After I had finished with Connie, I decided it was time to be an adult. There were only two ways I could do that: go get drunk or talk to Maedel and try to come to a solution. I was still trying to decide as I walked in the barn. Maedel and Sara were up in the loft, and Sara was asleep. Maedel however, was sitting with her legs off the side, watching me like a hawk.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"I'm here to make up." I said. If I wasn't trying to be serious, the look on Maedel's face would have sent me into a giggling fit.
"You want to make up? How? How in the nine hells do you intend to make up for what you did?" Maedel asked.
"I don't know. I thought I'd start by offering you a drink." I said.
"Sara already brought it up. I can't get drunk anyway." Maedel said.
"Well come on then, sounds like we're hitting the bar." I said.
"Seriously? Why should I go with you?" Maedel asked.
"Because I want to tell you how to transform back." I said. Truth be told, I was making that up. However, I had the foresight to allow myself time to think of a solution.
"That's... I'm coming." Maedel said as she jumped down from the loft. Fortunately, she didn't break her legs, so we were ready to head out.
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"So I think magic stops you from getting intoxicated." I said, throwing my fifth pint off to the side.
"Interesting side effect. I think I'd rather keep that one." Maedel said as she slammed a bottle of whiskey. The place was mostly empty, but the few people that were around were fascinated by our ability to drink harder than anyone else in the bar.
"I don't suppose you'd like to save me some trouble and keep the wooden part too?" I asked.
"No, I'm good without that. Density and flotation are not exactly a fair trade for elfity." She replied.
"Worth a shot." I said as I called over our waitress. She was a cute little gnome in the tightest orange shorts and white tank top I had ever seen. Even better, she did her job well. She was getting a large tip after this.
"Not really no. That reminds me though, how can I turn back? That's the only reason I came here anyway." Maedel said as the waitress filled her stein.
"Alright, this is going to be difficult to explain, so you'll have to give me some time. Removing spells is difficult. It isn't exactly as easy as peeling off paint. The more complex a spell is, the harder it is to remove. Fortunately, most of the spells on you were cast by me, which makes it easier for me to remove them. However, the spell that animated you and the spell that turned you to wood in the first place weren't mine. Obviously, Todd cast the animation spell, which would have been a good enough show of power that I would have actually taken him as an apprentice if he hadn't been trying to scam me. The original though, I'm at a loss. Like I told you and Sara, I took the castle from a witch, who took it from somebody else, who probably took it from somebody else. That maze enchantment could be hundreds of years old for all I know. Of course, now it's burned down, so we can't go study the enchantment either." I said.
"But if you destroyed the thing that was enchanted, and the guy who cast it is dead, shouldn't I have turned back already?" Maedel asked.
"That's a common misconception. The caster's death makes removal slightly easier, but that enchantment was sill one of the most intricate spells I've ever seen. The transformation was combined with the wall changing, so it's broken too. That's another thing, since half of the spell's object was destroyed, the spell is very fragile. If we aren't careful with handling it, we could do something to make it worse, or cause some unrelated magical effect. In fact, all the spells on top of the wood are probably the stitching that keeps your body together right now. Not a pleasant prospect I know, but something to bear in mind. Now, spells and their removal takes energy. Removing Todd's spell and a chunk of mine would take a lot of energy, and I wouldn't be able to cast any more for a while. For that reason, we would have to remove spells gradually so that a lack of power didn't lead to you being caught in a halfway state." I said.
"Alright, so what are our options? It sounds like all we can do is slowly take away little bits of what's got me messed up." Maedel asked.
"Well, we can do that, or we can try a few other things. I can put your soul in a different body and make that one look like your old self. we can try to find something that warps reality, a genie comes to mind, and have it just revert you to your original form. Lastly, we can try getting a bunch of witches and wizards together to remove the spells more quickly." I said.
"How many other witches do you know?" Maedel asked.
"A few. I'm on good terms with one. That is actually our least likely plan." I said.
"Shit. Alright, how would we get a different body for me?" Maedel asked.
"We would have to either take someone else's or have a golem body made for you. Those usually work out for humans, but elves have a different physiology." I said.
"You're really not making this easy. The other one, reality warping, any chance of that happening?" Maedel asked.
"I'm sure we could find something if we looked hard enough. At that point though, we would need to go out and search for it, and while a ranger and even a retired adventurer could handle all that, Sara isn't as strong as us. Add to that the fact that we're fugitives and the massive bounties that must be on our heads-" I started.
"Our?" Maedel asked with a sarcastic grin.
"OK, my head. But still, you're an accessory now." I said.
"I'm sorry, what? You kidnapped me too!" Maedel said.
"And yet you're still here." I mused.
"Well... I have to look out for Sara. Plus, as you just pointed out, you're my best shot at getting my body back." Maedel said. At that point, we realized that we had had about thirty drinks between us, and it was probably a good time to pay our tab.