Now that I knew what was going on with me, it seemed as if I was changing even more quickly. Walking with Ella to the nurse's office, I stumbled and almost fell down a flight of stairs as my left leg became a little shorter and my right toes got cat claws. Fangs popped out of my mouth and my breasts shrank to the size they were after my first change.

“I'm going to be sick,” I moaned. The Rapid Transformation Syndrome was making my insides roil.

“Hold on, Petra,” Ella said, as I clung to her. “We're almost there.”

“Are they even open at this hour?” It wasn't quite lights out, but it was late and every student was supposed to be in their dorms.

“It's Doom Valley, what do you think?”

She had a good argument. You never knew when a student might decide to blow someone up, or a potion from earlier in the day could suddenly come back with nasty side affects. Hopefully the night nurse was different from the day nurse. If she was, I might get cured.

When we finally got to the office, my eyebrows had grown three feet long, making it extremely hard to see. It seemed like the Rapunzel salve had decided it wanted to play as well. Stepping inside, I flipped my new and unwanted fashion statement up and over my head. What I saw made me want to groan.

The same nurse as always was there, reading a book and sipping a cup of something steaming. She didn't look happy as her eyes fell on me. Taking her time, she put her book and tea down, got up from her comfy looking chair and walked over to me, her shoes clicking menacingly on the stone floor. “What have you done this time?” she asked.

“She has Rapid Transformation Syndrome,” Ella said. “It's apparently a really bad case of it.”

“I can see that. I'm surprised it took this long to occur, considering all the changes you've done to yourself. Normally it would have kicked in two or three days ago. I suppose I should help you, even though you are a thief.”

“I'm sorry,” I said, too sick to even try to deny it. “I won't do it again.”

The nurse snorted. “Sit down and hold out your arm. I'm going to give you a needle that will help stabilize your shape.”

“You mean I'll stay like I am right now?” I didn't like that idea. My face was covered in fur, my legs were still different sizes, my cat tail was a stub under my tailbone, and my eyes were from two different species making it hard to focus. Reading would be difficult like this without closing one of my eyes, and combat class would be impossible.

“Probably not. This medicine will use your self image to help settle your shape,” she replied, as she dug through a cabinet.

“See, I told you everything would be fine,” Ella said, squeezing my shoulder.

I tried to say something, but my jaw decided to grow to match what it had looked like as a boy, while the rest of my face stayed a little smaller and girlish. Finding it hard to talk without spitting and hitting my teeth together, I just tried to smile.

The nurse came over with a large needle, filled with something red and bubbling. Grabbing my arm, she rubbed some stinging alcohol on my bicep, then put the cold, metal tip against my skin. “Hold still, this is really going to hurt.”

“Um, can you use something el- GAH!!!!” I screamed as acid was injected into my veins.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Pain became my new best friend. It filled me up, wrapped me in it's arms, and made sure it was the only thing I could think of. From the tips of my toes, to the end of my hair, pain was the only thing that mattered. Even sound hurt.

Very slowly it let me go. I found myself lying on the floor, my head on Ella's lap, with her looking down at me, concern written on her face. Seeing the worry in her big, brown eyes, I wanted to reassure her that everything was fine. Opening my mouth, I said, “Ow!”

It wasn't what I wanted to say, but it was really all I could say. My brain was still trying to work out what it was supposed to do, and signals were getting mixed up.

“Don't worry Petra, you're all better now,” Ella said.

“Oh no, she isn't,” the nurse said. “This just stabilized her shape. She'll need to get the same shot every evening now or she'll start to transform again.”

A whimper escaped my lips.

“Will it be easier next time?” Ella asked.

The nurse smiled. It wasn't a pleasant smile. It looked a lot like a cat smiling at a trapped mouse. “No.”

“There has to be something easier than this.”

“There's a way to cure her permanently. But I don't want to do it for a thief who keeps annoying me.”

Sighing, Ella asked, “How much will it cost to get you to cure her?”

“I don't want money.”

“Then a favour? I am the daughter of the Immortal Emperor.”

“And if your father actually remembers your name I'd be very surprised.”

Ella's face didn't seem to change. If I hadn't spent the last two weeks living with her, I wouldn't have seen the tightening of her jaw, or the darkening of her eyes. That jab had hurt.

Sitting up, I glared at the nurse. “So what will it take to get the cure?” I asked. I tried to sound tough, but the best I managed was a weak croak.

“There is something I want. The Dwarves of the Emerald Mountain Clan, have a drink called the Elixir of Life. They never sell it to outsiders. Get me a bottle of it, and I'll mix up a cure for you.”

“How are we supposed to get you that?” I demanded.

“I don't know or care. Find a way to buy it, steal it, get the recipe and make it yourself, it's all the same to me. Now get out, it's well past lights out.” She handed us a slip which was an excuse for being out so late.

Leaving quickly, not wanting to risk making her even more annoyed, we made our way through the dark halls of Doom Valley. Ghosts were out wandering the halls, sweeping the floors, washing the walls, removing bloodstains, and just tidying up as they wailed and whimpered. A lot of the ghosts were teenagers in torn and tattered school uniforms. I could picture myself in their position all too easily.

“So I guess I'll be getting that shot every day until I can find another doctor,” I said.

“Oh no you won't,” Ella said. “We'll ask Calci about the Dwarves tomorrow. She should be able to buy it.”

Hope rose in my chest. “Oh yeah. I wonder if she can just place an order for it.”

Feeling a lot better, we walked a little more confidently down the hall.

“So, Petra,” Ella said, staring intently at the floor. “It looks like you're still a girl.”

Reaching down, I felt around and realized that she was right. I was once again completely female. “Yeah I am. At least I'm human again, and my breasts are smaller.”

“At least now you won't attract so much attention. You look a lot like you did when we first met, just a little taller and more muscular.”

A horrible thought rose up in my mind. “Does this mean I'm thinking of myself as a girl now?”

“I don't know. Do you want me to ask Kai?”

“No,” I said. If we asked him, and it turned out I was thinking that I was really a girl, it might make it so I really was. And I didn't know how I'd deal with that.

“OK. Let's hurry up and get to bed. We have a lot to do tomorrow,” Ella said, wrapping her arm around mine.

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“Wow! Petra you're human again!” Naomi said.

We were all in the hall about to head off for breakfast, and I was feeling pretty good. It was nice being human for a change, and after a good night sleep I was ready to face the day. But first there was something important to do.

“Yeah, hopefully I get to stay human for a while. I don't want to have to deal with any more transformations,” I said. Turning to my Dwarven friend, I gave her my best smile. “And to help make that a reality. Calci, could you buy something for me. I really need something called the Elixir of Life from the Emerald Mountain Clan Dwarves.”

“Who?” Calci asked, looking very confused.

“The Emerald Mountain Clan Dwarves. They make something called the Elixir of Life that the nurse wants, but they only sell it to Dwarves.”

“I've never heard of them, or this Elixir of Life.”

Ella stepped in. “Seriously, you have never heard of them?”

“No,” Calci insisted. “Do you really think that all Dwarves know each other? Practically every mountain in the world has a clan of some sort in it. Trying to keep track of all of them is a full time job. And if this Elixir of Life is really special, they might only sell it to their clan members. ”

“Oh. Well...” I didn't actually know what to say. I was going to have to go through the excruciating experience of getting the shot every single day. Bowing my head in defeat, I refused to cry.