Katie sighed as she viewed the shop she was essentially a prisoner in, her options were limited and she knew what she had to do. "Your not leaving me many choices here Merlin," she said. "I guess becoming your apprentice is my best option if I want to retain a part of myself."
Merlin smiled broadly and rubbed his hands together enthusiastically. "Excellent choice Katie," he said. "Trust me you won't regret this." Merlin now began gathering supplies on his desk asKatie watched intently. "So what are you doing?" She asked. "Well your going to need a body this maybe a magic shop but I can't have a ghost helping me out around here." Katie agreed as she tried to take in exactly what she looked like right now, unfortunately all she could make out was vapor at this point. "How long will this take," she asked. "Not long," he responded. "I'm almost finished and once I use it the effects should be instantaneous. There I'm finished, hope your ready."
Katie nodded, or at least tried to considering her current form. She watched as Merlin muttered a few sentences before smashing the bottle in the area Katie now occupied. Katie felt a whoosh of air and felt as if her form was constricting. She was frightened for a moment before a tingle began to spread over her. Calm spread over Katie as the room grew dark. "Katie open your eyes," Katie struggled to open her eyes now. The voice sounded distant and she felt quite tired. Katie blinked and opened her eyes the light of the room forcing her to shield them. "My eyes hurt," she groaned. "There new," Merlin stated. "They just need some time to adjust. Tell me how you feel."
Katie's hand now rubbed her face. She was happy to be solid again but felt tired as if she had run a marathon. "Okay I guess," she said. "I'm exhausted though." "Well you were just reborn that thing takes a lot out of you. I also had to age you to an appropriate age, hope you like the results."
Katie stood up unsteadily and slowly began to walk towards the large mirror in the store. Rubbing her eyes Katie could see she was now a 16 year old girl. As Katie examined herself she could see that she did resemble herself from before but there seemed to be some differences. Katie's hair seemed a little lighter and her face was a little different but she mostly looked like herself. "I like it," she said. "I look like myself...sort of." "I'm unable to make you exactly as you were before but I hope this is to your liking." Merlin said as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "In case your wondering why your 16 it's because I'm going to need your help running the store," he said. "People would get suspicious of a little girl running things when I'm not around."
Katie turned around and smiled at Merlin. "Thank you," she said. "So when do we start training." Merlin smiled, he had a very good feeling about his new apprentice.