Yet there was some odd scent that was sticking to the back of Jetta's nostrils as she walked down the hall. Something was there earlier. It smelled like a lycanthrope, and familiar in some other way, but it was... 'Off' somehow. Like it was a were that Jetta had yet to come across. "Maybe they have a new guest here that need help with?" Jetta questioned.
Finally, Jetta reached the entrance to Theo's study. She knocked on the door with the back of her hand. "Hello? Dr. Diggers? It's me, Jetta."
"Ah, yes, Jetta!" Jetta could hear Theo say from the other side. "Please, do come in."
Opening the door, Jetta started, "All right now, what seems to be the..." Jetta trailed off as soon as she saw what looked like a humanoid bat wrapped in a blanket and sitting in a chair. "Problem?"
The batgirl waved a wing in a timid fashion. "Hi, Jetta..." The bat said timidly.
Jetta blinked her eyes. She recognized the voice. Sniffing the air, Jetta realized the scent was indeed that of a lycanthrope and it was mixed with Gina's personal scent! "Gina! What happened!?"
"Apparently, my daughter was working with some water from a valley that had once belonged to Iceron," Theo stopped as he saw Jetta visibly shiver at the name. "Jetta?"
"Jusenkyo," Jetta said simply.
Gina blinked her eyes. "You know of it?"
"Yes. Old legends though," Jetta said. "It was believed Iceron had many labs around the world as to collect different animals. It would make sense he had one in China as to get certain animals from Asia, such as tigers."
Shaking her head, Jetta knew what was going on now. "I'm willing to bet that you got hit by some of the water or 'spillage' from Iceron's projects. And even after numerous millenia, they're still as potent as ever?"
Gina nodded her head. "I'm a werebat, aren't I?"
"I'd say so," Jetta sighed. "Let me guess. You need me to teach you how to shift forms?"
"Please!" Gina said desperately. "I can't take this much longer. Bats give me the creeps and it's hard as hell to do much without hands!"
Jetta nodded her head. "Makes sense. Well, Gina, it's not that hard to shift. If you have the stored Lunar energies, you'll be able to shift your forms by just thinking on what you want to be. Think of yourself ashuman and your body will follow."
Gina nodded her head and closed her eyes. Internally, she was thinking of herself as before, while she was chanting, "Human, human, human, human, human..."
Gina did that for a good couple of seconds...
Then a few more seconds...
Seconds which turned into minutes...
And then more minutes that piled up...
After fifteen minutes, Jetta rolled her eyes. "God, and I thought Britanny was bad when learning to shift."
"I'm trying, okay!?" Gina snapped fearfully. "I just can't seem to change back into my human form!"
Theo frowned seriously. "Gina. Try your bat form."
Whimpering, Gina did as she was told. Oh God, did she had bats. All the rabies and the flying and the shrieking and the diseases and the bug-eating... It made Gina want to wretch.
But Gina concentrated on it. She just had to try and change herself.
And yet, even as she forced herself to concentrate, Gina was still in a hybrid form. His eyes glowing, Theo did another check on Gina's aura, to see what could be impeding progress. This time, as he searched for anything out of the ordinary, it was revealed to him that his daughter had some sort of 'lock' on her.
Gina saw the serious look on her father's face and she shivered. "Dad. What's wrong?"
"Well, Gina..." Theo began slowly, thinking of how to break this to her. "I don't want to alarm you, but there seems to be a magic curse that targets shape-changers and locks them in a form..."
"WHAT!?" Gina shrieked in fear, causing both Theo and Jetta to wince form the high tone. "YOU MEAN I'M GONNA BE STUCK AS A BAT-WOMAN AND WITHOUT HANDS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!?"
"Maybe not, Gina," Theo said. "Could you tell us if there was any outside interferance?"
Gina blinked her eyes. "Well, there was the ladle..."
"Ladle?" Theo asked. "What abotu a ladle?"
"A wooden ladle," Gina said. "I don't know much, but I can tell you this. There was supposed to be a magical race in China that had two items that were the very center of their society. The Kaisuufu and Chisuuton. I'm not sure what their powers are, but they were known to 'make mates' for the people of the tribe. One was to change them and other was to release."
Theo nodded his head. "Sounds like these people used the Jusenkyo water to curse people and they had the power to lock them in their cursed forms as well as release them," Theo sighed, "The ladle must have been the item that would lock the person into a single form."
"Really?" Jetta asked, a slightly pleased tone to her voice. "There is an item to stop shap-changing, and lock it?"
"Possibly," Theo said, "If what Gina has told us and what has happened is any indication."
"GREAT!" Jetta said excitedly. Noticing the odd looks the two Diggers were giving her, Jetta explained. "Don't you two see the possible good uses this could be put to?"
"Good uses?" Gina snorted. "Nothing good's happened to me."
"First off, this could work to act as a light punishment. Lock people in human or animal forms to teach them a lesson," Jetta said. Her smile then widened. "And think of how this would make a great pregnancy aide!"
"Pregnancy aide?" Gina asked.
"Yes," Jetta said, "For lycanthropes. The biggest danger during a pregnancy for lycanthropes is the risk of shifting forms while pregnant, as it would kill both mother and child." Jetta smiled. "And if the mother can't shift form, the risk of something going wrong during pregnancy is greatly reduced."
"I see..." Gina said.
Smiling, Jetta asked, "So, Gina, did you get these two items? I'd like to find out how they work."
"Yes, I must agree with Jetta," Theo said. "I'd like to take a look at it to see if these items are safe for use."
"Well, about that..." Gina said nervously. "Well, I kinda... You see, I was nervous and... I... Kinda left them behind."
Theo sighed. "Well, this makes things harder... I can't help unseal the lock on Gina's shape-shifting unless I know what I'm dealing with..."
Gina grumbled. "Looks like I'll have to talk to Pee Wee again..."
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(Posted Sun, 26 Oct 2003 17:35)
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