Without warning, Aid shot out of bed and dashed into the bathroom. He locked himself inside, closed his eyes, and braced himself to witness the damage done by the curse. When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was that he was still the same height. His short black hair was replaced with long, baby-blue hair that cascaded down his shoulders and back. His light blue eyes were replaced with black ones, which he could barely see the pupils, and his lips were a bit fuller. Aid carefully poked at the round flesh on his chest. Though he could barely feel the poking, he could feel their weight. His hands moved down to his hips. They were wider than his hips ever were before. But, the most significant difference was...Adain gulped as he tugged out his pants and boxers to peek inside. Yeah, that was definitely a vagina. He had never even seen one so up close and personal before.

He glanced at the toilet. Since he only lived with Talon in the apartment, the toilet seat had been permanently left up, so it was odd for him to put the seat down to do anything other than shit. With some careful maneuvering, he pulled his pants and underwear down and straddled the toilet. He slowly sat down and relieved himself. Even the sensation of urinating felt different. Feeling proud of his accomplishment and not making one big mess, Adain dried himself with toilet paper. He didn't have to worry about such things as keeping dry before, but it was apparent that he couldn't shake himself dry with a female body.

The flustered man flushed the toilet and washed his hands, realizing for the first time that they were a bit smaller and softer than his usual ones. Could he really deal with all of this throughout the day? A creeping doubt began to slide around in his head. Aid wondered how much he would put Talon through and if his father and grandfather could find a counter-curse. He hadn't thought about his mother as frequently as he had in his younger years, but he really would have liked to have her at this moment.

"Mom..." He whispered aloud. "If you can hear me, wherever you are, please guide me to a solution."

Before he left the bathroom, Adain dug through the cabinet behind the side mirror of the sink for one of Talon's hair ties and rapidly pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. He then dug into the cabinet beneath the sink for wrappings. If he could figure out how to bind his newfound breasts flat, he could easily pass as nothing more than an effeminate boy. Aid was going to do what he could to cope with the situation. Before he began the wrapping process, he took one more look at himself in the mirror. A smirk of irony tugged at his lips. He was definitely pretty hot as a girl. Maybe he would take full advantage of the situation after getting more used to the problem. But, as it stood, he had a very long day ahead of him.

::::

Talon allowed his hands to drag down the entire length of his face when Adain's father and grandfather left him with the most enormous task of all...keeping Adain in some kind of stable state. And when Aid himself finally stepped out of the bathroom, the blond couldn't help but groan.

"Aid...seriously?" Tal groaned. His best friend was a mess. The pants that usually fit the other man well were tight on his feminine frame. And speaking of tight things...

"H-hey! Back off, buddy!" Adain squeaked in the horribly unfamiliar voice when the blond shamelessly pressed his hands against his chest. When he saw the stern disapproval in Talon's eyes, he folded his arms across his chest defensively. "What?"

"Don't you realize that any harm you put this body through will affect your other one too?" Talon explained in a chiding tone. "You can't just stay in here all day and pretend that this is nothing but a dream you'll soon wake up from."

"I know that!" Adain argued. "This isn't anywhere near a dream; it's a nightmare! I'd like to see you wake up with boobs and a vagina one day and see how you could handle it!" He paced back and forth, randomly throwing his arms in the air in frustration as he ranted. "I just..." With a sigh, he suddenly crumpled onto the floor in a sitting position, his knees tucked underneath him. "I just wanted to know what was in that room...no, I have to know."

"Even at these lengths, you still won't let the room be?" Talon asked in shock. He thought that the days of Adain's obsession with that damn door were finally over. The taller man couldn't be more wrong.

"Talon, something inside that room has always called out to me," He admitted in a whisper, forgetting for a moment that he was even trapped in a female body. "I don't think my great-grandad or even grandpa placed the seal on that room at all..." Without warning, tears began to fall from his dark eyes. "The power of that ward felt like... mom's."

Talon fell silent and could only look on as his best friend tried to pull himself back together. He had never seen Adain like this. "How would you know what your mother's power feels like?" Aid always managed to hold back his tears no matter what happened. For him, it was far more alien to see him cry than it was to see him in the form of a girl. And it seemed as if Adain realized it, too.

"This damn body even has me acting as moody as a girl," Adain whined. "And I don't know how I know it was my mom; I just felt her presence!" The excuse sounded pathetic even to his ears, but he hated to cry, especially in front of others. He stood on shaky feet, surprised to feel himself pulled into a warm hug. Though they hugged occasionally, Adain had never realized how warm Talon was. He felt strangely soothed. However, as sudden as the notion had been, his friend just as quickly pulled away. That stung Aid just a bit.

"Let's find you something more suitable to wear," Talon suggested.