Chapter 1: Changes for the Changeling

Her hair was black today.

Black, thin, and lifeless. No matter how hard she tried, Evey could not will it to change its appearance. She was used to hearing from her all her professors back home that she was a talented Changeling; if only they could see her now, failing miserably at it. Evey shut her eyes and, with a heavy sigh, filled her mind with thoughts of her usual voluminous mousy brown curls, but to no avail. When she opened h eyes, her hair remained stubbornly black. Black, thin, and lifeless. Add that to the list of things that were going wrong in what was most definitely the worst summer of her life.

"I guess this is what we look like now," she muttered to her pale reflection. It could be worse; except for the dull main and rather unhealthy looking complexion, Evey looked like her usual self... Or, at least, a ghost of herself. That's the trick, though, isn't it? You walk around, looking like you usually do to the outside world, never mind that on the inside you're falling to a million pieces. Sure, there may be some subtle difference - things like dark, boring hair and bad skin - just enough change for people to occasionally ask if you're okay. You tell them you're just fine (because why would you answer any differently?), but they'll never truly know the pain that you're in.

Evey heaved another great sigh, looked away from the reflection that wasn't quite hers, and threw herself on her bed in defeat. Her best friend Amy had called Evey an expert in "outward expression" more than once and with good reason. As a Changeling, it was not unusual for her appearance to match her mood; while Evey could change her appearance at will, a rare ability, even among those born with magical talent, very often her hair and eyes will shift along with her emotions. How many times had her hair burst into a flaming red during a particularly heated debate with some of her more smug classmates? How many times had it morphed into bubbly pink and bouncy thick curls during her sillier moments or magenta during moments of extreme embarrassment? She recalled a particularly memorable day when it had transformed into Medusa-esque locks of the most hideous shade of green when the awful Harmony Gold got a date to homecoming while Evey remained date-less. She thought of the endless times her eyes became two brilliant sapphires during moments of concentration, like in the middle of an exam, or golden yellow during daydreaming spells. Somehow though, black hair and opaque skin didn't really seem to be cutting it. What's more, she couldn't seem to make it go away. Evey has been known to lose control of her Changeling abilities, but it's never not worked for her. She was now starting to feel like a failure at the one thing that made her unique, on top of everything else. Evey briefly wondered what her friends back home would think of her current visage. Boring... Helpless... Lonely... Sad?

There was a soft knock at her door that pulled Evey out of her reverie. When Evey granted her visitor entrance, her mother's head peeked into her room. Evey gave her mother, Fumiko, a small smile in spite of herself. "Etsuko-chan?" Fumiko breathed. Her voice was so soft; Evey doubted the petals of a rose would so much as flutter even if her mother had been shouting at it to change color. Fumiko took a seat beside Evey and gave her daughter a small kiss on her forehead. Evey always thought that everything about her mother could be described as being both big and small: big heart, small body; big words, small mouth; big brain, small voice; big hugs, small arms.

Fumiko brushed Evey's hair back behind her ears. It felt long to her slender fingers "I like what you've done with your hair, Etsuko-chan," she said, not unkindly. She was one of the few people who ever called Evey by her given name.

"Thanks," Evey mumbled, still lying on her back, unmoving. "I'm experimenting."

Fumiko smiled sadly. If she suspected her daughter of keeping something hidden, she knew better than to pursue the subject. As someone who wears her heart on her sleeve, it was a rare occurrence indeed for Evey to keep secrets intentionally, especially from her parents. Evey was grateful for it; her parents had enough to worry about as it was.

"How's dad?" Evey said suddenly. She imagined how stressed and anxiety-fueled her poor, scatter-brained father, who was a brilliant man but lacked emotional clarity, must be these days. She hadn't seen him since the night they arrived at their new apartment from Heathrow Airport. Evey and her mother have made substantial progress unpacking their belongings and making their flat look more like home while her father's study remained largely untouched.

Fumiko inhaled sharply at Evey's question. Not a good sign. "He's... hanging in there."

Evey chuckled; she knew what that meant. "He's a mess, isn't he?"

Fumiko hung her head and laughed with her daughter. They both knew what to expect during these trying times. Evey's father, Dr. Erick Evermore, was an archeologist who had spent the majority of his career as a professor at New York University. Recently, however, Dr. Evermore was offered what he repeatedly described as "the position of a lifetime!" as head of the Archeology Department at Oxford University. As a family, the three agreed to leave behind the familiarity of their occupations and traded their Brooklyn apartment for a flat in London, which just happened to be the ancestral home of the Manhattan-born Dr. Evermore.

At almost fifteen years of age, Evey's parents fully expected her to throw tantrums at the news of Dr. Evermore's new job prospect and blatantly refuse to leave home in New York, her beloved Hypatia Academy for Young Witches, her friends, and everything she held near and dear. Fumiko and Dr. Evermore were prepared for angry outbursts, cold shoulder treatments, and endless hours trying to convince their teenaged daughter to leave her locked room. What Fumiko and Dr. Evermore weren't expecting was the response that they got instead.

"Sure," Evey had said calmly when Dr. Evermore asked if moving to another country would be okay with the rest of the family. It took him a second to process that it was Evey who had spoken.

"You're okay with it?" Dr. Evermore asked in disbelief, pushing his glasses up to his nose bridge.

Evey gave that some thought. Beside her, Fumiko was watching Evey expectantly, just as surprised as Dr. Evermore. "Well," Evey said, choosing her words carefully. "Dad, isn't this what you always wanted? It seems unfair to deny you this after you've worked so hard." Silence followed her words. Fumiko and Dr. Evermore exchanged unsure glances. "Besides," Evey continued slowly. "I can still go to Hypatia, can't I? I mean, I dorm there. What difference would this move make?"

"Oh..." Dr. Evermore said. His glasses slipped down his nose and he gazed at his daughter through said eyes. "Oh..." He said again, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Etsuko-chan," Fumiko said, placing a tentative hand on Evey's shoulder. "If we go to England for this, you won't be able to go back to Hypatia Academy."

Evey's heart dropped. Not go back? "Oh..." she said, echoing her father. "I don't understand. Why not?"

"Well, if we do this, your father and I will both have to settle into new positions at work and we have to pay to move everything overseas after we find a new place to live. I'm sorry darling, but sending you to Hypatia just won't be fiscally possible. Does that make sense to you?" Fumiko often spoke to her daughter in this fashion; she didn't believe in speaking down to children, especially in regards to such sensitive matters. Fumiko and Dr. Evermore braced themselves for Evey's response.

"I see," Evey said sadly. Then, after a minute, "Well, that does suck, but my point still stands. It wouldn't be fair to dad. We should go." She tried to keep her voice from cracking. Before her parents could let her words sink in, Evey excused herself

That was back in March during Evey's spring vacation, mere hours after Dr. Evermore received the call from London. Evey didn't think much on the move for the remainder of the semester, knowing full well that thinking on it would distract her from her studies and secretly hoping her parents would change their minds. She never mentioned word of it to her friends and professors until June, when her father confirmed their flight dates and there was no turning back. To make matters worse, Evey did not see much of her friends over the summer break because most had made travel plans with their families, travel plans that, unlike Evey's, included coming back home.

Fumiko's magic had made packing their belongings easy and swift ("Isn't that just something!" Dr. Evermore had cried, as if he's never seen her do it before), but instead of traveling through the Mage Dust Networks, Fumiko and Evey joined Dr. Evermore on the airplane fight to London. Evey had flown in many different ways, but planes were new to her; she had decided by her third trip to the bathroom that she did not like flying in planes. Evey had disembarked the plane a pale, dehydrated mess. She think thats when her hair first turned from brown curls to its current black wisps. Her mother had to erase quite a few flight attendants' memories.

Evey felt her mother lay beside her on her bed. Evey turned until she was safely nestled against her mother's warm, familiar torso. Fumiko wrapped her arms gently around Evey. "Thank you, darling," Fumiko said. "Your father isn't very good at expressing it, but he's very grateful that you've agreed to come with us." Fumiko started to fun her fingers through Evey's hair; it was surprisingly coarse for such thin hair.

"Will he come with us to King's Cross next week?" Evey whispered, trying hard to hold back tears. Her right hand made a tight fistful on her mother's blouse, but Fumiko made no protests.

"Of course, my flower," Fumiko said. "He wouldn't miss it for the world. And don't you worry about this new school. I've already met with its headmaster and I explained your situation. He's going to do everything in his power to make your transition as easy as possible. Hogwarts is very different from Hypatia, but I think you might grow to like it there." Fumiko's finger ran the entire length of Evey's hair as she spoke.

Evey swallowed the lump in her throat. She mustn't cry. "And if I don't?" she asked.

Fumiko didn't answer right away. Evey waited with her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of her mother's hand swimming through the head of hair Evey hated so. It was relaxing and Evey felt her tears gradually subside; the burn of tears at the back of her eyes wasn't so great. Fumiko smelled of cherry blossoms, aloe vera, ink, and, very faintly, of salmon. She must have been preparing dinner before she came to check on Evey.

"If you don't," Fumiko said. "Then your father and I will talk about sending you back to Hypatia next year, when it'll be more manageable."

Fumiko couldn't sure, but she thought she saw a sheen of color pass through Evey's hair as the coarse, wispy locks became softer with every pass her fingers made through it.