Transfigure [Spirit Hunt]

    After spending a bit more time than anticipated in the Digital world for the evening, Asher and Whiskers had finally made it home to relax. While most lights were out, the kitchen's remained well-lit, while a certain Meicoomon sat upon a chair, and Asher was sifting through the fridge at the feline's request.

    "Did you find the stuff for tuna sandwiches yet? I rawrly want--"

    A small, yet very obnoxious, tune played from the terminal that sat on the table near the cat. "Ameowlie?" The cat chirped, pulling the d-terminal toward her. "Do mew think she's craving sammiches, too?"

    While the cat clumsily pulled up the chat, Asher leaned out of the refrigerator, placing his hand on the door of it. "I think you're the only one wanting--" immediate topic change! "--Do you really think you should be going through our chats?"

    "Yes," she stated, bluntly, while squinting at the screen. "'specially because we gotta go. Like, right meow."

    As if that wasn't enough of a concern, Whiskers was already flipping the switch to turn on her holosuit, and bouncing out of her seat to get to the door. Closing the fridge -- and Whiskers hopes and dreams about tuna sandwiches -- Asher was quick to follow the cat outside, and off to the brunette's apartment, while being filled in along the way.

    Once there? There was the painful ride on the elevator, and then... "Hey Akemi," the redhead stated, sounding surprisingly calm for how quickly he stepped around the girl, pulling a spare key from his pocket and pressing it into the lock. Who actually knocked in situations like this?

    ...Was Asher possibly an overprotective boyfriend?

    Probably. But, nobody could really judge, since Amy was his equivalent. Or possibly worse!

    "...How long have you been waiting out here?" While turning the key, Whiskers would give a small wave to both bean and tamer, without saying a word. She had no idea who these people were! And, it was kind of a bad time for introductions!

    Either way, the door was quickly opened, taking care to make sure Ooi wasn't behind said door beforehand. After all, it would be really rude to hit a concerned girlfriend's roommate with a door. Once the door was opened, he'd announce, "hey, Ooi. We let ourselves in; hope you don't mind." Of course she wouldn't. She flat-out stated there was a key under the flower pot. If someone actually minded intrusions, it wouldn't have been mentioned.

    Once he turned to check that Anzu and Akemi weren't going to just stand in the doorway, the teen would make his way toward Amy's bedroom. Were others going to show up? He wasn't really sure, but he also wasn't really willing to wait very long.

Dead silence was promptly broken by Asher and...Someone else? "...Who the heck are you?" Anzu whispered, tilting her head at the sight of Whiskers. Akemi turned to the totally, definitely overprotective boyfriend and shrugged. "About a minute or two--I haven't been here for long."

The one with more initiative opened the door, and the duo followed him inside to be greeted with everything seeming quite normal, before they then got to Amy's room proper. What did they find there? A disheveled mess. After hearing Ooi out, and giving the room a once-over?

"...Hey, Amy's normally super tall, right? Why's she small?" Anzu once more inquired. Akemi, on the other hand, glanced to Asher. "Check on her, I...think I have a bad idea." That idea? Why...She was going to get close to that portal. "If I were a betting woman, we might have to actually go through this. ...Not that I'm betting on anything, of course." The girl uttered, quietly.

    Everyone had been quick to act; Akemi had gone straight towards the portal, while Asher had decided to check on his girlfriend first. What did he find out after touching her face and examining her clothing? For starters, that, besides the fact that she was hopelessly unconscious, she seemed fine. Her body temperature was neither too hot nor cold, and she didn't look like she was sweating at the moment. If one overlooked that she had gotten smaller, everything seemed to be in order.

    Now, the question was... how much smaller she was? While gauging her height would be hard considering that she was in a sitting position, if one were to make a rough estimate, it could be said that she was at least four inches shorter than the usual. The reason? Nobody seemed to know.

    Ooi nodded decisively at the redhead's request. "I have no idea about if I can do anything for her, but I'll try my best at keeping the situation under control. Not like that amounts to much considering I'm just a human, but..." her tone trailed off. She definitely didn't want to finish that sentence.

    Instead, she smiled at Whiskers' offer, patting her head slightly before shifting her position a bit. Sitting against a wall wasn't exactly comfortable.

    The two humans and the holosuited bean were approaching the portal now. What would happen once they got close enough? The three would feel a massive pull drawing them in; by all means and purposes, resisting it seemed utterly pointless. It was almost as if they were particles of offending dust being scooped by a vacuum cleaner.

    Journeying inside had proven to be quite chaotic as well; bright colors, swirling forms, and a constant stream of babble that didn't make any sense, all uttered in Amy's typical excited voice. Not exactly a pleasant experience, but luckily, a short-lived one. Once reality settled back in, the three would see themselves in an exact replica of the room they had been moments ago, even if with some key differences. The most striking one was that it wasn't the mess than the previous room had been, and that neither the portal, Whiskers, Ooi, nor Amelie were there. 

    Or, maybe, she was. Asher would feel a hand tugging at his jeans. "Uh... Mister? Misses?" The group would have to stare down to identify the source of that childish voice, even though they would most likely be surprised by what they found. If they thought the previous Amelie seemed smaller than usual, what they would think about finding one that was notably younger as well? It wasn't hard to guess that this one was ten years old at most; and maybe even less than that. "Who are you?"

    Regardless of the answer, she would then point at the door that was supposed to be the room's exit. It was closed shut; even if it differed from the original due to an inscription engraved on it. 'AMY'S MOST SPECIAL PLACE'.

    "I can't reach the handle!" She announced while making a pouting face; at least that much was true. Her current height was nothing to write home about, and the doorknob seemed to be slightly higher in the door than usual. "Can you help me? Pretty please?"

    Being suspicious in the face of this situation was absolutely normal, but there was anything they could do about that? If they had any ideas, now was the time.

    With Amy seeming stable, aside from her shrinking episode, Asher didn't seem to feel too badly about leaving her in the care of Ooi and Whiskers. Though, he may find Akemi's nun story a bit concerning if he were to ever hear about it!

    Instead, Asher would have to be more concerned about being pulled into a portal full of excited chatter. While it was clear that it was the voice of his girlfriend, he still found the entire thing awkward to listen to. And then, the awkward moment of meeting tiny-Amy. Even tinier than the already shrunken one! Yellow eyes looked down, feeling someone tugging on him.

    Were they on drugs? It felt like the most logical explanation, really.

    "Yep, friends," he agreed with Akemi's statement, simply. But, they also needed to address the request of the child. For a moment, Asher glanced at Akemi and Anzu, in the case that they made any protest to the child's desire to go into the Most Special Place. This felt like some sort of strange trap. There was no real way to prove it without progressing, however. And, no way back, it seemed.

    But, first? "Why do you want to go there?" Did they want to see what was on the other side of the door?

Sincerely speaking, the place they had gotten drawn to was nothing short of odd. Odd in how it was an exact mirror of the true room and odd in how they got here. Akemi turned to face the smaller Amy and nodded. "Sure." A simple answer. Yet was it the proverbial correct one? Who knew.

Point was that not having friends...kind of sucked. It was something Akemi had gone through before, really. "Why can't you exit? Is it because the doorknob's too high?" Akemi asked, while Anzu glanced between Asher and the door to the most special place. "Not gonna lie, could've used some breakfast before coming here." The bean noted, making a note for when they got home.

Akemi's own attention went right to the door. "...Well, guess we gotta open that." There was no protests towards opening the gate to the special place, it appeared.

    Thus far, it seemed like things were going more or less... smoothly? It was hard to say, since no actions had been taken about the doorknob just yet. But, at least, the group had taken measures to warrant smaller Amy's happiness. Namely? They had accepted —or at least, Akemi had— to be friends. A big smile was soon enough very obvious on the girl's face.

    "Really!?" Bright, hopeful eyes set on Akemi the instant afterward. Amy closed the relatively narrow gap that separated them and proceeded to hug the taller woman. By the waist or so, because short. "Thank you, miss! We're gonna be the bestest of friends!"

    It took her some moments to undo that sincere gesture of affection. Only then, she'd gaze upwards. "What's your name? I'm Amy!" Only after she introduced herself, she'd answer the question posed to her. "Yup, it's too high! I usually have a stool to reach it, but... I don't know where it is, and I'm not strong enough to drag the bed near the door. I tried but..." No need to complete that sentence, it was obvious than a young girl didn't have the strength to drag a relatively large bed around.

    And it seemed like it hadn't been needed, anyway! Asher was rather quick to open the room's door at the promise of breakfast; considering they had just interrupted a midnight snack, it made sense!

    What happened then? An unnatural darkness descended upon the room; any kind of light that might've been there before was completely snuffed out, even though there were no other noticeable changes in the atmosphere. Luckily, the full extent of this darkness wouldn't last long; soon afterward, a dim light popped into existence. A small flame, coming from one of little Amy's hands. If one focused on it, they'd notice she was holding a zippo with a simple checkered pattern. If anyone cared, or were knowledgeable enough about it, the insert within it would indicate this was a pipe lighter, rather than an ordinary lighter.

    "You think dad will get angry once he finds out I borrowed his lighter? It's just that it's so shiny. And pretty."

    That remark aside, it seemed like the trio were next to a pretty narrow hallway; anyone familiar with the layout of Amy's apartment should be able to identify it as the corridor that communicated her room with the living room/kitchen and Ooi's room. With that in mind, getting to the kitchen should be pretty easy, right?

    Right?