Agonizingly slow, her eyes peeled open, and she winced as harsh sunlight crept past her lashes. Upon lifting her head from the pillow, she felt the full effect of her hangover. A pounding headache followed by a sudden wave of nausea that sent her flying towards the bathroom. This was one of those moments where Lilly found herself foolishly vowing to never drink again. After cleaning herself up and popping a few painkillers, she flopped back onto her mattress beside an equally hungover Alex. They both still sported the outfits they fell asleep in, which wasn't the most comfortable option.

"I'm never drinking again," he mumbled into her pillow, trying to keep the sunlight from reaching him.

"Tell me about it," Lilly agreed, throwing her arm across her eyes. "Can you hand me my phone? It should be on your side," he let out a series of moans as he shuffled between the sheets. He handed it to her, and she fumbled to peek out from behind her arm to get the time, "shit! I'm late!" Lilly jumped up from the bed and immediately regretted it when her headache increased tenfold.

She ignored Alex's mumbled inquiries, not even bothering to go in the other room to change. It wasn't like either of them cared. Eliza was going to kill her. She was supposed to be there now, and she hadn't even left. Lilly turned a few heads with her marathon sprint across campus, and it was ten minutes past when she barged through the classroom doors. Her mentor looked up from a particularly ancient-looking book with disinterest.

"Oh, good, you're finally here. Let's get started," Lilly stood in shock. After Eliza made such a big deal of how she despised tardiness, she acted like it was nothing.

"You-you're not mad?"

"Darling, if I got mad about you being late, it would take even more time out of our lesson. I have places to be and things to do. I simply ask that you respect my time." Lilly settled into one of the chairs closest to her tutor, waiting for her to speak. "Shifters are, as you know, exceedingly rare, at least in this world. I've been to many worlds and fortunately have been able to learn of their culture and powers."

"If they exist in different worlds, then why don't I just go to another world and study from one of them?"

"Interdimensional travel can be extremely volatile, especially to the worlds where they exist. Shifter's themselves can be lethal. They may look human, but they would be classified as a magical creature. Almost every culture has its own version of Shifter's in their mythology, none very pleasant. Humans tend to fear what they do not understand, and the Shifter's use of blood didn't help their case. Many believed they were the work of the devil. Over time, Shifters on earth were hunted down and killed by humans and Magicians."

"So, do they- we do anything other than shapeshift?

"I am by no means an expert, but from what I understand, more experienced shifters can shift through eye contact. I've heard talk of heightened psychic abilities. I'm not sure of any others, but there probably are some."

"So, how exactly do I do this? I mean, I did it without even thinking the first time, does it just happen by itself?" Lilly was completely clueless.

"That is what I'm here to teach you," Eliza reached across the counter she leaned on, pulling a row of vials towards her. Each one was filled with dark red liquid and Lilly knew instantly it was blood. "Shifters have the ability to match their DNA with that of their victims. Some powerful Illusionists can make themselves appear as a different person, but Shifters are different. They actually become the person. Your body instinctually turned during your sorting, but it can be dangerous to do without training. You could end up getting stuck as someone else or seriously deformed. There is even risk of losing your shade," Lilly gulped. Eliza plucked one of the vials from its holder and approached her pupil. Lilly eyed the blood warily as Eliza broke open the top.

"Are you sure this is sanitary?"

"It should only take a drop for you to change form, but before I give it to you, we must run through what to do. When it touches your skin, I want you to picture every molecule of the blood getting absorbed into your skin. Once you feel it start to take effect, you need to focus on the DNA of the person you're shifting into replacing your own." Lilly nodded, though she wasn't too excited about replacing her DNA with someone else's. "It's important that you keep a hold on your own essence while changing into someone else. It is all too easy to lose yourself during a shift." It was difficult to figure out what Eliza meant, but Lilly figured the only way to learn was by doing. She nodded for her mentor to start, and Eliza moved to pour a drop of blood onto Lilly's palm, then stepped back to observe.

Lilly felt the effect as soon as it hit her skin. A strong tingling filled her body, starting in the spot where the blood was absorbed. It happened the same way it had the first time, the burning sensation coursing through her in waves. Lilly automatically tensed up from the unnatural feeling, her breath quickened in fear.

"Focus on what I told you," Eliza's words reminded Lilly of her instruction, and she managed to slow her breathing down enough to focus. She could picture the DNA of the blood and then her own, fighting each other for control. The moment she started to replace hers with the new DNA, the burning subsided, leaving just the tingling. She was no longer fighting the change, and it was almost like slipping into a new dress. Lilly could still feel her essence- her shade- at the core of her body, just with a different outer layer. The tingling stopped abruptly, and Lilly fluttered her lashes, revealing a smiling Eliza.

"Did I do it?" Eliza didn't respond, instead, she pulled out a mirror. Lilly accepted and hesitantly peered into the glass. A young girl around thirteen stared back at her. Her hair was now a strawberry blonde, and an abundance of freckles dotted her face. The clothes she wore had grown baggy on this new body.

"It's quite good for your first attempt, though the eyes aren't quite right, they're meant to be green," Eliza was correct, her eyes were still the same chocolate brown they always were. "Now, you need to get back to your own body," Lilly placed the mirror down on the table, "focus on your essence." Lilly followed her instructions, eager to return to herself, "picture your own body, each of your features. Let your essence grow, reclaiming your body," Lilly focused on Eliza's words and allowed them to guide her through the motions. After a moment, the tingling returned, filling her entire body until she was Lilly again.

Eliza had used up each vial completely by the time Lilly was free to go. She'd made many mistakes, often getting the eye color or hair wrong and having to start over again. She even messed up one person's nose. Eliza turned out to be an amazing teacher, and Lilly wondered why she wasn't a professor. No matter how many times Lilly screwed up, she stayed patient and guided her through the process again.

While Lilly appreciated the practice, it took a lot out of her. It was two hours of shifting and turning back. By the time she left the classroom, her eyes were drooping, and her muscles screamed. She found herself groaning at the ding that signaled a text message. Lilly stopped and pulled the device from her pocket, pausing beside one of the many fountains.

I need your help nerds. Meet me at the cottage in ten - Penny

The message was addressed to Alice and Quentin as well. Lilly was tempted to ignore it, and continue along the path to the castle. However, if Penny was asking for help, it must've been important. Lilly redirected herself towards the cottage, praying that this was worth her time.

"This better be good," she flopped down on the couch beside Alice and Quentin. Penny and Kady stood before the three, looking just as irritated about this meeting as Lilly was.

"You look like you got hit by a bus," Alice pointed out as Lilly tucked her legs into her chest.

"I'm hungover and had Shifter training, so let's get this over with," Lilly motioned for Penny to speak and took a sip from the water she swiped from the bar on the way in.

"Okay, recently I've been hearing this girl's voice in my head. She was screaming and asking for my help. So, I astral projected to where she was. That's when things got freaky. She was chained up in some medieval torture chamber, and when I looked at her arm, she had the same tattoo as I do." Penny pulled his sleeve down to reveal a fresh tattoo, an anchor surrounded by a circle of runes, the skin around it red and irritated. "It restricts Travelers to astral projection, but before I could do anything else, The Beast showed up," Lilly perked up, suddenly this story was a lot more interesting, "he looked right at me, even said hello."

"But, I thought you were astral projecting?" Quentin asked.

"I was, he shouldn't have been able to see me. All I can say is that it was some kind of dungeon," Kady held out a sheet of paper.

"This was on the walls," Quentin took it from her, Alice and Lilly both hovered at his shoulders to see what it was. It looked to be a coat of arms. Two rams faced each other, their horns curled grandiosely. A crown hovered above them, offset by five stars on the bottom. A spark of recognition ignited in Lilly's eyes. It couldn't be...

"That's Ember's seal, from the books," Lilly spoke, the disbelief clear in her voice. She and Quentin looked at each other with mirrored astonishment. Quentin scrambled to reach his bag, rifling through to produce a copy of Fillory and Further. He flipped furiously through the pages for a reference image. Sure enough, the two images were an exact match. Lilly's mind reeled with this new information.

"Penny, I think you were in Fillory," Penny looked at them like they were insane. Quentin paced back and forth while Alice and Lilly showed Penny the book. "You were in Fillory," Quentin muttered over and over like a madman, running his fingers nervously through his hair, "you were in Fillory--"

"Stop!" Penny interrupted, "okay? Fillory is just a--"

"Did you see any animals? Did they talk to you?"

"I was in a dungeon, you Hobbit-loving freak. What's wrong with you?" Lilly stepped between the two in an attempt to keep the peace.

"Guys, lets just hold on a sec. I don't know if this means you were in Fillory, but it's starting to look that way. Stop fighting and put your energy into figuring this out," Lilly's voice was calm and reasonable, sadly, they both just ignored her.

"There were no Hobbits in Fillory. It--It doesn't matter- ah, the drawing, the crest, it means that you were in a certain Fillorian castle."

"Kill me."

"It was built by dwarves- alright, let's not get caught up in the details. The- the point is that the- It's full of a- a ton of magical shit," Quentin stumbled over his words as he always did when excited or nervous.

"Oh, yeah, The Beast is really fucking magical. Let me pop back over there and see if he does birthday parties," Penny spat, "let's go, it's a waste of time." Penny and Kady turned to leave and Lilly was about to say something, but surprisingly, Alice was the one to call out.

"I think you should listen to Quentin because I'm assuming you didn't travel to Fillory on some planned vacation." Penny turned to face her, "so, you don't know how to control it yet. Then educate yourself, nobody knows more about Fillory than Quentin. What if you end up back there again?" Penny looked unconvinced, but Kady was another story.

"She makes a point," Penny rolled his eyes but knew she was right.

"Okay, fanboy, tell me what it says in the books about not getting my face eaten by The Beast."

"Uh- The Beast isn't in the books," Quentin stuttered, shifting his weight restlessly between feet.

"How's that if I was right there staring him in the face?"

"The Chatwins, they mostly got chased around by this time witch, The Watcher Woman," Kady and Penny shook their heads, "she plants clocks in trees, ah, it's sort of surrealist."

"Okay, I take it back, this is a waste of your time," Kady groaned, turning and pulling Penny away with her.

"The books were written for kids, maybe they skipped the monster that rips out people's eyes? I don't know!" Quentin bellowed and they both stalled.

"Okay, we're done here," Penny sniped, "you love Fillory so much, I hope you get to go, I really do," They finally walked off, leaving the three in silence.

"I guess I've been trying to convince myself that Penny's somehow wrong about Fillory, despite having actually been there," he sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Lilly took his hand and allowed him to speak, "that's a pretty acrobatic form of denial."

"I really am sorry," Alice cooed from her spot on the coffee table, "I'm sure Fillory got you through a lot as a kid."

"Yeah," he sighed, "as a kid..." Lilly left a little while later, sensing that Quentin needed some space to work through this new revelation. His entire perception of what Fillory is, or was, had been warped into something grotesque and twisted. They didn't know for sure that it was real, but if it was, then his childhood storybook was a lot darker than he thought.

Lilly slept through the better part of the afternoon the next day. When she eventually awoke, she texted Dani and Alex to invite them for coffee with her. After her chat with Alex at the party, she realized how much she'd been neglecting her other friends. Everything that happened with The Beast had her so consumed in her little inner circle with Quentin, Alice, Penny, and Kady.

As soon as she sat down with them, it was as if no time had passed. They sipped their coffee, trying not to spew the hot liquid across the room every time Dani made a joke. Lilly wished she could stay there forever, in the moments she felt normal and happy. The in-between time where she wasn't being hunted by a murderous moth covered monster. It was midnight by the time Lilly and Alex made it to their rooms. Their eyes were weary, but it was worth the time they got to spend together, something that was a rarity nowadays.

Lilly let the silk fabric of her blouse slip to the floor as she dug through her drawers for a comfortable set of pajamas. She pulled on a fresh pair of undergarments and settled on a pair of pants with little strawberries printed on them. It was something Cara had given her for Christmas last year. She had a matching pair that they would wear on movie nights at the old apartment. A low cut gray tank top covered her upper body, and ended above her belly button, leaving a thin strip of pale skin exposed. Lilly brushed her blonde locks through, before she switched the lamp beside her bed out, and climbed under the sheets. Her eyes fluttered closed and allowed the tendrils of sleep to wrap around her.

Creeeaaakkk

Lilly's eyes shot open, searching through the darkness for the source of the disturbance. She looked to the doorway, the tiniest sliver of a crack had appeared between the door and its frame. It could've been the wind, the castle was known to be drafty, but something in her gut knew that this was more.

Bang!

Something slammed out in the hallway, possibly another door, but she wasn't about to sit around and take the chance. A shiver up her spine urged her to move from where she lay vulnerable. Her fingers moved swiftly, casting a muffling spell on herself. Silent as a mouse, she shoved the blankets off her legs. She knew better than to call out into the darkness, having seen enough horror movies to know that the girl who asks who's there is the first to die when the monster shows up. Padding meticulously across the floor, she left the lights off so as not to get murdered the minute she revealed herself. She hunched down in the corner by the door, swiping a nearly empty bottle of liquor off the coffee table as a weapon.

Lilly's fingers weaved together to form a circle between her thumb and index finger and held it before her eyes. The room was laid out before her, clear as day, the night vision charm working beautifully. She stayed silent and monitored for any movement. Her eyes flashed towards the cracked door as it swung open to reveal a dark hooded figure standing menacingly in the door frame.

Only then did Lilly realize how ridiculous her plan was. If this was an attack by The Beast and her only weapon was a glass bottle and the element of surprise, she was utterly fucked. Her heartbeat quickened, loud enough that she was sure the figure could hear it through the muffling spell. The ink-black cloak swept across the floor as it prowled towards the bed. If only it knew that it wasn't the one doing the sneaking.

Lilly rose from her hiding spot. The hooded figure had passed her by unsuspectingly and now stood over the empty mattress. She crept up behind it, a cat stalking its prey. Whomever it was hadn't yet realized that the outline of a body under the covers was nothing but a lump of pillows. She was right behind them now, raising the bottle above her head, ready to strike. The figure pulled the blankets back just as Lilly brought the bottle down over its head with a deafening crash. She quickly used her magic to return the lights to the room as the figure moaned on the floor.

"Who are you?" Her voice was strong and threatening as she stood above the cloaked figure. Her heart jolted when they lifted their chin to meet her intense gaze. Covering their face was a terrifying golden mask, a pair of furious dark eyes peered out from behind it, "what do you w--" she began, but was cut off by a burlap sack being thrown over her head from behind, muffling her last words and throwing her into darkness once more.