After a few days of the newly established office for Anya, many of the females started feeling better. Anya continued to do her experiments in trying to activate her power at will. She also attempted to ask around if anyone heard a jingle bell, but no one knew what she was referring to. By the end of the week she decided to investigate how long she had possessed this power. It had not activated until she crossed over into this new world. It happened naturally on its own.
An elderly beast lady, Agatha, arrived for her appointment and told Anya that he's had hip pain for a while. That she has tried morning exercises which only relieved it for a temporary time. She felt it was something else that was causing it. Anya was examining her hip when she felt it. It was a bone that was dislocated and healed over time, but was not fixed. It was set in place now. Anya needed to do surgery on her, but she didn't have all the necessary tools. It pained her heart as she really wanted to help her. Then her power was activated and fixed the bone that needed surgery. Agatha didn't experience pain while the process. If anything, it felt as if the stinging feeling she felt for some time was being pulled out. Anya realized that she needed to have a strong desire to help in order to activate her healing powers. Although, in this situation, she did something else besides healing, she deconstructed the bone that was in place and relocated. It was as she envisioned in her mind how the surgery would be done. Part of the reason why her powers wouldn't activate was, even though she wanted to help, she had all the tools available to heal without using her powers. Anya thanked Agatha for her visit and hugged her. She was pleased that she had made progress on how her powers worked. Anya raised her hair into a bun and tied it with some string to take the next patient. She turned around to grab a few herbs to send Agatha in case she felt any pain despite having used her powers on her. She didn't know if she temporarily numbed the pain or did a full heal, but she wanted to make sure Agatha was prepared. When Anya turned away from Agatha, her birthmark was seen on the back of her neck. It was a small paw mark.
When Agatha noticed the paw mark, she gasped in amazement. Then she called Anya princess. Anya was confused. Did this patient just call me princess? She thought to herself. She grew up in a small town and has never left, because she felt happier in the town than away. She had gone away for her degree, but felt extremely home sick. Which is why she worked extra hard to advance her education as fast as possible. Once getting home she felt at ease. Anya turned to look at the patient, Agatha, and asked her, "what did you say?" Agatha lowered her head and said, "Princess Calendula" and then reached to kiss Anya's hand.
Anya was still confused and remained speechless. Agatha then spoke, "Our existence is caused by the royal family that had magical powers. It was because of their gifts we came to be beastpeople. They combined their powers to create our kind. Before the war broke out, they said they had to return home. When they left, they carried their first born girl that had a birthmark of a pawprint. Princess Calendula, that is your true name. The one we use when addressing you formally."
Anya replied, "but that was decades ago, I'm only in my early twenties." The old lady was crying and said, "to think that I've lived this long to see the princess return. I thought I would never see that day." Anya asked, "how old are you?" Then Agatha responded, "I'm a thousand and two now. We were told time moved differently here by your parents. This was their home originally. The land had many siblings of your kind, but over time siblings of the royals wanted to leave and venture out. Eventually it was just your parents left here. They didn't want to be left alone and created us. Those were harmonious times." Then Agatha continued to weep. "How lucky are we that you have returned at such a time that we needed you."
Anya then knew she could return home through the same way her parents left. However, she felt her heart tug at the thought of leaving behind the beast people. Is this all real? Was she really part of this royal family? It was all new to her and why didn't her parents tell her to begin with. It would have been nice if they told her that she belonged to a different world and they had superpowers in that world. Not to mention had a different alias, Princess Calendula, but there was no use in getting upset over spilled milk. She was now here and for some unknown reason she was called to return.
Agatha wanted to inform Misty right away that Princess Calendula had returned, but Anya asked her to keep it a secret for now. To refer to her as Doctor Anya or just Anya. She still didn't know much about her past. She didn't want anyone to have high expectations of her. She was fine being the beast healer for now. She will reveal her identity once she feels more comfortable or found it necessary. Agatha agreed to stay quiet under one condition, that she may stay close to her at all times to ensure she gets treated with dignity and fairness. She also wanted to offer her services as an assistant since the role of secretary was already filled. Anya took a moment to think, but in the end the reason she accepted the extra help is because there was a high demand for her services. She could have her assistant do the simple intake portion while she did the main examinations. This would help ease the work load and run the office smoother so the patients can be seen in a timely fashion.They gave themselves a goal to have everyone seen at the office by the end of the year. This way everyone was up to date in their health check up. Then they can organize who needed more repeat visits and who needed an annual visit. Anya didn't know how long she would be in this world, but she needed to plan for the future just in case. Especially now that she learned her true identity.
By the end of her day, Anya was tired and wanted to take a long break. She had a lot to think about. She wished she could speak to her mother and father to sort everything. To find out the origin of her family. It's true that she asked when she was a child, but her parents said that they were from a different country and that none of their relatives were nearby. So eventually she let the subject go. She had after all, had the two most important people in her life with her.