Luxia tutted.

'Weeell, I have a spell I've been needing to try out for aaaaages. I've only attempted it on animals before. It worked perfectly - I /am/ a brilliant spellcaster - but to know for certain, I need to try it on something with a rather higher IQ than a lizard or a dormouse, you know.'

'...What, so you're looking for guinea pigs for some spell?' said Armin. 'Oh heII no. You and magic are two things I never want to see combined.'

{Dianne made a face of disgust and anger at that. To her, the idea of being used as a guinea pig was a massive insult to her pride.}

Dianne: "Absolutely not. I am no one's lab rat. Surely there's something else, if the idea of helping the suffering doesn't appeal to you."

'Kids these days...' Luxia mumbled. 'Never wanting to help out a poor old lady in need.' She waved her hand over the cart of fruits. 'You need these, yes? No? Would it help if I said that the spell will wear off in a day and doesn't cause any permanent harm? Honestly. Babies,' she scoffed. 'No sense of adventure, the people of today's society.'

Dianne: "No, that doesn't help. Besides, if I agree, and it's a transmogrifying spell, it'll just be trouble for the both of us. At this point, we'll just find a different tree. C'mon, Armin."

'Won't find nothing out there!' Luxia cried out, grinning maniacally. 'Already took 'em! Well, most of them. You'd have to search long and hard and honestly, who has time for that nowadays? What do you mean, trouble? I see no trouble!'

Dianne: "Trust me, crone, I'm saving your livelihood."

{With that, she sets out to look for more of the trees.}

(Do you want them to get away unhindered, or shall I have Luxia stop them? XD)

(Have Luxia stop them. I'm curious what she could possibly do to accomplish that.)

The old woman huffed impatiently. As Dianne and Armin walked away, the air began to feel charged. The feeling of a spellcaster channelling magic. Armin whipped around in alarm, just as a large, transparent magical dome formed around them both (and Esme), stopping them from walking any further.

'Rudeness!' Luxia accused, pointing a finger. 'Rude, rude rude! You should know better than to walk away from a witch without even saying goodbye!'

{Dianne tensed as she felt the magic in the air. Once the dome came down, she turned with Armin, instinctively stepping between Luxia and Esme.}

Dianne: "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You mean to hold us against our will because we won't agree to your ridiculous terms?"

Luxia flapped a hand. 'Oh, don't be so melodramatic. Making a mountain out of a molehill, you are. Look, nobody will get hurt, and you can have the silly fruits when I'm done. Isn't that a good deal? I'll even throw in a screaming armchair if you want.'

Armin gingerly put a finger against the ward. It hummed faintly and pushed him back, but it didn't hurt. It seemed to be a ward, like what Ana used to use.

{Dianne's anger and frustration was starting to bleed through into her voice. She was not happy about any of this.}

Dianne: "Maybe it would be a good deal if you were a trusted friend, but we don't even know you! You could be lying, or something could go wrong with the spell, and then one of us is a gerbil forever! We're not doing it, so let us go!"

'Go wrong?' Luxia seemed offended by this. 'Madam, if there's /one/ thing I take seriously, it's transforming spells. I would /never/ transform someone without knowing for sure that it's fail-safe. And gerbils have no part in this.'

Armin pushed against the ward with greater force, but it resisted his efforts. He swore quietly under his breath. Esme just looked mystified and curious about the whole thing.

'I don't know how we can get out of here,' Armin muttered too low for Luxia to hear.

{Dianne was simply getting progressively angrier as Luxia refused to let them go.}

Dianne: "Get it through your thick skull, you hag! We're not going to be your test subjects! Now drop the god-dam.ned ward before I drop /you/!

Luxia tutted. 'Hag? Didn't your mother ever teach you manners? That's not how you talk to someone who could potentially hurt you. Not that I would, of course. Now, why don't you try asking /politely/ to be let out?'

(I love having her annoy people. XD)

(Lmao)

{Dianne was seething at this point, but she still knew that picking a fight with a witch while Esme was nearby would be ill advised.}

Dianne: "May we /please/ be let out?"

{She asks through gritted teeth.}

At that, Luxia smiled pleasantly. 'I suppose that's acceptable.'

She made a sweeping gesture with her hand, and the ward fell.

'Though, I'm very disappointed. I've been searching /ages/ to find someone to test this spell on, and it could be beneficial to so many...'

{Dianne was still angry, but she just wanted to leave this witch alone before she decided to do something dangerous. Scooping up Esme, she starts to back away.}

Dianne: "You want willing subjects? Try paying them instead of holding them against their will. Oh, yeah, goodbye."

Esme squeaked as she was picked up, still staring at the witch in a nonplussed manner.

'Hold on,' said Armin. 'I still want some of those fruits. I just caught a ton of fish for those cures, and I'm not letting them go to waste.'

He walked over fearlessly and began to help himself to fruits from the witch's cart. Luxia did nothing to stop him, but just stood there smiling.

{Dianne blinks a few times before realizing what Armin was doing.}

Dianne: "Armin, stop! If you take those fruits, you're at the mercy of Coven Law!"

Armin glanced back, raising his eyebrows.

'What's that? And hey, we need them. I'm not going to be pushed around by some crazy witch.'

Luxia chuckled quietly at this and began to mutter, 'Crazy, crazy, yes I am... Lost my marbles a long time ago...'

Dianne: "Armin, if you take those, you're basically agreeing to whatever she wants! Put them down!"

Armin glanced at the fruit in his hand, then at Luxia, then at Dianne.

'We need these for the cures, don't we? That's kind of important. Besides, the fruits in the forest don't belong to anyone. We've got as much right to them as she does.' He stuffed a few fruits into his pocket and started walking away. As far as he was concerned, the old lady was just senile - she didn't seem dangerous to him.

Dianne: "The fact that you're taking the ones she claimed is what makes this risky, Armin. Yeah, we need those for the cures, but it's not worth the danger. C'mon, we can find a different tree."

Armin's expression shifted to rebellion, then frustration. '...Fine...' He tossed the fruits back, and continued to walk off.

Luxia just gazed at them, smiling. It seemed like she wasn't going to do anything. However, there was something unnervingly mischievous about her smile.

Dianne: "Thank you. Look, we can cover a lot more ground in our flying forms then she can on foot, and the stench is so strong, there's no way we can miss it, even from the air."

{She started to lead Armin away from Luxia, hoping that this was the end of it}

Luxia's smile widened as they left. //Mmm, should I? It would be so bad, but oooh, the temptation... You see, my dear, it's only a little practical joke...//

Her expression shifted to deep concentration as she pulled up magic from the earth, manipulating it to her will. The spell she wove was unleashed silently upon Dianne and Armin, with the effect of instantly shifting them into each others' bodies. Dianne was now controlling Armin's body, and vice versa. The spell did nothing to Esme. Luxia cackled with raucous mirth as she waited to see how they'd react.

{Suddenly, Dianne felt disoriented, stumbling and falling to her knees.}

Dianne: "W-what?....?!"

{She stops when she realizes that her voice is deeper. In fact, she sounds like Armin. Looking down at her hands, she gasps in alarm when she sees that she's missing fingers.}

Dianne: "What?! What is this?! What's going on?!"

Armin had stumbled to a halt. For a moment, he thought he was dying - his vision was dark at the edges, and he felt heavy. Then he realised he was wearing a helmet that blocked his peripheral vision. He reached up and ripped the helmet off, turning to see what looked like /himself/ kneeling beside him.

'...What the h-hell?!'

He coughed a little as his voice came out sounding like Dianne's. Esme was skipping merrily around them both, having no idea what happened.

{Dianne looked up to see, well, herself, much to her own horror.}

Dianne: "What?....I....."

{As things finally start to click in her head, she looks herself over, patting down her unfamiliar form.}

Dianne: "AAAAAAH! WHAT THE F$%K IS THIS?!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!?!?!"

{Needless to say, she was not taking the realization well.}

A little further away, through the trees, Luxia shook her head reprovingly, trying to stifle further laughter.

'Oh, it's just a little practical joke. It will wear off in about a day; these types of spells literally cannot be made permanent, so you have nothing to worry about.'

Armin was mostly just standing stock-still, unsure how to deal with this utterly unfamiliar situation. Even as someone who shapeshifted regularly, nothing could've prepared him for /this./

{Dianne turned when she heard someone in the trees. Her new heightened senses made it nearly impossible for Luxia to go unnoticed.}

Dianne: "YOU! YOU DID THIS!"

{She tried to stand, but she was too unfamiliar with the feel of this new body, and just ended up awkwardly bounding up, then falling over again.}

Armin slowly turned, gazing around before settling his gaze on Dianne. He was too preoccupied with the bizarreness of the situation to try attacking Luxia. //I'm pretty sure... that I don't like this... Urgh... I feel so slow... And I can hardly smell or hear anything...//

Luxia just smiled and waved. 'Anyway, since I /did/ sort of do that against your will, I'll leave these as an apology gift. Cheerio! And stop yelling.'

She dumped a few fruits on the ground, then grabbed her cart and started to walk off.

{Dianne tried to pick herself up, but she just felt sick. Looking at the fruit, she just grimaces, trying not to vomit from the shock.}

Dianne: "That.....That's not even enough...."

Luxia either didn't hear, or didn't deign to respond. She just kept walking, in the opposite direction, letting the forest swallow her up.

Armin finally sunk to his knees, needing a moment to just sit and process everything. '...I officially feel like crap...'

{Dianne wrapped her arms around herself, flopping onto her side.}

Dianne: "...I want to go home..."

After a short while, Armin hauled himself to his feet with a clunk of armour. 'C'mon, let's get back. We can do this some other day. Pythia can just wait for her cures.'

He reached down and grabbed Dianne's arm, pulling her upright and holding onto her so she didn't fall over again. His movements were slow and jerky, anything but graceful, but he seemed to be coping slightly better than she was.

{Dianne, in Armin's body, looked anything but calm. Her eyes were dialated and her face was pale. She did her best to walk with Armin, but her legs were shaky.}

Dianne: "...I'm...I'm gonna kill her....a thousand years of my wrath on the Ferrosian continent....will look like a pleasant dream in comparison...."

'...Well, worry about that later.' Armin supported her as they headed, slowly, for the forest edge. 'Come on, everything's fine. Relax.'

Esme obediently trotted beside them, looking a little confused.

Dianne: "Relax?.....Relax?!.....Do you have any /idea/ how /violated/ I feel?....She's already dead......She's just doesn't know it yet..."

'Well, freaking out isn't going to help,' said Armin shortly. 'I'm in the same boat here. It's temporary, so just... chill a /little bit,/ OK?' He decided to ignore any death threats at the old lady for the time being. He thought killing her was a bit excessive, and didn't plan to let it happen, but it wasn't his concern right now.

Dianne: "...Alright....I'll try to stay calm....this is just really....disturbing to me..."

{She tries to focus on walking, and as she kept going, he gait began to improve.}

Dianne: "Gods, this is weird..."

'Yeah, this sucks. I feel like my senses are muffled, and I can barely move,' Armin complained. He turned to squint at Dianne beside him. '...Also, seeing myself with /those/ eyes is really creepy...'

{Dianne looks up at Armin. She seems to be doing somewhat better.}

Dianne: "Yeah, well...Being helped to walk by myself....It's not much more comforting..."

The ghost of a smirk flickered across Armin's face. 'Yeah, this is trippy. I kind of hate it, but it's also kind of interesting... Heh, you can kill light mages now.'

The truck came into sight as they talked, sitting patiently at the edge of the woods.

Dianne: "Believe me, I would have happily lived without experiencing this..."

{Once the got to the car, Dianne looked to Armin.}

Dianne: "...This is going to be a weird thing to explain to Rex..."

'Hmm...' Armin reached over and took his phone from Dianne's pocket, before climbing into the driver's seat. 'I'll send him a quick text. Just so he has some prior warning. If he sees me walk into the house with your eyes, he'll probably think you did something terrible...'

Dianne: "...Alright...Take as much time as you need..."

{She then lets go aof Armin and sits in the passenger's seat, cradling her head in her hands.}

Armin sent the warning text to Rex, followed by a quick text to Frederick, asking him to research the witch who had attacked them. When he was done, he started the engine and headed off. He'd left Dianne's helmet on the truck floor, and Esme was perched on the back of the passenger seat, looking puzzled. She knew something was up, but wasn't sure what.

{Dianne just sat in silence, continuing to hold her head. She might not be panicking anymore, but she sure wasn't feeling happy about any of this.}

Armin drove in silence, fumbling with the car controls as he tried to adapt to his new strength and lesser reflexes.

When they got home, he parked up and grabbed the helmet. Climbing out, he waited for Dianne and Esme to follow. //This is weird... I really hope we wake up tomorrow to find everything's fixed...//

{Dianne steps out of the car, beckoning Esme to follow. She blinks heavily as she waveringly walks into the house.}

Dianne: "...Everything's so loud.....and the scents are so strong....Is that what I really smell like?....maybe I should consider perfume..."

'You smell fine to me. You're just not used to it because everything's so much stronger now.'

Just then, Rex came over. He didn't look particularly impressed, but Armin's warning had prevented a worse reaction. Esme bounded over to him, greeting him excitedly.

'You two really can't go anywhere without getting into trouble, can you?' he said.

'Hey,' said Armin. 'I told you. Mad witch. We didn't try to provoke her. She was just insane.'

Dianne: "Yeah. But, once this wears off, I'm going to tear her apart for this. She and everyone she loves will suffer greatly."

{She says darkly. She then approaches the couch, but, being unused to this body, she walks too fast and collides with it awkwardly.}

Dianne: "...How the he.ll do you pilot this thing?"

Rex looked like he was torn between sheer exasperation and reluctant amusement. Armin gave a tiny sigh.

'Vampires are capable of moving very quickly. Since you're used to this slow-as-heck /tank,/ you'll have to make a conscious effort to move slower. Imagine that you're... I don't know, stalking prey or something.'

Dianne: "Ugh, fine....and I'm not slow...."

{Moving much slower, she sits on the couch. She then reaches for the remote. When she picks it up, the lack of fingers on her right hand causes her to drop it. After that, she just kind of sits there with a frustrated expression.}

Dianne: "...This sucks..."

'Get used to it. We might be stuck like this for a little while.'

Armin then remembered that he was still holding the dragon-head helmet under his arm, and wearing Dianne's armour.

'I've got to go take this dam.n armour off...'

He then headed upstairs, stumbling a little on the steps. Rex just stood in the living room the whole time, absorbing the strange scene before him.

Dianne: "Don't tear my armor straps!"

{She calls out after him. She then takes a moment to look herself over.}

Dianne: "....Jeeze, this is weird..."

'Oh, it is,' said Rex, eyeing her. 'You look exactly like him - except for those eyes. I have to say, your eyes don't suit Armin.' Privately, it seriously creeped him out, but he decided not to say that out loud. 'Welcome to vampirism, I suppose.'

Dianne# "Of course I look exactly like him, it's his body I'm in. As for my eyes, well...even I didn't know that would happen...I suppose I should feel lucky, that I switched bodies with my boyfriend and not some weirdo..."

'Well, yes. I'm not knowledgeable on magic, but you probably /could/ have been switched with anyone. Switching with someone you're not so... personally familiar with sounds... violating.'

Dianne: "Believe me, Rex, the very fact that this was done to me without my consent makes me feel very uncomfortable. That is why the witch must die. You don't /do/ this to people, Rex."

'I'm aware of that. When did I say it was acceptable?' said Rex in a monotone. 'All I said was that it could be worse. Things can always be worse...'

Just then, Armin came stumping downstairs, now free of the armour. He'd also tied his hair back in a ponytail. He slouched on the couch and reached for the TV remote.

{Dianne looks Armin over, eyeing the tank top and pants he was wearing.}

Dianne: "You might want to get a blanket. You're going to feel the cold more strongly in that body, and those thin garments aren't going to cut it."

'Oh, yeah...' This obviously hadn't occurred to him yet. 'I forgot about that.'

With a groan, he reluctantly got off the couch and went to retrieve a blanket. He came back with it draped around his shoulders like a cloak, and sat back down. He flipped idly through TV channels, searching for something decent to watch.

{Dianne sinks into the couch. As her rage subsided, she just looked sad now.}

Dianne: "...Also, you're going to need to eat..."

Armin blinked, his expression shifting through a range of emotions.

'Oh... I can actually eat anything I want, and /taste/ it... I haven't been able to do that in... about 250 years...'

Dianne: "Yeah, and /I'm/ forced to drink the blood of the living. Whoopee...."

{She complains very unenthusiastically.}

'You can go without if the idea doesn't appeal to you. It's only for a day or two.' Armin eyed her sideways. 'Wow, you /really/ hate being me, huh?'

{Dianne sighs and rubs her face.}

Dianne: "It's not that I hate being you, specifically. I hate not being me. I could have switched bodies with anyone, and I still wouldn't be happy..."

'That's understandable.' Stopping on a documentary about the arctic region of Apollo's north, he dropped the remote and tried to settle back more comfortably. 'I'd very much like to have my body back, too. It's /mine,/ and I quite like it.'

Dianne: "The feeling's mutual..."

{She sits there, eyeing her body through someone else's eyes. Looking away and closing her eyes, she tries to focus on the tv audio, and not the overwhelming feeling of discomfort in one's own skin.}

(Shall we skip to later in the day?
We can also do the aspect visiting Luxia's shop, if you want.)

(Yeah, let's do that. You pick the scenario, set the scene.)

(I'll start here first, then set the scene for Luxia's house a bit later.)

----

Much later, as darkness was falling, Armin had restlessly wandered into the kitchen to see what food they had. He was feeling hunger for the first time in 250 years, and was pretty sure he didn't like it.

//This is just... odd. It's almost like being human again. Most people would expect me to be happy about that. I'm not; it sucks.//

'Hey, Rex, can you make some of that pan-fried fish?' he asked.

'I suppose so...'

{Dianne was sitting on the couch still, unhealthily fixating on her missing fingers. She had tried and failed several times to pick up the remote. Huffing in frustration, she gets up and heads ups the stairs, nearly tripping halfway there.}

As Rex began to make dinner, Armin started to slowly follow Dianne up the stairs, largely out of boredom, partly concern, and partly curiosity. He'd noticed her behaviour with the remote and remembered how hard it was for him to accustom to losing fingers.

{Dianne went up to the storeroom and started to rummage through the boxes, pulling out some bones, a knife, and some leather. Taking it to the altar, she starts to work on something.}

Armin leaned against the storeroom doorway, watching her with concern. 'Uh... what are you doing in there?'

Dianne: "I am building....Prostetic fingers....Becaus f^&k this....This sucks...."

{She didn't even turn when she spoke to him, focusing only on the task.}

(Looks like I replied and then immediately fell asleep...)

Armin looked slightly alarmed. 'Um, how? Surely you can't just /make/ fully-functioning fingers. Also, whatever you're doing had better not be permanent. This is /my/ body you're altering here.'

Dianne: "Armin, I have spent the greater half of a thousand years memorizing human anatomy and comparative morphology. I built eldritch abominations out of corpses that, while ugly, are undisputably effective. Building a set of new fingers is child's play to me. And relax, they're not permanent. The strap on to the hand."

'Hmm. Alright, then.'

Armin remained leaning into the doorway, boredly and quietly watching her work.

{After about half an hour, Dianne had finished the prosthetic. It was two bone fingers held together with wires, attached to a makeshift glove. There were runes into the bone. Putting it on, Dianne whispers something into it, causing the runes to glow. With that, the fingers responded to her whim, as if they were her own.}

Dianne: "There. That should lessen my suffering..."

Armin eyed the contraption, surprised at how efficiently it seemed to work. 'That's pretty impressive. I wasn't aware you could do that. Now that you're not going to be complaining about your fingers nonstop, shall we all go and have dinner?'

(Made new room)