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“Oh dear… this is not good.” Latte muttered, staring awkwardly at the creation in front of her.
She had been working on a simple spell, a Latte glyph with the ability to turn inanimate objects into living creatures for a certain amount of time. Simple spell, even a third grade student could succeed at it. What could go wrong?
A lot, actually.
Perhaps she recited a word wrong, maybe moved her spoon the wrong way? It certainly was something because the detective she had let rest in her room was now much smaller. Much smaller and covered in fur. She had accidentally turned detective Almond into a rabbit.
Almond, or at least what used to be Almond, was on the couch, panicking and whipping his head around. His long ears flopped down to his tiny paws, the light brown fur over his body shimmering slightly in the evening sun. He couldn't be larger than a foot tall, not even that. His eyes, still dusty blue, were wide with a mix of fear and shock. To put it simply, he was terrified.
It seems he tried to speak, but all that came out was a violent honk.
Latte held in a small laugh, as distressing as this was for the detective, it was very adorable. She sighed before squatting down. “Oh dear, I must have cast the spell in the wrong spot… I meant the pencil, not you!” She chuckled, gently lifting him up. He immediately started kicking and honking, thrashing around like an angry animal - which he was. Latte brought him close to her, holding him there for a moment while she thought. She could certainly go to the principle, but she wasn't sure she'd be too pleased. She could ask Eclair what to do!... no, he's not as magically inclined… suddenly, an idea popped into her head.
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“I hate to disrupt you Es, but I kiiinda made a little mistake?...”
Espresso inhales before turning his head to her. “Oh great, what has my dear sister done this time…” he grumbled, bringing his gaze back down to the large, old spell book on his desk. Latte then pulled the rabbit from behind her back, quickly snatching his attention.
“Katte, if this is another attempt at pest control I am not doing it-” “Oh no, it's not that! I've just accidentally turned detective Almond into a bunny!” “Ypu what?!”
Espresso slammed his book closed, eyes blown wide. “Latte, did you use that spell again?! I thought we agreed to only use it on inanimate objects, inanimate objects!” He exclaimed, shuffling over and grabbing Almond, who was quietly chirping. He stared at the rabbit in his hands, squinting before grimacing. “I cannot believe you've done this… look at him, can this even be considered a detective?!” He said. Almond, despite being a bunny, was clearly quite annoyed. He stared at Latte before side-eyeing Espresso, who slowly set him down on the carpet.
“Latte, you have transformed Detective Almond into a rabbit, how are we going to fix this? There's no spell to reverse it.” Espresso sighed, pinching his nose. Latte opened her mouth before closing it again, she truly had no explanation for this. Obviously she wanted her Almond back, but how?
“Hello Espresso, I've brought those documents you requested! I hope- YEOWCH!”
Latte and Espresso looked over to the door to find Eclair, files of documents scattered across the floor, and a very angry looking rabbit. “Oh Eclair, are you okay?” Latte asked, bending down to help pick up the mess. Eclair sighed. “Yes, I feel okay at least.. I guess that's what I get for nearly stepping on this little one. When did you get a rabbit anyway?” He asked, neatly sorting the documents. “Well…” Latte exhaled. “We may have accidentally turned the detective into a rabbit.” she mumbled. Behind her Espresso shouted a little “Us?!”
“Oh dear, that is… less than ideal.. I understand why he'd be upset then.” Eclair said, looking down at the small bite mark on his hand. Latte shot a glare at Almond, who smugly sat right between the two of them. “I'm no expert in magic, but I'm assuming there's not many spells you could use to revert him?” Eclair asked, standing up. Latte grabbed Almond, picking him up and holding him to her chest. “Unfortunately not, I'll have to search in the older archives for something.” She held Almond in front of her, sighing. “You might be a bunny for awhile, detective.”
The rabbit huffed, looking angry but refusing to bite or scratch, favoritism.
“We can go check now, The air conditioning is working again so we won't sweat to death this time.” Eclair chuckled. Latte let out a sigh of relief, it was pretty hot out this time of year in Parfaedia, maybe they could cool down there. “That sounds great, Espresso, you're coming too!” She said, cuddling the rabbit before trailing Eclair. Espresso huffed, hands over his face. “Fine, but if I get bitten it's another story.”
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“Don’t worry Almond, I’m sure we’ll find something to fix you. Not that you need fixing! You’re already adorable like this.” Latte said, looking down at the rabbit in her arms, who did in fact, look adorable. Almond stared back up at her with big blue eyes, pupils expanding with comfort. He let out a small honk, pawing at her collar before resting his head there. “Awww..” Latte muttered, petting him behind the ears.
“Latte, can we focus? No offense but I'd rather you guys get a room…” Espresso mumbled, digging through piles of decade-old documents. Latte perked up. “Oh, right!” She said, setting Almond down beside her and kneeling to a box of spell books. Almond squeaked loudly and pawed at her sleeve to little avail. He huffed before hopping off somewhere else.
As Latte kept flipping through pages, a faint sound caught her off guard.
“Aww, look at the bunbun!” Someone said, the voice was a young girl’s, belonging to the one and only…
Latte looked up to see the detective’s daughter, Walnut, and her pupil, Creampuff. The two girls walked side by side, Walnut holding Almond with both her arms. “Hi Miss Latte! We found a bunny!” She said, smiling widely. They stopped in front of Latte, who was still kneeling down. “We were looking for a few old texts in the library, we hope that’s okay.” She said, voice quiet. “Oh of course dear, also Walnut… that’s not a random bunny…”
“That’s your father, sweetie.”
Walnut’s face morphed into that of pure shock. Her grip on the bunny loosened, causing Almond to cling to her jacket with wide eyes. “DAD?!” She screamed, looking down at him. He honked in panic, little legs flailing dramatically in hopes not to fall. “Who did this?! I’ll figure it out dad!” She said, hugging the fluffy brown ball of fur in her arms. Creampuff had a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. One hand gently reached to feel Almond’s fur, scratching right between his ears. Almond let out a small chirp, closing his eyes.
“I found it!”
Everyone turned their heads to Espresso, who was holding up an old, beat up paper. Latte jumped up, quickly grabbing the paper. It was written in old Parfaedian, in cursive too, and the handwriting wasn’t quite great.. But it had to do! Scanning across the page, she spoke. “Alright, We need a basic glyph circle and some amethyst fragments!” Her words were sharp, clearly locked in. As the others went to gather the ingredients, Almond was left clueless on the floor, sniffing around with a huff.
Latte looked down at him, he looked… well, for lack of a better word, pathetic. His eyes were staring up at her, glassy and big. His ears flopped down, falling just short of his paws. His fur, a light brown, the same colour as his hair, poofed around him as if mocking his small form. His back paw thumped against the old wood floors in annoyance, just begging to be turned back. Latte bent down and gently picked him up. He didn’t fight it off or anything, just stared at her with those big blue eyes before nuzzling into her neck, clearly comforted by her presence. “Oh Almond, I know this is weird, but I promise we’ll change you back, even if it takes awhile…” She whispered, petting the back of his fluffy neck, listening to the rumbling purr that came from him as he closed his eyes and rested his head on her. Latte smiled “Hey, at least you’re cute! Bunnies are soft and cozy… although, you already were my big cuddlebug as a human.” she chuckled, causing Almond to honk and hide his face in her hair.
“Miss Latte, we got all the materials!” Creampuff said, walking up next to Latte. The professor nodded, gently setting Almond down in the glyph circle. “Alright, let’s hope this works.” She whispered, closing her eyes and reading the spell on the paper… She lifted her spoon staff, pointed it at the terrified rabbit and took a deep breath. This had to work. With a strong command, she blasted the rabbit with a blast of magic light…
When the light and smoke faded, Latte looked down to find… a rabbit.
The spell didn’t even try!
Latte fell to her knees, picking up Almond and holding him close. “Oh Almond! I don’t know how this didn’t work! We read the spell and everything..” She exclaimed, looking him over to see if anything had changed. He was still the same rabbit he was earlier.
“Is dad gonna stay a bunny forever?..” Walnut asked, her tiny voice shaking. “There must be a spell or something!” Espresso scoffed, looking equally shocked. One of the oldest spells in Parfaedian history, one of the most powerful, just didn’t work?! Latte sighed, gently petting the frantically honking rabbit. “We’ll find a way, I promise, Almond.” She said, bringing him up to her face and laying a soft kiss on his little nose..
And poof, in a puff of smoke, the detective was right back in front of her. His hair was… disheveled to say the least. His clothes were crumpled and wrinkled, loose in some places, his tie was untied for cookie’s sake! But he was there.
He looked down at himself with wide eyes, glaring down at his human body before dramatically sighing and dropping his head. “Oh my god…” He muttered, relieved. Latte cupped his face, squishing his cheeks and examining him. “I guess the real spell was true love, huh?” She joked. Almond huffed, a small smile on his chapped lips. Latte chuckled before pulling him in for a small kiss.
“BLEGH-STOP DAD!!” Walnut screamed, running away from the scene with a squealing Creampuff in tow. Espresso rolled his eyes, stepping away with a grimace while Eclair smiled. “Perhaps we should get you cleaned up, detective? No offense but-” “Oh goodness, you smell like a rabbit!” Latte exclaimed, pretending to gag at the smell of him. Almond huffed, squinting. “You’re the one who turned me into a rabbit, Latte.” He said, cocking a brow. “I sure am, and apparently I'll have to clean you up too!” She laughed, pulling him to stand with her. The detective sighed, pushing back his now greasy hair.
Being a rabbit wasn’t so bad, but he liked looking at Latte with his human eyes.