Well, here's the second most recent story I've written and posted on both DA and FA. Tell me of your opinion and what can I do to improve.
Edited by Dracondo
(So you can understand what the heck is going on)
Ho-Oh TF:
http://foxgamer01.deviantart.com/art/Ho-Oh-TF-157748151Lugia TF:
http://foxgamer01.deviantart.com/art/Lugia-TF-162138493Fox and Wolf TFs:
http://crimsonflagcomic.com/forum/index.php?topic=1299.0Dragon TF: (Can't post link.)
Werewolf TF: (Can't post link.)
Husky TF:
http://crimsonflagcomic.com/forum/index.php?topic=1300.0Griffin TF: Here
Califox TF or HILTSWAHAE:
http://foxgamer01.deviantart.com/art/Califox-TF-or-HILTSWAHAE-305615081The Room:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5238743/The Flight:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5334806/To Elisabeth Sladen, best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures. February 1, 1946 to April 19, 2011.
The griffin swam out of the water, his yellow beak panting like mad. What seemed like hours of swimming in the water passed before his talons touched the ground. He smiled broadly as he crawled onto the soft ground and away from the lake. He laid on his stomach and let the sun dry up his body, made easier thanks to his blue fur and feather. He flipped onto his back when he felt it was all dried up now. He smiled relaxingly as his large blue wings expanded.
Even after swimming out of the water and his body's now relaxing, his yellow talon still held a necklace, the red gem on it glimmering in the light.
His red eyes opened when he heard a car driving towards him. He didn't bother to hide from them; he knew who they are. He heard the car engine stop, followed by the opening and shutting of doors and, within a minute, a pair of shadows were cast over him.
"That was good flying, Matthew," The male owner of a shadow said. "The way you've flipped several times before you flew higher yards from hitting the ground was amazing."
"Though I'll have to give myself a 9.0 for failing the landing part Hal," Matthew the griffin replied. "Maybe an 8.5."
"You do usually focus on flying rather than landing," the female owner of the shadow told him. "And you were awfully close to town at that one part. I'm afraid someone had seen you."
Matthew gave out a laugh. "If they did, they'll already convince themselves that I was just a large bird, Sarah. You know how people think. Still, I'll give myself an 8.0."
All three laughed as Matthew got up and shook the dirt off of his blue fur and feathers.
"Well, the day's getting late and we must get home soon before our parents get worry. Did you have my clothes?"
"Yes, they're in the car," Sarah answered, pointing at the direction of the car.
"Do you really have to take off all of your clothes when you're flying?" Hal asked, his hands behind the back of his brown curly hair.
"As I have said to you several times before, the clothes are uncomfortable when I'm flying and one time my shirt got ripped off from the sheer force of flying downwards," Matthew explained to Hal as he was walking to the car, letting the necklace dangle on his talon. "Besides, these fur and feathers do a better job of covering me up than my clothes ever had."
"Makes me wonder why he doesn't just stay in that form every day," Hal whispered to Sarah when Matthew was out of earshot.
After a few minutes passed by, Matthew returned wearing his clothes along with his necklace, but he's no longer a griffin and instead he's a human. Gone are the feathers and fur; gone are the talons and paws; gone are the beak and tail. Even his eyes are blue instead of red.
"Smooth change as usual?" Sarah asked, patting Matthew on the back where his wings were.
"Yes," Matthew responded, combing his dark brown curly hair with his hand.
Matthew eyes reflected at the blue sky, thinking of the first day he flew with his wings. It was amazing, Matthew thought, but the whole thing had been ruined when he landed too fast. By the end of the day, he left the hospital with a cast on his leg.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked, looking at Matthew's face.
"Sorry," Matthew responded, shaking his head. "Just thinking of the day I first flew. It wasn't as easy as flying in a video game like I thought then."
"Ah, yes," Hal put in, smirking. "I wasn't there to see you fly, but I did see you on that hospital bed."
"I can always rely on you to put me together," Matthew remarked, patting Hal on the back. "After all, you are a doctor."
"Training to be a doctor," Hal corrected, looking at Matthew. "I just put on that cast with senior doctor supervision."
"Training or not, you're still a doctor to me," Matthew declared and all three laughed stupidly.
"And we can't forget what happened the day before that accident, can we?" Sarah said when they stopped laughing.
"No, my dear Sarah, we can't," Matthew said and all three looked at the lake water, remembering.
----A year and a half ago----
It was a cold winter day nearly to the point of snowing. The wind, though not blowing hard, still felt like knives when they hit the face of Matthew. It was crazy, he knew, to even walk on that day and though of being inside with the heaters on was better than this.
But Sarah insisted.
"Why are we going with you Sarah?" Hal asked for the third time, his hands deep in his brown coat.
"Because I needed your support on this mystery," Sarah explained again, the light above briefly shining on her black coat.
"Just because a store just appeared overnight-"
"
Two stores, Hal," Sarah corrected.
"-that doesn't mean that the Mafia's come to take over our town."
"But a store just appearing where a closed down place was, let alone two stores, is downright suspicious. Especially since there was no warning. They just . . . came out of nowhere," Sarah pointed out.
"I don't see how it involves us," Hal argued as they turned a corner. "I mean, yeah, they came suddenly, but that's all they've done. It doesn't even conce-"
"We'll get ourselves into this if no one else would," Sarah insisted as she turned to stared at Hal in the eye. "After all, this strange thing has happened and I want to get to the bottom of this."
"And we'll help gather notes for you," Matthew remarked, laughing while throwing his ridiculously long scarf he's wearing behind him. "Always the one with the journalist mind, Sarah."
Sarah tried hard to hide her blushes. "I just wanted to investigate it, nothing more."
Matthew gave a rather hearty laugh, which Hal and Sarah soon follow, as few of the people around them looked at them.
When they stopped laughing, they finally reached the two mysterious stores. One was clearly a video game store and the other was plainly a plush and ring store. They were separated by the street between them with the stores seemingly staring at each other, like they were watching what the other would do.
"OK," Sarah said, turning to her two friends behind her, "which store shall we investigate first?"
"I say the video game store first," Matthew suggested. "It looks more interesting."
"Because it has video games in there," Hal muttered under his breath before Sarah stared at him.
"How about you?" Sarah asked.
"I say that plush and ring store, but why should we stay together?" Hal asked. "How about I go into that store," Hal gestured at the plush and ring store, "and you two go to the other one?"
"Sounds good to me," Sarah said, nodding.
"Are you suggesting that because you wanted to get something there and you don't want us to see what you got?" Matthew thoughtfully asked.
Hal, putting his hand behind his head, answered, "Yes, but not for me. It's for my friend."
"Oh!" Sarah spoke up, her eyes lightened. "Did you receive a reply yet?"
"No," Hal sadly answered, putting his hand down. "I feared that the chemotherapy has . . ."
Matthew patted Hal on the shoulder. "I'm sure your friend will beat that cancer."
Hal managed a smile. "Thank you."
"No problem," Matthew said. "Now go get your friend a gift."
Hal nodded and went to that plush and ring store as the other two went to the game store. The bell rang when they opened the door and their eyes scanned the insides of the building. At first it was nauseating until they realized that the inside of the store didn't match the outside as all. The ceiling was a little too high and the walls were at least several miles apart from each other. It was as if they literally walked into a dream.
"Hello!" a crisp British voiced said beside them.
When they turned to that direction, there was only a shelf filled with games for the Atari 2600.
"Hello?" Sarah said to that direction. "Who might you be?"
"I'm the owner of this little shop," he said, walking around that shelf and appearing to them.
"If this is a little shop, I hate to see a big one," Matthew commented.
The man laughed energetically as he rubbed his hand on his brown hair. "Good one. Now, you people, like most who come in here, want to know why my shop is so big, right?"
"Indeed," Sarah admitted.
"And can you take a guess?" he asked, putting his hands on his brown, with blue pinstripes, suit pockets.
"Well, if it weren't for the fact that this is real life, I would say that the inside is not in the same dimension as the outside," Matthew said.
"You are clever," the man said and laughed, scratching his sideburns. "By the way, my name's Mr. Decem Medicus. What's yours?"
"Oh, my name's Sarah," Sarah answered. "Sarah Shalott. And this is my friend, Matthew Pistoris."
"Hello Sarah. Hello Matthew," Mr. Medicus said, shaking their hands while his brown eyes gleamed a bit. "Now, do you want a game?"
"Well, actually," Sarah explained, "We were wondering how you came here since this place just appeared out of nowhere."
"Yes it did, didn't it?" Mr. Medicus remarked and chuckled a bit. "But you are correct. This place does appear out of nowhere and disappear the same way too. But I don't want to bore you by telling you all the details since you probably won't understand half of it. So how about a game? I know just the one for you!"
Before Sarah and Matthew could protest, Mr. Medicus ran away and disappeared into the endless shelves.
"What a strange person," Sarah commented, looking at Matthew.
"I rather like him," Matthew said, chuckling before they both laughed for a while.
"Boy, you two laugh loud," Mr. Medicus said behind them.
Matthew and Sarah jumped a bit and turned around, seeing Mr. Medicus fanning himself a bit with a game he was holding.
"Do you always appear out of nowhere?" Sarah demanded as Mr. Medicus walked towards them, giving out a foxy grin.
"It's a bit of a job requirement here," Mr. Medicus kindly retorted and laughed a bit. "I do believe I found the game you would like."
Mr. Medicus handed the game to Matthew and he and Sarah examined it.
It was a PS3 game and Matthew noted that the artist for the cover made it so colorful that it seemed to leap off, especially the griffin. The blue feathers and fur on him seemed to complement the yellow talons and paws extremely well. The most striking features of all were the red eyes, which seemed to be as sharp as knives.
Matthew tilted his head when he looked at the title,
Huey the Griffin. He was sure he never heard of such a game and his first thought was that some small company made it privately. But he scratched that thought out when he realized that the publisher of this game is none other than Square Enix. So how could this big company publish this game without him knowing?
Matthew examined the back as Sarah said, "Um, we weren't here to get a game, though I'm sure that game is fine. We were here just to check out this lovely store."
"Yes, she is beautiful," Mr. Medicus stated, patting one of the shelves. "Now, are you sure you don't want it? You can have it 50% off. There are no such deals anywhere else."
"Yes, I'm sure-"
"How much will it cost?" Matthew asked, cutting in.
"Matthew?" Sarah said, startled.
"$30 plus tax," Mr. Medicus answered, grinning wildly.
"But-"
"I'm sure I can afford it," Matthew stated, pulling out a wallet from one of his many coat pockets.
"Wait-"
"OK. Meet me at the cashier," Mr. Medicus told them before he ran off.
"What are you doing?" Sarah demanded as they followed the trail that man took.
"I wanted to examined this game in greater detail," Matthew explained, passing by the Xbox section. "Trust me on this."
Before Sarah could respond, they heard Mr. Medicus said, "Hello."
They looked up and saw the only cashier register in the whole store. It looked old fashion, but it also looked like it was covered in gold. It was also conveniently near the exit, though Matthew thought that he hadn't seen it when they were entering the store.
"OK," Mr. Medicus said, tapping on the cashier, which made a clicking sound, "that'll be $31.86."
Matthew pulled out a couple of twenties and handed them to Mr. Medicus. He, with a few clicks of the cashier, inserted the money in there and pulled out the change which Matthew accepted. Matthew, with the game in hand, walked away with Sarah, who was still looking confused.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Mr. Medicus spoke up as they touched the door. He was holding an envelope. "This is the warning stuff about the game. You might want to-"
"Is it the standard warnings?" Matthew asked.
Mr. Medicus, looking thoughtful, answered, "It's standard here."
"Then I believe I know what they'll say."
"Really?"
"Yes. Now, good day."
They exited the store while Mr. Medicus waves at them. After the door has shut, he brushed his hair with his hand, making them even wilder.
"What was that all about?" Sarah asked when they were a few feet away from the store.
"Look at the back," Matthew responded while handing her the game he brought.
She looked at the back and said, "It's just standard stuff about the game."
"Look at the copyright."
"The copyright? What's wrong with it? It said that it was made in 20 . . . 12?"
"You see," Matthew asked while putting his hands in his pockets.
"But it's the year 2010," Sarah pointed out, flipping the game over and over several times. "So how could it be released-"
"-two years before it release date?" Matthew completed, taking the game back. "That's what we intend to find out."
"Man, that guy is as crazy as a fox!"
Both Matthew and Sarah turned and saw Hal walking towards them, holding a package under his arm.
"Um, Hal? What's in that package?" Sarah asked when they came together.
"My gift to my friend," Hal answered, handing it to Sarah. "The man inside has got to be insane. I mean, he was talking about aliens and a war and that his products can change his buyers because he got one of the artifacts from that war. After he made that crazy speech, he finally ran off to get my gift, though I never asked him to put it in that package. It's as if he knew my friend lived far from here. After I paid him, I left, ignoring his crazy talk."
"The way you described him does sounds like he's crazy," Matthew commented, looking at the package.
"Well, I can be sure that I'll not return to that store again. It's too nutty for me, especially that store owner, Mr. Medicus."
The cold streets has suddenly became colder, both Matthew and Sarah looking at Hal.
"What's wrong?" Hal asked, looking at their stunned faces.
"The store owner that we met in that store," Sarah answered, pointing at the video game store, "is also known as Mr. Medicus."
Hal took a step back. "No way. . . ."
"Two stores," Matthew mused, "both came here overnight and both are owned by Mr. Medicus. But how could we have-"
"-met him, even though I split up from you two and went to the other store?" Hal completed, completely flabbergasted.
"I don't know," Sarah admitted, "but I'm liking this less and less."
"Let's go to my home so we can think this through there," Matthew said.
"OK," both Sarah and Hal replied and they both left the place.
As soon that they were out of sight, the Mr. Medicus from the video game store walked out, wearing a light brown overcoat over his suit. The Mr. Medicus from the ring and plush store also walked out. They both saw each other, nodded, and entered their respective stores.
-----
The trio entered Matthew's house, all looking thoughtful. They looked at each other then at those store's products they got. They were silent for a little bit.
At last Matthew said, "Well, I best go and check out this game and examine it more closely. Maybe see if it'll work on my PS3."
"Are you sure?" Sarah asked, looking at Matthew. "What if it, I don't know, ruins your system permanently?"
"I'm prepared to take that risk," Matthew assured her, patting her shoulder. "I do appreciate your concern though."
"OK," Sarah said, nodding. "I'll go on your computer and check out on this Mr. Medicus person and see who he is."
"OK," Matthew said, smiling. Then he turned to Hal. "How about you? Will you be checking out that plush in that box?"
"Oh. Um, sure," Hal replied halfheartedly.
"Good," Matthew said, nodding. "Well, I best be off to check out that game."
On that note, Matthew walked to his room while Sarah went towards the computer room and Hal stayed remaining where he was, sighing.
Once Matthew was in his room, he removed his coat and his scarf and threw them on his bed. He looked at the colorful cover of the game for a few seconds before he removed the plastic covering. Then he opened it, with the disc and the manual of the game inside. Matthew inserted the game inside his PS3 and, after moving through a menu with controller in hand, started the game.
The game went through a couple of the usual screens before-
Flash!Matthew blinked a few times before his eyes recovered from the bright flash from his TV. It was then that he saw some words and numbers on the TV.
It said: Error Code 131793.
"131793?" Matthew uttered. "There's no such err-"
Crack!Matthew dropped the controller and it hit the floor with a tap as he looked at his hands, the feeling gone from them. They became thicker, especially on the palms, when the color changed to yellow. His mouth was open wide as he stood up, looking at his still changing hands, his eyes were filled with horror. The nails on his hands felt like needles being forced out of his body when they fell off. In their place were white claws, looking very sharp.
Matthew, looking confused and aghast, gritted his teeth as his arms went numb, no longer feeling the light colored sleeve on his arms. He then felt something on his arms as the feeling returned and, looking at his hands, saw something black. He pulled back his sleeve and his mouth hung wide. The black part on his wrists were actually feathers growing there. There were more feathers appearing too on his arm, though they were blue in color instead of black. The feathers quickly became unbearable, with some even poking through his shirt, so he pulled the shirt off.
His chest and back then numbed and that was when he screamed loudly. His eyes tightly shut as he fell down to the floor, not even feeling the impact. When his senses returned, he felt itching on his back and he imagined that there were feathers emerging there, probably blue in color too. He also felt itching on his chest area, but he thought there was something different. It felt more . . . furry? Placing his new talon on his chest, he felt fur there. His eyes then opened and looked at his chest and saw that the fur there was white.
"What the Hell is happening!"
Matthew then heard footsteps and, without thinking, he got up and stumbled to the door and managed to locked it. The door rattled as he placed his back on the door, sliding down.
"Matthew!" Sarah said through the door, knocking at it. "What's going on in there? We heard you screaming!"
Matthew tried to reply, but he couldn't. His talons instantly grabbed his neck and felt under the skin that something was moving in there. His face froze as his head went numb; he couldn't even grit his teeth. His body fell to the side as he felt his mouth and nose dry up and harden painfully. He felt more feathers forming on his head except for his nose and mouth, which seemed to fuse and lengthen. It curved downwards as he held his eyes shut until his beak was formed. His eyes opened and they now shined red.
"Matthew, are you alright?" Hal demanded, knocking hard on the door. "Open the door!"
Matthew crawled away from the door, but his legs gave away into numbness. He cried out now that his voice was back as he fell to his back. He felt something growing underneath his pants and realized it was fur. As if in response to his thoughts, some parts of his pants ripped and yellow fur popped out of the holes. He could do nothing but stare in shock at his changing body.
"Matthew?" Sarah said through the door.
Matthew lost the feeling in his feet and, reacting quickly, he took off his shoes. After all, he was sure that his feet will-
Crack!Matthew gritted his teeth tightly, letting out a groan, as his feet were seemingly stretched out. His feet quickly tore through his socks, leaving his feet bare. They're soon covered in yellow fur, with his toe nails falling off and replaced by claws as the soles of his feet were thickened into pads for his now digitigrade feet.
"S-S-Sarah," Matthew stuttered. "Help me."
"Matthew," he heard Sarah said.
"Don't worry!" Hal said. Matthew heard Hal's feet thumping towards the door. "I found a screwdriver for that type of door lock!"
The doorknob rattled as Matthew tried to get up, but slid down, feeling too weak. The door opened.
"Matthew, what is-" Sarah said, but cut herself short when she saw the state Matthew was in. "Matthew!"
"What's wr- Oh dear Lord!" Hal stated, shocked and scared. "What the Hell happened to you?!"
"I-I don't know," Matthew responded weakly. "I was starting that game when-"
Crick!Matthew screamed as he place his talons on his back. He flipped to his chest as something was growing in the seat of his pants. He was about to remove the pants when they ripped and a tail popped out of that hole. It grew longer and larger as it was covered in blue fur, ending with a yellow tip, until it reached his ankles.
Hal dropped down to Matthew side. "Just try to relax. Everything is going to be alright."
Sarah eyes gazed at Matthew, then at the game cover. The griffin on the cover looks exactly like what Matthew is turning into, Sarah realized. All except for one thing.
"Get back Hal!" Sarah said, grabbing him and dragging him away.
"What? But-"
Hal resisted, but Sarah managed to get Hal out of the before-
Crack!Matthew screamed loudly for it felt that his shoulder blades had split from the rest of his body. Slowly, but surely, two appendages formed on his upper back and grew longer and larger. Foot by foot they grew until they were each six feet long, with one at where Hal would've been. They flattened as feathers sprouted on them until they were completely covered in feathers, with large one at the end.
The wings collapsed on the ground as Matthew was losing consciousness. The last thing he felt was a cool hand on his head.
"Matthew," Sarah softly said while touching the large feathers on his head. "What happened that caused this?"
"Sarah," Hal said as he removed the coat and scarf from the bed. "Can you help me put him on his bed?"
Sarah nodded and they picked Matthew up and put him on his bed.
". . . Is it just me," Hal asked as he look at the sleeping griffin, "or does Matthew look like that griffin from that game now?"
"I think he changed into that griffin," Sarah admitted, picking up the game box. That was when she saw the TV screen. "Error code 131793? What does that mean?"
"I don't think there's such an error code as 131793," Hal replied as he turn off the PS3. He then stared at Matthew. "How could this happen?"
Sarah was looking thoughtful for a while. "It's a long shot," she finally said, "but I think that store where we got that game has all the answers."
"You think so?" Hal asked.
"Yes. Go get your coat. We're going to that store."
-----
Sarah and Hal hurried on the sidewalk, ignoring the bitter cold on their faces. They passed by a few people, who looked at them in a confused way before continuing on. Eventually they reached the place where the video game store was, but it's now gone. In its place was-
"The ring and plush store?" Sarah said, baffled.
"Yeah. Wasn't that store over th-" Hal said, but cut himself short. "Sarah! Look!"
"What is-" Sarah said, but stopped.
The ring and plush store was gone and in its place was the video game store.
"How did they switch places?" Hal asked as he looked at the two stores.
"I don't know," Sarah admitted.
"Oi! Sarah," a crisp British voice said behind them. "Didn't I tell you that my store can appear and disappear out of nowhere?"
Sarah and Hal spun around quickly and they saw Mr. Medicus there.
"Oh," Sarah said. "It's you, Mr. Medicus."
"What?" Hal said, confused. "You're not Mr. Medicus."
"Yes, I am," Mr. Medicus responded, putting his hands in his pockets.
"No, no, no," Hal insisted. "I met Mr. Medicus and he looks nothing like you."
"Yeah, he looks nothing like me," a similar British voice said behind Sarah and Hal as Mr. Medicus grinned.
They turned around and saw a young man in a professor suit.
"You're Mr. Medicus," Hal stated as Sarah looked puzzled.
"Actually," the overcoat Mr. Medicus explained, "we're both Mr. Medicus. I'm Decem Medicus."
"And I'm Undecim Medicus," the professor Mr. Medicus said. "By the way, how's your other friend doing? Did he take the change well?"
"Well, he's in-" Sarah started to say, but stopped herself. "You knew that he changed into that griffin!?"
"Yes," Undecim Medicus responded. "The other Medicus told me."
"And I knew that he changed because the technology we got tracks the products wherever they go and senses if they've activated," Decem Medicus explained. "Normally, I would have gone to wherever he'd changed at and explain everything to him-"
"-but we understood that you two would come back, so we waited, even switching places as a little joke," Undecim Medicus finished and laughed. "You two should've seen yourselves. It was hilarious."
"Yeah, well," Sarah asked, getting back to the point, "why couldn't you say something like that would happened?"
Decem Medicus stared to speak, but Undecim Medicus cut in. "You let your customers buy your products without warning them
again?"
"Oi!" Decem Medicus said, pulling out the letter with the warnings and handing them to Hal. "I did try to give them warnings through this, but he rejected it."
Undecim Medicus rolled his eyes. "Great, so you try to give them a note that tries to explain everything while hoping that they'll actually take it and read it. But you keep forgetting that people are too arrogant to read 'little' warnings like these. Hell, even
I, your former student, was too sure of what it'll say, a bunch of useless warnings, before she changed before my eyes."
"As I said that day," Decem Medicus said as Hal read the warnings, "there's a reason why we have warnings."
"Then just say them instead of expecting that they'll actually read them," Undecim Medicus declared, but became a bit thoughtful. "Then again, telling them in front of their faces rarely works on my side."
"What does it say?" Sarah asked Hal when he folded the note.
"It basically said what you told me," Hal answered, looking at Undecim Medicus. "That these products can transform you into the creature on the cover because they're covered in Athrú magic, leaked from the Athrú technology in the store."
"Right," Undecim Medicus said, nodding. "You see, the Athrú are a species from the planet Glas. They are the masters in transforming to the point that even a common item of theirs can still change you."
"But then a war happened," Decem Medicus continued. "The Last Great Transformation War, which was between the Athrú and the Nex Mutatio. The war was so violent that, even more than a 100,000 years, the universe still holds the scars from the war. Well, it wasn't that long in universe years; at least a second. Well, barely a second. Well, barely half a second."
"In the end, both sides were virtually wiped out," Undecim Medicus concluded. "But both of their technologies survived and work even to this day. Our stores run on one of them, which I believe you noticed the effects already."
"The products that can transform us," Sarah mused, "the bigger on the inside, and how the stores change places."
"Yes," Decem Medicus said, combing his hair with his hand. "They happened because the Athrú technology we got can allow it. Oh, and it can also travel through time."
Hal and Sarah glanced at each other.
"The Mr. Medicus I met also mentioned that," Hal admitted, looking at the ring and plush store. "But even after all this has happened, I still find that the hardest to swallow."
"Of course it can travel through time!" Undecim Medicus declared as he straightened his bowtie. "How else can there be two Mr. Medicus here?"
"That's right." Decem Medicus stated, nodding. "One store and one Mr. Medicus. Never two for one store. The only time there can be two Mr. Medicus if there are two stores here."
"Of course, a Mr. Medicus can train a successor," Undecim Medicus pointed out, "but they can't hold the title of Medicus until their teacher retired. That was the system made by the first Mr. Medicus."
Decem and Undecim Medicus both stared at each other and nodded as Sarah and Hal looked at them.
"Um, is there a way to reverse the changes done to Matthew?" Sarah asked.
Decem Medicus opened his mouth to speak, but Undecim Medicus was quicker. "No, there isn't a way to reverse the changes. But there is a way to change him back into a human as long as he's wearing it."
Decem Medicus tilted his head to the side as Undecim Medicus pulled out a necklace. The red ruby on it glimmered in the dim light while he handed it to Sarah.
"That's an An Dune," Undecim Medicus explained as Sarah examined it. "As long as your friend wears it, he'll change back into a human again. Before you ask Hal, I've place one in that package for your friend along with a note that'll try to explain everything, though-"
"Hold on," Decem Medicus interrupted. "Where did you get that necklace? I don't think anyone in the Medicus line sold that type of necklace. I mean, Quintus Medicus sold necklaces, but nothing like that."
"I got one from a couple of Athrú!" Undecim Medicus declared proudly, throwing his arms in the air. "And to think that they were all dead! With the help of the Athrú technology we got, I can create more! Then again, one of the Athrú insisted."
Undecim Medicus grinned proudly, looking at Decem Medicus, but if he was expecting a proud look from his former teacher, he didn't get one.
"Did you?" Decem Medicus simply asked. "Are their names Daren and Zelda?"
Like a flash, Undecim Medicus grinned changed into complete shock. "How did you know their names?!"
"I've met them before. Several times in fact," Decem Medicus admitted. "Not only that, but every Medicus behind us had met them at least once."
"You knew that the Athrú were still living
and you never told me?" Undecim Medicus demanded, walking towards to Decem Medicus.
"I didn't want to spoil the surprise," Decem Medicus explained. "But would it make you feel better that you're the first Medicus they met?"
"I am?" Undecim Medicus asked, stopping.
"Yes," Decem Medicus replied, grinning. "After all, I talked to them several times and they often mentioned you. They were surprised that there are more Medicus than just you."
"Anyways," Sarah interrupted and the two Mr. Medicus looked at her and Hal. "If there isn't anything that we should know now, we'll be going now. OK?"
The two Mr. Medicus looked at each other and said, "OK."
"Thank you," Sarah said to them and she walked away, with Hal following behind her.
The two Mr. Medicus waited until Sarah and Hal were out of sight.
"Well," Decem Medicus finally said, "I best be off now. I'll make sure your younger self knows nothing about this meeting."
"OK," Umdecim Medicus said, nodding.
Decem Medicus nodded too and started to walk away.
"Mr. Medicus?" Undecim Medicus asked before Decem Medicus enter his store. "Am I doing a good job with the shop?"
Decem Medicus looked at Undecim Medicus and smiled. "Yes, you are Mr. Medicus."
Undecim Medicus nodded and they both entered their respected stores. A grinding metal sound echo through the street as the stores disappeared, leaving in their place empty buildings filled with thick dust.
-----
Sarah and Hal entered Matthew house, with Hal closing the door behind him. Hal briefly looked at the still unopened package before he followed Sarah to Matthew room. She was about to open the door when she stopped and pressed her ears against it.
"What's wrong?" Hal asked.
"I'm hearing something," Sarah explained.
Sarah opened the door and they looked inside. Their expression changed from confusion to near laughter.
Matthew was sitting on his bed, his wings folded back while he was playing the game
Huey the Griffin.
"What?" Matthew asked when his red eye gazed at them.
Sarah and Hal instead burst into laughter.
----Present day----
The trio looked at the lake, thinking quietly, until Hal broke the silence. "Well, shouldn't we go home?"
"Yeah," Sarah responded and all three stretched a bit before they went to that car. "I guess we were all thinking of that day, weren't we?"
"Yeah," Matthew answered. "You two were laughing a lot when you got back. In fact, I had to pause that game to get up and snap you out of it."
"Sorry," Hal said, rubbing his hair with his head.
"It's OK," Matthew replied as he opened the back door to the car. "It was silly, wasn't it? A griffin playing a video game about a griffin. That alone would make a silly image."
"But then you happened to change into the griffin in the game," Sarah remarked while she took the shotgun seat. "Now it looks like you were playing yourself."
"That'll make it gold," Hal declared, taking the driver seat.
"At least I stopped you two from laughing to death," Matthew said, putting on the seatbelt, "and got you to explain everything."
"Yeah," Sarah said, lying back on her seat. "After that, we gave you that necklace."
Matthew nodded. "But by that time, I really wanted to fly. That game makes it really amazing."
"And you did, which taught you that you need to learn how to land property," Hal remarked, igniting the engine. "Still, that was a good day."
"Yeah. Having a broken leg after your first time flying is a good day," Matthew sarcastically said.
"But at least my friend finally woke up, beating that cancer," Hal said, smiling.
"Oh," Sarah said. "How's your friend anyways?"
"Alright," Hal replied, putting the car in gear. "Still cancer free. In fact, my friend finally wrote down the dream experience even though it's short."
"What's it called?" Matthew asked.
"
The Room," Hal answered as he drove the car back to town.
The End
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