104: Class Zero Cheering Squad

“How are you?” Angelica asked as Nyssa went through a basic stretching routine. “Been a little while, I hope you got some rest in.”

“I did, thank you,” Nyssa murmured, sitting on the ground and taking a break halfway through the routine with the classic starfish stretch. “How are you?”

“Doing well, quite busy. For certain reasons, I’ll be the one guiding Roxanne around the school the entire time, which means I have to plan a lot more,” Angelica took some notes on her notepad. “Doing a little worse now that you’ve stopped stretching though.”

“Fine...” Nyssa rolled over with the groan before pushing herself back up. “You can just say it's because you two are dating, it’s not like anyone else is here. How are you two doing these days anyway? I haven’t seen Roxanne in a while.”

“Let a woman have some subtlety,” Angelica rolled her eyes while her hand kept writing. “We’re doing well though, thanks for asking. I’m planning on proposing to her soon. If all goes right, maybe... a couple months? The ring is being made right now.”

“Ohhh, good luck,” Nyssa finished up the last of the stretches by jogging in a wide circle around Angelica—she had sat in the center of the gymnasium after all. “So, what do you want me to do with the... whole uh... situation I’m in right now with my powers.”

“Have you transformed since the incident?” Angelica asked, going through the basic questions first and foremost. “If so, what have you transformed into? If you could, try and list when you did it, how long it lasted, and how you felt.”

“That’s easy, I’ve only transformed once, and it was into a cat,” Nyssa explained, as Angelica nodded with an “expected” leaving her mouth. “It lasted a couple seconds, as I transformed back right away. It was in the morning right after I woke up, so I think I did it out of habit, but then uh... I panicked a little and just went back to being human.”

“How would you characterize your panic? Did it manifest at all in your body? Like an elevated heart rate or an upset stomach?” Angelica transcribed Nyssa’s first bit word-for-word. “Of course, there could be a number of other symptoms. Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Nope, I actually didn’t feel much,” Nyssa shrugged, “Just that my heart rate accelerated a little. But after I went back to being human, and realized nothing had gone wrong, and that, uh... what I call the energy of transformation in me still was under control, I took a few deep breaths and felt fine.”

“What did you do afterward?” Angelica wrapped up with the last question.

“I fell back asleep...” Nyssa trailed off, running a hand through her hair as she looked towards the floor. “That’s my usual response when something stresses me out.”

“Mhm, better than most coping strategies,” Angelica nodded her head, wrote a couple more words, and set her notepad off to the side. “Let’s go through some very basic transformations though, to help you get more comfortable with it again. I’ll take notes through the process, but take it slow. Why don’t we start with a limb transformation? Don’t forget, I’m here, so don’t worry about things going wrong.”

Nodding a couple times, Nyssa took a deep breath and extended her arm. One blink later, her arm became white and fluffy. Another blink later, her arm became scaley and muscular. One last blink later, her entire arm disappeared, replaced by a colony of duck heads.

Following the duck transformation, she transformed her arm back into its original form, and took a few steps in a small circle while shaking her arms out and catching her breath.

“Did you hold your breath?” Angelica asked, noting down what she could observe. “That’s not a habit you had before. But from what I saw, the transformations are just as fluid as before. No issues so far at least with any of the mechanics behind your transformations.”

“... Yeah, I did hold my breath, I didn’t realize I did until afterward, when I exhaled and was out of breath,” Nyssa put her hands on her knees for a moment, staring at the ground as a feeling of embarrassment roiled in her stomach. “I’m just nervous...”

“That’s understandable,” Angelica left her seat, walking over and rubbing Nyssa on the back. “Take it slow. I know you’re dissatisfied, but it's only with a lot of successful transformations will you build your confidence back up.”

“I know, but it's just so annoying,” Nyssa’s gaze examined her feet, examining every lace, every speck of dirt, and imperfection in the canvas making up its outer layer. “What’s next?”

“A two minute break,” Angelica nudged Nyssa to stand back up. “I want you to walk to the wall and back before we continue, it’ll help you clear your mind a little.”

Unable to protest, and thankful in certain ways for the break, she relented, walking over to the wall and back. She took her time, and four minutes passed instead of Angelica’s originally proposed two, but, with her shoulders far more relaxed, and breath even, she continued.

They repeated a limb transformation, moved onto both limbs, then single leg, then both legs, then legs and limbs, then torso only, then everything below the neck. Interspersed between the sections, Angelica guided Nyssa into taking breaks. Oftentimes, by letting her walk to some part of the gymnasium and back, and other times by distracting her with a short conversation to catch up a little.

“How’s your father been? He was working from home recently if I recall correctly?”

“Yeah, he’s well, how did you know he was working from home though?”

“Because he scolded me over call instead of in person for the incident you went through.”

“... Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re very observant, you know, to notice a small detail like that.”

“I try my best, it is one of my few advantages after all.”

“I see... Also, do you know where Roxanne is? I haven’t seen or heard from her recently.”

“Busy, very busy. She’s been running around doing government sponsored missions to clear out dungeons like the ones we went through. They pay very well, but are very busy. In a certain sense, the festival event she’s co-hosting here with your father is her break. The institute’s doing most of the work to plan and set it up after all.”

“Oh, got it.” Nyssa sat on the ground, with cat ears and a tail, letting Angelica observe her sustained transformation. “I don’t know what else to say, I don’t talk to her much.”

“Yeah, but that’s just a testament to the relationship between you two,” Angelica shrugged. “Alright, you’ve sustained this one quite well. Let’s move on to the last one, a full body transformation. You can start with the cat since I know that’s a very familiar one to you, but I would like to see another afterward. Also, your classmates are behind you, want them to leave?”

Standing on the far side of the gymnasium was Albion, Celeste, Titus, and Conrad, walking over while waving. Unbeknownst to Nyssa, at some point, they had snuck in with a box of store bought cupcakes.

“No, it’s fine, I’m... I’m honored they came to check up on me.” Nyssa bowed her head towards them. “I’ll proceed with the transformations in a second, just let me gather my thoughts for a second to calm down.”

“For sure, take your time,” Angelica reassured, moving aside her laptop on the table to make room for the cupcakes. “You four are very considerate, feel free to find a place to sit. I didn’t bring extra chairs though.”

“No worries at all!”

“We’re just here to cheer Nyssa on.”

“You got this! RAH! We’ve all been through this, so we know how you feel.”

“We’re here for you.”