Over the next few minutes her growth continues at a slower and slower rate. The fiery aura around her gets a bit weaker each time her growth rate slows. It is obvious that the energy from the gem is finally starting to run out.

After another few minutes her growth finally stops and the fiery aura fades away. The last few wisps of the aura are absorbed by Mushu, who looks satisfied. He immediately heads over to the nest, curls up in a ball, and falls asleep.

Mulan stopped growing at about a twenty foot wingspan, the size of a small plane. She is taking up a good portion of the room, but she has stopped giving off heat. She is standing up, but her eyes are closed and she seems to be in a trance.

Lin says "Is she alright?"

"I'm not sure, but I think she is. She is probably just adjusting to the changes in her body. Sudden growth like that is somewhat painful."

A few more minutes pass before Mulan opens her eyes and looks around. Then she shapeshifts into human form and climbs down off the ruined table. Her human form is that of a teenager, she looks to be about thirteen or fourteen.

Her hair is dark red with lighter highlights and it reaches the middle of her back. I don't have any idea why, but her features are those of someone from the orient. Her eyes are the one thing that doesn't look human, they are those of a bird.

Mulan says "Thank you, father. I am sorry that I snatched your gem, but I couldn't resist the temptation."

"I am just glad that you are okay. How do you feel?"

Mulan says "I feel great! I have even recovered some of my memories."

Lin says "Your memories?"

Mulan says "My memories from before my rebirth. As a phoenix, I am eternal, when I die I am reborn. Each time, when I am reborn, I lose my memories until I mature. I am not fully mature yet, so I only regained a part of my memory, but it is enough to know how to use my abilities."

"I am happy for you. Does that mean that you are going to be leaving?"

Mulan says "No! Of course not. I still see you as my parents and that is never going to change. No matter how many lives I live through in the future, I will never forget all of you. You are my family."

After that touching statement, Lin, Albion, Nala, and I crowd around to hug Mulan. Mushu is out cold, so he doesn't get to join in, but the rest of us enjoy a family moment. Mulan has a smile on her face and tears in her eyes as she hugs us all back.

After a few minutes of that, I repair the table and put out more food so that we can finish dinner. Mulan eats far more than usual, but after growing that much it isn't surprising. More than just her body has changed, her mentality is also a lot more mature.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She basically went from a baby straight to a teenager and it is going to take some getting used to. She is understandably tired and she goes to bed as soon as she finishes eating. Since Mushu is still fast asleep, I spend some time with Nala and Albion before they go to bed.

Once they are all asleep I open up a soulscape and invite the usual crowd. Interestingly, when Mulan appears, she is already in her human, teenager form. I wasn't expecting her to have adapted so completely to her new situation.

Of course, everyone else notices the changes in her and they are all curious about what happened. So, after sitting everyone down, I once again tell the story about my recent activities. I end the story by telling how Mulan ate the gem and the changes that happened afterwards.

While Mushu did join the soulscape, he doesn't look any different than usual. Any changes to his body probably won't show up until after he wakes up in the morning. Once everyone has heard the story, I leave them to play and move off to the side a ways.

"Seronia, Krenocia, I invite you to my soulscape!"

Seronia says "Hello, Ash. It has been a while."

Krenocia says "That's because he only summons us when he is in trouble or wants permission for something insane."

Seronia says "Sister! That's rude!"

Krenocia says "That doesn't make it untrue. So, which is it this time?"

"Um, I wanted to inform you of the resurrection of the fire god. I also learned some more about the Maker."

Seronia says "Wait, the fire god? As in the ancient fire god?"

Krenocia says "Gods don't just get resurrected. What did you do?!"

Once again I start telling the story about my recent activities to the pair of goddesses. Unfortunately, Lin comes over to join us and she calls me out whenever I try to skip some details. Even that doesn't satisfy the goddesses, they want to know everything I have done since we last spoke.

Seronia says "So, the Maker is a goddess and the god of fire wants to beat you up for freeing her? You really can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you?"

Krenocia says "See, I told you so."

Lin says "He really can't. But he has been trying and he has been doing less stupid things."

Krenocia says "Tell me something, Ash. Was your curiosity always this bad? Or is this my fault for putting you in a cat-like body?"

"I was always curious. However it is worse now than in my old life. I don't know if that is because of the body or if it is because of this world."

Seronia says "What do you mean?"

"In my old world information was easy to get, so my curiosity was easily satisfied. In this world I have to work to find things out and some things aren't possible to learn. This leaves my curiosity unsatisfied, which makes it more intense. So I can't be sure which is the cause and which is the effect."

Krenocia says "So, it could still be my fault, we just can't be sure. That doesn't really make me feel any better."

Seronia says "Either way, since you brought him to this world you are responsible for his actions."

Krenocia says "Don't even try to pretend you didn't help! If I am at fault, then you are as well!"

"Why are you two arguing about who's at fault? No one is responsible for my actions but me."

Seronia says "The other gods won't see it that way. They are going to be looking for someone to blame."

"For what?"

Krenocia says "Don't tell me you don't realize how much chaos you have caused? The resurrection of an ancient god is a huge deal!!"

Seronia says "Why would he know that? He has no idea what the politics of the pantheons are like. Besides, it's not like the pantheons wouldn't come after us anyway."