Chapter Text
As he opened his eyelids, Khadgar felt a shiver run down his spine. He had had a strange dream that he could only remember in fragments, but he had the feeling it was connected to the void. He could recall a dark figure covered in floating strips of fabric. As he sat up in bed, he had the curious impression that something was different, but to know exactly what was rather complex. His mind was particularly foggy. And yet he felt a certain lightness in his movements. He frowned as his eyes settled on his hands, resting on his thighs covered by his nightgown.
He frowned a little more before running a hand through his hair to ruffle it. A brown strand came to rest in front of his eyes, which made him raise an eyebrow.
He didn't really have a mirror at hand, but this was beginning to intrigue him. It had been quite a while since he had had brown hair. So unless someone had amused themselves by dyeing his hair in the night, this was really strange. But what really struck him was when he began to change into his day clothes. And there, he was dismayed. He who had lived for decades with an old man's body now found himself in what seemed to be a middle-aged adult's body.
His hair was softer now and fell more or less into his face and it had regained a rich brown color. As he ran his hand over his face, he could also feel its newfound elasticity and a certain softness.
Once dressed, he grabbed the staff leaning against the wall. It wasn't Atiesh, but he preferred to push that thought from his mind. It would take time to repair the weapon which, incidentally, was beginning to show its age. But it had already been broken before and there was no reason it couldn't be repaired. It was actually a thought he shared regarding Dalaran and its possible reconstruction. However, conversations on this matter continued to divide the Council of Archmages, and it frustrated Khadgar to think about it when he had only been awake for about twenty minutes.
As he descended the stone steps leading to the inn's common room, he crossed paths with Alleria, who was ascending them in the company of an earthen woman with whom she seemed to be engaged in a most passionate conversation. She brushed past him without really paying attention. Then, suddenly, she stopped. She turned her head abruptly and narrowed her eyes over her shoulder.
"What the...? she began. Khad...gar?"
She turned completely towards him, and Khadgar did the same, looking embarrassed. Alleria tilted her head, her mouth slightly open in an ungracious grimace of confusion.
"No, I don't know why I look like... this today, the mage answered before she could ask, visibly embarrassed."
"…You look nice, she said after a pause."
She was looking at him like a proud mother. Still processing and visibly thinking.
"We can talk about it at lunch if you don’t have anything planned."
"Sure" he nodded, mouth slitting.
She returned to her conversation. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Khadgar ordered a hot drink with a piece of bread, something that erthen managed to prepare without too much difficulty, even if their culinary specialties tended to be... how to say... pebbly?
He settled into a wooden armchair and began to drink the comforting liquid.
But even though he had physically rejuvenated, Khadgar remained identifiable by his attire. It was quite practical, because if he had to go to great lengths every time someone didn't recognize him, he would surely have lost a monstrous amount of time.
He didn't have much to do these days... or rather, since Anduin and Alleria had rescued him. Everyone had insisted that he take an extended rest, which, by the way, frustrated Khadgar a bit as he felt utterly useless. But this frustration had given way to a certain appreciation when he discovered the writings that the city possessed and which he had, without any problem, been granted access to. It had the merit of occupying his days.
He often hung around, when he wasn't in the literary archives, near Dornogal's theater to watch the artists rehearse. Some would come by from time to time to chat or offer him a pint, which he found hard to refuse.
That morning, he had gone to the archives as usual, but he had been denied entry because the earthen controlling access, even though he seemed to recognize Khadgar, was on his guard and had deemed it necessary for him to have an interview with his superior. The archmage had ended up wandering aimlessly through the city, taking advantage of the agility of his new body.
Alleria was sitting at a long stone table in front of the inn, accompanied by about a dozen other people, including Anduin who was to her left. Faerin was sitting across from her, and Thrall was to her right. When Khadgar greeted the group with a general nod, both men's eyes rose to him and scrutinized him from head to toe almost simultaneously. Khadgar couldn't help but let out a nervous little laugh as he sat down.
"Oh come on, don't act so surprised, I warned you," Alleria teased, her mouth half-full, rolling her eyes. "Here!" she continued, sliding a plate of meat with vegetables toward Khadgar.
"Warned is a strong word. He looks like someone else," Thrall replied, turning his gaze to the elf.
Unlike Anduin, whose eyes were now so squinted that one might think he was trying to decipher ancient writing on the mage's face. When Thrall nudged him with his elbow, the latter nearly choked and was seized by a powerful coughing fit. Now it was hard to tell if he was red because he was coughing his lungs out or for some other reason.
"It's... surprising," Anduin managed between coughs, nearly breathless.
"You can say that again!" Khadgar replied, amused. "Unfortunately, I have no idea what caused this change. All I know is that I woke up like this. And yet, it's not like I've been doing anything special lately, except reading and... meditating?"
He speared a piece of mutton with his cutlery before holding it up in front of him to emphasize his point.
"That said, I'm not going to complain... but I do have some concerns about... other things that might have changed overnight," he continued. "Or as a result of such a spell."
"It might be wise to have a medical check-up," Faerin commented, turning his head to the left.
"And maybe we should check if there's some strange artifact lying around in the places you usually frequent, I guess..." Thrall added.
'If there ins't any change, it's going to be difficult to find the cause of this...' Khadgar thought while looking at his hand. He scratched the back of his neck 'Will it even change anything?'.