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“Did tying me up like that was really necessary?” Chase called out from the chair he was tied to.
He tried to loosen the vine binding by squirming his wrists together, but it was way too tight to achieve a satisfactory result. Although he still tries, even if it might cause rope burns or vine burns in that case.
“Can’t risk having you roaming around and messing up any of the potions here. Also, it’s part of the story.” Says the voice of the dark silhouette on the other side of the room.
He turned his back to the tied-up prisoner, focusing intently on his current task. Glancing over at the cauldron perched on the small fire in the fireplace, he made sure the potion was bubbling according to the recipe.
“Yeah? Well, it didn’t need to be that tight! I could feel my blood circulation cutting off!” Chase says, squirming in his chair so much that he looked like he might fall off.
“Oh, don’t be dramatic. It’s temporary anyway…”
The dark silhouette replied as he added a pinch of an herb to the cauldron, causing a small puff of smoke to rise. A slight smirk tugged at the corners of his lips, revealing a hint of mischief in his eyes. He reached out and grasped a weathered wooden spoon on a nearby quaint wooden table. He gives a small swirl in the coloured liquid before scooping up a small amount. Buddy put a hand under the spoon so no potion would drop on the ground. He then turned around and walked over to Chase, who was still trying to free himself to no avail. He stopped when the black-purplely witch was looming over him. Chase looks up to meet Buddy's blue eyes, almost glowing under the shadow of the ridiculous witch hat he was wearing.
Chase hated how that hat blended so well with Buddy’s style. He hated how it complimented the nice dark outfit with a laced ornament where Buddy's chest window was. He hated the lovely pattern in the black fabric that went down to this semi-skirt that stopped at the knee and the nice purple details that framed each outfit piece, even the short boots. He hated even more that it was complimented by a lovely kneaded cardigan with tiny stars and moons as a pattern. Good lord, Violet was good at her job.
Then Chase snapped out of his hating trance when Buddy spoke.
“Test number one, drink it.”
Chase looks at the spoon with the strange liquid swirling aimlessly. He gives it a perplexed face.
“How do I know if it's not poisoned?”
“It’s not. Now, drink it before I do it for you.” Buddy replied while rolling his eyes.
Chase let out a huff of annoyance as he stared at the spoon uneasily. He leaned in and took a small sip out of the potion. He then quickly went into a coughing session because of the bad taste. It was like mixing sour lemon juice with frog mucus sweat. Buddy went back to his magic recipe book to look over the text of the potion he just made.
“Alright, so it should take immediate effect upon consumption.” He looks over at Chase, still in his coughing session. “So let’s see, can you lie for me?”
Chase didn’t hear Buddy's request, as he was trying too hard to get this gross taste out of his mouth. When he finishes, he gives a glare to the contemplating witch.
“I hate you.” He stated.
However, this simple line, or a lie in that case, made the potion have its effect. Chase felt a weird sensation around his face, like a slight tickle. He could feel part of his skin stiffening, especially at his nose. This tickling sensation became more and more intense, causing Chase to let out a sneeze. When he raises his head again, he notices something in his vision in the middle. It was like a long beige stick that felt attached to his face. Chase crossed his eyes to look at it confused, then shook his head to hopefully make it disappear. Although the movement made this thing slightly bend at its roots where Chase’s nose was, it kind of hurt. Chase quickly connected the dots that…his nose got longer.
“HUH?! WHAT?!” He reacted accordingly
On Buddy's side of the situation, he let out a small chuckle.
“Well, that's what you call the Pinocchio effect. I’m flattered, Chase.”
Chase turns to Buddy's amused expression, glaring at him like he wants to curse him too.
“What do you do to my nose?!” He shouts at him
“Blame the potion, not me,” Buddy replied with a mischievous smile. He then leans on the wooden table resting behind him. “Tell me another one.”
Chase's glare didn’t leave from the moment prior.
“Another what? I’m not gonna go along with your stupid magic testing, you Spirit Halloween bargain bin witch! You don’t even look like a real witch!”
Chase felt another tickle in his nose, and he could see the changes happening this time. His nose stiffened and elongated by a few inches before finally stopping. Buddy laughed at the baffled expression on his magic test subject's face. The poor guy couldn’t believe what was happening to him.
“Man, this is amusing,” The witch said as he approached Chase to examine the potion effect.
“Well, I don’t! Turn my adorable little nose back to norma-” Chase got suddenly interrupted in his sentence by Buddy poking at his now long nose.
It felt extremely strange; his long nose was slightly bent yet stiff like a branch. Looking closer, Chase might notice wood grain on the skin's surface. He squirms in his seat, not appreciating the touch. If he could, he would have stabbed Buddy in the eye with his branch of a nose.
“Would you stop that?!” He shouted at the witch. “Change it back!”
Buddy rolled his eyes with a smirk in the corner of his lips. He stood before Chase, slightly bending down to look at him in the eyes.
“Maybe just one more?” He says with his smirk still on until he gets kicked in the shin.
“I’m not gonna give you more! Change it back, or I'll strangle you!”
It was another lie, technically, since Chase’s hands were still bound. His nose got longer for another few inches, which pissed off the blond more and made the ravenette burst out laughing.
“Oh come on what?!”
Buddy continues laughing at Chase's appearance and reaction. After some laughing and arguing, the dark witch returned to look at his recipe book to undo this Pinocchio potion effect. Finding a spell to remove the nose branch from Chase’s face took him a few minutes. He mumbles the Latin word out loud while swinging his right hand in a specific way, and sparkles manifest around the elongated limb. Seconds later, the nose shrinks back to its rightful size, although, for the blond, it felt like a pole was smashing at his face.
“Ow?!”
“Oh hush, it’s not that bad. Alright, unto the next one,” Buddy said as he flipped through the pages of his recipe book.
Chase glared at the jerk, who was pacing back and forth looking for another potion to torment him. The captured victim returned to his rescue mission, trying to free his hands from the vines. Being in his current position for so long was getting uncomfortable.
Meanwhile, Buddy has found another simple potion to try on Chase and goes to work. He cast a spell to empty the cauldron of his past potion and refill it with fresh water. While it was slowly boiling, he went to his ingredient shelf and picked up what was necessary. He needed this powder and that weird mushroom, and he was trying to identify the next herb he needed until he heard a loud bang in Chase's direction. Buddy turned his head toward the noise to see that Chase had succeeded in falling off his chair. He pinches the bridge of his nose out of frustration before going to the prisoner's aid.
“What the hell are you trying to do?”
“Free myself! What do you think!? These bounds are too tight!” Chase shouted as he still squirmed around, even on the floor.
His movement shook the ground a little, transferring to the shelves with the vibration. The different ingredients shook, and some of them ended up falling. Unfortunately, some of those fallen ingredients end up being mixed up with others. Some salt goes in open liquid bottles, dripping on some herbs, etc. When Buddy finishes helping Chase in his bounding situation (In which he just added vines around his chest), He returns to the ingredient shelf to pick up some of the last ingredients he needs, not acknowledging that there has been some mix-up.
A few minutes passed, and the new potion was ready. Buddy, as before, scooped up some of the new potions into the wooden spoon and headed toward Chase for the taste test. The bound prisoner was not as thrilled to be more bound and was even less as it was time to drink another potion.
“I’m not drinking that.”
“Can you stop your whining? We won't progress if you're being a stubborn mule.” The witch replied as he drew the spoon closer to Chase’s mouth.
Chase huffs in annoyance and sips on the liquid he was given. However, he keeps it in his mouth except for swallowing. He was about to do a small prank by spitting the potion in Buddy’s face, but it seemed like the witch predicted his move as he slapped his hand over his mouth. He looks at Chase’s hazel eyes with a death glare.
“You better swallow, or I’ll dunk your head into the cauldron.”
Chase rolled his eyes as he swallowed the potion. Surprisingly, it didn’t taste as bad as he had expected. Sure, it had a slight bitterness to it, but it was manageable. He and Buddy were now waiting for the effect to quick in, but nothing happened after a minute.
“That’s weird…” Says the witch. “It should have kicked in by now.”
Buddy returned to his book to check for mistakes, but he had followed every instruction to a T. Meanwhile, Chase felt another weird sensation, but it felt a daily light itch. However, without a good scratch, that itch becomes more and more intense, and Chase can’t do anything since his hands are bound. He taps on the ground with his foot to get Buddy’s attention.
“Hey, Buddy? My head’s itchy. Can you unbound me, please?”
Buddy groans at Chase's request and looks up at him. Then, his eyes widened from what he was witnessing. He let out a snort, containing his laugh. Chase tilted his head, confused about the dark-haired witch's reaction.
“What? Do I have something on my face again?” Chase asks, crossing his eyes to try to see any changes.
Buddy approached Chase again, still trying and failing to hold his laugh. He then went to a desk behind the blond and opened a drawer. Pulling a face mirror from the drawer, he returned to stand before Chase.
“Not your face,” the dark witch said as he held up the mirror to Chase’s face.
Chase squinted his eyes to see the changes this potion had caused. Nothing on his cute face, that’s a relief, but his hair seemed a bit messier. It might have been from the previous fall, but the thing was that two strands of hair were standing up straight. Chase tilted his head, confused, and then noticed that those strands of hair had some pink in them. Upon seeing the confusion of his subject, Buddy moves the mirror a bit upward so that Chase can see what those strands of hair are: Rabbit ears. They were pretty long and moved accordingly to their owner's reaction. Also, the fur on them perfectly matched the colour of Chase's blond locks; it was like they were truly his. Chase jumped in surprise at the realization.
“Bunny ears? Really?” He turned his gaze with a deadpan stare to Buddy, who was wearing his usual smirk.
“Well, they do suit you,” The witch replied, putting the mirror back on the desk. “However, that’s not what the potion was supposed to do…”
“It’s not?”
“No, it was supposed to change your skin into a different texture, like scales or fur. This is weird since I followed the recipe by its very instructions.” He added as he was flipping through the pages of his recipe book.
It was undoubtedly strange since he did just as the book says. Plus, looking back on animal transfiguration, they have another set of ingredients to make them; some have common uses for other potions, though. Buddy continued to flip through the page, trying to conclude the rare mistake he could have made before Chase's voice brought him back to earth.
“Hey, maybe you made a mistake.” He said
“I don’t.” The witch replied
“Whatever. Can you unbind me now, please? Those ears are really becoming itchy!”
Buddy rolled his eyes and went beside Chase, still looking at his book for a solution to fix it. Without thinking, focusing on his research, Buddy reaches a hand into Chase’s hair and starts scratching where the root of those bunny ears were. The blond prisoner stood straight in shock and looked at the ravenet dumbfounded. How dare this arrogant brat touch his beautiful hair?!
“What do you think yo-” He then got cut off as he realized those head scratches actually felt good.
He instinctively leans slightly into the touch, getting all the good scratches where he wants them. Buddy doesn’t even notice; messing with Chase's soft hair is like playing with a fidget toy, helping him concentrate on his task. A minute passed, and Chase started to tap on his feet rapidly to show how much he appreciated this head massage. However, the noise it causes makes the two boys realize their actions. Buddy snatches his hand back while Chase turns his head away; both of them have their face as red as tomatoes.
Buddy let out a cough to break the awkward silence between the two.
“Anyway, I think there is another potion that will remove those ears,” The witch says as he goes toward the shelf of premade potions.
He glances at the various bottles, wondering which one is right. He looks at the book for better instructions, but not much is mentioned. He squinted his eyes at the various liquids and picked a bottle that had the closest description the book says. He put the book aside and uncorked the potion while heading back to the blond bunny boy. He brought the tip of the bottle to Chase’s mouth.
“This should be the one, drink up.”
Chase is unsure about drinking another one of those potions, but he can’t do much about it since he is tied up and has no say in the situation. So he just did what the witch told him and drank a sip of this potion. This one tasted like gross veggie porridge.
“Ugh, can’t there be a potion that tastes better?” he complained, waiting for the potion to take effect.
“I’m not responsible for the taste, you whiny baby,” Buddy replied as he recorked the bottle and returned it to its place on the shelf.
Suddenly, Chase felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. His vision blurred, sounds became louder, and smells became overwhelming for his nose. He looks down at his feet and sees some kind of sparkly smoke surrounding him, going upward. Chase became worried and turned to Buddy to call for help.
“Uuuuuuh, Buddy?!”
But when Buddy turned around to see the problem, he saw the result of the potion. The sparkly smoke was gone, and some was Chase—well, not exactly. The blond bunny boy was no longer bound to the chair because an actual blond bunny was in his place. It shook its little fluffy head as its previous dizziness washed away.
“Okay, something might have gone wrong,” Buddy says, surprised by the golden bunny sitting on the desk chair.
“Like how? Do I look okay?” Chase asked, not sure if he could answer himself.
Chase felt something was off; he felt uneasy. He realized he was no longer bound, the vines no longer holding his wrists tightly. He looked down at his hands, initially happy to see them free, but that smile quickly turned into a frown when he noticed they were fluffy paws. His unease grew as he looked down at his feet, which had long paws.
As he examined his new appearance, he saw big ears, golden fluffy fur, and a large cottontail—he had become a bunny. Chase screamed in fear and panic while Buddy witnessed the entire scene.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?! CHANGE ME BACK!!” Chase yelled at the dark-haired witch
“Okay okay calm down! I can fix it,” Buddy responds while returning to his magic book.
“You better do it quickly!”
Chase looked down at the ground below the chair he was sitting in. Since he was also bunny-sized, the distance was quite different. He decided to climb down by gripping the edge of the seat and sliding down until he touched the ground. However, Chase didn’t correctly calculate the distance between the seat and the floor and fell. His little bunny body rolled backward on and on until a small table stopped him. The impact made the table shake and made a silver tray fall nearby. The blond rabbit jumped in fear from the loud noise, especially since it was louder for his large bunny ears.
“Chase, can you not cause a racket when I’m trying to find a solution?” Buddy shouted while he was looking around at different spell books.
Chase shot the witch a glare as he sat up properly. He turned toward the silver tray that fell a moment prior and noticed the reflection it gave. He could see in full splendour the cute golden bunny he had become. He took a moment to admire his new appearance, now appreciating his new cuteness.
“Not gonna lie, I’m kinda cute as a bunny!” Chase exclaims as he starts making cute little faces. He would have taken nice little selfies to capture the moment if he could.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come here. There might be a spell that will help,” Buddy interrupted, signing for Chase to come beside him.
The golden bunny hopped over the dark witch black boots and looked up at their looming silhouette, eager to be back to normal. Meanwhile, Buddy skimmed over the spell, hoping he won’t mess it up. He looks down at Chase, hiding his nervousness before casting the spell out loud. Sparkles came out of his hand as he made the correct motion for the spell to work and ended it by pointing down at Bunny Chase. Chase leaned into the sparkle, closing his eyes and crossing his bean fingers that it would work.
A sudden puff of smoke poofed around the rabbit figure when the spell reached its target. Buddy took a few steps back to let Chase have space when he changed back, but unfortunately, something was wrong again. When the smoke vanished, Chase returned to his human self, but something was missing. The blond opened his eyes and looked down at himself, relieved that he had his human body again, although when he looked up…and up…and up, he was not pleased at the sight of Buddy looking down at him. And to add to it, this jerk was laughing! He held a hand before his mouth to hide his cackling smile. Chase stomped his feet in frustration.
“Are you doing this on purpose or something?! CHANGE. ME. BACK!” he shouts toward the chuckling witch, who crouches down to be at eye level with his little self.
“What do you mean? It is your normal self.”
“THIS IS NOT FUNNY!! CHANGE ME BACK OR ELSE!”
“Or else what? I’m dying to know what you’ll do to me with your tiny size.”
Buddy leaned forward a little bit to poke Chase in the chest. The blond gasped at how big the finger was compared to his tiny body and took a few steps back from the poke. He glared at the witch, not amused one bit.
“I will bite you- Hey! stop that!” Chase shouted as he was poked again by the giant pale finger.
While Buddy was just teasing him, Chase noticed how the size difference between him and Buddy seemed similar to the one between him and the keys. He was like in their perspective in a way.
“Is this how you treat Violet at home? Do you belittle her for her size? That’s a jerk move.” He said, looking at Buddy dead in the eyes.
Buddy stopped in his tracks, his plan of teasing Chase a bit more vanishing. Then, his amusing smirk quickly shifts into a frown.
“I do not.” Buddy said coldly, “How dare you assume I would ever insult her? She’s-” He cut himself mid-sentence. “She’s dear to me, and I would never hurt her in any way.”
Chase didn’t expect Buddy to respond the way he did. His expression turned serious as he locked eyes with the small blond, trying to ensure his words sank in. Chase understood the message completely; he would never harm Silver, as she was someone who deserved her freedom.
Feeling the tension in the air, Chase glanced away and rubbed his hand along his forearm, feeling awkward about the situation.
“Yeah, me too. I care for Silver a lot. Keys are people too, after all,” The blond said, now looking back at the witch.
Buddy blinked several times at Chase’s words but decided not to engage further in this conversation for fear of revealing something. The ravenet stood up, brushing his hand on his leg to remove the dust. He turned around to face the shelf of potions behind him.
“Yeah, Anyway, I had a little fun; let’s fix your small size, even though this one fits you better!" he exclaims, teasingly glancing at Chase, who replies with a loud “Hey!”
He walked by the shelf, skimming the many labelled bottles on the board. He mumbled those potions' different names and titles and perked up seeing one that could help his rival. He grabbed the bottle and turned back around, facing Chase, who was looking at him with crossed arms and an impatient stare. Buddy read the instructions for the potion that were labelled at the back of the bottle and uncorked it. He then crouches back down in front of Chase, ready to take action.
“So a drop or two should return you to your normal size. This one might feel cold.”
“What do you mean cold?” Replied Chase before he felt a cold drop of liquid dripping on his head.
Chase looked up to yell at Buddy for it until another drop splashed on his face. He shook his head to remove the excess liquid dripping on his face and returned to glare at Buddy.
“A warning would have been nice!” Chase yelled until he felt his body going through a strange sensation.
He noticed his vision blur slightly as dizziness washed over him again. Shaking his head once more, he tried to alleviate the pain so he could understand what was happening to him. It felt like something was building up inside him, leaving him with less and less space to spread out. He could feel his skin and limbs stretching to become longer, while other parts of his body were catching up in proportion. Looking down, he saw the floor gradually getting farther away, as if he were being lifted into the air, even though his feet were firmly planted on the ground. The world around him seemed to adjust to his changes, becoming increasingly normal to him.
Chase felt a bit unsettled by this strange sensation, but it didn’t cause him any pain. It was like a nice long stretch after waking up in the morning. He quickly concluded that he was growing back to his normal size as he met Buddy's gaze like he was used to. He sighed in relief when he was approximately his rightful height, content that potion mix-up shenanigans were over.
“Finally! This is much better than being mouse-size! Well, I could give it a try another time. It would be fun to see the world from another perspective!”
Chase turns to Buddy with a smile on his face. Although there was something off again, he was at eye level with his rival, but he just shrugged it off for now.
“So, what’s next? If we still need to do potion testing, can we, like…give it a break for now? Maybe we can do something else like-”
“Um…Chase?” Buddy interrupted, but Chase continued on rambling.
“I can help you make more potions! I won’t mess things up, I promise! You can teach me even so I know what to do, but if you don’t want to, that's fine…I learn fast when I observe others! But we can still- ”
“Chase… something wrong-” He added, but Chase was not listening. He was in his own mind bubble.
“Do something other than potions. Unless you still want to do that and I do something else. I can clean up! This place does look a bit dirty- Wait, why am I thinking that? Man, going into a lot of Cinderella books really got into my head, huh?”
“Chase!” Buddy shouted while he took a few steps back
“Well, no, I do chores at home too, but it's not as intense as I do in books. Most of those fairytales are set in ancient times, so-”
“CHASE!!”
“WHAT?! OW-”
Chase went to his senses when something banged on his head. He looked up while rubbing the top of his head to see the cause of that pain. He saw it was one of the wooden supports that helped hold the ceiling. Wait, why was the ceiling so close?
Chase jumped in surprise upon seeing that and looked around him. The witch's workshop had shrunk, everything was small! The tallest shelves now reach his knees. Panic washed over him as Chase frequently looked around the place to analyze the situation. He could say he was approximately 20 to 30 feet tall!
“Whaaaaaaat's happening?!” He said in a distressed tone
“You’re still growing!”
Chase looked down to see Buddy, who appeared just as distressed as he was. Buddy was almost at the other side of the room, unsure of what to do next. He could check his book again, but fear had frozen him in place. He hadn’t expected the growing potion to work that well!
“Buddy? How do we fix this?” The giant Chase called out.
“I don’t know! oh no, you’re still growing”
“Am I?! Ow ow-”
Chase felt his head pressing against the ceiling above him. He decided to crouch down to gain more space, as he was indeed still growing. His legs slowly pushed the tables and desks around the workshop, and his slight movement shook the shelves. Chase's breathing quickened as the world around him continued to shrink. Meanwhile, Buddy watched in amazement as Chase grew larger, seemingly taking up more space. In a panic, Chase confined himself to a corner, trying to make himself appear as small as possible, but the potion's effects were still in full force.
“Was it supposed to do that?” Chase asks, looking at Buddy from his corner.
“Not in my knowledge! A drop or two was enough to just return to your size! That is unless you drink it.”
Chase paused for a moment to reflect on Buddy's words. He thought back to the event that had led to this chaos. Buddy had indeed given him two drops of the potion, but the second drop splashed on his face, and it’s possible that some of it came into contact with his mouth. Chase groaned in guilt at the realization.
“I might have…” He said full guilt in his voice.
“What?!”
“By accident! Ah-”
Chase experienced a sudden growth spurt that left him feeling even more trapped. His head pressed against the ceiling again, and panic surged through him, quickening his breath as he realized the confines of the room were becoming unbearably tight. Desperation washed over him as he shifted, trying to find a way to escape the suffocating space that seemed to shrink around him with every heartbeat.
“When will it stop?!”
Buddy blocked his ears as Chase shouted in fear. His voice was becoming so loud, especially as it echoed in the room. The pale witch continued to back up until he hit the nearest wall. He wished he could do anything, but he was so overwhelmed by terror that his mind went blank as he watched the growing mass of Chase taking up space in the workshop. Both of the boys were not having a great time.
Chase watched as the room around him became smaller and smaller. His head and neck pressed against the wooden moulding of the wall while his shoulder pushed into the shelves behind him. Some items fell to the ground, including books, trinkets, and a few potions that shattered upon impact. Fortunately, they didn't worsen the situation. Chase tried to make himself appear smaller, desperately wishing this growth would stop. He extended his legs to either side of the room, making an effort to push himself further into the corner where he was sitting. He felt so cramped in this room that he could feel the air thicker, or it might just be because of his panic.
“Buddy do something!!” Chase yelled, but the poor Buddy was even more distressed than he was.
“Chase Shut up!” Buddy shouted back.
Chase glanced at Buddy, his eyes wide with concern. He noticed Buddy pressed against the opposite wall, covering his ears. He appeared frightened yet determined. Taking a moment to calm his panic, Buddy focused on finding a solution. After a shaky, deep breath, he walked toward the towering blond.
“First of all, lower your voice. Second of all, calm down; we won’t go forward if we both panic.”
Chase stared at Buddy's small form and nodded. Buddy took a few more steps toward the giant Chase, looking into his hazel eyes.
“Take deep breaths, in and out.”
Buddy signalled a breathing pattern with his arms so Chase could follow along. The giant nodded and began breathing in and out. He continued this, but unease crept in as he heard the creaks and cracks caused by his growing size. Buddy noticed this and reached out toward one of Chase's enormous hands. Chase flinched at the sudden touch, feeling the coldness of Buddy's tiny hands against his skin. He looked down at Buddy, taking a glimpse of a potential smile on the little witch.
“Ignore the rest; you’ll be fine,” the ravenet said with a calming tone.
Chase met Buddy’s small smile with a warm grin of his own as they continued their breathing exercise together. Gradually, Chase felt the overwhelming sensation fade, and he realized he no longer occupied more space in the workshop. Buddy sighed, relieved, happy to see his rival wasn’t growing anymore.
“Well, looks like you’re done.”
Chase looked around and realized that the workshop was no longer closing in on him.
“Yeah, thank god…”
“At least you got the growth spurt you wanted for a while,” Buddy said with a smirk on his face.
“Oh haha! Very funny… I did want a growth spurt, but this is not what I expected.”
Chase adjusted his position to feel more comfortable in this cramped space, and Buddy took a few steps back to let the giant move freely.
“So um… How do we fix this?”
Buddy looked around the workshop and felt exhausted upon seeing the absolute mess this potion shenanigans chaos had caused.
“At this point, we may have to improvise…”