A Touch Of Magic Vol 01

This is the first entry in my Touch of Magic Series. I originally wrote this story with the intent of it being a one-off story but I had a lot of fun with writing this so I decided to turn this into a series. I will be incorporating a wide array of categories in this series and I'm looking forward to having my imagination run wild for a change.

I also spent a good amount of time drawing influences from languages like Greek, Persian, Arabic, German, Irish Gaelic, Welsh & Latin just to name a few. It was a bit challenging trying to more-or-less build a lexicon on my own for the spell book but I had a lot of fun doing so!

That said, this first part does contain some elements of bullying but it is essential to plot. It goes without saying that I don't condone any type of bullying behaviors. If you do so, you are scum. Simple as that.

Also, all participants in this story are 18 years or older.

That said, I hope you enjoy it!

- Alex

******

They say that high school can be a place of either fond memories or dire straits. For Penelope Forrester, it definitely fell into the latter. At 18 years old, she was ready to finish off the remaining 8 months of her senior year in one piece so she could start taking classes at the local community college.

Penelope walked down the hallway of Wayne Newton High School to her second period class wearing a black Nirvana t-shirt, black cargo pants and a brown Carhartt stocking cap which hid all of her short brunette colored hair.

To say that she wasn't popular would be a massive understatement. She was the textbook example of a lone wolf, not even having friends with the wildly "uncool" nerd clique. It also didn't help her confidence that she was extremely underdeveloped thanks to a growth hormone deficiency that arose thanks to complications caused by Carcinoma that plagued her as a kid.

Standing at just 5 feet tall, she could easily be mistaken for a middle schooler instead of an 18 year old woman when compared to her peers. The lack of self-confidence, paired with the cruel nature of teenagers, made her an easy target for bullying.

In fact, when she was younger, she was bullied so relentlessly that, when she was 14, her parents had tried to unsuccessfully persuade the school to intervene on her behalf. After the school refused to do anything, Penelope, her parents & brother moved the family to Las Vegas from their original home in Salt Lake City. The teasing and bullying was not as bad as it was back in SLC, but it was still enough to make Penelope dread going to school everyday.

As she sat down at her desk for her history class, one of the girls who would regularly tease her sat with her friends near the front row. When Penelope's eyes scanned the room, she spotted one of the girls who would regularly tease her: Harper Sarkisian.

She was one of the captains of the dance team and had the personality of a diva and the body of one; With her long black hair, slender frame and D-cup breasts. If the slang term "bitch" was in the dictionary, Harper's face would be listed as an example.

"Hey Mosquito Bite, looking pretty gloomy today! Did the Gymbroee finally kick you out for shoplifting one too many times?" She and her friends laughed among themselves.

Penelope huffed as she folded her arms "Fucking bitch..."

Before she knew it, Harper stormed up to her desk "What the fuck did you just say to me, Mosquito Bite?" She said to Penelope with a hateful look in her eyes.

She knew that Harper was bigger than her and could easily kick her ass in a fight. So she quickly backed down. "Oh uh...n-nothing Harper." Penelope stammered.

With a quick motion, Harper snatched the brown hat from her head, exposing Penelope's short brown hair that only came down to her ears, and held it above her head.

"Hey!" Penelope jumped up.

"Oh you want your hat back? Then apologize to me for what you said" Harper laughed in a mocking tone.

Penelope tried to jump up and grab the hat, but Harper was much taller than she. Finally she caved in "I-I'm sorry for calling you a fucking bitch...." She nervously spoke.

Harper looked down at her "Sorry, I can't hear you all the way down there, Mosquito Bite. Can you please say that a bit louder?"

With tears in her eyes and her fists balled, Penelope said loudly "I'm sorry for calling you a fucking bitch!"

She dropped the hat to the floor and, as Penelope went to pick it up, she was shoved to the floor by Harper, who yelled at her. "Good, next time, you better know your place."

With that, she turned back to her desk as their literature teacher, Mr. Sandoval walked in.

Penelope stood back up, put her cap back on her head and placed her face in her hands. She wanted nothing more than to smack the piss out of Harper but alas, she didn't want to risk expulsion so she fumed in her seat for the remainder of the class. Thankfully, this was the only class she had with Harper but it was still 50 minutes too long for her liking.

That night after finishing her homework, she decided to call it a night. As Penelope lay in her bed, she wished in her mind that things would get easier. It was only a month and a half into the school year but she just wanted to get it over with. With that she slowly drifted off to sleep.

-

Penelope awoke to the sound of light feminine humming. Turning to her side, she saw the table light on her desk was alight and sitting on her chair was a woman. Rubbing her eyes, she spoke.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, but I'm not your mother dear." The unfamiliar voice answered.

Penelope's eyes shot wide open as her eyes adjusted. The woman wore a flowing white tunic and a long red peasant skirt with metal adornments on the bottom that came down to her sandaled feet. Numerous rings adorned both of her hands and a long necklace with an orange gemstone came to rest just below her breasts.

"What the FUCK!" Penelope screamed.

Thinking quickly, she reached under her bed and grabbed a baseball bat that she used to play Softball with when she was younger. Grasping the handle with both hands, she charged at the figure. If she was going to be abducted, or even worse, she wouldn't go down without a fight.

As Penelope brought down her bat, the woman quickly chanted a phrase.

"Plaje Larao"

In an instant, Penelope found that she could no longer move. Her body remained in a frozen state, with her arms raised above her head holding the bat and petite frame locked in a forward running position.

"W-what the fuck...?" Penelope weakly cried out.

The woman stood up and walked around her, the fixtures on her skirt making a "clinking" sound as she moved about.

"Now, that is no way to treat a guest!" She laughed

Penelope was panicking "Look, whatever the fuck you're going to do, just get it over with. My life already sucks enough as is, so you'd be doing me a favor at this point."

"Oh dearie, you don't need to worry about me doing anything bad to you. In fact, your life is about to get so much better and dare I say......interesting?" The woman now stood in front of Penelope, her unnaturally green eyes looking into her's.

"Just let me go! This is so....uncomfortable!" Penelope breathlessly said.

The hippie woman clicked her tongue "Alright, but you have to promise that you won't try and attack me. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes yes, we have a deal!" Penelope said frantically.

"Very well" The woman put her hands in a locked position with her two pointer fingers pointed upwards

"Plaje Dimittus."

Suddenly Penelope's body fell as she landed on the beige carpet. She struggled to get to her feet as the impact caused her to almost have the wind knocked out of her. She eyed the baseball bat for a brief second but decided against it. As she stood upright, she noticed that the woman stood about 8 inches taller than her.

"Okay, so if you're not here to hurt me, what the fuck are you doing in my room?" Penelope stared at her.

The woman laughed again, "I'm here to make everything all better. To make life more....bearable if you will."

"Oh and just how are you going to do that? Are you going to give me a magic spell book or something?" Penelope had her arms crossed.

The hippie reached over to her desk and grabbed a book. "My, you are quick to pick up on things. That is precisely what I'm going to do!"

"Uh-huh...be real with me, lady." She laughed.

The woman held out the book to Penelope "I kid you not, I'm here to deliver this to you!."

Penelope looked at the book. It was bound in a mahogany-colored cloth that was thick with old, but sturdy papyrus pages. As she took it into her hands, she felt a jolt of energy shoot through her small body that caused her to involuntarily jerk. "What the.....?"

"Haha, I see it has taken a liking to you, Penelope! You two are going to have so much fun together!" The woman laughed as she danced around and clapped her hands.

She looked at the woman with a look of confusion "Us two? What do you mean and how the fuck do you know my name?"

"It's simple, the book told me! You see, it might look like a book but it is imbued with a magic that is very much alive! It will help you out. But like any sentient being, there are certain things it won't do." The woman smiled at Penelope.

This all sounded too outlandish to be even remotely true. A book that was "alive" with magic?

"How will I know if I do something that the book isn't cool with me doing?" Asked Penelope as she embraced the book to her chest with both hands.

The woman placed her hands on her hips "It's quite simple. If the book doesn't want you to do something, it will let you know. That's why you will learn from the book and it will guide you on your path!"

Penelope continued to look at the book then at the woman. "My path? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? This all sounds too good to be true."

The woman shook her head "Ah but that's what they all say at first. They think what I tell them is absolute malarkey. I even had one young man tell me that it sounded like some cheesy 80's teen movie but I assure you it is very real!."

"I mean no offense when I say this but your elevator pitch seems a bit over-exaggerated. Besides, won't people notice me carrying around this giant book with me?" Penelope scoffed at her.

"That's the beautiful thing: Only you will be able to see the book for what it really is. To the outside observer, it'll appear to be nothing more than a school textbook. So even if they were to read it, they would only see pages about science or history instead of a primer on how to cast spells." The woman smiled a toothy grin.

"And if someone tries to steal it?" Penelope furrowed her brow.

The woman crossed her arms and laughed "If the book ever feels.....threatened, it will take appropriate action to protect not only itself but also you. Think of it as an ethereal bodyguard..."

Penelope sat on her bed and ran her small hand across the cover. "Woah...okay. So how long can I keep it?"

"As long as the book feels the need to stay with you. Once it feels you are in a better place, it will let you know!" The woman sat back down on the chair and placed her hands on her lap.

"Huh...." Penelope opened the book and before she knew it, everything went dark

******

The alarm clock on her cell phone went off as Penelope woke up. She looked around the room for the woman, who was nowhere to be found. Her desk light was off and the only source of illumination were the rays of the early morning sun coming through her window

"A dream, it was all a fucking dream...." Penelope groaned as she lay her head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. She wanted the dream to be real but it seems that it wasn't.

She then turned her head to the side and got the shock of her lifetime when she saw the book that was given to her by the woman on her nightstand. Penelope shot up, grabbed the book with her hands and stared at it.

"There's no fucking way..." She felt the cloth cover with her small fingers as she opened the book. Inside the text was a mix of Cuneiform, Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and Cyrillic letters, along with several other alphabets she didn't recognize.

"How the fuck am I supposed to read this?" She said out loud and seemingly, on command, the text magically moved and shifted about the pages. After a moment, the text became legible in the English language. She could finally understand the text and a smile came across her face.

******

Penelope sat down in second period class, book in hand as she glossed over the pages. So far she had read about how certain nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives influenced how a spell was cast, along with a few "beginners" spells. Needless to say, it was very easy for her to understand and she was eager to test it out. And she would soon get the chance to do so.

Harper Sarkisian walked into the classroom with her two friends, Brianna & Juliet, talking about upcoming practice after school. Penelope smirked at the three as they walked to their desks; Never taking her eyes off of them. Brianna was built almost the exact same as Harper save for blonde hair instead of black. Juliet, on the other hand, was a bit smaller in frame and had smaller breasts and wavy red hair.

As they sat down, Penelope decided to test out a spell as a trial run. She had written some notes on a sheet of paper and took a deep breath. Penelope folded her hands, pointer fingers up and she took a deep breath.

"En'diriu...."

Penelope's vision lost focus save for the very center as the world slowed down around her, almost like she was experiencing tunnel vision. She looked directly at Harper.

"Let's hope this works..."

She finished her spell

"....Wittaq Myalo Pehf"

Everything returned to focus just as Juliet turned to face Penelope "What are you staring at, Mosquito Bite? Wanna go down on me or something?" She and her friends laughed as their teacher, Christopher Sandoval, walked in carrying his notes.

"I apologize for being late, everyone. I had to give my wife the charger for my laptop as she forgot her's at home today."

His wife, Justine, was a chemistry teacher at the same school.

Harper spoke up "I'm sure that's not the only thing you do at home with her, eh?" The entire class erupted in laughter as Mr. Sandoval blushed slightly at the remark. Penelope, however, sat there in shock.

"Oh shit, did she just really say that?"

Mr. Sandoval changed the topic "Ahem....anyways. Today we are going to be examining art of the Renaissance Era and what better way to look at one of the most famous pieces of that era..."

He brought up a slide of Michaelaneglo's David on the projector connected to his laptop

"....then with Michaelangelo!"

There were a couple of snickers as everyone looked at the naked statue on the big screen. Penelope noticed Harper talking with her friends.

Mr. Sandoval began his lecture "Now many of you have no doubt seen an image of this at some point in your lives but what not many know is that-...."

He was interrupted when Harper spoke out loud "I wonder if the guy who was the model for the statue really had that small of a penis."

This time, everyone in the class burst out in laughter as Harper had her hands over her mouth with a terrified look in her eyes. Even Penelope couldn't help but join in on the laughter. Mr. Sandoval, however, wasn't laughing as he turned to look at Harper.

"Miss Sarkisian, one more remark like that and you'll be sent to the principal's office!" He looked at her sternly. He might be one of the younger teachers at school and there was a long list of girls that found him insanely attractive, but the last thing he was going to do was be made a fool of in front of his class.

Harper sat with her arms crossed "Geez, I'm sorry Mr. Sandoval. You know if Justine isn't giving up the goods, you can always give me a call and I can rock your world." As she finished her sentence, she covered her mouth again with her hands as everyone again laughed at her.

"That's it!" Mr. Sandoval pointed at the door "Principal's Office now!"

Harper gathered her things and walked towards the door with her head down. As she walked out, Penelope placed her hands together, looked at Harper, and whispered.

"Prohib Magé."

Harper stopped briefly at the door and shook her head, almost as if she were shaken out of a stupor. She turned back to look at the classroom as Mr. Sandoval barked at her. "Principal's Office Harper, I will not ask again."

Harper reluctantly opened the door as she slowly walked out. The students talked among themselves as Penelope, with a smug look on her face, raised her hand.

"Mr. Sandoval, were you going to mention that the statue was made to be a testament to civil rights in Italy?"

He smiled "Ah, so someone did the reading after all!" He continued his lecture without issue.

*****

Penelope sat in her room at her desk reading the book after she finished her homework, taking more notes. For the first time in her high school career, she was actually looking forward to school the following day. She was about to call it an evening when she came to a section that dealt with transmogrification.

"What do we have here?" She took a drink from her water bottle and glossed over the pages.

There were elegantly drawn diagrams of before and after transformations for both men and women. A rush of excitement passed though her as she wrote down some more notes.

However before she could go further, she paused.

"If I change myself, I can't make it too obvious. People will catch on so I need to be careful" She muttered to herself.

After taking down some notes, she stood in front of the mirror in her black tank top and red shorts. Penelope looked at the sheet of paper and figured she would start off with something small.

Placing her hands in position, she took a deep breath:

"Mutatio Capillus Verdi"

She looked in the mirror as her hair color slowly shifted from brunette to a lime green color.

"Holy shit!" She laughed as she ran her fingers through her now-green hair. As she continued to check herself out in the mirror, she noticed her eyebrows were also green and her arms had a slight olive tinge to them. Penelope looked down and saw that the light hair on her arms were green.

"Uh oh!" Her eyes got wide.

She quickly took off her tank top & shorts and stood in front of the mirror naked. Her breasts were nothing more than very slight raised mounds on her chests with small pink nipples. There was very little muscle on her body and could easily be mistaken for someone with an eating disorder.

Looking down at her pussy, she saw the small tuft of public hair which sat above her slit was also green. She walked over to her desk to study the book more and jotted down more notes before standing in front of the mirror once more, with her hands positioned.

"Prohib Magé"

She waited for a moment so the spell would reverse itself but found it had no effect. A brief moment of panic overtook her as she ran back to the tome, but not before locking the door.

"Shit shit shit!" Penelope glossed over the page again and quickly caught on to the fact that transmogrification spells couldn't just be reversed with "Prohib Magé" like all the others she cast before. Finally she saw instructions on how to undo these changes using a specific spell.

Once again, she stepped in front of the mirror and readied her hands.

"Reverti Capullis Dath"

The hair on her body shifted until her arms looked normal again and her pubic, light arm hair and pixie cut atop her head were the same color as before.

"Whew! Right, so I should probably be more careful with this. Let's try something else" Penelope said to no one in particular. With that in mind, she looked over the book and read a section on body transformation; Again, taking more notes before going back to the mirror.