Evelynn's body began to slowly morph – her back began to bulge and curve forwards to the point where if it were human anymore, it would have broken. She grew massively in stature, her shoulders widening and broadening. Her clothes meshed into her body, being consumed by the magical transformation and disappearing as dark grey fur with a purple tinge burst forth.
Axel couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was the girl that was supposed to be his companion? At first he was scared out of his wits, but then the ugly transformation process was over as soon as it begun and the first thing that Evelynn looked at was him.
Even though everything about her was different, Evelynn's eyes were still the same. When she looked at him, she held the same stare that Axel knew and it immediately calmed him down. It carried the same emotions, the same intelligence. Evelynn was still herself.
Her head was wolfish, and she opened her mouth to reveal wolfish teeth and a black tongue.
"How ish dish?" She asked, her tongue flopping around uncoordinated. This actually made Io laugh a little.
"Haha, must be hard to talk now with your new mouth? Well, I think it's splendid. You look exactly like a Lykan-trans. In fact, if you never transformed back into a human, even I wouldn't be able to know you really weren't a monster."
"So… you're saying that right now she can pass as a monster? That nobody will know if she doesn't reveal her true identity?"
"Yup!" Io exclaimed. "Wait…"
"Does that really make her a human, then?" Charybdis mused. "If she's basically a monster now… and never transforms back, is she really a human anymore?"
"Try standing up," Io suggested. She offered a hand and pulled Evelynn to her feet. She stood shakily for a few seconds before falling heavily back down onto the couch. Axel noticed that while her arms and her upper chest area had grown significantly, her legs were still the same size – small in comparison.
"I can��t shtand," Evelynn moaned, fumbling over her own tongue.
"Ah," Io said. "Thankfully, we have braces for that! They're magically adaptive braces that you can wear when you're a human. Then, as you transform, they will adapt to fit your size and help you stand upright and walk. It shouldn't be too hard to find."
"In fact, we have them here," Charybdis piped up.
"Oh, that's great! Then I suppose the rest of my visit will be to help Evelynn adjust to them. I can apply them in a snap, just get them for me and we should be ready to go."
"Don't forget, you have to inspect the boy as well," Scylla spat.
"Ah, he's fine. I can see no problems with him," Io laughed nonchalantly. "I'm too caught up in figuring out how Evelynn's going to do in our society. This is truly amazing, utterly spectacular."
Io continued to fawn over Evelynn's new form for several minutes before Charybdis came back with the adaptive braces. Io's eyes glowed as she took Evelynn and Charybdis immediately away to try them on. They headed off towards the entry and down the winding hallway, leaving Axel alone and isolated with Hydra and Scylla. Scylla and Hydra were both silently fuming, Scylla more obviously so. They way that Io was conducting herself was, in their opinion, totally unprofessional and much too lax.
As she left, Charybdis tossed a deeply apologetic look to Axel as he shivered, trapped in the room with two great monsters who hated his guts.
Without Evelynn, his anchor, he felt incredibly alone and vulnerable. Separated, he felt like nothing. He wanted desperately to look up, but knew that any movement would instantly set off Hydra and Scylla, so he tried his best to remain froze and stock still. He wasn't successful, as he was shaking uncontrollably.
"What shall we do with him, I wonder," Hydra mused.
"We can't hurt him, or Sorreval and Charybdis will get angry," Scylla said.
"Not physically, no, we cannot, but there are other means," Hydra offered with a raised eyebrow.
"Hmph," Scylla acquiesced. "Tell me what you have in mind."
"Humans cannot fly, can they? Scylla, why don't you open the windows and let some… fresh air in, hmm?" Hydra flashed Axel a wicked grin that he could not see but could definitely sense. As Scylla pushed a button on the side of the wall, the window panes began to slide downwards, and a huge gust of wind burst into the room. They were so high up that any fall from this height would be enough to shatter Axel's bones, let alone kill him.
"Why don't we… air him out a little?" Hydra said coolly, and Axel felt sharp claws on his back as he was yanked up by the scruff. He reached out instinctively to remove Scylla's claws from his neck, but found them frozen in place by her magic. Or was it fear?
He was choking as Hydra constricted his airway. He felt an immense burning pressure as his entire body was lifted into the air as if it were made of paper. Even though he was Hydra's height, without Evelynn, he seemed small and meek. His unfriendly and sarcastic air melted away into pure terror.
"Pathetic," Scylla drawled. "Bring him over here."
Hydra, with unrelenting force, calmly walked over to where the floor of the building stopped and gave way to the fresh air of Lachlan. Axel found feel the wind on his face as his stringy sharp hair whipped helplessly around his face. He squinted his eyes as his face was blasted by the cold and terrifying gale.
Hydra reached her second clawed hand out and grabbed Axel's head violently, forcing him to look down. His eyes widened as he saw the city streets an impossible distance below him. He stared certain death straight in the face. Even his advanced air magic wouldn't be able to save him from a fall from such a height.
"Let's see how long you last until you start to cry, huh, human?" Hydra, the Puppeteer, grinned.