It's Not As It Seems

     “I’m sure it is.” Ssyndur replied as he pushed a cup of water over in Envhy’s direction with the intention of the Bori using it to wash down the liquid in the vial.

     “If it wasn’t Mum wouldn’t have left it here with your name on it. She worked really hard to get the potion for you, Envhy. Even harder when Ssyndur came home with his new scales. “ Vychous replied coming up behind Envhy to lay a scaled claw on his hand. “Yeah, it’s from the black market, but she tried really hard to get it for you.”

     The other Neopets looked at Envhy, who still gazed at the vial as if it was poisoned. Just as Ssyndur did, all those years ago, Envhy himself had always dreamed of being a bat, a Korbat to be exact. He wanted to fly and see the world, which the only way to change his species was to take a transmogrification potion – He knew he would be mutant, but Mum had stressed the fact that she adored bats and adored his dream of becoming one and that she couldn’t wait to play with his ears.

     “Okay.” He said finally, looking over at his brothers and sister, all who stared at him as if they were waiting with bated breath. They knew Envhy to be the strong one, he was the one to go into battle with Mum whenever there was a skirmish. He was also so knowledgeable, reading as many books as he could to see how he would be able to challenge anything. To see him hesitate had to be a shock to them all.

     His claw closed around the vial and Vychous, the only one with claw-like hands, helped him get the cork out. “Bottoms up, brother.” The Krawk said with a smile, patting the Bori on the shell before backing away.

     Envhy looked at his siblings once more before tilting his head back and lifting the bottle to his lips, drinking the green shimmering mixture. As he placed the bottle down, nothing seemed to happen, and he thought at first Mum had been scammed out of whatever she had traded for the potion. Then his fur started to tingle, and his shell weirdly enough started to ache.

     “Envhy?” Dicae’s soft voice called out to him, but it was as if she was above water, calling his name as he was drowning in the sensation that was taking over his body. He couldn’t cry out… couldn’t move as he collapsed onto the ground.

     “Go get Mum, Bertox!” Dicae cried as she moved to her brother whose body was contorting and shifting before her eyes. His fur took on a green appearance, his body becoming larger as his shell turned a dark grey with spots. “And hurry!”

     Bertox took off the moment Dicae yelled for him too, flying across the Haunted Woods where their Neohome had been built to the shops that Mum was set up, selling little odds and ends she had collected through the years. Bertox was out of breath as he landed near her stall and she quickly moved to hand him some water, which he drank down ever so quickly.

     “It’s Envhy mum! He took the potion, and he doesn’t look too good.” Mum’s eyes widened at the news and guilt flooded her. If something happened to her baby, she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. She closed her stall, packing the items away that were more valuable than not and rushed with Bertox back through the woods. Between the bogs and quicksand pits that hid within the Haunted Woods, it took a bit to get back to the home they shared, being on foot making the trek harder.

     Mum pushed through the doors in a hurry, rushing to the Kitchen where Dicae was still with Envhy who no longer looked like the happy go lucky yellow Bori he once was. Mum covered her mouth with her hands, before moving to her little guy’s side, taking over where Dicae had sat. Her fingers pushed through his fur, the green different from the yellow it had been this morning; her other hand shifting to play with his large ears, which did in fact look more of a Korbat than a Bori. Clenching her eyes closed, she leaned down and pressed a small kiss to the snout of Envhy before moving to stand.

     With Vychous’ help and Dicae moving quickly, they placed Envhy in the bedroom, laying him on his side away from the mirror where he wouldn’t be startled by his appearance when he woke. “Dicae, can I trust you to make dinner, dear?” The Poogle nodded before calling for Ssyndur’s help as she left the room.

     Mum took a seat next to the bed, stroking over Envhy’s fur, her voice light as she apologized over and over for doing this to him. He wasn’t hideous but a combination of a Bori and a Korbat, but she was going to find that black market trader to give him a piece of her mind if it was the last thing she did.

     Envhy stirred on the bed, drawing Mum’s attention and she shifted to sit on the bed next to him. “Easy, my sweets, easy.” She whispered and wondered if he was in a lot of pain. Maybe she should have called for Marina, the Healing Faerie. As she got up to do so, she paused as Envhy called for her and she sat back down, taking his clawed hand in her own. “I’m here.”

     “What happened?” Envhy asked, his voice hoarse as if it had been dried in the Lost Desert for ages. What in Coltzan had happened to him? He felt like he had been dragged through the mud and back; his muscles ached, his body sore and yet he felt different. “Did it work?” Excitement had him pushing back, only to see Mum’s head shake back and forth. “Not fully.” She whispered, broken-hearted.

     “What?” He asked confused before pushing out of the bed to look at himself in the mirror. What stared back wasn’t the Bori he was used to, but something different, grown and twisted. His shell was larger and curved, giving him a hunch back appearance. His fur, once yellow was green, and his ears… His ears were the only thing that even remotely resembled the Korbat appearance he had wanted.

     “It looks like they watered down the potion. Probably to spread it and scam more people. I promise Envhy, I’ll fix it.” Mum voiced behind him, tears threatening, and he turned to face her. Taking both her hands in his much larger claws now, he shook his head.

     “No Mum. Don’t worry. It’ll happen. But think, I’m stronger, better. It’s for the good.” He whispered before looking back at himself in the mirror. “For the good.” Though he was disappointed, he couldn’t help to notice that there could be some good to actually come from this turn of events. He was stronger, that he could feel, and the shell on his back would protect him more.

     He'd train himself harder and use that in turn to protect his family. Yes, this change really had been for the good.