Chapter 5: Chapter 4: Consequences

Thomas groaned, stirring. He looked around curiously and found himself lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room.

What was the last thing that had happened…?

Right, he had just picked up the Monster Breeder Class, and Gramps had been saying something about not picking it right away. Whoops.

“Wazzat?!” Ellie blurted out, lurching forward. She had, apparently, been sleeping in a chair beside Thomas’ bed, and was blearily rubbing her eyes. “Thomas?” She began hopefully, then froze, staring at Thomas. “Who…are you?”

Thomas rolled onto his side, so he was facing her, and glared. “Really? I can’t exactly see myself, but surely my makeover wasn’t extreme enough for you to not recognize…me.” He frowned. That…was not his voice. Not how he remembered it, anyway. It was higher and airier, and he would almost describe it as musical.

“Ellie, what do I look like?”

“But, you…” She blinked, then realization dawned. “You’re…Thomas?”

“Yes, I’m Thomas!” He hissed. “Who else would I be?!”

“Um, uh, I don’t, um,” Ellie was blushing furiously, refusing to meet Thomas’ eyes. “Let me get Grandpa, he’ll know what to do.” She stood up, dashing out of the room and leaving Thomas alone.

He was afraid to look himself over. Aside from a weight on his chest and the sensation of all his clothes being loose he felt normal, but he was sure that was the transformation’s doing. He…had some suspicions, but he really didn’t want to check to be sure.

Fortunately, he was saved by Gramps walking through the open door and coming into the room, tailed by Ellie, who was hiding behind Gramps and peeking out at Thomas.

Gramps took one look at Thomas then sighed, reaching into his bag and somehow pulling out a full-length mirror, which he set on the floor.

Thomas rolled to face the other direction before he could see anything, closing his eyes. “Is it bad? Tell me it’s not awful.”

“It’s not bad, just…surprising.” Gramps said, walking over to Thomas. He laid a hand on Thomas’ shoulder and then, instead of moving to further comfort him, grabbed him and planted him square in front of the mirror. “Open your eyes, there’s no use hiding from it.” Gramps said kindly. “You’re stuck like this, so you better face the facts.”

He slowly opened his eyes and recoiled. Standing in the mirror in front of him was an unreasonably beautiful girl just barely taller than Gramps. Her long, blond hair cascaded down her shoulders and down to her back, looking as if it had been carefully straightened, and her body showed no marks whatsoever.

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And, as much as he hated to say it, her figure was good, too. It was hard to accurately gauge anything due to the extremely oversized shirt she was wearing (anything below the waist having fallen into a pile around her feet), but it looked as if she wasn’t exactly lacking in the curves department.

And, unfortunately, Thomas was forced to admit that it was him in the mirror. “Um…” She began, “There’s…not an undo option, is there?”

Gramps shook his head. “Not an easy one, I’m afraid. Did the Class give you any Skills?”

Thomas quickly checked her Status. “Four.”

Gramps winced. “That’s going to make things very difficult, if you want back to your old self. You’ve got to first find something that will get rid of your Class, and then find four Skill removers, and all of those are on the level of national treasures, especially the Skill removers.”

Thomas wilted, dropping down to the floor. “I’m…never going to be able to go back to Mael.” She said, tears springing to her eyes, “No one would ever believe I had a spontaneous sex change; I don’t have any paperwork…it’s over. I won’t be able to see my friends again; I’ll be stuck here as someone who can’t even measure up to basic standards.”

Gramps scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Well…you kind of signed up for that when you allowed yourself to change. Don’t worry, though, I can take care of that. Mael doesn’t know about magic, so some quick memory and record alteration will be a snap. I already got someone on standby while we were waiting for you to wake up, so don’t sweat it.”

Ellie nervously walked over, crouching down so she was at eye level with Thomas. “Well, um, are any of those Skills good?”

Thomas once again brought up her Status and took a full look at the Skills she had received.

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