"Check your interface and let me know what you find for new class options." Cain informs the Queen, who still has her eyes closed, unwilling to look at herself and confirm yet another failure.
"Alright, I selected Beast Master. Was my class being a Druid part of what was activating the Curse?" She asks, still holding her eyes shut.
"Yes, but that's only part of the issue. Dark Elves can't be Druids, you see..." Cain says softly, and Paige finally lets out the breath she was holding.
"Holy Crap, you turned her into a Dark Elf. She's not changing back; does that mean the curse is broken? Can she be herself again?" Paige asks, grabbing Cain's shirt and shaking him like she expects the violent jostling to force better answers out.
"I think the curse of becoming a human is broken now. She's not turning into a human anyhow. But as for being herself, that is yet to be determined." Cain explains.
"What do you mean?" Queen Dala asks suspiciously.
"Well, you see, the transformation may have attracted the attention of the Spider Goddess halfway through. She picked that form for you, and I'm not certain she will allow you to change back to a regular Woodland Elf. I might be good at my craft, but I'm not a God."
At her look, Cain immediately attempts to change her into her old form again. It succeeded, but the moment he finished, a dark mist surrounded her and changed her back into the Dark Elven Child.
"At least you're an Elf, and no longer a boy?" Cain asks hopefully as Paige stares at her mother in shock.
"This is worse than before. Not only am I a Dark Elf, but I'm also even younger than after the effects of the first curse." Dala points out.
"How about we try a new form? Something subtle, not your original body, but one that might be less difficult to explain?" Cain suggests and gets only a 'Get to it' wave in response.
Cain contemplates what he can do that won't upset the Spider Goddess. Some of the Elves are very tanned, and her current form is a lighter shade of gray-skinned; maybe a tweak of her tone might stick? After that, he'll try to do something about the shocking white hair color and her age.
The modification of the skin tone proves tricky, she won't seem to change into any sort of woodland elf tone, but he has a bit better luck with a Bronze tone that he found under the options for High Elves. That version seems better and could pass as a very tanned woodland Elf.
The hair appears non-negotiable, though. Nothing he does will change it to a color other than white for more than a few seconds.
Giving up on that, he goes back to the bronze tones, thinking that other draconic techniques might work. The blue turns to the gray-blue tone that is very reminiscent of a suntanned Wave Rider, and Paige smirks at her mother, who shakes her head. Gold works, and a light gold almost looks like a regular elf, but seconds later, it too reverts, and the mocking laughter in Cain's mind is back.
"What forms of Elf might be acceptable? I'm pretty sure the Spider Queen wants to keep you as her own." Cain asks.
"If we have no other options, then a Wave Rider will work. They're still elves and viewed as Separate from the Dark Kin by our people; we'll just have to explain that it's a side effect of the Curse that couldn't be removed afterward. But can't you make me at least look regal? It was hard enough to get people to take me seriously before."
Cain tries and has better luck once he stays with a Wave Rider appearance. He gives her what he hopes the elves view as a Regal and beautiful look, then gets a good idea and goes through his options to try giving her old face back, but with the new hair and skin tones.
It looks fantastic on her, and Cain settles the form in and waits for an opinion.
"It's the Queen again. Different, but it still looks like her. That's not bad." Paige congratulates him.
"Like this, I can finally get back to the essential tasks of managing the Nation until we can find a way to turn my appearance back to that of a proper and respectable Elf and not a floating exile." The Queen begrudgingly agrees.
If Nila were here, she would take a significant exception to that, but for now, it's the best Cain is going to manage to do. Queen Dala is looking at her face in the mirror, and Cain can see she's getting upset at being a Wave Rider and not a Woodland Elf.
Then, suddenly her appearance snaps back to that of the small Dark Elven child that she first changed into.
"I see now; the curse is tied to your emotions and not yet fully broken. Whoever cast the curse must have thought you were behaving like a human child, so that's the form it changed you to. You would have reverted to the human boy again just now, but the Spider Queen won't let you stop being one of her children."
Cain wonders what he can do at this point. He's already used the skill assignment, but he could try changing it and hope that her class holds stable. That might make things worse, though, and leave her without a system interface again.
Her temper is getting worse in a hurry, and Cain suspects this trip might turn ugly if he can't find a cure. Fortunately, Misha comes to the rescue before Cain can find a decent idea.
She uses the Record Keeper's dispel again and returns to the Queen to her adult size. A dark haze surrounds Queen Dala as she continues to rage at her situation, and Misha casts the spell again, then a third time, before a ringing sound of metal shattering fills the air.
A ring falls from the Queen's finger, where no ring was visible before, and her appearance settles back to the Adult Wave Rider Cain made her into.
"A hidden cursed item? Who could have even placed that on you, and when?" Paige wonders while Cain bends to pick up the pieces in a gloved hand. There are no markings on the silver band and no indication of what it once did, other than the fact she's no longer changing into a child. It could have been the source of the entire curse, or it could have been just a part.
"Great, now I'm free of one cursed item, but I've gained a cursed appearance," Dala mutters, then squeaks in pain as if she had been electrocuted.
"What in the world was that? Did the Spider Bit... Aaah, dammit, that hurt." she screams.
"Looks like now that you've gotten her attention, insulting the Dark Goddess isn't the greatest idea ever. Mind if I try changing your appearance again, though?" Cain says in a flat tone to hide his amusement.
"Whatever you want. At this point, how much worse could it get?" She whines like a little kid, and Cain is reminded of Neffie when she doesn't get her way.
Cain tries again to change her into a Woodland Elf and gets her very close to her old appearance. He checks her system to see if it worked and finds that the answer is both yes and no.
[Name] Dala
[Class] Beast Lord
[Level]108
[Race] Blessed Elf
"I'd say it's a success. You're a Woodland Elf, but you're not a Dark Elf and surely a Blessed Elf will not upset too many people."
"Read the description, though. Her form will alter according to her behavior. She's still cursed, I think. A whole new cursed species that can't misbehave or throw tantrums without their body changing to match their actions." Misha points out.
"It might make for a perfect Queen, though. If you're forced to do things that are in the best interest of the Forest and make mature decisions in order to keep your form stable, that can't be a bad thing for our people. You were a bit famous for your tantrums before." Paige points out, and her mother glares at her before schooling her face back to neutral in fear of changing herself back into a child.
"It's more than I'd hoped for. At least I can be myself, as long as I remain the image of the proper and gracious Queen anyhow. Thank you, Duke Cain; we will remember your actions every day of our very, very long life." Dala says with a smile, and her hair flashes to white for a second, making Paige smirk.
The changes in her appearance are like a mood ring; you can tell exactly how she feels about things that affect her intensely by the way that her form alters.
"I'll leave you to recover, Your Highness. Princess Paige, if you could have someone show us where we might find a room for the evening, I would appreciate it." Cain makes his excuses to leave with a polite bow.
"I'll escort you to a room in the Royal Home. Tomorrow I can show you around and to the Demon Dungeon. That is the primary reason you agreed to come along if I am not mistaken." The blonde-haired Princess smirks, doing her best not to gloat at her mother's situation.
She had been immensely enjoying the childish form of her petulant Queen Mother. The fact she can still turn her mother back into a child at any time, just by getting her to throw one of her famous tantrums, is not lost on the Princess.
