A Short Tale

"Well, it looks like I'm pot committed now, does it not?" asked Astra, looking down at her new diminutive frame. She was more than a little concerned now. It took good magic to reduce organic material in size - it took very good magic to reduce metal and cloth by the same degree, and at the same time. "I couldn't turn back now unless I wanted to join the circus. And I used to have nightmares about jesters."

Fred did not reply. He was still staring at her, mouth now almost completely open.
"Oh, what's the matter, Frederigo?" snapped Astra, striding up to him until she was forced to crane her neck to look up at his gormless expression. "You know, I would appreciate some constructive comments regarding our situation as opposed to impersonations of.......tasteless fountains." She flicked her gaze pointedly to Fred's covered manhood.

"You... ...uh.....you've... ..you've got a b....beard." stammered Fred.

Now Astra's expression matched Fred's. The torch fell forgotten to the floor as her hand flew unconsciously up towards her chin, but its progress was impeded by a thicket of tangled bushy brown hair. She raised her other hand to her cheek and gasped very slightly - her entire lower face was now covered in hair. Panic scorched through her lungs as her hands flew to her breasts. She giggled with hysterical relief - they were still there.

"It's just a beard. That's all.....just a beard." she whispered fervently.
"Er, yes." mumbled Fred, biting his lip. "That's right. It's just a beard. Why get worked up about it?"
Astra shot Fred a disdainful look. "We're going to find out who's doing this, and we're going to make them reverse it."
"Do I have to do it whilst naked?"
"Yes, because I have to do it whilst three-and-a-half feet tall and with not a razor in sight!"
"Fine. Erm, I think you can let go of your breasts, now."

Astra paused, then let her arms fall to her sides, giving Fred another irritated look. Bending down, she grasped the torch. "Let's go." she said, standing back up to her....full height. "We'll look for some clothes along the way, alright?"
"Lead the way, princess."

Seeing no way to progress past the room in which she had found the imprisoned Fred, the two made their way back to the initial junction. Two paths remained unexplored - the centre one, and the right one.

"Where to now?" asked Fred.
"I thought you had once traversed these tunnels." came Astra's retort.
"This place.....changes. Any path could lead anywhere. That's the fun of it all, don't you know?"

Rolling her eyes, Astra considered her two options. Both passages looked identical in every way except that of direction.

1. She chose the middle path.
2. She chose the right-hand path.

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