“The concert had to be canceled when the band’s song caused a large creature to form in the middle of the crowd who then joined in the ‘mosh-pit’ according to witnesses. No one was harmed and the… let me see here, oh come on, you have to be kidding me. Williams!” The news correspondent yelled back to the crew in the middle of the live broadcast.
After a few seconds, she held her ear and was apparently informed. “Well, it appears that the information I was given is correct. I do hope you forgive me dear viewers but it was an ‘Atomic Powered Galactic Zombie Abomination.’ From everyone here at Channel 38 ½, we do indeed tell you what you just heard is correct according to official reports, I repeat, an Atomic…”
“Bards? Really?” Darnell turned off the television in the town hall. Magic had been making getting internet access even more difficult on the remote mountain. So, after informing Zippy of the issues contacting the outside world; the small gnome had set up a TV and cellular hotspot inside of the building. The only downside, all the dense mana prevented the signal from going farther than the town hall.
“So… yeah, shit is getting weird y'all.” Darnell said plainly to the crowd.
Most of the town was with him at the morning meeting after he’d had Zippy make a magical announcement. Seriously, being able to just make magical thunderous voices, so useful for announcements.
“Anyway, since yer all gonna wind up in the weird yourselves soon enough.. Zippy, they’re all yours.” Darnell politely bowed out of the way for the cloud-riding gnome.
“Alright everyone so… Do you want the good news or the bad news?” He said calmly as the entire town hall erupted in shouts. The ancient pews used as seating creaking under the moving mass of bodies as people stood to shout their confusion.
“No, No, I’m not kidding you, there genuinely is both. Now everyone sit, we’re doing this the old fashioned way, raise your hands.” Zippy quickly took a tally, thinking it best to let the people decide the order, that way they could be less angry at him.
“Alright, you picked bad first with over forty votes. That’s good, that means we can go in order. The bad news is, everyone here will be going into a chrysalis in the next few days…” Zippy calmly waited as a hushed whisper took over the crowd.
“You’re being reborn whether you like it or not. Now, the cause of this was the unfortunate events of a few days ago.”
“The massacre you mean!” Clarice stood, seathing. Her own self-anger at being powerless directed to the small mage.
Zippy solemnly nodded, and then to everyone’s surprise. “Yes, The massacre... Jamie here…” Pointing at the newly appointed shop owner. “...Made a binding wish. Unknowingly enough you unlocked the genie’s power in a way. They normally cannot defend themselves, they normally have no way of preventing a new master of making a wish. I believe 101 Arabian Nights laid it out the best. What you’ve created would originally be called a ‘Cave of Wonders.’”
Zippy paused as the town oohed and aahed at the title.
“However, due to more… recent folklore being created; the situation is a little different.”
Jamie stood, knowing their cue. Zippy was completely lost and even a tad confused about the details.
“Listen, the genie, Will, they have a name. Anyway, Will read a lot of my old gaming books; a lot of my personal fiction I had stored in Auntie Christia’s shop at the time. I think they’re making a dungeon, like from the games. A place to go and fight monsters for treasure and rewards.” Jamie said calmly.
An elderly man, from far in the mountains before the town had been refounded spoke. His accent was thick and his long unkempt beard did not help his stereotypical ‘hillbilly’ image. “What you mean we’s a gonna be fightin’? I’m ooold a lot of us are. What would we all gain outa it anyways?”
A voice from behind the TV spoke, someone had been waiting. Feminine, sultry, drawn out.. “Oh darling, I do not think you will have to worry about being old for a looooooong time indeed.”
Zippy got back up on stage, speaking into the microphone. “I do believe you all know Auntie Christia?” A smile was on the gnomes face as he beamed.
The entire town hall erupted in questions. Zippy however, having planned for this waited them out until the people screaming tired their own voices out. “Go ahead, ask her, ask her anything to prove it is her.”
And so the town did.
“What did I order last time I came to your shop?”
“Manual egg beater, said your kid was afraid of the electric one”
“What were the last things I sold you?”
“Brownie mix, a lot of butter, and an entire pallet of chips.”
After those plus many more, the town was sated. The dark almost purple-skinned woman before them looked nothing like hunched often rambling woman they had come to know. Her form was sleek, her eyes were sharp and focused. Muscles were visible through her dress along her arms. Pointed ears shown under a long braid of whitish-silver hair.
Zippy got back on the podium speaking to the crowd again. “She has finished the final stage. This is what happened, she went into the chrysalis an old woman, and came out a halfling.” The crowd oohed and aahed again, amazed by the mystical transformation of the town wise-woman.
“What’s a halfling?” A little girl spoke from the crowd.
Auntie Christia came up slowly, speaking calmly to the small child. “I’m half or more. On the outside, I look like a Drow, a Dark-Elf. But on the inside, when Zippy showed me…”
Auntie Christa tugged at the line of her dress, barely showing the skin in front of her heart as it glowed orange. “...I apparently have the metal heart and molten blood of a dwarf.”
This brought about an entirely new line of questioning that lasted the better part of an hour. Needless to say, the relatively rule-free nature of beings and their forms made most questions just be answered with a shrug.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“Now then, You’ll all be in a chrysalis for roughly half to a full day. The transformations may be starting tomorrow and I will need to coordinate with all of you. An entire town turning into beings in one day will mean an empty town, so if you start glowing please bring your children to the town hall to be cared for.” Zippy spoke with the air of a disaster-relief manager. His confidence was infectious as the normally curious crowd took him at his word for the only time today.
“As you all know, your forms are sort of picked by you all, it is a unique experience for everyone so the best advice I can give is to try and understand yourself. If you really wish to know what you will become think about who you are and what those traits add up to…” Zippy said the only advice he had been given before the great change.
***
“Soooooo.. You’re an elf now?” Billy Joe asked with the barest semblance of tact.
“I guess so, Kinda? The way Zippy described it makes me sound cooler now though.” Auntie Christia or just Christia replied. Having been returned to her youth her mind was far sharper than it had been the last few years. Still, her own measures against the ravages of age had served her well, but this was magic after all.
“So…. Next is you, right Billy Joe?” Jamie asked.
“I suppose, but you heard ‘em, he said that the time-frame can be a bit.. wonky. Who knows, I might be last in the whole town? Won’t bother me in the least.” She responded, a large smirk on her face as she wanted it as soon as possible.
The three walked back to Savvy Scavengers together. For the first time in years, Christia walked without a cane. Jumping up the short steps to the entrance.
Going through the dinging bell the trio were greeted by the remaining living toys. For whatever reason, these few wanted to stay in the shop with Jamie.
“Thanks, Andre, Goliath, Marie Antoinette on the Guillotine.” Jamie responded happily but was still more than a little confused about the ‘French Revolution Barbie’ prototype.
“Sooooo, what do you think I’m gonna be?” Billy Joe asked, kicking her feet up on the counter as Christia went to the back to get a plate of brownies she had previously forgotten in the fridge.
“Huh, well I’d say an ogre or a troll as a joke… But apparently Zippy really likes trolls, and ogres aren’t an option apparently.” Christia said from the kitchen.
“Why not?” Billy Joe responded.
“Not smart enough… As-in humans can’t go down that dumb. They aren’t sentient apparently, according to the gnome they’re like a neanderthal becoming a being. They may show up, but they’re just a stepping stone on an evolutionary path.” Christia responded in a clear voice.
“Huh, you never were this good at explaining before.” Jamie quipped.
“Family history of Alzheimers and Dementia. Even with all of my precautions they were starting to rear up. I haven’t felt this clear-headed in years though. I forgot what it was like not having to triple check you remembered the right thing. So much free time to keep learning.” She spoke happily, eating a large cold brownie with a gigantic glass of milk.
“Precautions?” Billy Joe asked.
“Yeah, Precautions, setting it up so the ick has a harder time of getting me. Used the Marley method, the Snoop, the Willie.” She said happily, munching away at the prize as everything slowly dawned on the young girl.
“So thaaaaaats why all the pot brownies.” It slowly dawned on Billy Joe. “But wait, what does that have to do with the fade?” She asked.
“Not just brownies, I just have a sweet tooth. And the stuff is like scrubbing bubbles or toothpaste for your brain. Gets all the build-up out that's blockin’ the pipes.” She laughed as she finished the corner-to-corner piece she had been eating.
“Uhm Au... I mean Christia, isn’t that a bit much?” Jamie asked as their mentor consumed about a week's worth the brownies in a small snack.
“Nah, I’m celebratin!” She let out a whooping noise as Jamie slapped their face lightly in frustration.
“You better have brought your own damn chips!” They called back.
***
Will and Theodore were both taking a break from the ravages of creating defenses, as any good procrastinator does.
They were both stuck in their fifth game of pong, If Theodore wins; Will will need to try and eat a large insect he found in the lower tunnels. If Will wins then Theodore will have to great all of the new adventures on the first day with a dance.
“Come on, come on, come on.” The opossum cried as he tilted his controller as far as it would go. The ball was so close…
“GOOOOAL! I win! Best of five pong victorrrrry!” Will cried out in joy. As they quickly turned their attention to the welcome-room.
“Oh come on!” Theodore sulked as a small tuxedo and set of tap shoes materialized in front of him. “What am I supposed to do with this?!”
Will looked over feigning disinterest. “Well, if I were you, I’d start with practice.” His head the form of a hood once more, not out of solemnity, but purely to hide his manic smile.
“Fine!” Theodore grumbled walking deeper into the cave system to practice.
Not too long after Will finished the stage and began working on the newest skill in their repertoire. Looking inside of themselves, looking into the mana as it rumbled and shook like a storm in an ocean. All of that power was just behind a thin layer, the layer of a wish and it would be released at full force.
Accessing the small river of power leading off of the roiling torrent; Will looked at the gentle red river. Will had learned from the Japanese culture book from the large pile that red meant heroism.
Will quite liked that idea so they started picturing a hero.
***
The television in the cancer ward of Saint John’s was clicked on for the day…
“...venturers will be heading to the small town of Barthel. This is one of the very same mountains to be lifted into the sky not even two weeks ago. Our station has been informed that a ‘Dungeon...’” The man with greasy brown hair made large visible finger quotes, “...Who has the power to grant various kinds of wishes has been discovered.”
“Yes, Tucker,” A small man wearing a robe that looked like a starry night sky stood on a stool much too large for him. “We at the Barthel Tourism Board welcome all who wish to dub themselves ‘Adventurer.’”
“I do understand that while you do indeed have a miracle worker, it is not a miracle worker,” The man said, slicking his wet-looking hair back with a smile that looks much too large on a human face.
“In a way, While you can wish for family members to be cured of say, cancer… Unfortunately, viruses and many kinds of bacteria are out of the question. Limbs may be regrown however and while the trial of the dungeon is not able to heal as well as a surgeon I have been informed that it has the power to steady hands, to sharpen minds.” The gnome responded.
“I seeeeee. Well then viewers it appears we will all just have to wait and see on Christmas Eve when the Dungeon of Barthel is finally open.”
Another click and the television turns off. A tall woman is in the room, grey robes and silver hair. Her voice is smooth and gentle as if silk were caressing your ears. Her touch was painful and life-giving.
She walked along the beds, waiting for the go-ahead that each patient had been prepped with morphine. After the small woman with a clipboard nodded, she would touch the afflicted part. The thin woman whimpered, sedatives weren't allowed for the procedure, in fact, if you fell unconscious it had to be put on hold. Something to do with death magic becoming unstable in an unconscious target.
Ayana held her brother's hand who was in the next bed. Looking deep into Ned’s eyes she smiled at him, “L-Looks like that miracle dad wanted’s finally come.” The two let out a weak smile at each other as they realized they’d finally done it, they’d made it two years past what the doctors had told them was their expiration date.
Small whimpers and quiet screams filled the ward as hope was restored.