Chapter 10: Of Magisters and Tomokos!
After much deliberation, angry words, finger pointing and yelling. Vyntessa left with Dyntessa in tow, not a word of apology for trying to viciously maim the group. Fenix took the better part of the day to heal back up from the fight, not too worse for wear, but enough to cause the delay. The next day the group continued on to Edgar's tower, which was only a few more days' travel.
During the ride Tomoko tried her best not to peep too much into Elhaym and Minx's newfound lovey-doveyness. She never imagined seeing such a large and battle-hardened warrior like Elhaym being an absolute mush-ball when it came to “couple stuff.” She'd giggle like a school kid sneaking her hand over Minx's to hold it, and kiss her cheek then quickly look away blushing. Minx would then turn on Elhaym's lap and plant a big smooch on Elhaym's cheek in return and give her a really smug toothy-fanged grin. Fenix would facepalm and call them both weenies.
After several days worth of riding and “weenie” behavior the group finally rode up to a moss-covered tower in the middle of a forest. The tower itself wasn't very tall, Tomoko would guess that it was maybe three or four stories tall at the most. The tower was made of this ancient-gray stone, and had the typical red-conical roof she'd seen from many fantasy stories and movies.
“We are here finally!” Elhaym cheered as she dismounted her horse. “Hopefully Edgar is in and not out doing some weird stuff~” She chuckled as she approached the door.
“Let's wait for them to come back out Lady Minx,” Fenix helped Minx off the horse, “Edgar can be a bit...strange, and for two first-timers might be a bit much to handle.”
Minx nodded as Elhaym opened the door and walked in. The door quickly shut behind her with a quiet 'thud'.
As they entered the tower Tomoko did not know what to expect. She figured it'd be littered like some witch's hut with a cauldron bubbling over a fire, weird dead animals hanging from the ceiling, and a pungent aroma filling the air. Instead the first floor looked like a typical (or she figured typical for the period) living room. There was a cozy fire on the opposite wall, a kitchen looking area next to it with a table set for five. To their left was a stairway that led upwards.
“Make yoursssself comfortable...” Snaked a deadpan voice through the air.
“Oh you're home oho~ hi there Brother Edgar~” Elhaym cheered out, waving to the air, “I don't want to interrupt you if you're super busy~”
“Nonsenssse, pleassse, take a ssseat.” The voice carried no emotion, just like a snake it slithered through the air.
The voice was very unnerving to Tomoko, she couldn't tell if the voice was friendly or not. Elhaym seemed unfazed, which game Tomoko a bit of comfort, but then again Elhaym was a bit, crazy, to Tomoko for a lack of a better word.
Elhaym walked over to the table and sat down. A cup of tea appeared on the saucer in front of her, and a tray with a milkjug, sugarbowl and silverware appeared as well.
“Oh, chamomile my favorite!” Elhaym happily sipped on the tea before her.
“I ssssee you're drinking for two...” The voice once again snaked its way through the air, before with a loud 'pop' a figure poofed into the seat opposite of theirs.
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Sitting in the seat was a slender elf, with wild black hair that looked like a spider, its legs lazily bobbing in the air. He had glowing red eyes that shone out from underneath his bangs, and plastered on his face was the absolute scariest smile that Tomoko had ever seen. All of this did not seem to bother Elhaym who immediately rushed over and gave the frightening Elf the biggest bear hug.
“Brother Edgar!” Elhaym twirled around with the Magister a few times before setting him back down, “It's been ages since I've seen you~” She straightened his ruffled shirt and tousled his hair. “How goes your magic stuff~?”
To Tomoko's surprise (and a bit to her horror) Edgar's smile never left his face as he straightened himself up.
“Thingsss have been better...I guesss...But I daressay you have been more busssy” He motioned at Elhaym with one hand, “That other sssoul needs its own body sssoon or elssse you two will be ssstuck like that.”
“Stuck? Forever? Tomoko needs her own body then right now Brother Edgar!” Elhaym bolted up from her seat, “How do we get her own body?! She can't date Brother Fenix if she's in my body!”
“Why would you say that?!?!” Tomoko screeched, completely forgetting that Edgar just said she might get stuck inside Elhaym permanently. She wished she could hide, mortified that Elhaym called her out like that.
“Ssshouldn't be too difficult...Go upssstairs and lay on the table, I ssshall begin the sssoul transference.” Edgar disappeared with another 'pop' leaving Elhaym alone in the room.
Without skipping a beat Elhaym dashed up the stairs to the next room, which actually looked like what Tomoko would call a “typical wizard room.” There were shelves full of strange objects in jars and weird magic-looking devices. Cupboards and cabinets covered with crystals and other oddities. There actually was a cauldron in the hearth along the wall, purple smoke puffing out of it. In the center of the room, there was a long table, and Edgar stood on one edge, motioning for Elhaym to come lay down.
Tomoko kept thinking that Edgar wouldn't be such a bad looking guy if he didn't always have that crazy-fanged smile stuck on his face. It was so unsettling, that she couldn't fathom how he and Elhaym met.
Elhaym laid down on her back on the table, and looked to the Magister expectantly.
“What now brother Edgar?” Despite the table being large, Elhaym's legs still dangled a little over the edge and she began swaying them back and forth.
“We begin the sssoul extraction proncessss...” Edgar replied in his deadpan voice. He grabbed a large crystal off of a shelf and held it to Elhaym's forehead.
Tomoko began to scream. It felt as if she was being ripped in half. She could hear Elhaym yelling too. Their vision went white-hot, they could only hear a rushing noise, as if a torrent of water was crashing over them. Then everything went black. A wave of calm blanketed over them and Tomoko felt warm comfort. She felt like she was floating in a void, her senses bare of any other feeling but the warm embrace of space. All was quiet now, and she felt at peace. Was this what dying felt like? Was she dead? Did pulling out her soul go wrong? If it did go wrong at least she felt really peaceful.
Tomoko tried opening her eyes, and to her surprise she was looking at a ceiling. She tried moving her limbs, and to her surprise her limbs moved! She looked down and to her horror she noticed she didn't have any clothes on! With a shriek she scrambled to cover herself with her arms and looked around. She saw the big bright-blue eyes of Elhaym looking into hers with a huge grin.
“You did it Edgar! She has her own body now!” Elhaym scooped up the protesting Tomoko and swung her around in a big hug. “You did great Brother Edgar!” she cheered as she set Tomoko down.
Tomoko sputtered, aside from her parents bathing her as a child, no one had looked at her in her birthday suit before.
“Oh my apologiesss...” Edgar snapped his fingers and a cloak draped itself around Tomoko, covering her up, “There isss a mirror upssstairsss if you wish to look upon your new form...” And he motioned at the stairway behind her.
Tomoko bolted for the stairs to take a look at her new body. She wondered desperately what she was going to look like. She found the mirror next to a stand that had some clothes dangling from it. She finally took a good look at herself.
She was about the same height she was before she thought. Just a hair over five feet. She had bushy brown hair, which was a change from her long straight jet-black hair and Elhaym's fluffy silver. She had a reasonably athletic form, nowhere as buff or buxom as Elhaym but she had no complaints about her current...assets. She nodded happily at herself.
“Looks great!” She surprised herself. Her voice was...new? Or was it always like this? She had grown used to Elhaym's boisterous voice she had forgotten what she originally sounded like. Her voice was silky smooth. She was admiring her freckles for a moment before noticing the clothes on the stand looked her size. Taking the hint she dressed herself before heading back downstairs to see a very anxious-looking Elhaym.
“You alright?” Elhaym's voice quavered a little.
“I feel fantastic!” Tomoko cheered, skipping down the steps to the warrior. She now realized just how much taller Elhaym was, the jovial knight towering over her.
“That's great! Edgar said he had to attend to another matter for a bit but he left me with important instructions...” Elhaym's voice trailed a bit at the end.
“What instructions could there be?” Tomoko couldn't hide the worry from her voice.
“Well, there's a Lich we need to defeat for a special item, or your body disappears forever and your soul comes back into my body...” There was pure fear in Elhaym's voice.
“Oh...” Was all Tomoko said before falling backwards, unconscious.