[center][b]An Experiment Gone Strange, pt 2
By: VeronicaFoxx
For: ArrowQuivershaft[/b][/center]

Cyrillion had moved away about a dozen yards and was speaking quietly into a cell phone, occasionally nodding or writing things down in his notebook.  Svetlana, his wife, stood with him, keeping a vigilant watch over her tiny hubby as usual.  Richard expected that the half-dragon sorcerer wasn't getting entirely good news, but Cy stood with his back carefully towards the shifter so as to keep his expression hidden.  Rich wasn't exactly happy with the results of his experiment.  Despite the fact that it had been successful, at least in part, returning to human form had made him female!  Considering the fact that the shift really wasn't intended to turn him into a harpy to start with, he supposed it shouldn't have been all that surprising, but it was... frustrating.  The memory of the pain was enough for him to follow Cyrillion's suggestion not to try again until after the diminutive albino had consulted with some contacts.  Crimson, on the other hand, seemed quite thrilled with the change.  The harpy-turned-shifter had been allowed into the spell circle so that she could examine him from head to toe, letting out delighted giggles every now and then.  He'd had to stop her from examining certain parts too closely, which had set the rest of the harpy flock to chattering until she had shot a glare at them.

Angelmaris had joined them after several minutes, probably because it became obvious that something interesting was happening, and just stood staring at Richard for the longest while before eventually letting out a contemplative hum.

"Hm?" Richard prompted in response, moving towards the fae but remaining inside the insulating spell circle.  "Did you think of something?"

"Nothing that would be of use to you.  I never considered this application of the Gift of Change when I offered it to your ancestors, and I rather doubt that any of them would have attempted such a foolhardy application.  You [i]were[/i] quite aware of its central purpose, so this is entirely your own fault."

"You could have warned me of that!"  The shifter winced at the sound of his own voice in his ears, a bit shrill.  Hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with it long enough to get used to it.

"Would you have listened to me?  You seemed quite determined to attempt this experiment, and you were also aware that it might fail or otherwise backfire.  I had no specific consequences to describe, though I can certainly use [i]this[/i] example in future, if it comes to that.  I very much doubt that some vague warnings would have made much impact."

Richard sighed and slumped, nodding his agreement.  It [i]had[/i] been a risk to try shifting into something other than the forms that he knew were a natural part of his ability, and he [i]had[/i] been rather determined to give it a shot.  He had expected failure would result in either not changing or going completely hawk.  He had achieved the harpy form he had wanted, but at what cost?  He could only hope that Cyrillion's contacts might come through with a way to reverse the accidental alteration.

"If I might inquire..." Angelmaris began, waiting for the shifter's nod before continuing, "what exactly were you thinking about when this occurred?  What were you doing?  How did it feel?  Shapeshifting is different for everyone, and I'm interested to know."

"Well..."  Richard was hesitant to answer. Shifting was a rather personal thing, but... if anyone currently present might be able to help undo this, it was the fae who had granted the ability in the first place.  "I was thinking about Crimson."

The harpy perked up at that and hugged her arms around his waist to nuzzle against his shoulder, letting out happy cooes.  He sighed and let her while he kept his attention on the faerie.

"I wanted to look like her when she's a harpy, so I was holding her image in mind.  Normally, I just think about being a hawk, and I tweak the magic to initiate the change.  This time I kinda... held onto the magic.  I wanted something specific, something different, so I tried to guide the change with that image in mind.  It, uh...  It kinda hurt... a [i]lot[/i]."

Angelmaris nodded thoughtfully.  "But it was successful.  That much makes sense, and I begin to see some sense in your current circumstances as well.  [i]You[/i] think Crimson's purely female, don't you?"

The shifter blinked, glanced at the currently human-shaped harpy who grinned up at him, then back at his fae vassal.  "What?"

"If all harpies were female, how would the species reproduce?  Admittedly, there are some magical species that don't require a gender dichotomy to do so, but harpies aren't one of them.  There's too much mortal material in their makeup for that.  We'd never have been able to produce domesticated breeds otherwise."

Richard blinked again and looked back down at Crimson.  "Are you... [i]not[/i] female?"

Her expression became concerned, and she pulled away slightly, wrapping her arms across her chest to hug herself.  "Am female.  Mostly...  Is bad?"

Though she was only barely showing it in her body language, he realized that this was apparently a serious point of stress for her, probably because her current form was supposed to be one which he would find to be ideal as a mate.  The sudden reversion of her speech from mostly-fluent English to rather broken made it very plain.  Feeling rather self-conscious and insensitive, he stepped in to pull her into a hug (though it felt rather strange to have padding on his chest for her to rest her chest against instead of just muscle).

"Not at all!" he reassured her.  "I just didn't know.  It doesn't matter to me one way or the other except for how you want to be addressed and treated."

"Female," she said firmly, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling into the hug.  Which he realized was probably not going to end any time soon.  He refrained from sighing yet again and patted the back of her head, turning his attention back to Angelmaris.  "So... were you going somewhere with that?"

The fae lord grinned.  "Of course.  [i]Since[/i] you thought of her as purely female, the image you held in mind was purely feminized.  I wouldn't be surprised to find that you're a hen when you're in harpy form, though I'd like to confirm that.  In Crimson's case, she [i]is[/i] mostly female, though she can self-reproduce, if she so desires, by fertilizing her own eggs.  She can't do it to others; it takes a male or mostly-male harpy for that.  The point, though, is that [i]you[/i] became female because you, quite obviously, fell prey to the common human folly of making a rather untrue assumption regarding the species."

That... made a lot of sense, actually.  He [i]had[/i] been operating under the assumption that all harpies were solely female, and the biology lesson was enlightening.  Not to mention that it made him feel like an idiot.  Now he knew better, but how did that help him in the current situation?

It was the fae's turn to sigh, adding a roll of his eyes to emphasize his frustration with Richard's obvious lack of understanding.  "You can [i]reverse[/i] the process.  Now that you [i]know[/i] that harpies can be [i]male[/i], you can become a [i]male[/i] harpy and revert to being a [i]male[/i] human!  Do I need to draw you a map as well, or do you think you can manage to follow the path now without ending up in the faewilds?"

Yeah, that also made sense.  Richard blamed his failure to connect the dots on the shock of his transformation.  "Okay.  So.  Think of myself as a male harpy, and just do what I did the same way otherwise.  Is there anything in particular that I should keep in mind about male harpies?  Are there any... obvious, uh...  Is there any obvious sexual dimorphism?"

The fae tilted his head to one side, obviously annoyed.  "Are there any sexually dimorphic characteristics in birds?  You won't have any... dangly bits, if that's what you're worried about, no more than they have breasts.  Male harpies are usually smaller than females by a decent amount, but in raptorial breeds, that's the only obvious thing.  Just think of your usual bird form, but as a harpy."

Richard was getting a bit tired of the condescending attitude, but he supposed that he had earned it.  He nudged Crimson out of the hug and jerked his head towards Cyrillion.

"Why don't you go tell Cy and Svetlana that we have a plan, huh?"  She nodded and reluctantly left him to trot across the grass towards the pair.  Richard lowered his voice to ask his next question.  "Are you sure this'll work?  Can you think of any complications?"

"Of course I'm not sure this will work!  It's all theory.  And I can think of potentially dozens of complications, but none of them are worth mentioning.  It would only make them more likely to happen since you'd be thinking about them instead of concentrating on the proper shape.  If you [i]insist[/i], I can list them, but I believe you would be best served by remaining in the dark.  The [i]one[/i] problem that I [i]will[/i] make you aware of is... that you've managed to make a bit of a snarl in the spell loop.  I expect that it's due to  your misunderstanding of harpies and is the cause of your current circumstances.  I mention this because it may prevent the change entirely or escape your control, causing unknowable unintentional consequences.  That being the case, you have two options as I see things: you can wait and hope that it sorts itself out naturally or becomes easier to work with, or you can go ahead and trust to your mastery of the magic."

That was a rather important thing to know about.  "Uh... well, do you have any suggestions as to which I should do?"

The fae bobbed his head in an uncertain manner.  "My suggestion would be to get used to your current form and make do.  It's a dangerous thing to meddle in set, permanent transformational spells, but you've already done that, and I doubt you'll be content remaining female.  So, in my [i]professional[/i] opinion, I'd say it might be wisest to wait and hope that it sorts itself out naturally with your next natural shift.  The snarl will [i]want[/i] to straighten itself out, which [i]should[/i] yank you back into the normal shape.  But... it could also decide to straighten itself out so that [i]this[/i] is what it considers to be your natural form.  There's only a slight chance, I think, of that happening, but it's a possibility."

"And here I'd thought we didn't have an expert on hand!" Cyrillion cut in, startling Angelmaris.  "More the fool I, I suppose."  The half-dragon set a hand on the faerie's shoulder, gripping it tightly with a rather strained smile showing off teeth that gleamed more than was strictly human.  "How, might I ask, did you come by this [i]wealth[/i] of knowledge regarding transformational magics?  And [i]why[/i], praytell, did you absent yourself from the initial experiment?  The input and advice you could have provided would have been invaluable, and could possibly have prevented this from occurring to begin with."

The fae lord gave a dismissive sniff.  "As I've already explained, he wouldn't have listened to me.  Besides, I wanted to play with Hemlock."

Cyrillion let out a frustrated growl, and Angelmaris winced away from his grip.  "We'll discuss that later.  For now, answer my second question."

The faerie looked chagrined, and possibly a little concerned, dropping the attitude and taking on a conciliatory tone.  "I was the one who laid the enchantment on his bloodline.  I'm not an expert on [i]all[/i] transformational magics, only this one.  And a few other similar spells."

"So [i]that's[/i] how you keep managing to procure such [i]wonderful[/i] pets."  The way that Cyrillion said "wonderful" made it seem more like a condemnation than a compliment.  "We will most [i]definitely[/i] be speaking about this later.  I absolutely [i]insist[/i] on a private interview.  I'll clear my schedule, if necessary."

Angelmaris looked at the ground and gave a half-bow, far more respectful than Richard had ever seen him aside from to the Queens of Faerie.  Then Cyrillion turned his attention to the shifter, and Richard straightened.

"I think it might be best to continue now, if you feel up to it.  We already have everything in place, and there is the chance that things will 'correct' themselves in an unwanted manner if we wait.  Unless you would prefer otherwise?"

Richard shook his head.  "No, I'd like to get this taken care of as quickly as possible.  I'd, uh...  Yeah, I'd prefer not to stay like this.  I'm not, like, in any active pain, and it doesn't really feel like there's anything wrong with me.  Besides being a girl.  So, I think it's safe to try again."

"Excellent!  In that case, give me  just a moment to double check the circle and perform any necessary touch-ups, and we'll get on with things."

Richard moved back to the center and waited patiently.  While he did so, he thought about the advice that Angelmaris had provided and attempted to investigate the little twist of magic that powered his ability to shift.  Or perhaps simply guided it.  It [i]did[/i] feel a little different to him, though that might also just be the power of suggestion.  Since Angelmaris had said that there was a snarl or tangle, he might just be thinking that he felt one.  He figuratively fingered it, thinking of it more as a bundle of yarn or a rubber band ball than his usual visualization.  It had always felt like more of a loop before, a little thread of power that he pulled upon to activate the shift and released.  But now he was thinking of it more as a self-contained thing, something entirely within himself, something that pervaded his being instead of being just a part of something larger that he made use of.

Something that he had to control instead of letting it do as it wished.  He had managed it once.  Would he be able to do it again?  He would have to.  Otherwise, he'd need to provide quite a few explanations.  And there were some things about being female that he would rather not have to deal with besides.  He had enough problems being a guy and a shifter and a college student without adding any new complications on top of that.  So, he took his time in slowly feeling his way along the magical thread, trying to feel out the way that it twisted and turned and tangled in on itself, searching for the place where it had gone wrong.  It wasn't something he had ever done before, so he wasn't really sure what it would feel like when he found it, but... he was relatively certain when he did.  It was like a knot, a tight bit that seemed to be snarled up against itself rather than flowing more or less smoothly like the rest of it did.

He took mental hold of that spot with one imaginary hand on either side of the knot, and opened his eyes.  Everyone was looking at him, apparently having been waiting on him to finish his internal examination.  He glanced at Cyrillion and received a nod, so he shut his eyes again and focused on the change the same as he had the first time.  The thing that he made very sure to do differently was to keep firmly in mind that the harpy he was imagining was [i]male[/i].  It was just the same as his red-tailed hawk form in that regard.  While he had never actively thought about it, being male was as much an inherent part of his identity as a hawk as it was as a human.  So he altered the image and his conception of it to suit, imposing his own human parts and concentrating on his hawk self at the same time.  When he had the concept as firmly conceived as he was able to, he began to gently pull at the magical thread that he grasped in his imagination.

He didn't  yank it or tug it for fear of tightening the knot.  Instead, he applied gentle pressure while exerting his will, hoping that the slightly slippery nature of the magic would allow it to slide free and untangle.  He felt the physical changes begin as he did so, but he ignored the sensations as best he could.  He put all of his energy into concentrating on holding the thread and guiding the transformation, on keeping up steady pressure to straighten out the knot.  And it seemed to be working.  There was a snapping sensation, a jolt of... not quite pain but like it, a tension that suddenly tightened inside him before smoothing over.  He traced his ethereal hands along the thread afterwards, and it felt as smooth as it had before.  He peeked his eyes open to give himself a look, and it seemed that he had achieved the first part of his goal.  As before, he was a hybridization of avian and human characteristics.  His stomach felt decidedly pained, hunger gnawing at him now that some of his anxiety was beginning to recede.  After three shifts in such a short time, he had burned a lot of calories, and he would need to replace them very soon.  But he had one more thing to do before he could eat.

Richard focused on his human self once more, hoping against hope, and gave the magic a light tug, letting it unravel and reconfigure itself as it was supposed to.  When the numb not-pain had faded once more and he felt the air on his skin instead of feathers, he carefully opened his eyes for a final time and looked down.  The relief that flooded through him at the view of his normal body was immeasurable.  Then his stomach cramped, and he sank down to the ground with a low moan.  Thankfully, Svetlana was also a shifter and had come to the event prepared.  The massive valkyrie hurried over with a double-handful of energy bars, and stuffed one into his open mouth after peeling it out of its wrapper.  He chewed gratefully and swallowed it down, starting on a second one as soon as it was presented to him.

"Well, that seems to have been an unqualified success, then!" Cyrillion commented.  "Congratulations, Richard.  And, Angelmaris, thank you for your assistance and advice.  That will be taken into consideration.  Now, why don't we leave the shifters to themselves.  We might as well have that little chat while we have no other pressing business at hand."

Rich turned his attention from shoving calories into his face long enough to look at Angelmaris, who gave him a concerned glance then a shake of the head.  It seemed that the faerie would deal with what was coming on his own.  The shifter shrugged and kept on eating, though he knew from experience that it would take a while before the trembling weakness would leave him after so much exertion.

[center][b]The End[/b][/center]

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