Penny's gaze flickered nervously between Sebastian and Charlotte. She took a deep breath, inhaling the dust and the scent of old wood around her. Suppressing a sneeze, she turned her focus back to the parchment she had carefully placed on the floor in front of her. Beside it lay her notebook, the one Elliott had given her for her birthday a few years ago, containing her neatly written translation of the text.
It had taken multiple torn-out pages to get it just right. Each time she had to rip one out, it stung. But she couldn't bear to see her mistakes every time she opened the book. Besides, it was far too beautiful to be filled with messy, ink-smudged pages.
As she straightened up, warmth crept into her cheeks. She glanced around, studying Sebastian first, then Charlotte. The wind, slipping through the broken windows of the Community Center, blew out one of the candles arranged in a circle between them. Sebastian pulled a lighter from his pocket and relit it, earning a skeptical look from Charlotte. So much for claiming he hadn't smoked in her body. She didn't say anything, though. She had nothing to say to him.
Penny cleared her throat. "It's really important that we follow the instructions exactly as they are written," she began - only to stop mid-sentence when she noticed a figure in the window behind Charlotte and Sebastian. With a sigh, she cleared her throat again and called out, "Sam, please! We can't be interrupted right now!"
"What?" the blonde called back through the shutters.
"Piss off!" Sebastian snapped, then turned back to Penny impatiently. "Let's just get this over with already."
Charlotte silently agreed. Penny nodded, flustered. "As I was saying... There's a chance I could be wrong. I mean, I've never actually… this isn't exactly something that happens every day…"
Charlotte leaned in and patted Penny's arm. Penny, obviously aware but still not used to the fact that Charlotte was in Sebastian's body, blushed and flinched slightly. "It's okay. Even if you are wrong, the bigger mistake would be not trying," Charlotte reassured her with a small nod.
Penny exhaled slowly, then refocused on the parchment. "This is the language of the Junimos. Ancient, long thought to be extinct. But I found several references in the library suggesting they still exist here. At first, I thought that little hut back there was something Jas and Vincent built - but apparently, it belongs to the Junimos."
Sebastian's eyes flicked toward the small clay hut with its grassy roof. Strangely enough, it looked exactly the same as the first time he, Sam, and Abby had stumbled across it. That must've been years ago - but somehow, it hadn't rotted or collapsed.
"So this has nothing to do with the Wizard?" Charlotte asked.
Penny shrugged. "According to every text I read, Junimo magic is the only real magic that exists. Technically, he would have to speak the same language - but when I tried to get information from him, all he did was try to convince me to drink with him." She pulled a face.
Charlotte groaned. "What an absolute idiot."
"But it's fine. We should be able to do this without him. From what I can tell, he's not actually a wizard. He just understands magic really well. But in theory, anyone who understands it can use it."
"So what, does that make you a witch now?" Sebastian smirked.
Penny flushed again. "No, I'm just…"
"Don't listen to him," Charlotte cut in, shooting Sebastian a glare.
Penny adjusted the candles for what must have been the fifth time since they had all sat down cross-legged across from each other. Then, she briefly closed her eyes before fixing first Sebastian, then Charlotte, with a stern look.
"It's not just important that we follow these instructions exactly as they are written. It's also crucial that you are completely honest. Not just with me, but first and foremost with yourselves."
Charlotte nodded quickly. "Absolutely," she replied.
Penny glanced at Sebastian again, trying to make her gaze as piercing as possible.
"No matter what you reveal to me today, it will never leave this room. We never have to speak about it again," she assured them, hoping she seemed trustworthy enough for them to truly open up. Otherwise, she wasn't sure how this spell was supposed to work.
"It might be a little uncomfortable - you'll have to speak out loud and clearly about your deepest desires. About who you are, who you really want to be. The Junimos will take care of the rest, returning you to the body that belongs to you. But your true self - that's something only you can protect."
Sebastian stared at his hands. He hadn't even noticed that he had started rhythmically tapping his thigh. Penny caught his absent expression and cleared her throat.
"Understood?" she asked again, directly addressing him, her cheeks still faintly flushed.
Sebastian's head jerked up. "Yeah," he muttered. He couldn't wait for this nightmare to finally be over.
His gaze sought Charlotte's, but all he found was the same hurt that had been there since their argument back at her house. He knew he had hurt her. But that bubbling jealousy still churned inside him, drowning out any guilt or whatever else he should have been feeling in its place.
Penny picked up her notebook and read through the text one more time before looking up questioningly. Charlotte and Sebastian nodded at her in encouragement. As Penny straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath, Charlotte mirrored her. Sebastian closed his eyes.
Penny read the words of her translation aloud, her voice trembling slightly, but she managed to get through it without stumbling. Reading out loud was probably the easiest part for her.
"Wandering souls, bound in flesh,
unravel the tether, unmask the self.
No chains remain but those of longing,
no gate is locked but by your will.
Speak what calls you from within,
and let the spirits guide you home."
Her voice grew clearer and louder, and she felt the ground beneath her growing strangely warm. One of the old wooden shutters flew open, and a ray of sunlight stretched over the three of them. The wind howled stronger, and Sebastian's eyes snapped open. It was working. He glanced at Charlotte, who was trying to stay calm despite the storm of emotions raging inside her.
"Charlotte." Penny's gaze locked onto her, steady and unwavering. And when Charlotte met her eyes, she swore the light was not only shining through the window but also from within Penny's irises.
In that moment, Penny didn't seem like herself at all. Her hair had slipped free from its usual style, strands standing in all directions as if charged with static. Her voice, too, no longer sounded like Penny's. Gone was the nervous edge, replaced by something deeper, smoother, velvety soft yet commanding.
"Which path will you follow?"
A shiver ran down Charlotte's arms, and all the thoughts that had been circling in her mind since entering the Community Center vanished in an instant. She had to listen to her heart now. She had to lay herself bare, speak her deepest desire. But how? How could she put it into words? She closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, Penny's gaze was still on her, and immediately, a sense of calm washed over her. Penny wasn't pressuring her. There was no rush. She could trust herself.
She felt the warmth surrounding her, seeping through her skin, filling her body. Slowly, she ran her unfamiliar hands over her arms, her shoulders, her face. Then she wrapped her arms around herself - around this body that, hopefully, would not be hers for much longer.
She took a deep breath, filling these foreign lungs. Then, with a sharp exhale, she fixed her eyes on Penny.
"I will live." She ignored the lump forming in her throat. "I will look ahead. I won't let the past consume me anymore. I will live the way Eric would have wanted me to."
She thought of his face, his sea-green eyes that had always sparkled - sometimes with challenge, sometimes with comfort. The crooked smile that had never failed to make her smile in return.
"I will live."
Charlotte spoke with a certainty that shook Sebastian to his core. He had been watching from the side, desperately trying to grasp his own desire, to shape it into words. How had she done it? So effortlessly? How had she managed to open herself up like that?
The heat pressing in from all sides made him dizzy, just like the wind tugging at his curls. Suddenly, he felt sick to his stomach. Like he was trapped in one of those nightmares where, out of nowhere, he had to take a test in school - one he hadn't studied for, not even for a second.
He desperately searched for a solution, digging through his thoughts, but he kept running into a wall. A wall of fragmented memories.
Like the day Robin had introduced him to Demetrius - who had been thrilled about his new "son" at first, but quickly realized they were on completely different wavelengths.
He remembered the first time he had kissed Abby. It had been because she was heartbroken over some guy from high school. It had been his very first kiss, nothing special.
He remembered dyeing his hair black for the first time. Was that connected to that guy somehow?
He thought about how he had missed the university application deadline. How he had spent ages working on the documents but never found the courage to send them in. When he finally decided to do it at the last second, he realized the deadline had fallen on a holiday - which meant he should have sent everything a day earlier.
And then, completely out of context, he thought about his fight with Charlotte. About Alex. Who was so much better suited for her than he was.
His whole life seemed to revolve around other people - as if he was trying to force himself into a pair of shoes that didn't even fit him.
He hadn't even noticed that he had started sweating, and when he looked at Penny, nausea surged up inside him. He felt so sick but he came to a conclusion - to the only solution that would make his life his life again. Or for the first time at all. He would need to find a bigger pair of shoes.
"I'm going to do everything differently. I'm finally going to become the person I was always meant to be. I'm leaving Pelican Town and building a life of my own."
He hesitated for a moment but quickly steadied himself.
"I'm leaving it all behind."
And just like that, the heat got even more unbearable, at this point, he might as well melt, he was that hot and uncomfortable. Then, suddenly, he saw nothing but a white, piercing light. He felt numb and very conscious at the same time - he tried to open his mouth, say something - but he couldn't control his muscles. He wasn't sure whether this was happening for real or if he was just dreaming - but then, everything turned pitch black - and he fell. He fell deep, hard, not sure how or what he was falling off.
The all-consuming black turned slightly red when Charlotte slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes wouldn't open at first, but when she finally could, a sharp pain shot through her head. She felt as if she had downed an entire bottle of rum by herself - or even worse. She reached out for her nightstand and found a glass of water. Bringing it to her lips, she drank greedily, and as she did, her vision cleared.
Sam was sitting on a chair beside her bed, watching her with concern. Only then did she realize that she was back in her house. She searched her memory for the last hours - maybe even days. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there, her memories were lost in a thick fog.
Charlotte attempted to speak, but the words wouldn't come, so she took another sip. She set the glass aside - her eyes falling on her long, slender fingers. Strong nails. Freckled hands. Her hands.
Her eyes widened, and she ran that same hand through her hair. The curls. These long, frizzy, red curls. A surprised sound escaped her, and she looked at Sam, who had jumped up from his chair.
"Are you… you again?" he asked, his eyes just as wide as hers.
As the realization finally seeped into her consciousness like rain through dry dirt, Charlotte slowly nodded. And finally, her own voice found its way back to her tongue, even though her throat hurt and it felt like she hadn't talked for years.
"I am… me… It worked!"