The sensation of his entire body lting intensified as his bones and muscles began to writhe and contract. His clothes flickered between states, one mont withered yellow straw, the next high-grade silk.
Jenkins wasn't normally afraid of evolution or devolution. While this body couldn't compare to his soul, repeated contact with divinity and his steadily increasing level had made his physical form highly resistant to external alteration.
But as fate would have it, he had briefly experienced an alternative, more primitive form of life before—and it had been a genuine transformation. Although the Sage's power had since erased that state, the body's "mory" of that form was now being recalled, dredged up by the conflicting forces of evolution and devolution.
Poof~
Jenkins vanished. Amidst a flickering black-and-white radiance, his clothes collapsed onto the trembling floor, still shifting between their disparate forms.
A black-and-white kitten now stood in the middle of the clothes. One paw pinned down the two halves of the World Tree Seedling, while the other rested on a small, scurrying gray mouse. It lifted its head.
"ow~"
It was a rare sound for Chocolate to make, a clear threat directed at the green-skinned goblin in the distance. Without Jenkins touching the symbols on the wall, the floor's vibrations ceased. Seeing that Jenkins had turned into a mouse, the goblin imdiately scurried toward him on its two short legs.
It hadn't paid the cat any mind, but as it drew closer, the ow registered. Without a mont's hesitation, the goblin pivoted on the spot and sprinted back the way it ca. It took a great leap into the floorboards and hastily departed the second floor.
His vision obscured by the pile of clothes, Jenkins the mouse only saw the strange black-and-white light fade, missing the goblin's comical retreat entirely. He squeaked frantically, trying to get Chocolate to let him go so he could reach the Prival Amber Stone in his pocket.
But Chocolate, abandoning even the World Tree Seedling, now used both paws to hold Jenkins down, leaning in to lick him with its rough tongue. On the rare occasion the gray mouse found an opportunity to escape, the cat would deftly snag its tail with a paw, thoroughly enjoying this new ga.
Fortunately, Jenkins's earlier action of touching the wall symbols hadn't been entirely useless. Soon, another muffled thud echoed from the hallway. The door to Papa Oliver's bedroom, which had been impossible to open, swung ajar. Yet, thin black filants stretched between the door and its fra, as if the darkness within was reluctant to let it open.
A flash of golden light followed, and Miss Stevel squeezed out of the room, looking disheveled. The door slamd shut behind her. She leaned against the wall, panting heavily, her eyes darting around nervously, ready for an attack. But all she saw was Jenkins's cat toying with a little gray mouse amidst a pile of straw. Scattered around the mouse were items that had been in his pockets and thus spared transformation: a pocket watch, talismans, banknotes, a handkerchief, plant seeds, and ritual materials, along with the World Tree Seedling, which was immune to the light's effects.
"Jenkins?"
Having a clever companion was a blessing. Without a humiliated Jenkins having to use Psychography to explain, Miss Stevel understood the situation at once.
She knew how much Jenkins doted on his pet, Chocolate, and she also knew the cat wouldn't even let strangers touch it. Therefore, any mouse it had "taken a fancy to" had to be connected to Jenkins. The scattered personal effects only confird her conclusion.
"Jenkins, how did you..."
"ow~"
Seeing the pitiful state of the little gray mouse, Miss Stevel moved to rescue Jenkins from the cat's paws. But Chocolate imdiately pinned the mouse down tighter, raised its head, bared its fangs, and let out a threatening hiss in her direction.
Though the sound was soft, Miss Stevel froze as if startled, and when she ca to her senses, she couldn't understand what had just happened to her.
"Chocolate, I'm trying to help your master."
A strange intuition made her abandon the idea of snatching the gray mouse by force. Instead, she began to explain her actions to the cat. But the cat just shook its head, its paws firmly on the mouse, its eyes fixed on Miss Stevel as if afraid she would suddenly steal it. Every so often, it would dip its head to lick Jenkins the mouse, all while maintaining its intense gaze on her. Jenkins had only ever seen Chocolate act this way when it was guarding its food.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
When the cat shook its head, Miss Stevel knew its intelligence was even greater than she had imagined. Chocolate, however, couldn't care less what the human woman thought. While glaring at her with wide amber eyes, it gave the little mouse another lick.
"Jenkins, you listen too. Here's the situation..."
Perhaps finding it odd to be crouching and talking to a cat and a mouse, she started walking toward the stairs, leading them along as she spoke. Before moving, Chocolate bit down on the mouse, flicked its head, and tossed it onto its own back.
Jenkins had no intention of leaving just yet; his only hope of returning to human form was still in that pile of straw. As the cat maneuvered him onto its back, he quickly used Psychography to write on the floor at Miss Stevel's feet, explaining how he could be turned back.
Miss Stevel noticed the words, paused for a mont, then turned and picked up the Prival Amber Stone.
Chocolate could stop others from touching its mouse, but to stop her from picking up the amber stone now that she knew the truth would make the cat seem highly suspicious. So, with a sulky expression, it hopped around with its mouse in tow before finally setting it down.
The little gray mouse scurried into Miss Stevel's palm and pressed its head against the amber stone—an artifact the silver dragon maiden had kept close for tens of thousands of years. An astonishing heat radiated from the mouse as it leaped into the air, transforming into a spinning orb of purple-gold light that expanded with every rotation.
Miss Stevel imdiately took two steps back and turned away, sparing the newly-materialized Jenkins the embarrassnt of being seen without any clothes.
But Jenkins's first act upon reappearing was not to run into a guest room for spare clothes. Instead, he beckoned to the cat, which had sohow ended up at the top of the stairs, and said with great seriousness:
"Chocolate, co here for a mont. I need to talk to you."
The black-and-white kitten shook its head and sat down primly at the top of the stairs, looking as if it had taken root to the floor.
The transformation into a mouse, caused by the green goblin's rays of evolution and devolution, was a permanent change, much like the last ti Jenkins had eaten that mouse--transformation candy. Relying on the Prival Amber Stone was rely a temporary thod of shapeshifting; the mont the stone left his person, he would revert to being a mouse.
After all, the mouse was now his original state.
But this wasn't an unsolvable problem. Once he left the antique shop, he could go to the church and pray to the Sage, who would likely be able to help him reverse the permanent transformation, just like last ti. If that failed, he would wait for the Silver Dragon Lord to return and ask her for a way to permanently regain a human body. In any case, it wasn't a major issue.
Jenkins carefully placed the amber stone and the two halves of the World Tree Seedling together, tucking them away safely against his skin. Then, he put on an amiable expression for the cat, which was following at his heels but refusing to get any closer. Chocolate imdiately retreated another few feet, displaying a ekness Jenkins hadn't seen in a long ti.
As for Miss Stevel, she and Old Jack had just seen Papa Oliver and learned the whole story.
"Did Papa Oliver try to see you a few days ago?" Miss Stevel asked.
"Yes, but with King Tackwen's sudden death, I didn't get a chance to see him."
They headed back to the first floor together, where Jenkins showed her the rat-human infant and the intricate chanical umbrella on the counter.
"Papa Oliver was looking for you a few days ago," she said. "He wanted to talk to you about the curse on him."
"He was willing to talk to ?"
Jenkins was taken aback. After all, from her apprenticeship to its completion, Papa Oliver had never once ntioned the curse to Miss Stevel. Jenkins, all things considered, had been studying under him for less than a year. The bond they had ford couldn't possibly compare to the one he had with his first three apprentices.
"He was forced to," she explained. "He has to prepare. It's the End of the Era, and all sorts of Gizmos are running rampant and out of control. It seems their power has been amplified at this ti."
"So the key is acting up, too?"
The realization dawned on Jenkins.
"Yes. The key itself is an incredibly powerful Gizmo, and it's being affected even more by the End of the Era. Papa Oliver feels he's losing his grip on it. It could cause a major disaster at any mont. That's why he wanted to confide in you—so that if the key truly gets out of control, at least one person would understand what was happening."
Her expression and tone were tinged with sorrow. It was partly for Papa Oliver, whose actions felt like he was settling his final affairs, and partly because he had chosen Jenkins over her.
The information about the key was itself cursed, so it couldn't be told to just anyone. Only the Saint Son, a handful of demigods, or an extraordinary being like the Silver Dragon Lord Anettasia could listen without harm. The most trustworthy person Papa Oliver could find was, of course, his apprentice, Jenkins. So, while Miss Stevel could understand his reasoning, she still felt a pang of sadness.
"How is Papa Oliver doing now? And Mr. Jack?"
"They're fine. They're together now. What did you do out here just now? The sealed door cracked open for a mont, and Papa Oliver and Old Jack used the opportunity to push out."
Miss Stevel asked the question, so Jenkins told her about his discovery of the runes, making sure to ntion the ugly green goblin.
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