By  lunarkeys

Kyla shifted her weight, flushing ferociously as her rump sank into the soft cushions. She swallowed. “...like this?”

“Perfect! Just sit there, and we’ll get you fitted for the collar.” The luminari strode back to the entrance, cupping his hands to shout. “HEY! She’s ready to get herself measured.”

“W-wait, a collar!? H-hold on, I thought this was just goofing off with the-”

“What, with the rubberskunk in the harem outfit?” He chortled, looking back to her. “C’mon, lookit yourself. You came all this way just to stop now?”

“I-I...h-hey, it was just a bit of fun! I’d not...you’re not…” But the dragoness was already coming in, dressed in little more than corset and latex stockings with measuring tape. Kyla nearly fell over at the sight.

“Right! We’ll get her something nice and leathery, to go with the ‘former adventurer’ outfit, see how things pan out.

“W-wait! I’m not-”

BOOOOOONNGGG…

Kyle leapt upright, grabbing his dagger out from under his pillow and brandishing it, shaking sleep from his eyes. He glared at the empty room, waiting for the pivotal moment when someone in this confounded town would finally come for him.

Silence, sans a stray cat meowing in the distance.

He groaned to himself, setting down the dagger before checking the nearby clock. Nine AM. He had slept in.

Again.

He squinted his eyes shut before settling himself back down at the edge of the bed, sighing deeply. The dream wasn’t new; he had had variants of it before after his initial change at the manor, each female, glossy, and...well, somewhat docile.

Okay, it was submissive.

Though the luminari had insisted on not having used any magic, the dreams had settled deep into his imagination, the thoughts of just what else the devious feesh could get up to proving more tantalizing than terrifying. He scowled at the thought before jolting at the knock on his door.

“....yes?” His fingers tightened over the hilt of his blade, uncertain. Riverdale was a hotbed of strange creatures and stranger happenings, but nobody had come for him - yet. Still, a decade’s worth of bounty hunting had sharpened his paranoia finer than his blade.

“Room service?” The voice was hesitant on the other side of the door. “You had requested breakfast this morning, sir.”

His fingers slid free of the handle, the crux rubbing over his brow. Right. “Yes, sorry. Come in.”

“The door is locked, sir.”

I knew that. “Yes! Coming!”

--

Breakfast was wondrous. Although the bounty hunting life was fraught with peril, it did pay for luxuries - like a half-stack of pancakes, fresh rashers of bacon, and a blueberry muffin. Kyle sat back in the easy chair, sighing softly as a smile settled over his elongated snout. Strange as this place was, it did have its perks. Though much of the alchemical weaponry smelled foul and seemed more dangerous to the user than whoever you were pointing it at, he had discovered two forges that could work enchantment magic into your equipment - at absurd cost, no doubt, but one minute of wearing the EverHeat jacket offered him had sold him on the concept. He had picked up dimensional pouches for storage and spent the better part of yesterday putting objects into them, then testing the weight against his fighting poses, much to his amusement.

And then...well, then there was Keys proper. He shivered. The incident had only been two weeks prior - a bounty for information and potential capture of the luminari had led him to a sprawling estate up over the old Silvermint mine, where his investigation of a strange, rubbery garden had prompted a rather embarrassing transformation into a skunk similarly constructed of such rubber. That the experience had been rather...pleasurable had kept him in the town for some time, halfway torn between needing to get another job and wanting to go up and find out just what else the luminari had in there.

He sighed. Responsibility first. Two weeks without doing work made for a good vacation, but his savings wouldn’t last forever - especially with breakfasts like those. He had glanced at the posters in general stores, but most of it was clearing out dangerous animals; stuff for chump change and beginning hunters.

He needed something challenging.

The crux put out the breakfast tray for cleanup, then dropped a gold piece as a tip before obtaining his gear. Work, then play. Mayhaps he could find something worth a proper chunk of change, and then he could come back, pick up a few things, maybe drop by Keys’ place again, and buy some...stuff...before leaving Riverdale, onto greener pastures.

He hesitated a moment, then shook his head. Work, then play.

--

"Well, we've got a few things in." Mr. Falcon mused, scratching at his beak a moment. Kyle sagged in relief. "Blackguards? Loose assassins? Wandering firebrands?"

"Ah, er, there was a jailbreak yesterday. Some false apothecaries selling drugs dressed up as cures that were being held for bail. Looks like fifty gold for the lot."

Chump change. He had spent that on food for two weeks. "Anything more pricey?"

"Well, there's the jumbo alligator they were talking about by Vilkar's Mill at sixty-five…"

"Anything pricey? Four digits? At least three?" Kyle put his head in his hands. The crux would have to clear the board just to get transportation back to Gelspar, at this rate.

"Sorry, my blue friend, most of what's out there isn't terribly interesting. Unless you want to go beat on the old Grambler serpent, you're out of luck."

"Done. Where? How much?" He realized his mouth had gotten ahead of him. "What's the price?"

"Whoa, whoa, there." The birdfolk held up his hands. "Thing is practically legend, at this point. Classic tale says that there was an old galleon, the, uh, the Periwinkle, that had come down the river, and-"

Kyle knew how long Mr. Falcon's tales tended to end up. "Just the price, please. And a location."

"I don't think you're quite getting it, little fellah. This thing just about devoured a ship whole."

"The only things that big are in Crownflame or in Ghoulhollow," The crux sighed. "Maybe it ate a fishing boat or something and the legend said worse. Is it a dragon?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then I can kill it. Sea serpent?"

"Biggest you've ever seen. Thing'll just drown you, you know. If it doesn't just eat you outright."

"Then you can tell my corpse 'I told you so' if I'm wrong. Price."

The birdfolk shrugged. "Eh, two thousand, I recall. Mayor's office. Lemme see if I can find the bill…" He leaned down and rummaged for several minutes before producing a yellowed paper, smoothing it out upon the bar. 'Huh, twenty five. I guess it's been a while."

"Fantastic. I'll be on my way." He snatched the paper and tucked it into his jacket. Finally.

"Unless you think you can breathe water, I suggest-"

"I'll be fine!" He was already scurrying out, kinked tail waving in a gesture of farewell. Mr. Falcon shook his head, then glanced at the other patrons. "Betting pool on if he comes back?"

--

Stupid, stupid, that was stupid. The crux grumbled to himself as he stalked his way back up the ridge. He had been so sure about his ability to beat this thing up that he had forgotten that getting the necessary ingredients would require coming back to the manor with hat in hand.

Not to mention that Keys had elected to live nearly four miles from the town.

Nonetheless, his options were minimal. No doubt the alchemy shops in town had a collection of neat transformative solutions, but everyone he had talked to so far that offered transfiguration magic had been some element of crazy. One, he recalled, had shown up at the counter with elephant ears and some sort of...alligator? Crocodile? appendage attached, offering ‘the craziest whizbangwhackerdoodle you could possibly imagine.’ Kyle had had to escape at swordpoint, the shopkeep still shouting after him, offering it at ‘a whole seventeen point three percent off.’

Still, the prospect of saying hi to Keys and asking for giant fish serum in order to fight another giant fish was a bit daunting.

Kyle sighed as the mansion came into view. Remote location aside, he had designed his place well; sprawling, wrought-iron fencing surrounding the property, with artfully displayed gargoyles - and more of them, this time, each overlooking the pathway up. His fingers tingled as he got closer to the gate, and a hunch had him lean over to pick up a rock, tossing it at the fence.

KKKKZZRRZT. Kyle snorted audibly as the rock careened away, smoking profusely as it clattered to the ground. New security. The thought that he had taught the crafty fish a lesson brought a smirk to his face. He reached the door and knocked, once, twice - THOOM THOOM - did the fish seriously have some magical enchantment to make his door knocks louder? - before stepping back.

Nothing. Kyle put his hands behind his back. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand-

The door opened with a start, and a gigantic dragon stared down at him.

She was more than twice his size, her plated green scales akin to armor. Her bicep was bigger than most of his torso, and her claws could have caught the blade he wielded and snapped it in half.

Her expression looked like she was ready to do it, too.

'...hi.' he managed, though his dinner plate-sized eyes told what was going on his head. 'Are you one of, um, Keys'...y'know…'

'No.' She stated, flatly. Her voice boomed loudly enough that he felt as if she had punched him. 'I was just leaving.'

She pushed past him, the bump of her thigh nearly sending him flying as she flapped once - the backdraft of wind bowling him over - and disappeared into the skyline.

Kyle mumbled something under his breath as he picked himself back up. He dared not say it aloud in case she could still hear. He stalked inside, using his kinked tail to slam the door shut before cupping his hands to shout. “HEY, K-oh, there you are.”

The luminari, for once, looked positively disheveled. His hair was blown back, as if he had just been standing in a wind tunnel, and his jacket was visibly scorched, the leather still smoking. He grinned ruefully as the crux stared. ‘Howdy, Kyle.’

“Did...did you...uh…” He scratched his head, glancing behind him. “...who was that?”

“Razakir. She’s, uh, excitable.” The luminari reached to brush down his hair, only noticing the smoke as he did so. He patted it out.

“Excitable?” He gawked in disbelief. “She looked like she was gonna bulldoze through the whole city! What in the world did you do?”

“Oh, she wanted to buy out my operation.” He sighed, leaning up against the couch. “I attempted to negotiate, she informed me that she was not in the mood, some words and flame were exchanged…” He waved a hand. “It happens, sometimes.”

“...no. It does not.” He clutched his head. “Why on earth would you negotiate with that...thing?”

“Oh, she stops by every once in a while. Some sort of world-hopper, travel between dimensions, all that. She buys stuff.” The luminari smoothed out his hair and cast some sort of spell, mending the fabric in his clothing. “What’s got you out here, crux?”
“She buys stuff from…” He shook his head, clutching his ears for a few moments before remembering that he had actually come here for a reason. “...um, I needed some stuff.”

“Descriptive! Good start. What sort of stuff?” The feesh was all smiles and devious expressions once again.

The crux scowled. “I...need to go get a bounty. Something dangerous.”

“Aaaaaannd…?”

The scowl turned into a glower. “...I might need some of your serums to help me out.”

The luminari was practically aglow at the thought. You bastard, enjoying this. “Ah! So you need something frightening. Gryphon? Behemoth? Draaaaagon?” He waggled his fingers to imitate the flying wings. Kyle sighed.

“It’s a sea serpent. Ah...uh, the Grambler serpent.”

“Oh, that thing. Hrm. Yeah, you’d need to breathe underwater. Which leaves sea snake, dolphin, shark…” He twigged through a mental checklist, webbed digits ticking against one another as he thought.

“...luminari?”

Might as well. “Yeah, probably one of your critters. Flexible, yeah?” The feesh chortled while nodding.

“Luminari would be practical. You’d need dexterity enough to get through, and luminari can swing a sword about as well as any crux, I’d imagine. Though if it’s the Grambler, uh…” He spread his arms wide. “I don’t think even one of my kind would be big enough for that. Something about swallowing a ship?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” The crux waved a hand. “How big does your stuff go?”

“Uhm.” The feesh held up a finger. “You’ve...seen the ladies around, yeah?”

A head slapped his forehead. “Right.”

“So, strongest dosage?”

“Is it gonna make me destroy the whole countryside?”

“...probably not. That stuff’s hidden in the vaults.” Keys grinned ruefully. “Off limits.”

“So long as you’re not giving it to anyone else. If I find another bounty poster with your name on it, I’m not gonna feel as kindly the second go around.”

“Duly noted. Strongest regular dosage, then.”

“Uh huh.” He folded his arms. “And...y’know. Make it. Um. Nice.”

The luminari raised an eyebrow before the lightbulb went off in his head. “Right! Be back in a few minutes.”

Kyle waved him off, watching the feesh saunter down the hallway, then cast a glance around. The luminari’s manor was still opulent; somehow, he had managed to import blue velvety carpeting that stretched between rooms. The furniture was ostentatious and made of some exotic wood that probably could only be pronounced by dragons, and the walls had banners depicting the various beasts under the luminari’s employ.

Hrm. His eyes fell upon one of another luminari - one far larger than her owner, given the size of the sharks that barely came up to her knees. She had shimmering teal skin and lengthy, flowing red hair that reached her knees. Her grin was the kind of assertive that informed you that she already knew you were going to say ‘no’, and she was going to ignore it in advance. Like Razakir, just less terrifying and more...attractive.

He liked her. She gave him ideas.

The crux was smiling by the time the luminari returned, arms full with boxes. Each rattled with the faint clink of flasks banging against one another, and the feesh tapped each in turn. “Right, each of these is in a specific shade. Luminari usually come in blue or green, sometimes gray, rarely, purple, but I’ve got one of each flavor here-”

“Blue.” The crux pointed at the corresponding box. His mind was already calculating how many there must have been in there.

“I suppose I should’ve expected. So, blue, and how many were you looking-”

“All of ‘em. Whole box.” His grin widened. The luminari stared back at him. “Um, I’m not sure that you need that-”

“And a room to test one. Privately.” He grinned back at the feesh, delighting in the luminari’s assertiveness being challenged. “I’ll pay, obviously.”

“Well, there’s not really a market price for these, since their sale is a bit legally questionable, but I guess maybe I could-”

“Sold!” Kyle reached for his gold pouch and upended it upon the feesh’s hands, coins raining onto the floor. He reached down and snatched the box out from under the feesh’s hands, then turned, his kinked tail swaying with fiendish delight. “Which room’s open?”

“...second hallway on your left, fourth room.” The luminari sighed, bending over to obtain the dropped coinage. “If you wanted an outfit to go with it-”

But Kyle was already prancing down the hallway, box carefully clutched. The flasks click-clacked as he made his way down the hall, humming to himself. Flustering the indomitable feesh was fun, it turned out. And given that Keys’ ladies, no doubt, had had some growing pains beforehand, he had a feeling that his mischief wouldn’t cause too much trouble.

Probably.

The door closed behind him, and Kyle looked over the domain, shivering at the sight of the comforts. The locale was not dissimilar from his earlier dream; a bed built for someone four times his size, covered with pillows enough to stock an artillery squad. The sheets were, of course, silken, and dressed in exotic violets and reds. Definitely host for some sort of flashy plaything.

But not you. He sat up against the bed, hooking his blade into the lock and neatly severing the chain, opening the box. Twenty flasks greeted him, each small enough that he could hold two in each hand, and each swimming with crystalline blue solution. He held one aloft, swirling the solution experimentally and watching the swirl of brighter blue intermingle with deeper royal. A glance towards the door before he bit into the cork and spat it away. Let’s see how well this works.

He tilted the glass back and let the cool liquid flow down his throat, then took a deep breath, setting the flask aside. A glance down as he wiggled his toes and fingers. Ears? Tail? Last time, he had barely noticed the changes at all until they were already half-done. This time, he could only imagine w-

“Ah”. His next breath came out in a rush. It was like a musical chord striking at his ears, a brief peal of shivered delight that rattled from the base upward. The broader edges of the diamond shapes began to flatten as exploratory fingers surveyed over the base, finding fur easily sheared by the touch of his claws. The blunted edges began to curve outwards as the flesh beneath thinned, the flick of each ear joined by the faintest creak of cetacean-like skin. Rods of firmer flesh soon stretched as the inner caverns of the crux ears were filled with swelling gloss. His claws curled around the edges, a faint line of pink painting across his cheeks as he shivered.

Oh, that felt good. The last time, he had been too alarmed to focus on the transformation, but this...oh, this was incredible. His head bobbed as he gulped involuntarily, moisture dripping off each ear and spattering onto his shoulders, leaving dampened spots. The fur there began to recede as well as his tongue came free for a moment, the next huff of breath joined by the visible pressure as his elongated muzzle began to shorten, moisture beading upon his heating cheeks as he brushed his hair aside, shuddering as his fingers again tickled over the sensitive ears. Gah, this stuff was strong. He remembered to pull his tongue back in even as his muzzle shortened further, the more elongated snout of the crux beginning to soften into the sleeker, vulpine shape of his host’s own species. He swallowed again as he glanced down the slimmer profile of his changed nose as gloss began to spill down his neck and shoulders, joining the patch of changed, shedding fur.

“NNf.” He had to sit down. His tail was already wagging, his toes curling as his hands brushed from shoulder to shoulder, the moisture trickling onto each digit, wiping fur and stripe away alike as his elongated claws began to blunt. He watched, fascinated, as the faint dribble of moisture between each finger began to coalesce, webbing drawing in thin strands across each finger. The strands soon coagulated together into stitched, then complete webbing as blue trickled down onto his palms and forearms, fur disappearing in veins as he turned each hand over, grinning as the pink in his cheeks intensified. Oh, that was cool. That was really cool. He stretched his fingers wide, relishing the tug on each digit before letting the webbing snap them back into place with a faint squrk.

‘HHff…” His tongue slipped out again as he huffed once, noisily, glancing back at the door to ensure that Keys hadn’t snuck in during his indulging. He sighed in some relief as he hunched forward, gripping his newly-changed fingers into his knees as he let himself pant softly, his body rocking back and forth as the kinks in his tail began to soften. He glanced from one arm to the next as skin drew tighter across multiple points. The brief pinch of skin was softened over into tiny heated pinpricks, accompanied by a shiver as similar rods emerged from each arm, already glistening with the beginnings of webbing.

“Oh, wow.” The changing crux turned his arms each way, pushing his fingers into the forming webbing - the taut gloss soon trapping his fingers before pleasurable pressure forced them free, the elongated fins flexing with new musculature. He stretched his arms wide for a moment, barely suppressing a chuckle as each fin flexed, wobbling up, then down. He could already feel the way the webbing could shift whenever he was swimming. Man, and Keys stays here, instead of in the ocean…

It was not long before there was a brief crick in his backside, and his head spun, glancing back as he realized his tail had locked into a strange new sense of flexibility; the kinks were missing, and he felt himself suddenly able to heft it with strength he had been missing prior. The comparative thin crux tail was beginning to thicken, the appendage bulging at its base with new cetacean pelt. The stripes were swallowed one at a time as the base grew from three inches to seven, the shifting blue coalescing into a single shade as each sway of the newly-empowered appendage brought additional heft. Additional strength.

MmmnNNhhHh…

He huffed more noisily, his cheeks painted with a deeper shade of red as his eyes shifted from his now-changing chest back to the vials nearby. Nineteen still remained. He’d need, what, one or two to take the Grambler serpent? Maybe three?

He shook his head. At least savor it. His body happily agreed as he felt the pop of shifting skin, the sudden tightening of clothing against his chest. “Ah…” His fingers went to grip the burgeoning growth instinctively, but he pushed them back down against his knees, shuddering. He realized his tongue was hanging out of his mouth again, but the urge to keep it there was simply too strong. Shady fish that Keys was, the euphoria he was feeling made a compelling argument for simply not caring. The panting was picking up speed, now, and the tremor of his legs was joined by the curling of changing toes - again, webbing drawing tight between each as the crux paws began to deform into flippers. His tail, quite lengthy for a traditional creature, was beginning to nudge outward.

“GhHh...hAaHhh…” His fingers had moved to the edges of the bed, the claws tearing into the sheets as his spine shifted, pushing in the opposite direction. His view - quickly becoming her view - was pulling away from the floor as she was pushed bigger - and bigger - and bigger, her crux tail half-swallowed, the tip’s curl having unfolded and flattened, now spreading into broad flukes, slapping wetly against the pillows. She swallowed, shivering as her paws continued to change - the toes deforming, thinning, even as the webbing bridging them grew thicker. Her tail was constantly swaying - despite its huge and growing heft, it felt easier by the moment to swish it in greater undulations. It wasn’t just the physical power of the form, it was the ease she felt - the unconscious shift of her fins, the strength in her tail, or the automatic adjustment of her changing flipperpaws. If she was this great on land…

Her eyes flicked back to the case. Her breathing was laborious, even though she wasn’t done changing. Her cheeks were a mask of red, and her tail was long enough to thump up against the far wall, now. Just one vial could do this. A minute or two, and a vial would’ve added...a foot to her height? Another three or four to her tail? Gah. All this. One vial.

She wanted another.

“N-not yet”, she groaned, in an entirely unconvincing tone of voice. Just a minute ago, she had told herself no more. Now…

Now she was finishing up. Her paws had deformed completely into flipper feet - the edges curling inwards, squishing noisily against the velvet. Fins protruded from the back of each of her lanky legs, and her hips had widened towards a more feminine persuasion, her body built like a proper swimmer’s. Her clothing was clamping tight against her. A more coherent Kyle would’ve removed it already, but for now, she had to make do by hooking a claw into the neck of her jacket and tearing downwards. POP. It slid off, onto the floor. You’d think that you’d know to bring a bra or something to this place. Kyle briefly imagined that she could simply ask for one before banishing the thought to the abyss. She grasped at her trousers, sliding the tight fabric down her legs, grimacing as she fought to keep it from tearing against the taut fins, then sat back, clad only in torn underwear as the last burst of tail slithered over the velvet. Her fingers reached over to unconsciously brush through her hair, only to discover that it had grown past her shoulders and was now halfway down her back.

She bit her lip at the feeling. She was nearly seven feet tall, now, towering over her former height - her clothing looked downright comical, sitting next to her - and her tail was another three feet on top of that. Her skin was cetacean, soft and pliable, similar to, though not exactly like the rubber that coated so many of Keys’ ladies. Her flippers flexed with practiced precision, even though she hadn’t ever had flippers before.

Her eyes flicked back to the flasks, and she swallowed. It was fun, back in the den, thinking about how she could teach Keys a lesson about the dangers of putting super long tails on everyone - with a merry demonstration of her sprinting down the hallway. Now, the entertainment seemed a distant second to how good she felt.

Well. Nothing said she couldn’t do both.

Her tail swept off the bed, the fluke curling around and scooching the case over in one swoop. Her fingers hurriedly grasped the next flask, nearly dropping it in her excitement before a claw managed to dislodge the cork. She drank the whole thing in a single gulp, then licked her lips.

C’mon, c’mon…

And then, warmth. The flush in her cheeks, having faded to the pale line of pink, began to grow once again. She licked her muzzle in anticipation as now-familiar bliss returned. Her hands were first this time - the glistening fingers popping noisily as the joints worked to elongate, dragging new webbing along with them as the fins upon her arms jolted longer, stretching into broadened variants nearly a foot long. Her musculature, sleek and swimmer-built, grew more pronounced as she closed her fingers, reveling in the surprising new power as her tail swished - squrk! - growing as it did so, slipping another five or six inches, another foot…

“Yesssss…” She was grinning, now, rising to her flippered feet, looking back at the door she had come in. It was built bigger than normal - of course, what wouldn’t be in this place? - but even so, she was quickly rising to meet its size. She covered the distance between bed and doorframe in three steps and held a hand aloft - the frame’s peak was only a foot above her, now, and had to be, what, eight feet up? Nine? Oh, what’s it matter. She was getting bigger. And she felt great.

She set herself against the doorway, straddling over her tail as she let herself sink back into the pleasure. Her tongue came free, the vulpine muzzle elongating in short pops as her paws pushed her taller - and taller. The finned ears were inching upwards, brushing up against the doorframe as, unnoticed, the door began to creak beneath her weight. She was growing, the pleasured creak of cetacean flesh stretching, adjusting to fit a bigger and bigger pelt. A hand reached behind, grasping at the base of the tail and squeezing, the thunderous squeak resounding. ‘HAAAnhH!’ The appendage rushed through her fingers, slipping free of the webbed digits and slithering across the floor, the fluke riding over the bed and slapping haphazardly at some of the pillows as she was pushed even taller, her spine compressed tightly against the doorway. “y-YeAaAHh…moooRrHH…!”

And more she got. The door protested more firmly, but her eyes had closed as the ears crested past its frame. Her legs were thickening, more powerfully built, her arms buoyed with enough to heft the bed - complete with pillows - and hurl it across the room. Her flippers could get her through a pool in five seconds flat. She could imagine her blade, previously sizable for the crux, now like a dagger in her oversized hands. Imagine walking up to the Grambler with a tree trunk in your palms. Her voice was growing with her - her heavy panting huskier, deeper, befitting a proper giantess - one who’s shoulders filled out the doorframe, now, her head inching towards the ceiling.

She was already thinking about the next flask; and the one following. Oh, how she could imagine Keys’ face the moment he saw her now. How big was that dragoness? Like twelve feet? Oh, she could definitely go larger than that. The crafty fish was always so certain of himself - how he had chortled when she had been blindsided by the rose bush! - but now, with this kind of alchemy swimming around, the things she could do. Oh, the power! The strength! The-

CRACK.

The door’s hinges tore free, the weight of the growing luminari proving to be far too much. It slammed to the ground under her as her head bonked against the wall before crashing down, flat upon her backside into the hallway with a SLAM. Kyle coughed, recoiling as she braced for the pain of impact.

But she felt fine. The glossy skin had cushioned her perfectly, and aside from the doorknob digging into her backside, it was as if nothing had happened at all. The devious grin brightened further, and she rocked back up to a sitting position. The growth was beginning to ebb - she wobbled slightly on elongating flippers as she got back to her feet - but no matter. She hunched over, grinning at the now-tiny box, fingers fumbling through the flasks and coming up with two at once. She giggled - the flasks once the size of her palm were now so small that she could fit one in her mouth! She speared the cork of each with a claw and carefully clenched both before taking each in a single gulp.

This time, the warmth was immediate, and the shiver rippled so strongly that her knees nearly gave out. ‘HoOHHhH…” She quivered, and the jolt of growth hit her so fast that her head slammed into the ceiling, brick harmlessly crumbling through her long hair and spattering upon the ground. “Oh man, when Keys sees all this…”

“Sees...what…?” The voice was familiar at once as she turned halfway around, spotting the luminari well below her. Once at eye height, he now only came up to her sizable hips. His expression morphed from uncertainty to shock, and finally horror as his glance took in her sheer size, to the trampled door, to the case - now missing four flasks.

“Oh no.” He gaped back up at her. “What did you...why did you…”

“Juuuuust testing.” She sang, in response, even as her tail swung. She hadn’t realized that it had eclipsed twenty feet in the time it had taken for her to realize that Keys had come to visit. The smaller luminari had to hurl himself back towards the doorway to keep from sixteen inches of battering ram smashing him in the chest. The next sway caught most of the pillows and sent them sailing across the room, bouncing harmlessly off the wall. She caught one, giggling wildly at just how tiny it was, now.

“Testing is one of the flasks! Those things are full strength! You’re not supposed to…”

His eyes bugged as she hunched halfway, groaning in response as she knelt over him, huffing delightedly as she placed the pillow on his head. “HFFHnHh...Sorry, needed enough to take on the Grambler serpent. Very dangerous, I was told. Could you move? I need some more room to...test out the form, you know?”

“Kyle, I swear, if you go out there, I’ll-”

“Great!” She patted him on the head, then pushed him out of the way, the luminari having to grab onto the nearby wall to keep from falling over. “KYLE!” But she was already crouching, crawling through the door, shuddering delightedly. She could feel Keys grabbing onto her tail, pulling back, but the webbed fingers slipped over her shimmering skin, and she giggled at the sound of his flippers flailing to try to keep him upright as the fluke bapped at him.

The hallway opened back up into one of the lounges - she recalled at least three or four - where she was able to rear back to her full height. The changed fish had grown past Razakir’s imposing form, and now crested a good thirteen - fourteen, maybe? - feet, her tail snaking back down the hallway and around the corner. She heard Keys yelling after her, but she cared not; she wanted a mirror, some reflective surface, something to show her just how far she had come.

But the potions were still working their magic, and she relished every moment. Her flippers were bigger than the couch cushions, now, and each fin big enough to balance a nearby dinner platter upon. She tugged at her tail, giggling maniacally as she heard a distinct yelp. “KYLE!!” Looks like Keys had been trying to follow her! The appendage swirled back into the room, and she stretched, gaily holding her enormous hands above her - just as the latest lurch brought them up to the ceiling. She shuddered anew, curling the fluke inward and holding it against her, the tailtip now nearly as tall as she had been before the first potion. She shivered as it slipped through her fingers, sprouting further outward as she inched closer to the ceiling once again.

“Kyle…” Somehow, Keys had made it over the tangled coils in the hallway, and was now standing at the room’s entrance. He looked downright comical, buried up to his knees in tail. “Seriously, stop moving around. You already took down the door and half the frame, and your tail’s put huge dents into the walls, and-”

“Weren’t you the feesh who loved tails?” She grinned back at him, and concentrated. Though her control over the changes felt suspect at best, the potion seemed to know well enough to play along. The tail quavered a moment, then burst out in a huge rush, sliding under the nearest coffee table and upending it in one wave, then bashing into a nearby bookshelf, the solid oaken finish shuddering under the impact as tomes rained down upon the appendage. Next was the feesh himself, abruptly finding himself mashed up against the wall by the press of nearly thirty feet of fishtail, the fluke slamming into the ceiling before it collapsed back into the coil stretching far over the floor. The bookshelf wobbled one last time before collapsing completely, smashing down - hard - upon the appendage.

Ow. She felt that one. Maybe a little too enthusiastic.

Still, she grew, the confines of the sprawling lounge starting to press in as she hunched, finding herself a sitting position as the smaller luminari pried himself free of the tail’s colossal heft. She noted the faint flush in his own cheeks, giggling. “Seeeee?”

“Kyle, I swear…”

“I’m testing.” She grinned, drunk upon the pleasure. Her paws skidded across the carpet, sliding under the mass of her tail even as her fins jutted further free, her body quavering. She was simply too big to get anywhere else, so she contented herself with the luminari reaching in vain towards upended furniture and crashed platters, the nearby wall hangings sent careening across the ceiling through idle flicks of her tail.

Keys put his head in his hands. “Okay. Testing over. You’ve made your point.”

“NhHhaaH…” She shivered, delightedly, as her bust squished longer in response. She laughed uproariously as Keys peeked out between his fingers, clearly conflicted between the destruction going on and the giant attractive fish still growing in front of him. “Have I?”

“Yes.” He groaned, clamoring over the coils of tail and finding purchase upon one of the less-upended couches. “Are you done growing?”

She bit her lip, contemplating a moment, then focused again. C’mon, gimme just a bit more juice…

Her tail shifted, and a final spurt snapped the couch’s legs from under it, sending Keys toppling over into the coils. “AUGH!”

~

It took nearly seven hours before Kyle finally began to recede. Keys moved her to the foyer - mostly through constant prodding and yelling as she giggled - where she still towered over him at nearly ten feet.

“It’s going to take a month before I can get the repairmen back in here.’ He fumed, though his earlier yelling had finally grown subdued. “They got called away to some sort of shipbuilding incident out in Serras, and now here I am with a Kyle-shaped hole in my door…”

“Well, I can say the test was a success.” The far bigger fish toyed with her weaponry; still comically undersized, more akin to oversized toothpicks and butter knives than blades. “And, even better, you’ve an endorsement that your stuff still feels super good to use.”

He rolled his eyes back up at her. “The ladies are already asking if you’re going to end up joining them.”

She flinched at that. “Nnnnnoo, I don’t think so. Just ‘cuz it’s fun doesn’t mean that I wanna do it all the time…”

He snorted. “You sure? I mean, Kyla works, and it’s not even all that much of a change.

“No.” She pointed one of the tiny weapons at him. “Kyle. It’s my name.”

“You’re gonna raise a lot of eyebrows with that name and that chest.” He pointed back at her. Thankfully, Keys had leftover clothes that barely fit her - though she had promptly refused the bra to go with it.

“No.” She scoffed. “I’ll be back to normal soon enough, anyway. ‘Til I get my next dose.”

“You should count yourself lucky you’re getting a next dose, after that scene.” The luminari scowled. The box still sat by his side, tightly locked and chained shut. “And if I open the newspaper to find a picture of you changing in the middle of the town square…”

“Oh, shush, you loved it.” She waved a hand. “Can I have my box now?”

“Are you leaving?”

“What, worried that I’ll crack it open here?”

The feesh folded his arms. Kyle laughed.

“Seriously, Kyle…”

“I promise to not use it until I’m gone. I still need some to fight the Grambler, anyway.”

“...right. Yes.” He hunched to grasp at the box.

“...and then I can come back with the rest for round two. Sounds good?”

The smaller feesh bonked his head into the crate. “Kyle…”