm going to stay here until I get my magic!"

Meanwhile Flora's expression became something a little more thoughtful again. She tilted her head to one side and flicked her ears as she commented, "Whatever's causing all this is definitely in the water, right? Whatever gave us our magical transitions and gave you two magic is the same thing that's making some people sick. So I'm wondering, how'd it get to Vienna? All the drinking water there's piped in directly from the Alps, and as far as we know that's not downstream of any of those new mountains."

The mink-girl shrugged as she continued swimming circles around her girlfriend, "Maybe the ice and snow in the Alps has already been affected? There's nothing special about it apart from being frozen, it's still just water. And if it's in the water then it'll also be in water vapour. So fog, mist, and especially clouds. Which means it can come back down again as rain."

After another loop Charlotte added, "Even if it's not in the Alps yet, it's probably in the Danube by now. That's connected to the Thaya through the Morova. So if it's not coming down from the Alps, it could be working backwards up through the rivers and into the sewers and stuff. One way or another, pretty much everywhere on Earth will be affected eventually."

Stef and I looked at each other, and it was clear from my enbyfriend's expression they were thinking the same thing I was. We already knew Austria was ready to negotiate, other countries were probably getting desperate as well. We could only hope other nations would make the same decision ours did, to try and talk with Mother Earth rather than fight her.

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