#24 Bird

There’s a very special class of witches at the Headquarters. The girls that belonged to the department were recruited the moment they showed signs of the talent, which could begin in childhood. Regardless of the situation, they would be taken from their families to undergo training. One of them told me that she was sent to Headquarters when she was only three years old, because she had accidentally sprouted an extra tail at will, upon touching a gecko's tail.

When the witches turned eighteen, Headquarters would give each one a single feather, gathered from the forest, that must be kept on them at all times. When they touch the feather, part of them will morph into the bird of the feather, which would determine their role as they prepare for war. If she were given a white dove’s feather, she would be a messenger. A black crow’s feather would meant that she had to go to the battlefield. Only in every century does a witch be bestowed a Phoenix feather. And for the entirety of the century, she would have to lead every battle, to die and rise again countlessly. Over time, the feathers will wilt, and decompose, and so will the witches.

These transmorphic witches had no name for themselves, but everyone else called them "Harpies.”

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I’ve been watching Howl’s Moving Castle.