All the noise from the Apothecary drained from his ears as she spoke to him. The chatter of guests and the sound of music filtering through the speakers overhead no longer reached him. He felt as if he were in a pocket, void of the aural clutter that normally filled the space. The girl was drenched from head to toe with droplets of water landing on the floor as she stood before him with only a sheet clung to her body. Kleo looked around, a wave of panic rush over him as he wondered what people must be thinking to see a woman as such walking in like this, but as he glanced around, no one seemed to notice. Rather, no one seemed to look their way at all.

“What is,” his lips couldn’t form the question in his mind as more guests walked around, entering and leaving without even a glance their way. “How are they not seeing this?” This wasn’t normal, even for what he knew of magic.

“Please, I need your help,” she repeated and he finally looked back at her.

“How are you doing this?” He asked and she didn’t seem to understand.

“You are the witch, aren’t you? I couldn’t have been mistaken,” her voice trailed off as she looked around. Her eyes were large and Kleo could see the sadness in them. She seemed lost and maybe just as confused as he was feeling. Kleo would have to figure out how no one was seeing this at some other time, but for now, this girl really seemed to need his help. He took his cardigan off, rounding the counter to place it over her shoulders.

“I am, you’re not wrong,” he assured her and she looked back at him. “I’m just… still getting the hang of things. I have some friends upstairs we can go see, then we can get you into some dry clothes and figure out what happened to you.”

“I already know what happened to me,” she said softly to him as he lead her upstairs and inside his home.

“Just, stay right here and I’ll go get them and you can tell us all about it. Okay?” He tried to stay gentle with his words. He wanted to help, but he needed Nox or someone who knew more about all of this so he could figure out where to even begin. The girl nodded at him and he had her sit at the table while he ran up to his room in search of the others. The moment he reached the top, his eyes were met with piles of stuff from the workroom placed around his room. He turned his head just as Flora walked through a large, door shaped hole in his wall.

“Hey, what are you doing up here? Curiosity get the best of you?” She asked with a smile on her face as she set down another pile of scrolls and books. Kleo dragged his hand along to clean edge of the doorframe and couldn’t help but peak inside. The large space was now well lit and already looking much cleaner. Nox was resting on a cushion someone must have brought in and he spotted Alexei at one of the bookshelves, replacing books in what he assumed to be an organized manner.

“Everything okay?” Alexei asked, stopping what he was doing to look at him

“I don’t know, actually. I need some help.”

After a quick retelling of what happened, they all found themselves downstairs and meeting with the girl. She was right where Kleo left her, bundled up in his cardigan. Kleo walked over, handing her a set of clothes he grabbed from upstairs for her to change into.

“I thought you might be more comfortable,” he said to her as he placed them in her hands. She thanked him with a nod.

“Thank you for your kindness,” she said to him as she held the clothes. “My name is Effie.” Kleo smiled, taking a seat in the empty chair beside her.

“My name is Kleo, and these are my friends,” he introduced them.

“Are you all witches of this town?” She asked, somewhat amazed as she looked over them.

“Well, not really,” Flora said. “But we’re happy to help in anyway we can.” She said, giving Effie that signature smile.

“I don’t… understand,” Effie said, shaking her head.

“It’s a long story, but, I’m still pretty new to all of this,” Kleo tried to explain. “Flora is a witch from somewhere else who is helping me get the hang of things. Alexei is a human, but he knows about this stuff now too.” He didn’t know if his lack of experience would turn her away and a part of him hoped that she would at least let them try to help.

They were all quiet as Effie looked them all over for a moment, seemingly deciding whether to trust them or not before nodding, and Kleo felt relieved.

“I come from the waters east of here,” she began to explain. “One night, I was swimming close to shore when I was caught in a net. It happens occasionally on accident and humans typically let us go, but I quickly learned that this was no accident.” She gripped onto the bundle of clothes as she held them closer to her. “He spelled me to sleep and when I awoke this morning, I found myself in the woods outside of this town and without my skin.”

“You’re a selkie,” Flora said with a gasp. “I’ve never met a selkie before. We’ve had mermaids back home, but selkies never go that far down south.”

“That’s horrible,” Alexei said in response to her story. “Why would someone do that?”

“Selkie skins are very valuable when it comes to magic.”

Nox explained and Effie nodded, tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m afraid if I don’t get my skin back soon, I’ll never be able to turn back.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Flora quickly said, trying to comfort her. “Let’s not lose all hope yet. We can try to find this guy. For now, you look like you’ve been through a lot. Maybe getting cleaned up and warmed up can help?” She carefully took Effie’s hand, offering to show her to the bathroom so she could get cleaned up and changed.

“Wait, why would someone steal her skin for magic?” Kleo asked after they were gone. He had read some stories about selkies when he was younger, but the selkies in those stories were always those whose skins were stolen so they would stay on land. Stealing it was always a means to getting the selkie to stay on land, but whoever did this didn’t even seem to care what happened to Effie.

“I can’t say why someone did this specifically, but the curse of the selkie is old, ancient magic. The skin allows them to turn into either of their forms and holds a lot of the power from the curse.”

“So you’re saying some witch stole Effie’s skin for themselves? I didn’t even know there was another magic user in the area.”

“Neither did I, but I’ll have to look into it.”

Kleo sighed and looked up as Alexei placed his hands on his shoulders. He rested his head back against him, closing his eyes for a moment.

“How are we going to find this guy? What are we even going to do if we do find him?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Alexei told him.

“If there’s another magic user nearby, I will find him.”

Nox said, standing from his place beside Kleo’s feet.

“Give me the rest of the day, and I’ll have any information we may need.”

Kleo nodded and Nox was gone in an instant, slipping into his shadow. Kleo still didn’t understand the way he was able to travel through those pockets of darkness. It was easy to forget that even though that was the form he took, Nox was not actually a cat. Kleo didn’t know what he was and so far, Nox wouldn’t tell him.

“We’ll figure out the whole selkie skin thing,” Alexei told him, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

“Thanks,” Kleo said softly then a noise from downstairs reminded him that he was still in face supposed to be working. He cursed to himself as he quickly bounced up. “I gotta get back downstairs. I’ll see if someone can come in a little early so I can get off sooner, so I’ll let you know.” He said and Alexei nodded.

“It’s fine, take a breath, okay? I know there’s a lot you’re taking in, just don’t let it bog you down.”

Kleo did just that and took a deep breath before heading back down.