FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hello there, dear readers! Before this new chapter begins, I would like to take a moment to say one thing about Net Neutrality. I urge anyone reading this, who cares about free speech, to please, write your local and state representatives about it, all of our voices shouting back NO! made a difference once, and can do so again! Sorry to get political there, but please, this is something that concerns everyone who has an online presence. Please, don't do what I did and just assume everything will be fine. Please, get involved, before it's too late. Together, we can save Net Neutrality!

With that said, please enjoy the new chapter!

I am especially excited to bring you the newest chapter of The Fox's Path! This is a special chapter, the majority of which was actually written by my friend, AeroQC! Of course I had to make my tweaks and adjustments, but overall, I am thrilled with what they have written! You can find AeroQC's stories over on FanFiction . Net and Fictionpress . com! As always, be sure to check out my other stories and let me know what you think!

Sage Luke Greene’s patience was tested on an almost daily basis. Having to run a school that prided itself as being the forefront of magical academia had its moments of tension. He always strove to maintain a cool and level head over the stress. But nothing could have prepared him for the debacle that was unfolding before the Doberman.

Across from his desk was his newest student, Miss Taylor Nicolo, who was ostensibly trying to get up from her seat despite her friend’s efforts to keep her in place. Said friend was Miss Lily Spring, who had brought Taylor on the pretense that she was cursed. Taylor, for her part, wasn’t trying to leave on purpose. She wanted to be rid of this curse just as much as Lily did, but her body was saying otherwise. And being unable to answer any questions regarding the curse to the Guru Kepala was in no way helping her or Lily’s case.

Sage Greene let out a groan of annoyance as he massaged his temples.

"That’s enough of that." He declared as he made a swift motion of his hand.

Almost immediately, cyan ropes of light wrapped themselves around Taylor’s body, binding her to the chair. With the strain of keeping her down lifted, Lily slumped into the chair next to Taylor.

"Thank you, Guru Kepala," the wolf girl managed to sigh in exhaustion.

"Now, Miss Nicolo, I will ask this one last time. Are you, in fact, cursed?" Sage Greene questioned.

"I have no idea what you’re talking about," Taylor’s mouth responded on its own.

The Doberman sighed before pressing a button on his intercom.

"Magus Sally, would you be so kind as to call for Magus Hystrid? I believe we’ll need his expertise."

"Right away, Sage Greene," the dragoness’ voice chirped.

"Magus Hystrid, sir?" Lily asked out of curiosity.

"I understand if you don’t recognize the name, Miss Spring, as he teaches a class a bit more advanced than what either of you have achieved academically so far." Sage Greene explained. "He’s our best scholar when it comes to spells and their fundamental understandings; if anyone can properly determine if Miss Nicolo has been cursed, it’ll be him."

"But I’m telling you that she IS cursed!" Lily insisted.

"Do you have any proof of that?" Sage Green said, raising an eyebrow.

"I…" Lily started. "… No, I don’t."

"And considering your track record for practical jokes...well....can you understand my skepticism?"

"...Yes, Guru Kepala."

She slumped into her chair in defeat. Taylor couldn’t help but feel sorry for the wolf girl. Lily meant well, but the she had no way to prove that she was, in fact, telling the truth. And because of Jenna’s stupid orders, Taylor couldn’t say anything about it either.

The office door burst open with such a sudden jolt that it made the two student’s fur stand on end, the Guru Kepala remained unfazed by the event.

"Guru Kepala, I do so hope that you’re aware that I’m in the middle of a class at the moment," a hasty voice called into the room.

"Professor," Sage Greene greeted. "Thank you for getting here so promptly."

"Yes, yes, let’s make this quick, I’ve got five minutes before my students realize they’re listening to one of my holograms," the voice dismissed as its owner walked inside.

A porcupine in slacks eyed the two girls behind a pair of glasses, his white and brown striped quills forming a sort of crown above his head before diving into the back of his dress shirt.

"It’s about her, isn’t it?" He asked while gesturing to Taylor.

"I would like you to determine whether or not Miss Nicolo here is cursed, or if some other form of enchantment is at work," the Guru Kepala requested. "And YES. I already tried asking her."

"I never said anything," Magus Hystrid quipped as he broke off one of his quills and clutched it in his right hand like a dagger. With a quick stab, the porcupine pierced the palm of his left hand, eliciting a small whine of fear from Lily and a wince from Taylor.

"Sir-?" Lily started.

"Please Miss, I would much prefer the term 'Professor'," he interrupted as he put the quill back in its place, an aura of green repairing the fracture.

"Professor, why did you just stab yourself?" Lily continued.

"Do you know any better ways to retrieve blood?" The porcupine questioned as he pressed his right hand over his still upturned left palm, crimson liquid staining his fur.

"But why do you need blood?" She cocked her head.

"In this instance, I’m using it as an alchemical conductor," Magus Hystrid briefly explained as he parted his hands as far as he could, a pillar of amber light occupying the space between.

"Don’t you mean reagent?"

"No. I specifically said ‘conductor’," he pressed, his arms now rotating to create a disc with the amber light, glyphs appearing within concentric circles as it completed.

"But that makes no sense," the wolf girl said.

As Magus Hystrid rotated the various glyphs around, he proceeded to clarify what he meant:

"Many forms of energy, both magical and non-magical, is best transferred from one location to the next through a conductive medium. Take electricity, for example. For it to travel an inch through empty air, the voltage required is exponentially greater than for the same distance through a metal wire.

"What we define as magic is more of an umbrella term that covers a wide array of energy manipulation, control, and lack thereof. I am using what is normally referred to as a tracer or detection spell. In this instance, it flows more freely through organic matter, like blood, than inanimate matter, say a rock or crystal. Thus, by using my blood as an alchemical conductor, I can utilize this spell with a far lesser tax on my magical energies."

As he finished his lecture, Magus Hystrid placed his left palm in the center of the amber disc, which folded over his forearm like a glowing sleeve. The porcupine started slowly motioning his glowing palm over Taylor’s bound body. "This is a general purpose detection spell, one of which is my own creation. I do apologize for the crude UI."

"Nono! I don’t mind!" She hastily replied. "It’s beautiful actually…"

"Why thank you," Magus Hystrid smiled before his palm glowed green.

With a few gestures along the amber sleeve, the porcupine produced an amber rectangle in front of him with some notes inscribed.

"Well as it turns out, Miss Nicolo is indeed cursed," he relayed. "Now I have some good news and some bad news."

"What’s the good news?" Lily asked apprehensively.

"The good news is that the curse is relatively benign, not feeding off her own life energy as many more malignant curses do. Also, it can be removed. The bad news is that I can’t do it right now," Magus Hystrid explained as the amber light faded away. "Not only do I not have the materials required at the moment, but I also don’t have the time to do so right now."

"Thank you for your time, Professor, you may return to your class," Sage Greene acknowledged.

"If you wouldn’t mind, Guru Kepala, I can take care of the removal of the curse after classes are over," the porcupine offered as he tended to his stab wound.

"That would be most appreciated," the Doberman nodded.

"Perfect."

Magus Hystrid approached Taylor and removed a ring from one of his fingers.

"I noticed that the curse has already been enabled at least once," he said as he slipped the ring on one of the vixen’s digits. "This ring won’t prevent any current active effects from continuing to affect you, but it will stop any further activation of the curse."

As soon as the ring was fastened, the metal gave off a slight purple hue and Taylor felt in control of her own body once more.

"You will keep that ring on and you will NOT lose it," Magus Hystrid ordered. "That was a gift from my sister and she will kill me if she learns that I lost it."

Taylor nodded profusely, slightly scared.

"Good," the porcupine concluded as he headed for the door. "I’ll expect you in my classroom as soon as the day’s courses are over, which shouldn't be too much longer."

"Yes Professor," Taylor replied.

With Magus Hystrid having left the room, Taylor turned her attention to Sage Greene.

"Guru Kepala, would you mind releasing me now?" She nervously asked. "I promise that I won't run for the door this time."

The Doberman eyed her for a moment before dispelling her bonds, his expression relaxing when Taylor kept her word.

"Since you seem to be cooperative now, and we've determined that you are cursed," he analyzed, "Would you mind telling us who exactly cursed you?"

Taylor opened her mouth to speak, but no words followed the motion. Realizing that she still wasn't entirely free of Jenna's influence, the vixen shook her head.

"It was Jenna Silverbright sir." Lily pitched in, reaching out and taking Taylor's paw in one of her own, giving it a gently squeeze.

"Jenna? I see..." Sage Greene said, his expression darkening. "I shall personally see to this matter. Now I believe that you two should be in class. Off you go."

The two girls walked through the halls in relative silence towards the gymnasium, before Taylor stopped in her tracks just before the door.

"Tay-Tay? What's wrong?" Lily asked.

Taylor looked away as she hugged herself, her tail slipping between her legs.

"I'm scared..."

Almost immediately, the wolf girl's arms were around her, which she reciprocated.

"It's okay Tay-Tay," Lily whispered. "I won't leave you alone until this curse is gone."

She held her at arms length and looked her in the eye.

"Okay?"

Taylor nodded and wiped a tear that was starting to form.

"Good, now lets head right back in to the gym," Lily smiled evilly. "I heard them playing Dodgeball in there, my favorite game"

"And where have YOU been, Taylor?" The silver vixen asked with a sneer as she and her two cronies strode forward.

Taylor's ring glowed a faint purple as it deflected the activation of the curse.

"None of your business, Jenna," she shot back.

The vixen was slightly put off by her defiance, but pressed on soon after.

"You didn't try to get help, did you?" She questioned.

Again, the ring glowed a faint purple.

"No, I didn't," Taylor lied, not wanting to let Jenna on to anything. "I was feeling a little queasy, so Lily took me to the nurse's office." Lily placed a protective arm around Taylor's shoulder.

"Oh, that was nice of her," Jenna smirked. "And I hope you're feeling better now, because I wouldn't want my new shield to underperform for the rest of the game."

As her ring glowed its faint purple again, Taylor couldn't help but clench her fists and teeth. Then she and Lily saw Sage Green enter the gymnasium, flanked by two figures in green hooded robes, their faces obscured; and smiled.

"I think that you've now got some bigger problems to think about." Taylor smirked, pointing at the approaching angry Guru Kepala.

"Jenna Silverbright!" Jenna and her two minions both spun around, looking surprised.

"Guru Kepala?"

"These two security Sages just finished up searching your belongings, and have found your enchanted Resolof bat." There was an audible gasp from some of the students, others appeared to be smirking in vindication.

"Guru Kepala, I can explain-"

"The Guild has already been informed of your actions Jenna. After a brief sweep of this room alone, there are several students who have already been touched by the same obedience curse. In the coming days of your arraignment, more Sages will be involved in sweeping the entire student body, and once each curse found has been lifted, that will be another set of charges set against you, and anyone who willingly assisted you."

Jenna flashed Taylor a look of pure rage before she and her two, scared-looking, minions were surrounded by more Sages, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Then, without a word, the Sages, not including Green, as well as Jenna's little clique were gone. Lily pulled Taylor into another hug, her tail wagging.

"Well at least we don't have to worry about her," Lily chimed as she slid up next to Taylor in the locker room.

"As nice as it was to give her a taste of her own medicine, I kind of feel sorry for what happened," Taylor replied as she slipped on her uniform.

"Tay-Tay, it's not your fault. She brought this all on herself." the wolf girl deadpanned.

"I... guess you're right..." She uneasily agreed.

The rest of the day passed by with no more incidents. Lily kept close to Taylor as they travelled between class, despite Jenna and her crew having been taken away by the Sages. As the last bell of the day rang, the two girls made their way to Magus Hystrid's classroom, Advanced Spell Theory. As they opened the door, they were greeted by the sight of the porcupine milling left and right as he grabbed jars and boxes of reagents and powders, setting them down around an alchemical circle that had been drawn upon the floor.

"Umm, Professor?" Taylor called to grab his attention.

"Ah! Miss Nicolo! So good of you to make it," he replied without pause in his work. "And I see that you've brought your friend as well. Miss..."

"Lily Spring," the wolf girl said, "Taylor's older sister."

"Ah! Now I can finally put a face to the name," Magus Hystrid commented.

"You know me?" Lily said in surprise.

"Of your work, actually. Or "accidents" as you refer to them," the porcupine emphasized with air quotes. "But that's not the focus of this reunion. Miss Nicolo, if you would please remove your uniform and step within the circle."

"What!?" The students exclaimed, Lily positioning herself between Taylor and the teacher.

"Professor, is that really necessary?" The wolf girl said, and edge to her voice.

"The spell I'm using is highly sensitive. I've already had to make numerous changes to account for the ring I'm letting Miss Nicolo wear during it. So other than her underwear, she can't have anything else on or it might interfere with the diagnosis. Have I made myself clear?"

Lily kept looking at him apprehensively, but Taylor put her paw on her shoulder and nodded, saying it was fine.

Taylor still felt a bit embarrassed at having to strip down to her frilly pink bra and panties, even more so than when she was in the girl's locker room, but knew that she was in safe company. As she stepped inside the chalk circle, the glyphs making up the spell took on a white glow. All around her, the lines started to glow more and more intensely, until a transparent cylinder of white light marked with glyphs rose from the circle's inner perimeter. As the cylinder reached about half of Taylor's height, she felt herself starting to feel weightless. Rising further, the vixen felt herself leaving the ground, floating within the pillar of light. Finally, the cylinder reached to twice her height, with Taylor being suspended a good two feet above the floor.

"Seems like the spell is holding well," Magus Hystrid commented as he circled Taylor. "Now to just set the parameters for the diagnosis."

The classroom door shot open with a furious bang, surprising the girls, Taylor ineptly trying to cover herself with her tail.

"ERIC SAMUEL HYSTRID! WHAT THE HELL IS TAKING YOU SO LONG!?" A female voice screeched.

The voice belonged to a female porcupine similar in appearance to Magus Hystrid, but dressed in a pink t-shirt, jean shorts and mismatched blue and pink thigh-high stockings.

Magus Hystrid, who had his back to the door, remained unfazed at the torrent of anger.

"Kyu! So good of you to join us!" He smiled without looking away from the glyphs he was manipulating.

"Don't you think you can talk your way out of this one, Eric," Kyu fumed as she stormed up next to him. "I've been waiting in the car for you for the last ten minutes, what are you still doing here?"

"I'm helping this student with a problem," Magus Hystrid simply replied with a gesture to Taylor. "Didn't you receive my text saying that I would be running late?"

"You never sent me any text," Kyu grit between her teeth.

"Ah!" He replied with a snap of his fingers. "I knew I'd forgotten something."

The teacher was met with a swift smack to the back of his head.

"Idiot," Kyu commented.

Taylor, still slightly shocked at the turn of events, let go of her tail before gaining the newcomer's attention.

"I'm sorry, but... Who are you?" She asked the female porcupine.

"Kyubei Carla Hystrid, sweetie. But everyone calls me Kyu," she smiled. "I guess you could also call me Eric's better half."

"So you're his wife?" Lily asked in surprise.

"Uh, no," the porcupine said with a slight giggle. "I'm the closest thing this idiot has to a sister."

"But you're not his sister?" Taylor said as she cocked her head in confusion.

"Ugh, these aren't your regular students, are they?" Kyu groaned to Magus Hystrid with a facepalm.

"No, they're not. I offered to remove Miss Nicolo's curse, which I'm currently trying to identify exactly," he replied. "If you're feeling up to it, Kyu, you can explain our affair to the girls while I go about my work here, this might take a while..."

"Right, leave the storytelling to the emotional one, she can keep the little ones entertained," Kyu derided with a roll of her eyes.

"You know that I envy you in that regard," Magus Hystrid complimented.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk," the female porcupine sighed in defeat. "But first, names, else I'm calling you two Wolfie and Floaty McPanties."

"Hey!" Taylor objected, blushing and attempting to cover herself once again. "Why do I get the ridiculous nickname?"

Kyu merely shrugged.

"Easy target."

"She's got a point, Tay-Tay," Lily giggled. "I'm Lily Spring."

The vixen grumbled and crossed her arms.

"Taylor Nicolo."

Everyone got as comfortable as they could before Kyu started telling her story, although Taylor would've given anything for something warmer than just her underwear.

"It was about three years ago, I think," Kyu started, sitting on top of the magus' desk.

"Three and a half," her counterpart corrected from his post.

"Oh. So you remember that, but you forget to send me a text saying that you're going to work late?" Kyu flared. "Now are you done interrupting?"

Magus Hystrid simply gestured her to continue.

"Thank you," she glared. "Anyway, three and a half years ago, we were attempting a little experiment after hours. We were trying to see if emotional states affect the outcome of spells."

Kyu gave out a sigh a she contemplated the event.

"By then, we were certain in our theory, having done a few tests with some small spells. But that time... That time we were extremely emotionally unstable. We had gotten ourselves into a pretty bad fight and thought that the best way to blow off some steam was to go ahead with our experiment.

"We weren't thinking clearly and decided to practically go all in this time, with a fairly complex summoning spell. Our goal was to try and summon an elemental, but..."

Kyu let the story drop there, obviously uneasy about the entire thing.

"What happened?" Taylor asked with some concern.

Kyu gave out a small chuckle.

"Well, the spell went off nicely... Right in our face. Sent us flying back and knocking us out for who knows how long. When we woke up, I was lying on top of Eric and nearly freaked out, while Mr. stone-hearted just looked at me funny."

"I'm not following," Lily stated with a cock of her head. "Why were you freaking out?"

"Because, it was the first time I could see myself without the use of a mirror. It was like a real-life out of body experience," the porcupine stressed.

The girls looked at Kyu with even more confusion, something that she failed to pick up on as she just smiled at the both of them. Magus Hystrid, however, decided to correct that.

"Kyu, I believe that you might've forgotten to mention an important detail," he stated.

"Hmm? Oh right! Sorry girls," she giggled. "See, before that accident, Eric and I were only one person. But something in the summoning spell went haywire and split us into two individuals with… Very different emotional states."

While Kyu was explaining this with a wild smile across her face, the girls were dumbfounded at what they had just learned.

"You mean you… And him…" Lily just mindlessly sputtered.

"Yup!" Kyu chimed as she strode over to Magus Hystrid. "Thought it was a coincidence that we look so much alike? Nope! We’re pretty much one and the same. Except for, well… I turned into a girl."

"Not to mention how emotionally unstable you can get at times," Magus Hystrid commented.

"Ah. Yeah. That too," Kyu shied back to the desk. "See, what also happened during the accident was that I pretty much took most of the emotions with me during the split… Somehow. We’re still trying to figure that one out. But it really helped with our hypothesis about high levels of emotion affecting spells."

The porcupine seemed quite giddy about explaining their findings.

"See, because I’m "emotionally unstable", as Eric puts it, even the most simple and stable spells that I try to attempt blow up in my face," she explained. "Would you like a demonstration?"

"NO!" The two girls immediately shouted.

Kyu buckled over in laughter at the response.

"Oh my god! You actually thought I would?!" She cried, wiping a fake tear away. "Jeez, no. I practically learned my lesson the day after the accident. I mean, I can still do some basic alchemy, but anything that requires the manipulation of magic is just a recipe for disaster with me."

"Ouch. It must suck not being able to use magic anymore," Taylor voiced in sympathy.

"Hey, I find happiness in practically everything else," the porcupine shrugged. "And besides, that’s not stopping me in developing theories for Eric to test out, once in a while. With his lockdown on emotions, we can attempt some pretty complex experiments without them blowing up."

"Sounds like the accident was a good thing then," Taylor commented.

Kyu gave a nervous chuckle to this.

"Yeah… not exactly...at first."

"Remember when I said that we had a really bad fight before attempting our experiment?" Kyu asked to the girls. "Well that fight was with our wife. I’m not going to go into any more details about it, but let’s just say that she didn’t exactly like the sight of me on top of Eric."

"It also didn’t help that you were naked at the time," Magus Hystrid nonchalantly added.

"DAMMIT ERIC! That’s personal and you know it!" Kyu shouted. "But yeah, THAT certainly didn’t help the situation, I thought she was going to kill me! It took us over an hour to explain the situation and over a week before she stopped giving me the stink eye. It’s been a… weird relationship ever since."

"She still loves you, you know," the magus assured her.

Kyu simply groaned as she laid across the desk.

"Are you done yet? Cause I am," she asked him in annoyance.

"Actually, I’m just about done with the removal of the curse," he replied.

"Really?!" Taylor asked in excitement.

"Yes, however, I think that we're going to need a bit of an explanation as to how it was applied in the first place Miss Nicolo."

Taylor's mouth clamped shut on its own once more, and she let out an involuntary whimper.

"The person who cursed her gave her the command to never speak about what happened." Lily explained, looking on at Taylor as though she wanted nothing more than to pull her into another comforting hug.

"That, unfortunately makes sense Miss Spring. Do you happen to know how it was applied?" He asked.

Lily nodded and looked at Taylor apologetically, before she began to explain what happened.

"There was an enchanted Resolof bat that was used to...spank Taylor, repeatedly, while she was held down...and in her underwear..." Lily said as she recalled the assault, her eyes beginning to well up with tears as they briefly made contact with Taylor's.

"That's terrible!" Kyu said in disgust.

"Indeed, it is quite regrettable that it happened in the first place. However, now I am almost done with the curse's removal." Taylor and Lily both let out a sigh of relief.

"However, I do not think that Miss Nicolo is going to enjoy just how that must be done." Professor Hystrid said before motioning Kyu closer to him so that he may whisper into her ear. She nodded solemnly and trotted off out the door.

"What are you gonna do to her?" Lily asked, motioning to the nervous vixen, still floating in her bright pink underwear.

"I think that it shall be easier to explain when my...sister...returns." No sooner had The professor finished saying this, than Kyu came jogging back through the door, carrying something in her arm.

"Here ya go Eric. Found one in the supply closet." She said as she thrusted a Resolof bat into his paws. Taylor's eyes went wide at the sight of it, and she started to hug her tail for some comfort.

"Basically girls...well...the surest way I know how to move a curse that is structured and layered like this one...is to have the counter spell, which will be used as an enchantment, applied in the same manner as the curse was."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Y-You mean that...you have to spank my baby sister?!" Lily shouted while Taylor winced.

"Well, once this bat has been enchanted, someone else may do it."

"Like me?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Oh I'll do it! Geeze!" Kyu said, clearly annoyed. The professor took that as his cue to begin the process of enchanting the bat. A soft blue glow began to emanate from his fingertips, as beams of twisting and turning light shot forth from them, towards the wooden surface. They twisted into different shapes and characters, forming runes all up and down the bat. Once he was finished, Eric snapped his fingers, and the light encasing Taylor lowered her back down to the ground, just as the bat was handed to Kyu.

"Wasn't expecting this when I woke up today." Kyu said as she looked to Taylor.

Almost one full moment of utter humiliation later...

"From how it's fading Kyu, about ten more spanks ought to do it." The Professor said while Taylor was leaning, still in just her underwear, over his desk. Her rear was stinging, and the next spank surely didn't help that one bit.

"It's almost over Tay-Tay." Lily said as she held Taylor's paw.

"And that's another, and another, and another." Kyu chanted as she spanked the vixen. This went on four more times, with Kyu giving one last spank.

"And that has done it. Miss Nicolo, you are now officially curse free."

"Thank you Professor." Taylor said as Lily handed her her clothes. She was surprised by another sudden spank from Kyu.

"What am I, chopped liver?" She said indignantly.

"Th-Thank you...uh...Miss Kyu?"

"You're very welcome missy." Kyu snickered as she gave another spank, and then stepped away, noticing the glare she was receiving from Lily and her other half.

"To be honest, I’m quite impressed by how the curse was applied in the first place," the porcupine complimented as he started cleaning up the circle, grabbing the bat from Kyu's paws. "The spell was actually very weak and therefore required only a small amount of magical energy to create, but the multiple applications of it seemed to compound together to create a fairly strong result."

Taylor bit her lip as the memory of the enchanted resolof bat came to haunt her again.

"In fact, the structure of the spell is quite similar to another one that I recall teaching my students last semester," Magus Hystrid continued. "Although its application was more beneficial than this curse…"

Once Taylor had her uniform back on, Magus Hystrid was in front of her with an open palm.

"The ring, please," he beckoned.

With a slight hesitation, she pulled the ring off her finger and gave it back.

"Good. Now, Miss Nicolo," the porcupine continued as he slipped the ring back on one of his own fingers. "Would you mind telling us who exactly cursed you with that obedience spell?"

Taylor stood there in silence for a moment, still afraid that the curse still had a hold on her despite going through all that.

"It was Jenna," she finally revealed. "Jenna Silverbright."

Taylor smiled, feeling elated at having full control of her body back. She had told him. She was finally free. Lily immediately jumped at her and pulled her into a hug.

"Tay-Tay you’re cured!" She laughed out.

"Silverbright…" Magus Hystrid mumbled. "Why does the name sound familiar?"

"Look Eric, the Guru Kepala already apprehended the girl, at least that's what I heard when I was eavesdropping earlier, so that doesn’t matter," Kyu smiled as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "You removed the curse and the Guild found out who placed it, so let’s just file the report to the Guru Kepala and then we can head on home."

"Hmm, you’re right," he agreed. "And I believe Lulu won’t be too happy with us arriving late, correct?"

"Please be the one to talk to her," Kyu begged. "She can be pretty scary when she gets angry…"

"Yes, I’ll smooth things over on the way back," the male porcupine nodded as he approached the two celebrating students. "Now girls, I believe now would be a good time for you two to head on home. As much as I enjoy aiding students, even I need some time for myself."

"Yes Professor," Taylor swiftly replied with a smile. "Thank you for your help."

"Come on Tay-Tay, let’s get going," Lily chirped as she started to drag the vixen out of the classroom.

"Actually, Miss Spring, would you mind leaving Miss Nicolo with us in private for a moment?" Magus Hystrid called out. "There’s just one last thing we’d like to discuss."

Lily paused, still wary about the odd teacher.

"I dunno…"

"If it’s any consolation, Lily, I’ll make sure Eric doesn’t try anything funny," Kyu winked as she nudged him.

"Okay," the wolf girl smiled as she stepped out of the room and closed the door.

"Now. Miss Nicolo," Magus Hystrid started. "I noticed during the diagnosis that you’ve recently been the subject of some form of magical transformation, are you aware of this?"

Taylor shrunk at the mention of this, her tail tucking between her legs and her ears lying flat against her head. Was she going to be questioned about it?

"Okay, Eric, I’m stopping you right there," Kyu intervened with a glare at him. "This is obviously making her uncomfortable."

"You mean ‘he’," the magus flatly corrected.

"What do you me-," she stopped as she found what he meant. "Oh…"

Kyu turned to look at Taylor with nothing but sympathy for the girl. She silently approached the vixen and clasped Taylor’s paws in hers.

"I’m sorry for what you’re going through," she whispered. "I mean, I went through the exact same thing… And sure it’s got its downsides, but hey, it’s got its perks too, right?"

Kyu gave Taylor little wink with this, causing the vixen to blush slightly under her fur.

"And don’t worry, I’ll make sure that your secret is safe, okay?" Kyu assured her.

Taylor nodded.

"Good. Now was that all, Eric?" Kyu asked in slight annoyance.

"Pretty much."

"Okay, you can go Taylor," Kyu smiled as she let go.

Taylor waved off the two porcupines as she left the classroom and joined Lily who was waiting just down the hall.

"So, what was that about?" Lily asked with a raised brow.

"Nothing much." Taylor said, still unsure of how to explain to Lily about the reality tear. She was pondering the best way to tell the wolf girl as they exited the school, only to see a form hurrying towards them.

"Taylor!" Laura frantically called out before she pulled the vixen into a tight and protective hug. "The Guru Kepala called and explained what happened. You poor dear!" The older wolf woman said as she affectionately nuzzled Taylor.

And there we have it readers! I hope that you enjoyed it, and I also hope that you'll feel free to leave a review!