Cliff tried not to panic.
The spell was a low level spell after all, and if he was a 'level 1' wizard, that should mean it last only an hour... right?
But when the hour passed and he was still under the effects of the magic, he was starting to panic.
"Damn it I still sound sound weird!" He said. What the hell... his voice was high pitched. Even higher then what might be a girl's voice. He tried to look for help on the various internet forums, but nobody had any idea of how to deal with this. Everyone said that the spell should wear off in an hour...
... but now it had been three hours, and still nothing.
He had to call someone to help him.
He browsed the various numbers available, until finally he found one number to call that happened to be in the local area. He got a message almost immediately, saying they will be there soon. He had to admit he was surprised by how quick the response was, but he was certainly glad.
Lilly, Jenny and Artemis had got the message of someone needing help. It was a bit of an after school job now. With everyone doing little bits of magic, and them as the closest thing to experts on this world, they did their best to rectify mishaps. It was enjoyable and the three liked working together.
But this wasn't just anyone... This was Cliff... and Jenny was connected to him.
"Jenny?" Lilly suddenly asked.
The four breasted girl looked at her friend. "Yes?"
"... I think you should sit this one out." she blurted out quickly.
"Huh? Why? Oh... 'cause I have no magic?" Jenny looked very shocked.
"No! It... it isn't that..." Lilly was now suddenly stuck. This felt familiar. Back when it was herself who had no magic at all... and had to push so hard, to be included. Did anyone... could anyone understand what a struggle it was, to be included in the magic circle?
... and now that she was in it, it looked like she was trying to get rid of Jenny. She hated herself... but she couldn't tell Jenny the reason.
Jenny ran a hair through her long white hair. "Okay... Lilly," she sighed turning away.
"Wait!" the squirrel girl shouted. "Sorry Jenny I guess I'm just worried cause you know Cliff... he seemed really mean to you."
Jenny just gave her usual curious smile. "I'm sure with you and Artemis to protect me, there's little he can really do..."
Lilly bit her lip. "I hope so... come on let's go."
They knocked on the door, and Cliff opened it quickly. "You're the magic circle?!" he said with his high pitched voice.
The three girls stared... then tried their best not to grin, but it was painful.
Lilly was nervous however. "Can we come in?" she asked taking the lead.
Cliff feeling little choice, let them in to his house. "Okay, so... you know what happened to me. Can you fix it?" God this voice was annoying!
The squirrel girl's ears twitched. "Okay... let's try the basic dispel first," said Lilly. She was about to cast it herself, but she looked at Jenny who had been feeling a bit down. The loss of her magic had hit her hard, and while she could cast spells similar to a 'normal' person might, she was nowhere near what she used to be. "Why don't you try it Jenny?"
Jenny looked a bit surprised but gave a little smile. "You sure?"
"Yeah, You know the counter spell. Just try it on him."
Jenny did so, and a soft glow emanated from her hand as she did... the glow extended towards Cliff, and ended in a brief implosion of power.
Artemis and Lilly watched, satisfied that the spell was completed correctly. It probably wasn't very strong though...
"Try saying something now," said Jenny.
"How do I sound- Urgh! No that didn't work!" He said annoyed. "I still sound like a bloody chipmunk."
Lilly... tried not to take offence to that. (Squirrels were not that far apart from chipmunks.)
"Did I do it wrong?" Asked Jenny.
"No," Lilly emphasised. "You did it fine. Something else here just isn't right." Both she and Artemis tried their own spell, but it also didn't work.
"Let's see what the spell is," Said Artemis.. The three slowly poured over the enchantment. "Well... he's right. It's called 'voice of chipmunk' spell. Custom made," said Artemis. "A... joke spell."
"Custom made? What does that mean?" Asked Cliff.
"Well, it was put into someone campaign as a custom spell," Lilly explained. "Still... its definitely a level 1 spell... so I don't know why it's still on you."
Artemis looked at Cliff, with some quiet uncertainly. Her eyes shimmered in pupils that looked like the two sides of the moon.
Jenny browsed the computer for the original notes, as she tried to translate them. "Ah, I think I found something," said Jenny. "According to the notes, this spell can be scaled up to be permanent... if the caster is above level 20. How does that translate into the real world though?"
Lilly arched a slight eyebrow at that, her fur bristling. Cliff couldn't possibly be using such high level magics. Not on a first spell with no experience... unless..."Cliff? DId you ever... role play a game of dungeons and dragons?"
Cliff looked annoyed. "Of course not I'm no nerd!"
"Cliff... please tell us." Lilly pressed. "You've done something that shouldn't be possible. We need to work this out."
Cliff looked with some reluctance. "Well... yes and no." He said. "I didn't have any friends to play the game with. I just..." He looked distantly. "I did play the game dungeons and dragons. Just... not with anyone." The squeaky voiced boy admitted.
"And your character?"
"Well... myself. Of course." Shrugged Cliff. "I made myself as a wizard and I made it go all the way up to level forty or something, I dunno... it was ages ago."
Lilly nodded. But her mind was still thinking of the possibilitites. Cliff obviously didn't know real magic... and based his idea of magic on a fantasy setting. But somehow, that fantasy was bridged when he cast a spell using these resources onto the real world. "Okay... I think when you cast the spell, you were in the mindset of your character. So the spell treated it as if you were a higher level, even if you were not."
"Can you fix it?!" said Cliff quickly, making the ears of the sensitive squirrel girl cringe.
"We could turn him into a girl," grinned Artemis. "That will fix his voice."
"Shut up don't even joke about it! Please just... fix it. I swear I'll never be mad about the changed again!"
"... I don't think we can," said Lilly. "The spell is pretty powerful, even for us. But we can probably do something else. You got a watch or anything?"
Cliff poured over his house, to look for something wearable... it was at this point Jenny saw an old photograph. "Who's that?"
"Oh. My dad" shrugged Cliff.
Lilly looked wide eyed as she glanced at Jenny.
"Where is he?" asked the white haired girl.
"He died... a long time ago. I was just a baby, I don't know. He was involved in some things he probably shouldn't have been." even with his high squeaky voice, there was no denouncing the sadness. "I found a watch... here. It means a lot to me so be careful with it."
Jenny Lilly and Artemis held their hands together, as they created a special enchantment. This is what they did when encountering unbreakable spells, such as a difficult transformation of the sunlight. The watch slowly glowed. "Put this on," said Lilly.
Cliff did so... "How's my voi- Hey it worked! I got my voice back eh.. sort of." It was certainly deeper now, maybe not 'quite' as deep as it used to be, but good enough.
"That will dampen the sound of the wearer... the spell is still on you. The watch will recharge its magics while you sleep." explained Lilly.
"Yeah... thanks," said Cliff. "What do I owe you for... this."
"Eh.. nothing. Really. Just be more careful with magics. We'll try to figure out a permanent solution for you later... okay?"
"... yeah okay."
