James paddled around in the fish tank for the next few minutes, having no real option to do anything else, all the while silently fretting about what was coming next.
Before long, the next inevitable phase of Elspeth's spell took hold and he felt the effect of some of the most bizarre changes he had experienced so far. First his limbs retracted into his body until his legs were no more and his arms had been reduced to tiny but powerful fins. Then his whole body began to flatten and shrink. He was quickly forced to the surface from below water in order to continue breathing and was having to use his tail to move around in a manner that felt both completely alien but entirely natural.
He was aware he was a fish but had no way of confirming it, completely cut off from the human world as he now was. All he could see was water, all he could hear was water. This was his reality for now and there was nothing he could do about it but carry on moving monotonously around his fish tank home, dreading the thought of devolving to nothing.
Then, suddenly he began to feel something quite unexpected. His body was reshaping, becoming narrower but fuller. He could feel his legs again while his fins were growing back into arms. Suddenly enjoying an enhanced freedom of movement James took immediate advantage and swam back to the surface where he was relieved to be able to take in air again. He never would have thought he could be so happy to be a newt!
Seizing the moment James leapt high enough to clear the fish tank and arrive safely back on the cold surface of Elspeth's kitchen floor. From there the next steps were predictable and familiar as he became a lizard, a rat, a monkey. It was at this point he noticed that an excited Elspeth had begun filming the process. He didn't even care.
Soon James had grown back into an ape then something resembling an early form of human then finally, joyously, himself. After urgently expecting his body to ensure everything was as it should be he collapsed into a soaking wet, exhausted heap in the floor.
Elspeth wandered over, panning slowly up and down his naked body before shutting off her camera.
"There, I told you to trust me" she smiled, as if James should be grateful for what she had just put him through. He would have to find a way to escape this bitch as soon as humanly possible.