Dianne: " Like I said, child's play. Very well."

{Standing with her new contraption, Dianne follows Armin down stairs.}

In the living room, Rex was beginning to serve up dinner. Esme was ravenously eating her fish, pleased that Rex, at least, seemed to be acting normal.

Armin inhaled deeply as he sat down. 'Hmm... I can't smell very well anymore, but what I /can/ smell is delicious. I forgot what actually being hungry is like...'

{Dianne sat with no comment, watching Esme eat. She seemed to be contemplating something as she drummed her prosthetic fingers on the arm rest.}

Rex handed out food to everyone else, except himself. Armin gave a grunt of thanks, then started to bolt his food. However, he paused long enough to glance at Dianne, contemplating her demeanour. 'Something on your mind?'

Dianne: "Oh, don't mind me...just imagining the most painful of ends for that witch...just enjoy your dinner."

{She then starts to slowly eat her fish, eyeing Armin with concern when he was eating fast.}

'Sure... have fun...' said Armin doubtfully. He brushed the matter off and continued eating, slightly slower, but still faster than he should have been.

{Dianne continued to eye him until she finally decided to speak up.}

Dianne: "Could you not eat so fast? Vampires might not be able to choke to death, but my body still can..."

'I'm not going to choke...' Armin mumbled. 'I haven't been hungry in 250 years, cut me some slack...' However, he did slow to a more normal pace, fumbling a little with his fork, since he wasn't used to having five fingers.

{Dianne just sighs and continues with her meal.}

Dianne: "...I can't taste this fish...."

'Yep, welcome to my life,' said Armin nonchalantly. 'Nearly everything to me tastes like cardboard.'

Dianne: "Well, that sucks...I like food..."

{Dianne continues to eye Armin as she eats.}

Dianne: "...Still can't get over how weird it is to literally be looking at myself...man, I miss my green eyes..."

'They are gorgeous. I think I mentioned that already. It's a shame you can't have them anymore, but nothing wrong with the normal ones, either,' Armin said thoughtfully as he cut up his fish.

Dianne: "Yeah, you did. Y'know, to hear you say that, it makes me feel better about myself, that my eyes don't disgust you. However, after looking in the mirror....these eyes definitely do not suit you. If Death ever offers you a deal, refuse him."

Armin chuckled slightly. 'I didn't intend to ever make a deal with him. I don't want the ability to raise corpses, I'm already immortal, and those eyes look terrible on me, so I'd rather not. I'm quite happy with leaving you as the dark magic expert.'

(Death's Aspect: "Come to the dark side, we have cookies." ;) )

Dianne: "I am ok with that. Just....I prefer to stay in my own body..."

Armin finished his food and set the plate aside, leaning back more casually into the couch. He turned to observe Dianne, like she had been observing him.

'Well, I might not like this, but... at least I can admire myself as much as I want. That's a plus,' he said jokingly.

Dianne: "Heh, self absorbed much?"

{She chuckles jokingly.}

Dianne: "Y'know, I never noticed until now, but...I really don't look as strong as I am. I look just like a normal lady."

'How didn't you notice before? Haven't you looked in a mirror in 3000 years?' said Armin with amusement. 'But yeah, that is true. Which is fine by me; I'm not very attracted to big muscular people.'

Dianne: "I have, it just never occurred to me."
{She says, chuckling.}

Dianne: "Well, I'm kind of lean, but I'm not bulky. And I'm disproportionately heavy. To the point where you can't breathe if I lie on top of you."

'I really don't know how that works,' said Armin. 'You're not big enough to weigh that much. I suppose it's just because of weird magic stuff, or something.'

Dianne: "Yeah...in the simplest terms, my dragon form is big, so my human form has a lot of densely packed matter. My bones and muscles make up most of that weight."

Armin rubbed the back of his head, faltering slightly when he felt Dianne's hair instead of his own. 'I guess that makes sense. I have to say, being in this body now, I feel a hell of a lot stronger. But I miss being light and fast.'

He gave a massive yawn. Now that he'd eaten, he was starting to get a little drowsy.

Dianne: "Yeah, and I feel like a light breeze could throw me over. I miss being well grounded..."

{She smiles, eyeing his yawn.}

Dianne: "Getting tired?"

'A little. It's been a long, strange day.' He let his eyes fall half-shut as he stared at the TV, resisting the automatic urge to lean against Dianne.

Dianne: "Yeah, today wasn't great. She said this would wear off in a day, so I hope we'll wake up tomorrow and be ourselves again..."

{She then leans to the side, resting against Armin.}

Dianne: "...I am leaning against myself....Thanks, I hate it..."

Armin smirked, wrapping one arm around her and settling back more comfortably.

'You might want to save that phrase for when we go to bed, and you have to cuddle with yourself,' he observed, amused. 'Because I /am/ going to do that. It's cold, and I'm feeling it much more than I should be.'

{Dianne lets out a long suffering sigh.}

Dianne: ".....well.....could be worse....Hey, how about that?....Rex was right..."

Armin didn't ask what she meant by that. He just settled back, drowsily eyeing the TV, and occasionally looking down to absorb the sight of himself leaning against him. //I'm starting to need a haircut... Meh, it doesn't matter.//

{Despite Dianne's discomfort, she was starting to doze off as well. It freaked her out that she was leaning against herself, but she had tired herself out from all the panick and anger she went through that day.}

Eventually, Esme got tired, and decided to take herself upstairs to bed. Armin, who'd had his eyes closed for a while, suddenly stirred. He blinked as the reality of the situation sunk in again. Then he gently nudged at Dianne.

'Ready to go up to bed?'

Dianne: "Mmm...Yeah, might as well..."

{She replies sleepily. Getting up, she heads up the stairs for bed.}

Armin stretched, slowly getting to his feet. Accompanying Dianne upstairs, he mindlessly changed into his sleepwear - putting on his own, instead of Dianne's - and flopped onto the bed, immediately pulling the blankets up. It was only mildly chilly, but he was so unused to feeling temperatures like this, that it felt freezing to him.

{While tired, Dianne still had the mind to change into Armin's sleepwear, figuring it would fit better. She then eyes Armin, amused.}

Dianne: "Hey, you changed into your normal sleepwear and not mine. Boy, you must be tired."

{She then climbs into the bed with him.}

Armin shrugged a little. 'Eh, it fits well enough... there's not much difference between us...'

He then gave a convulsive shiver, dragging the blanket up tighter than he normally would.

'This form really is useless against the cold, by the way. I have more sympathy for your complaining now.'

{At that, Dianne wraps her arms around Armin and pulls him closer.}

Dianne: "Now do you understand why it's so hard to get me up on cold mornings? it's borderline painful, isn't it?"

'Well, I never doubted you. But now I know firsthand what it's like.'

Striving to escape the new and unwanted cold, he snuggled closer to her, not seeming to care in the slightest that he was snuggling with himself.

{Dianne let him get as close as he wanted, trying to ignore the fact that she was snuggling up to herself.}

Dianne: "...So weird..."

'You'll make it weirder if you keep on saying it's weird...' Armin pointed out. 'Besides, I'm sure you appreciate not being cold for once.'

Dianne: "True enough..."

{Dianne then closes her eyes, trying to sleep. She's had just about enough of this day.}

Seeing that she was dozing off, Armin attempted to as well. Despite the strangeness of the situation, and the unfamiliarity of his own body and all the sensations he wasn't used to, he fell asleep relatively quickly.

(Do we skip to Luxia?)

(Yup, I'll set the scene for her place.)

----

Across the city, near the eastern edge, a new shop had recently sprung up. Inside was the most bizarre assortment of artifacts, potions, plants, and other objects, some of which were unidentifiable.

The shop was closed for the night. In a rocking chair by the front counter, Luxia sat, mumbling to herself as she knitted something with bright yellow wool. In the back room, noises could be heard as if someone was sorting boxes.

{In the silence of the night, the wind suddenly picked up, battering against the shop front. Inside the shop, any rats, insects, spiders, and flies suddenly looked to the wind, then began to flee. Towards the back of the shop, they scampered and fled, going for any crack or crevice to escape through.}

Luxia didn't even look up at this oddity. She was busy counting stitches. Just then, the door to the back opened and a red-haired young woman emerged, looking irritated.

'What's the deal with all the f**king spiders in here? I just saw a ton of them scuttling off into the corners. Do you ever clean?'

Luxia tutted. 'Language, Gail. And no, I don't. That's your job.'

{As Gail huffed about Luxia's sass, there was a feeling in the air. A feeling of dread and uneasiness, as if something was coming. Something....terrible. Something angry.}

Aspect: "PrIcE....To pAyyYyyyy.........."

Gail's head snapped up. 'Uhh. the heII was that?' She edged protectively closer to the old woman, sliding out a small knife. The kind meant for cutting herbs, not fighting off demons.

'Oh, relax, Abigail,' Luxia scoffed, still knitting. 'You'll die early if you worry all the time. It's probably just a tax collector.'

(Wow
Luxia
Just
The tax collector is heralded by a feeling of dread, and all creatures flee from him.
Lmaoooo XD)

{As they stood there, a black hole in the door appeared. From it came a putrid stench of death. Decaying plant matter, spiders, snakes, and frogs came out of it, scattering about the building. Then, a skeletal hand, as Death's Aspect pulled itself through the portal. It stood, towering over the doorframe, its cracked and shattered antlers nearly scraping the ceiling."

Aspect: "PrIce to pAyYyyyyYyyyy!!!"

'JESUS CHRIST!' Gail exclaimed, dropping her knife and forgetting about it. She went very pale, hands shaking as she gazed up at the creature. 'Luxia, what the f**k have you been doing?!'

The old woman muttered something incoherent, annoyed at being interrupted. She glanced up and observed the Aspect. 'Settle down, dear. Please don't break anything. Especially not the jars; I rather like those jars.'

Aspect: "He cAn't HeLp yOu hEre..."

{At Luxia's comment, it started to advance on them, its stench getting stronger. With an angry swipe, it smashed a shelf of jars on its way forward.}

Luxia watched the jars crashing to the floor in pieces. '...Abigail, be a dear and sweep those up, will you?'

'HAVE YOU LOST YOUR GODDAM.N MIND?' Gail yelled. 'THERE'S A DEMONIC MONSTER, GET RID OF IT!'

Luxia just sighed. Reaching towards a shelf behind her, she withdrew what looked like a tiny seed. A charged feeling filled the air to accompany the Aspect's feeling of dread. Then, the seed sprouted into a large, pretty blue flower. Luxia offered it to the Aspect.

'How about this, dear? Will you go away if I offer you a flower?'

Gail would have facepalmed if she wasn't so terrified.

{The Aspect stopped, looked at the flowers growing on its back, then to the offered flower. It then takes the offered flower, decays it away, and discards the wilted mass. Then, it points a boney finger in Luxia's face.}

Aspect: "YoU'vEd wRonGed mEee....ThEre's a PrIce to Be Paid...In bLoOd..."

'Tax collectors are harder to get rid of these days...' Luxia muttered. She then looked up at the Aspect, blinking innocently. 'Alright, Bob, what's this about me 'wronging' you? It's obviously bothering you very much. It's important to talk about your feelings.'

{The Aspect gave an ear-splitting shriek.}

Aspect: "No RIGHT! She iS mIne! You bRoKe our PaCT!"

'What did you /do!'/ Gail yelled at Luxia, trying to get through to the old lady.

Luxia just looked down and resumed her knitting. 'Is this about the one I met earlier today? ...Delilah, Dianne, Diagonal... whatever you want to call her... Yes, I might have put a little spell on her, but no harm was done, hmmm? She'll be back to normal soon, so don't panic.'

(Wait how did she know her real name?)

{The Aspect still didn't look pleased. It slammed its hand through the counter, smashing it to splinters.}

Aspect: "NoT FuNnY! Not OveR! NoT YoUrs to cHaNgE! YoU wiLl....SufFerrrrrr...."

(She is Luxia. Who knows how she knows these things.)

Gail leapt back in alarm as the counter broke. She was now torn between loyalty to her boss, or running out the door and never looking back.
Luxia pointed an accusing finger at the Aspect. 'You don't need to throw a tantrum over a harmless practical joke!'

Aspect: "YoU IntErferEd! NOt yOur pLacE!"
{The Aspect then took a step back, throwing its head back and shrieking. It then exploded into a red mist, which spread throughout the building, and smelled of blood. It also contained a strain of Rat Boils bacterium, which Gail may wake up with tomorrow. Beyond that, the hole in the door disappeared and the Aspect was gone.}

(Lmao, tantrum indeed.)

Luxia sniffed the air. 'Well, that's not very nice. Have we got any scented candles left?'

In the Aspect's absence, Gail took a moment to compose herself, before launching into a furious, swear-riddled tirade at the old woman, lecturing her about not taking things more seriously. Luxia hardly paid any attention to her, either.

'Honestly, Abigail, the only thing that concerns me is buying replacement jars. Awfully hard to find nice jars these days...'

{As they spoke, there was the sound of an ambulance arriving outside. The paramedics hopped out, then ran into the neighboring house.}

'Nee naw, nee naw, nee naw...' Luxia mumbled, imitating the ambulance siren. Gail broke off her tirade.

'Wonder what problems /they're/ having,' she grumbled. Picking up her knife, she stomped outside to see what was going on.

{Outside, the paramedics wheeled a stretcher out to the ambulance. There was a cloth over the body. One of the neighbors had died. One of the other people in the household was shouting in grief.}

"I don't understand! They were fine, then he says he saw a deer headed monster, and...he was just gone!"

Gail's expression shifted from annoyance to alarm when she saw the covered stretcher. 'Oh, jeez...' Quickly, she ran back inside, so not to be caught staring at it.

'Luxia!' she barked. 'That thing just went next door and murdered one of the neighbours!'

That actually made Luxia look up.

'...Hmm... I can't imagine why that would happen. It seemed to be displeased with /me,/ not them. Tantrums indeed. Well, I'm very sorry to hear about that...'

Her demeanour had turned more solemn, but all she did was quietly go back to her knitting, muttering under her breath.

(Actually, it was the reality destabilization that took him. A potential side affect of its appearance.)

{Without sirens, the ambulance left, as police arrived to take statements from the neighbors.}

'I'm getting a new freakin' job if shit likes this keeps happening,' Gail growled. She started to clean up the mess in the shop, just to have something to do.

Luxia just continued knitting and muttering, as if the whole situation scarcely bothered her.

(I take it we skip, however, for what happens next, I think we can go two ways. Either Lucci shows up to explain to Luxia and Gail why the Aspect is so mad, or, Gail wakes up with Rat Boils, goes to Pythia, finds that she's out of cures, is redirected to Dianne, and gets an explanation straight from her. Could be cool?)

(The second one wouldn't really work, since Luxia can probably cure boils too. She's a powerful witch who owns a potion shop. She might even be able to fix them with healing magic.
We can do the thing with Lucci if you want.)

(True, true. Ok, but who do we start with, and has the spell worn off by now?)

(The spell will wear off by midday, so if Dianne and Armin wake up earlier than that, it won't have worn off immediately.

Maybe we should start with them first, since the last scene was with Luxia?)

(Alright, let's do that. Set the scene for the shop peeps.)

(So, we're starting with Luxia and Lucci? Alright then.)

----

The next morning, Luxia had opened her shop doors early. However, she wasn't getting a lot of business, since the shop had only been established a few days ago and nobody trusted the strange old lady. A few people stopped by to browse, but none bought anything.

Gail was in a sour mood. She'd woken up with a case of boils, and though they'd been healed quickly by Luxia, she wasn't too happy about what happened last night, either.

Luxia was sitting behind the broken shop counter, watching people walk by on the street outside.

{As the two sat in the partially damaged shop, a visitor walked through the door. A young man with blonde hair and blue eyes.}

Lucci: "Good morning, Luxia and Gail. Hmm...rough night I take it?"

'Good morning, good morning, followers of the holy cuckoo clock!' said Luxia cheerily. 'Let us sit a moment and pray, for I am out of cornflakes.'

'Yeah, hi,' said Gail briefly. 'What can we get you?'

Lucci: "137 cures for Rat Boils, and, as part of the payment, I will explain to you why Death's Aspect came up in here, broke your stuff, struck you with Rat Boils, and why it was so angry in the first place. But first, an introduction. I am Lucci. Oracle of the Mountain of Light."

Luxia was nodding slowly and dramatically.

'Yes, yes, of course you are. Wonderful title, that, if a little wordy. What were you just saying? Why Bob came last night? Well, that's very kind of you, but I wasn't yearning for an explanation. It was lovely to have a visitor, even if he was a little destructive.'

'Sorry about this,' said Gail boredly. 'She's, uh, not the best at conversation.'

Lucci: "Yes, I'm quite aware. Her trauma at the Academy left her brain a little addled. Yes, well, Bob, as you call him, is very upset because of what you did to his acolyte earlier yesterday. I know it was a harmless, and slightly hilarious prank, but you inadvertently violated an ancient deal by doing that. Now, he's angry with you both."

Luxia gave a cackling laugh. 'Then Bob needs to learn to take a joke, doesn't he!' she scoffed, clapping her hands. 'Oh, that poor creature.'

'Hang on a minute!' said Gail. 'Did you just say 'it's angry at you /both'?/ The f**k do I have to do with this?'

Lucci: "I assure you, Bob is not amused, and doesn't consider this to be a joke. Gail, because you picked up that knife, it thinks you're her guardian, and assumes that it needs to go through you to get to Luxia. By extension, it considers you an obstacle."

'People really have no sense of humour anymore, do they?' said Luxia, sounding like a very disappointed grandmother. 'Such a sad, sad world. Maybe I should move to Mercury.' She then cackled raucously as if enjoying a private joke.

'Oh yeah?' said Gail snarkily. 'Know a lot about this, do you? Then how about you go and tell it to leave us alone, Mr Know-it-All?'

Lucci: "It wouldn't listen to me. Its acolyte, maybe, but certainly not me. I'm afraid you're stuck with it, because it will never leave you two alone now. It will erratically appear throughout your lives to claim the price to be paid. It might show up daily, it might disappear for years at a time. It's not exactly stable, and no matter where you go, it will follow you."

'Still better than those tax collectors,' Luxia mumbled.

'So, what was the point of you showing up?' Gail snapped at Lucci. 'You just wanted to come and rub this in our faces, huh? If you're not here to do anything, then f**k off!'

'Manners, Abigail.'

Lucci: "I came to purchase Rat Boil cures and to explain what was happening and why. If you really want to shake Bob off your shoulders, then find the acolyte Luxia wronged and convince her to perform the ritual of forgiveness. Then, the Aspect might leave you alone. I do warn you, however, that particular acolyte isn't big on mercy..."

'Oh, shove off,' Gail snarled. 'You're not being helpful, so quit scolding us and get the hell out of this shop. You can shove the rat boil cures up your ass.'

Behind her harsh words, however, Gail was plotting. //It was Luxia who did that stupid spell, right? I had nothing to do with it. So I'll go and find this 'acolyte' by myself, whoever they are, and tell them to fix this.//

Lucci: "I literally never scolded you. Luxia, will you really bar this sale? I'll pay more if you'd like."

'Don't serve him,' Gail grumbled. 'I don't need some snooty ass telling us that we've messed up. He can take his attitude and--'

Luxia flapped a hand dismissively and spoke over her apprentice. 'No, no, no. This is the first real customer we've gotten, so let's not turn him away.'

With slow, creaky movements, she stood up and went into the back room to get the cures.

Lucci: "Thank you, dear."

{He says, smiling. He then turns to Gail.}

Lucci: "I wasn't pointing out that you messed up. I was just explaining the reality of your situation. No reason to get huffy."

'What's the point of telling us that if you ain't gonna do anything to help? We're not idiots, we knew that the thing came after us because of Luxia playing some stupid joke on someone.'

Lucci: "Perhaps my being here has already helped? Perhaps there was more to my visit then simply buying cures, hmm? There's a saying: Whether or not it will rain in the North is determined by a whether or not a butterfly in the South will flap its wings. Perhaps I am the butterfly."

Gail let out a harsh, unpleasant burst of laughter at that. 'Yeah, great, you're a butterfly. That sure does help.'

Luxia re-emerged from the back room with a large crate, which she tossed at Lucci's feet. 'Just the right amount of cures, I think. You're lucky I've been making them since before I moved here. Got a few of 'em stored up.'

Lucci: "Thank you dear."

{Reaching into his pocket, he produces the right amount of squalls and pays Luxia.}

Lucci: "Oh, before I go..."

{Waving his hand, the splintered counter began to dissociate into tiny particles, which gathered together and repaired itself. With the counter fixed, Lucci picks up the crate and heads out the door.}

Lucci: "Have a nice day!"

'Have a wonderful morning yourself! Do come by again,' Luxia chirped as she saw Lucci out. She then turned to her apprentice. 'Isn't this lovely, Abigail? Now we can afford KFC tonight.'

Gail was wearing a preoccupied expression, which was unusual for her. She didn't answer, but just went back to her chores.

(Lol, skip back to Armin and Dianne?)

(Yup, I'll start...)

Around midmorning, shortly after Lucci had left Luxia's shop, Armin awoke. He could feel without even opening his eyes that he was still stuck in the wrong body. Though slightly disappointed, he was too sleepy and comfortable to worry about it yet. //It hasn't actually been a full day yet. Give it a few more hours...//

(Lol, my power went out. :p)

{Dianne awoke the next morning on account of just feeling off. Opening her eyes, she's met by her own sleeping face.}

Dianne: "Oh for f%^k's sake...."

'Hey...' Armin grumbled drowsily. 'Don't swear at me, it's too early for that.' He tightened his arms around her, afraid she might leave. It was a chilly morning.

{Sighing, Dianne snuggled in with Armin. She decided that there was nothing to do but sleep with Armin until either the spell wore off or he was ready to get up.}

Dianne: "Sorry...I just really want to be myself again..."

'It won't be much longer...' he murmured sleepily. 'You can have your body back soon enough.' Eyes still closed, he drowsily rubbed her back.

{Dianne closed her eyes, focusing on the sesnsation. Despite being in Armin's body, it still soothed her. Still, she felt frustrated and humiliated that this happened at all. She wanted Luxia dead, more than anything right now. Harmless prank or not, this insult to her pride couldn't go unanswered. With a few tears going down her cheek, she settles in, trying to fall back asleep.}

Armin eventually dozed off, too comfortable to stay awake, despite the oddness of the situation.

Much later, when it was almost noon, he stirred again. Something odd was in the air. A shadow of the same charged, electrical feeling that came when somebody channelled magic. Except this time, it felt like it was draining back /into/ the earth. His eyes snapped open, and at the same moment, he felt the disorientation of everything suddenly changing; smelling, hearing, and feeling different.

{Dianne was roused by the same feeling. Blinking through the disorientation, she suddenly realizes what was happening. Sitting bolt upright, she pats herself over just to confirm.}

Dianne: "Finally! I'm back!"

Armin grunted, propping himself up on one elbow and rubbing his eyes. The faint light coming in through the curtains hurt. He sat quietly for a moment as he re-adjusted to being in his own body. Everything felt sharper and more vibrant.

'Hell, yes. At last.'

{Dianne was just grinning, happy to be back.}

Dianne: "Ok, time to tear that hag to bloody pieces..."

Armin stretched, then flopped back down onto the bed.

'Are you sure murder is an appropriate response to this?' he said carefully.

{Dianne lies down on her side, pulling Armin into her arms.}

Dianne: "Armin, she held us against our will and switched our bodies without our consent. That's not ok. If she's so senile that she disregards personal rights, she's dangerous. She is extremely powerful."

'I know it wasn't OK, but... slaughtering someone over something that was essentially harmless doesn't sit well with me. She's a crazy old lady; she might not have realised it was bad. I just... don't want to kill someone without good reason...'

(New room)