Fire Emblem SW

Opening it up, Lana saw the inside consisting of several shelves housing all sorts of vials filled with liquids of various colors. Some she recognized, or at least thought to recognize, as various healing salves and medicines. The old man proceeded to grab one from the topmost shelf, before closing up the cabinet.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he began without waiting for the cleric to speak, “but this is actually for me to drink.”

“For you? It’s an energy-restoring concoction, isn’t it?” Lana asked, finding it odd.

“That’s right,” he nodded, “I’ll need it once I’ve casted the incantation.”

Now Lana was confused at this.

“Huh? Why would you need to recover your energy, sir?”

“Because the magic I’m about to do won’t need a tome or staff to cast,” he explained.

The young girl’s eyes widened in surprise. Had she heard correctly?

“R-Really, that’s possible? How?”

The old man frowned.

“Unfortunately, explanations will have to wait. Suffice to say, yes, it’s possible but also quite draining on the body, hence the concoction. Now please stand in the middle of the room.”

Lana felt a bit hesitant again, as she still didn’t know what would happen, but then shook the thought away.

I already said I trusted him, she thought; I’ll see what the spell does once he uses it on me.

So she did as was told, move to stand in the very middle of the room. The old man walked towards the desk, before placed the vial atop it.

“Are you ready?” He asked once he had turned to face her once again.

The cleric promptly nodded. The old man then extended his arms, palms facing Lana. Magic began to manifest and swirl around him, as he began to recite an incantation. A sudden light materialized under her, and glancing down she saw to her surprise a magic glyph had formed.

He really is using magic without a tome or staff! She was amazed.

Glancing back up, and to her further surprise, she saw how everything around her began to move away. Not just the old man and the furniture, but also the walls and ceiling of the room. All somehow becoming more distant… as well as bigger, to her further confusion.

Huh? Why is everything becoming bigger? She wondered.

Immediately after, however, she gasped, having figured it out.

I’m shrinking!

Indeed. It wasn’t them getting bigger, but rather she was the one becoming smaller instead. At first she froze, but then she further realized.

Wait… that’s it! She thought. If I become small, then the soldiers won’t be able to find me!

Whatever fears were bubbling up due to her enlarging surroundings quickly died down. When the alternative were the unthinkable horrors that awaited should the soldiers take her prisoner, then the idea of becoming small was much preferable. Especially when it meant there could be now countless hiding places all over the house she could use that would be very effective. For even if the soldiers were to search the place up… well, they would be searching for a normal-sized girl, as it were. So she simply waited, until finally the glyph beneath her dimmed down, the magic around the old man died down, and she felt her downward motion suddenly stop. She now stood no taller than a few inches tall, easy to be mistaken for a living doll.

That said, though there was no fear, she still felt overwhelmed by how bigger everything had become. Even the old man, now standing as towering as a giant from a fairy tale, seemed formidable from her reduced perspective. Still, Lana kept her composure, knowing that this was only meant to be temporary.

After all, he wouldn’t have done this if it couldn’t be reversed, right? She reasoned.

The old man, for his part, turned back to the desk and reached out for the concoction. Even from her position, Lana could tell he looked a bit pained, and his movements were a bit off, indicating the strain that casting magic in such a way would incur on his body as he had mentioned before the spell. Once the vial was in his hands, he took one gulp from the concoction, before placing it back down.

“Are you alright, sir?” Lana called out, concerned, but then, “ah!”

She was taken aback at just how squeaky her voice came out, no doubt a result of the shrinking. Still, her concern for the old man’s wellbeing brushed the surprise aside. To her relief, he saw him chuckle, now seemingly recovered.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said.

He then walked over, before crouching down before her.

“What about you?”

“I’m…” Lana hesitated a bit, still not used to the new pitch of her voice, “I’m fine.”

“That’s good to hear,” the old man smiled, “now then, we must place you somewhere safe, where you won’t be found out.”

He then lowered an arm, placing his hand on the floor, palm side up. Lana walked up to the hand, and despite feeling a bit uneasy, still not used to her new size, stepped onto it, before sitting down. Now on his hand, the old man stood back up, intending to fully fulfil his word.