The Ol' Switcharoo [CLOSED]

Luxanna was able to notice Avrae's fidgeting on the train, but brushed it off. Sitting here for hours was not comfortable. When they arrived at Aria Grand, they noticed the poster and Tsubine brought up a fair point. "Yeah, Lillianna is Aria Grand's dedicated healer." Luxanna explained. That notice brought up a few worries for the group. The four entered Aria Grand and Tsubine did the talking, which was fine for Luxanna. Drake was observing the surrounding groups of people. They all seemed down or worried. The reporters outside were a curious site. After Tsubine asked her question, Drake stepped up. "I'm sorry... What's happening out there?" Drake asked suddenly, before the receptionist had a chance to answer Tsubine. He was obviously bothered by the atmosphere this place had.

"For one." the receptionist gave Drake attitude and then smiled at Tsubine, "I'm sorry. I don't have the authority to allow you into our records room. Those who do have their own ways of even entering it. Most lower ranked members don't even know what that is." The receptionist seemed to be looking around for someone as her head bobbed up and down to look around Drake. She smiled when she noticed it and waved a woman over. "As for your question..." the woman looked annoyed at Drake, "Didn't you hear? Lillianna Cascella and her friend Serenity Verdant were recently kidnapped. They were stolen right off the train and are being held for ransom. No word on anything else yet... Everyone here is..." "More worried than any of you can imagine." a woman with long black hair stepped up.

"What did you need me for?" the woman asked. "They want into the records room to look at the Dragon's Archive." The black haired woman raised an eyebrow and turned to the group with a bit of suspicion. She stared particularly hard at Tsubine and tilted her head. "Okay." she said with a large smile and nodded, her demeanor quickly changing, "I'll take 'em down. You just watch things up here." Juliette motioned for the group to follow and skipped on her way to the records room. She hummed a tune and stopped at a large door. After pressing her shoulder against a pad on the wall, it opened up and she led the group down a stone staircase until they met another set of doors. "And here we are." she said as she placed her hand on another pad and winced before the door opened. Inside was a massive room of books, scrolls, and other artifacts. "Break anything, you'll pay for it."

Luxanna allowed her eyes to shift to Tsubine when she heard the news. She knew that Tsubine was going to immediately blame herself for this, but there was no way to know that would occur. Drake held his breath and closed his eyes, trying to keep his reaction to a minimum. From the moment he entered this place, he felt some sort of foreboding atmosphere about it and now he understood why. If anyone here knew that those two had left with them, there could be problems. From that moment on, Drake's guard was up. Well, at least he thought it was. Watching Juliette skip to the back to lead them to the record room was reassuring and caused his lips to curl up a bit for a short moment.

Juliette watched the group walk around for a bit. She had a nice smile on her face and once they were all in, she reached over and pressed a stone button on the wall, turned it in a certain pattern, and about seven loud thunks echoed into the room. She had locked them in. "I thought that was a little too easy." Luxanna turned back to Juliette, who was no longer smiling, but instead staring daringly at Luxanna. "And yet you said nothing to your friends. Interesting." Drake was about to speak up when he was suddenly punched right in the gut. Juliette was not the strongest, but she was among the fastest in the guild. When struck, he was sent flying toward Luxanna, who was hit and both slid along the floor.

"I'm sure by now you can tell that I'm... a little more than angry. I let Lillianna leave here with you without a guard because she trusted you guys. I won't hit again; that was me getting some anger out. However, I would like an explanation as to what the hell is going on. Where is Lillianna?" Juliette crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. Drake rolled off of Luxanna and held his stomach, trying desperately to catch some air, but was actually having a hard time about it. He kept gasping violently. Luxanna pushed herself into a sitting position. "That hurt..." she said before she glared at Juliette and began rubbing Drake's back, "Calm down. You're fine. Just breathe, Drake... Just breathe."

Juliette listened to Tsubine. She felt the blood thirst lurking from the woman's words, but didn't budge. She was angry as well and would not be moved from it so easily. She trusted these people with her closest friend, the woman people see as Aria Grand's guild master, and the most coveted and talented healer in the country. When Tsubine walked up to her, Juliette wasn't going to show an ounce of fear. Her eyes only narrowed, "I already said I wouldn't hit them again. I won't repeat myself again, Tsubine. Be glad I didn't point anything out upstairs; you'd never of survived that." Juliette watched them for the duration of Drake's recovery and chose to keep silent up until they were done.

Once Tsubine started helping Drake, Luxanna fell into a bookcase that was against the wall. "I'm fine... Just a little stunned is all. She's strong." Drake took in a deep breath, still labored. "No shit." he said and then coughed a bit. After a bit more concentration, he sat back and looked over to Juliette. "Get your anger out?" he asked and cleared his throat. "I have. Honestly, if I were aware of your separating, I wouldn't have struck you. However, I do not regret it. You take the strongest healer in Arcadia over the border to Zakat of all places and let her return alone? And Serenity as well? What half-intelligent person would have done that? It's like you guys are trying to start this war."

"Why would you apologize for that?" Juliette raised an eyebrow, "Is there a reason a single one of you could not have ridden the train back with them? Your anger means nothing to me, child. A drakeling like yourself has little ability to intimidate me. If you think that your Mother's illness is reason to start a war between your country and mine, than I should never have let Lillianna leave here. She trusted you and who knows where it has gotten her... and Serenity. I do not think all of the blame is yours. I doubt you have any precognitive abilities, however, you took your responsibility lightly. By traveling across the border with Lillianna and Serenity, you weren't just carrying the weight of your Mother's illness with you, young one. You were playing with a political fire that had already been burning."

"The people of this country love blaming Zakatians for just about everything that goes wrong and when the reporters learned where Lillianna and Serenity had been come from... What do you think the first thing that happened was? This country is waiting for the word of war. If Lillianna does not return soon to set things straight and give whatever statement she's going to have to give to shut those morons up there up..." Juliette pointed up toward the next floor, "That war just might start and thousands, if not more, will die. So yeah, I'm sorry your mother had CAE too." Juliette walked over to one of the shelves and quickly ran through a few books. She pulled six out and three more scrolls, set them on the table, and motioned toward them. "There you go. Hope you find what you're looking for."

Juliette glanced around the room and then walked to the stone button again. She turned it a few times in a pattern different from before. When that happened, multiple barriers went up surrounding the shelves in the room. The only things that were able to be taken off the shelves were a few minor artifacts, potions, and anything she had sat on the table. Everything else what locked up tight. "I'll bring you some food and drink in an hour. I doubt you will find exactly what you're looking for that fast..." With that, Juliette walked out and left them inside. Within moments, those clicks sounded again and the doors were locked. "Holy shit, what a bitch..." Luxanna said. "Yes, but not entirely. I'm actually curious about what she was saying...'this war'... " Drake looked to them, "What war?"

When Juliette left, both Drake and Luxanna stood up. Luxanna stretched and her back popped loud enough for people to hear. "Ow." was all she said. When Drake stood, he winced and sat down in a chair. He lifted his shirt and could already see a pretty dark bruise forming when she had struck. "Damn..." he lowered his shirt and shook his head. When Drake asked about the war, Tsubine was the one to answer. "Arcadia would not attack unless given a reason, and from what Juliette said, they might have a reason." "One they made up to satisfy their own anger." "I don't know. Lillianna and Serenity weren't in Zakat long enough for them to come up with a plan to take them, mobilize, and get them out without being noticed. If a war was coming it would have already. I don't believe that a kidnapping would spark it. There is something else happening, something big if war is on the horizon."

"No, you weren't." Drake and Luxanna replied in unison. The two looked to each other. Drake glared and Luxanna just stayed silent. The last few days she had been deep in thought about something. She kept telling those who asked just to let her tell it when she was ready. That same expression appeared on her face in that moment. The two listened to Tsubine, but still disagreed. Luxanna spoke up again, "No, you weren't. She just struck both of us very suddenly. If we had been spoken to first, it would have been fine. I don't remember when attack first, ask questions later was the motto of Arcadia, but she did wrong. Not you. The fact that we didn't all go into battle was a miracle." "I couldn't of if I tried, not in that moment. She hit me so hard, I couldn't even breath. That woman packs a punch." "Yeah..."

"I noticed that too." Drake agreed and nodded. "If Avrae had gone to smack her, I would have stopped her." Luxanna said, getting a glare from Drake, "I know, I know, but think about it... She sent you flying. Not only that, but she is confident enough in herself to lock three arcanists down here without any back up and attack them? Do you really, and I mean really think you're good enough to fight off someone that is that confident in their ability? I don't. I wouldn't even attempt it." Luxanna finally picked up a scroll and began reading, "At least she gave us what we needed." Drake nodded and picked one up to. As he began reading, he heard a low rumble. "You hear that?" Suddenly the place began to violently shake. All the books stayed still thanks to the barriers, but some of the artifacts fell and...

Pop! A puff of smoke came as a glass bottle hit the wooden floor. The chemical mixture inside spread throughout the room in a pink glittery smoke. Luxanna coughed a few times and so did Drake. When it cleared, the earthquake stopped and Luxanna waved her hand in front of her face. "You guys okay?" So far, there was nothing wrong. However, within moments Luxanna felt faint and suddenly collapsed. Drake hurried over to her, but before he got there, he too collapsed about a foot away from her.

The sound of her own voice was not something she expected to wake up to. When she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at her own chest. She blinked and looked a few inches higher to see her own face. Keeping calm, she looked around the room to see Tsubine laying on the floor and beginning to wake up. "Must be dreaming; I'm going back to bed..." she turned over and went to lay back down when she got a glance at her chest and her hands. "Wai-... Wha-... I don't..." Luxanna stood up and quickly realized the floor was farther than it normally was. She looked to her own body again. "Wh-..." Luxanna looked down again and then back up, down, up, down, up... And suddenly, she screamed.

"AHHHH!!!!" It was the manliest shriek ever and it caused Drake to jump up and looked around. Drake, now in Tsubine's body, almost lost his balance and fell forward. "What... Why am I suddenly top heavy?" Drake looked down to see two large mounds of loveliness hanging from his chest. In any other situation, he would have been okay with this, but not this one. "What the hell is going on?" he looked around at the two, glancing quickly back and forth between them, "You've got to be kidding me! You! Give me my body back! Now!" "I'd love to, except I don't know how we got like this in the first place!"

After a few moments, the two large doors that led into this records room opened and Juliette came through. "Hey, are you guys okay? That was a pretty bad earthquake." she asked as she began picking up some of the artifacts and putting them back on their shelves. "I'm a woman!!" Drake ran up to Juliette in a panic and shook her. "Y-Yes... Yes, you are." Juliette said confused. "Well I shouldn't be! Tell her to give my body back! This isn't fair! I don't want to be a woman. I'm shorter than normal and I have bre-..." Drake looked down to his chest and hopped up and down a couple times, "Heh... hehehe... They're so bouncy." And so he kept doing that. "As you can see... We switched bodies."

Drake stopped bouncing when Tsubine yelled at him. He stared at her from her own body with a slight blush. He hopped again just to bug her and then two more times before hiding behind Juliette for his own safety. "You're having fun." Juliette said Drake. "I am now one of the hottest women I know. This is awesome." he stood up straight and pointed to his chest, "I mean, look at them! They're mine now!"

"Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!!" Luxanna began freaking out before Juliette could answer Tsubine. She looked down and spread Drakes legs. She began squirming around like something weird was touching her. It was. "I can feel it. It just hangs there! What the hell!?" she said and looked down Drake's pants. "HEY! What are you doing?!" Drake yelled and ran over to her, forcing his own pants shut.

"How do you walk around with that thing!? Doesn't it bother you?" Luxanna asked quite bluntly. "After living with it since I was a damn baby I would have to say that no, it does not bother me. You kinda get used to the damn thing. Now eyes to yourself, woman." Drake demanded and then turned to Juliette, "Please tell me there is a way to fix it." Juliette looked worriedly at him and walked over to the glass.

"I don't know. There's a reason we have most of this locked up. We don't have a reversal potion." Juliette sighed and stood up after kicking some of the glass to the side, "We took that from someone trying to steal the life of Aria's wealthiest citizens. I don't know if you can reverse it." Luxanna and Drake both looked to Tsubine and then to each other in shock. "We can't be like this forever!"

"Possession is nine-tenths of the law, darlin'." Drake, in Tsubine's body, winked at Tsubine, who was in Luxanna's body. When Luxa-... Tsubine looked away to help with the stuff Juliette was picking up, he couldn't help but bounce again. Of course, that is when Luxanna, in his body, began freaking out about that python he had between his legs. He was proud of that thing and didn't want her insulting or looking at it! Realizing his own privacy was being violated, Drake wanted his body back a little more.

"You'd have to ask the person who made it and she's in prison, so I doubt you'll be able to get that done easily or quickly." Juliette continued picking things up, not noticing Tsubine's struggle. However, Drake and Luxanna both did. Drake noticed first and hurried over to grab Luxanna's ass with a rather tight squeeze. "HEY!" Luxanna went to smack him, but was stopped. "Hey! You hit me and you're just a man hittin' her." Drake smiled like a brat, "And I doubt you're wantin' that, now are you?" "Shit-head."

Avrae came down and checked on everyone. Drake said nothing and just stared at her. Luxanna crossed Drake's arms and sighed. "Yes, we're fine. No one got hurt, but we have a bit more of a problem than I like to admit..." Luxanna glared at Drake/Tsubine, "A potion of some sort fell during the earthquake and we all breathed it in. In doing so, we switch bodies... So hello, Avrae, I'm Luxanna."

When Avrae began laughing, Juliette faced the wall and laughed as well. She was trying not to, but she just couldn't help it. This was such an entertaining day! She turned back to the group and just watched them. When Avrae walked up to Tsubine, Juliette was curious. So were Luxanna and Drake. Juliette burst out laughing at the look on Tsubine's face as her Luxanna-boobs were grabbed. Luxanna dropped Drake's jaw in absolute shock and Drake glared Tsubine's eyes at Avrae. As Avrae ran up stairs, Drake had no problem reaching out and smacking her ass. This was both his way of getting revenge of Luxanna and having an excuse to touch Avrae as well. It was not his hands that did it, he was innocent.

Drake looked back to Tsubine and noticed she was gone. "Wait, what?" Luxanna just stared where Tsubine had been and pursed Drake's lips. "Well, the first thing you'll have to do is calm down. Take a few deep breaths." Luxanna breathed in and out slowly to give an example, "Once you've done that, you'll need to imagine a wave of glittering light fading away from your... my body and revealing yourself. The slower you see it happening, the easier it will be. If you try to do it too quickly, it won't happen until you've mastered it." Luxanna held Drake's hand out to Tsubine, "Here, let me help you." Once Tsubine took the hand, Luxanna pulled her in and placed Tsubine's hand on Drake's crotch and held it there. After a few seconds, then she let Tsubine go. "Hm... That felt odd. He's big, ain't he?"

Avrae's words struck a small chord with Drake. He looked back to the other two and thought for a bit about what Avrae said. He was pulled from his thoughts when he just saw Luxanna's body being forced to touch his lower region. He froze, stuck like a statue. The comment on his own size was surprising, especially knowing that Luxanna was the one that said it. Then hearing Tsubine say yeah in that tone was surprising as well. Luxanna just laughed when Tsubine sat down. Drake was still stuck.

"So that's what is going on here. You three have a little love triangle going, huh?" Juliette sat down, crossing one leg over the other. "You can call it that." Luxanna said with a sigh and sat down as well. She picked up one of the scrolls and began reading again. She figured that she might as well try and find what they came here for before anything else crazy happened. Drake sat down with his knees up and his arms resting on them. In other words, he sat like a dude, giving Luxanna a wonderful view.

"Drake. Didn't know you liked lace." Luxanna said, peeking happily over her scroll at Tsubine's underwear. "What?" Drake raised an eyebrow and Luxanna said nothing. "Dear, you're sitting like a man in a woman's body. She's wearing a short skirt. Do you not feel a draft?" Juliette asked. Drake looked down and realized what they meant. He suddenly closed his legs and put his hands over the skirt to cover himself up. For that moment, Drake acted like an embarrassed and feminine girl.

"Hm?" Luxanna felt a little strange and something in Drake's lower region becoming a little heavier. She looked down to see that he, well she, had a fucking erection coming on! Drake's cheeks turned red due to Luxanna's embarrassment. "How do I make it go away?" she asked Drake and stood up. She wasn't going to be embarrassed for his sake. "OH COME ON!" Drake shouted and pointed at his body, "Can you at least show me a small amount of respect?! That's just not cool at all, Luxanna!"

"Clever girl..." Drake spoke from Tsubine's body with playfully narrowed eyes. Luxanna was completely caught off guard by the kiss and had no problem returning what she could. When it broke, she swallowed nervously and then winced. "Ow, ow..." she whined and looked down, "Is it supposed to hurt? It's like... pulsing." "That's what happens when you don't take care of it and it just keeps getting harder." Drake sighed, "I finally get a kiss and I can't even feel it... Oh well, at least Luxanna kissed a man. She can't deny that anymore." When Luxanna realized this, she practically fell out of her chair.

"God damn it!" Luxanna glared at herself and then just smiled and shook her head. "You know, if you need a private room to get all of these frustrations out, I'd be happy to help." Juliette brought up with a mischievous smile, "I'm sure you all can use the release. You especially." Juliette pointed toward Drake's body. Luxanna crossed Drake's arms. "I'm not into men." she said, though there was a small part of her that felt differently about Drake. "Neither am I. Even if it is my own damn body."

Drake and Luxanna both looked to Tsubine like she had gone nuts. However, Luxanna's expression softened a bit and she nodded. The initial meaning to Juliette's words were lost. Tsubine brought up a good point. They could use the rest. "If we can use a room for the night, that would be appreciated." Luxanna looked to Juliette and smiled a bit. "Of course. I'll make sure to get one ready for when you're all wanting to sleep the night away." Juliette stood up and walked out, but was stopped when Avrae came down. When things were explained about the journal, Juliette, Drake, and Luxanna all shared a similar expression. In unison, the three spoke in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me."

Juliette had never read that damn book before, but she didn't think it'd be that. She shook her head and let the group be as she walked up stairs. The location Avrae mentioned caused both Drake and Luxanna's expressions to harden. They had gone in circles up until now, but the mentioned place was extremely far away. The amount of money that it would take to get there and the time it would take was immense. They could be gone anywhere from six months to a year depending on the trouble that they came across. Just because Arcadia and Zakat were technologically advanced, doesn't mean the rest of the world was. "Cieria will be difficult to get through." "Not to mention Salaneos and Oysnius, depending on which route we took." "We could go through Ezon and move by water instead of land." "I'm not sure I'm a fan of getting that close to pirate territory, not to mention bordering Nethoral."