Yay, another ToP story! This one's very different from my other one, though... It's set in third person, for one, and it follows Klarth. Also, it's just after the game... so Chester, Cless, Mint, and Suzu are only mentioned in it (unless I decide to get creative in the future).

This is also a pure for-fun one, so it probably won't be updated as much as my other ToP one... but I'll still try to keep it going!

As for couples, it's Klarth/Milard and hints at Arche/Chester (and maybe some hints of Cless/Mint, when they talk about them)!

So, um, with that, please enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Phantasia. It is owned by Namco.

--Becoming a Kitty--

"I'm not sure that's safe."

"Oh come on, Origin, it'll be fine! I've found records saying that people used to do these kinds of experiments all the time!" Klarth F. Lester assured his summon spirit and friend. Klarth had light blue hair in a low ponytail and narrow blue eyes, under which he had dark blue markings. He had a large hat on, with a tall point and wide brim. Coming out from under the hat was a white cloth that floats all the way around his head. He wore an orange shirt that folds one side over the other. His belt was blue, but the bottom of it had a bunch of white dashes coming out of the edge. His baggy pants were red, but the bottom of them, which clamp around his leg, were white. A little bit of his legs were bare, where there are more strange and intricate markings in the same dark blue color. His boots were brown with a white cuff, and wrapped once around the white cuff of each was a string patterned with beads and long, straight wood. He had a cloth hanging over his shoulders that came down to about his ankles, two parts of it in back and two parts in front; in the front, it was held together by a string with a block of wood in the center to tie it down. His clothes stopped at his shoulders, but the blue markings continued on his arms. He wore black gloves with his fingers bare, but his fingers were covered in many colored pact rings. He had a set of bracelets that look just like the decorations on his boots, and even more wood on strings around his belt, neck, and even a little hanging from his hat.

"And why do you think the experiments have stopped?" Origin tried to reason. "You cannot create a summon spirit!" Origin looked like a teenage boy with short, golden hair and cold golden eyes. He had four arms, each hand holding a weapon; the top two hands held on to long spears while the bottom two held swords. Around his body and green clothes was a bright aura.

"It's been done before. Look at this." Klarth tossed a set of papers over and then continued measuring out some sort of liquid.

Origin didn't bother looking. "That was the only one, and it didn't even live for very long."

"It'll be fine," repeated the human as he stared at his notes to figure out what to next, much like a normal person would look at a recipe book.

The spirit sighed. "Humans..." he muttered with disgust. Klarth ignored this response, already used to the cold summon's anti-social antics.

"This should be it! Ready, everyone?" While he had brought Origin out to study, he could still hear the rest of the spirits in his mind, as long as he wore their rings; in all, he had Sylph, Undine, Efreet, Gnome, Maxwell, Luna, Volt, Shadow, Aska, Origin, Chameleon, Gremlin's Lair, and Pluto, the final three of which powerful Daemonium spirits. While some were interested in the results, others were skeptical like Origin, but Klarth didn't care. His mind was set on one thing at the moment: making a summon spirit.

He poured the liquid into a pot already filled with many other things. Placing it all over a fire, he muttered, "This should make the power... then I'll need to make a form..."

"Uh, Klarth? Doesn't it need some mana and blood?" Origin pointed out matter-of-factly.

"Oh right!" Klarth glanced around—where had he put that dagger? Finding it on the floor, he picked it up and held it in his right hand. He slowly moved it to his left and gave his index finger a small prick. He then held it over the cauldron and let a few drops of blood drip in. He set the dagger down and switched it with a large spatula, which he began stirring the contents of the dish with.

"...You're not giving it up, are you?"

"Nope. You can return now if you want."

With one more exasperated sigh, Origin vanished into a stream of energy that flowed into Klarth's Diamond Ring. "Fine," the spirit said in the summoner's mind, "just don't blame me if something goes wrong..."

Ignoring the spirit's warnings, Klarth returned to his notes, scribbling a few things down. He couldn't stop the excitement from building up—if this was successful, then the possibilities would be endless! And he'd be one step closer to finding a way for humans to use magic!

Gurgle, gurgle... The pot bubbled furiously, and Klarth stared at it. Was it supposed to do this? He didn't know, but it worried him. He went to lower the fire, but he accidentally turned it the wrong way—BOOM! Smoke exploded all around, and Klarth found himself coughing, unable to see.

His coughs soon became softer and softer, and his world fell into complete darkness. He was on all fours now, though it didn't feel like his hands and knees—no, his legs were the same length as his arms. That's odd... he thought as he tried to stand. Losing his balance, he fell again. What happened...? Origin, are you there? Receiving no answer, the summoner frowned. Origin?Anyone? As he stepped forward, he felt something under his hand—a ring? But it feels so large... just where am I? What happened?

Klarth groped around in front of himself only to tangle himself up in some sort of cloth. Falling on his back, he let out a small yelp, but it didn't sound right. Before long he dug himself out into the light, where he saw his lab. However, somehow Klarth's lab had grown over ten times in size! Everything was bigger, and the thing covering him was—my hat?! Wait, have I shrunk?! But...

On the ground next to him he noticed all of his pact rings. Klarth reached out to them with a furry hand. No, a furry paw. It was brown with a few smooth, black markings like oddly shaped stripes covering it. Klarth stared at the paw, awe-struck. "This is... Oh no! What's happened to me?!"

He bolted to the stairs, which he then had to climb up. After what seemed like ages of pulling himself up one large step at a time, he reached the door, which, luckily, he had left cracked. Klarth tried pushing it further open, but even that turned out to be a challenge—no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn't budge! The crack was only a little larger than a slither, but maybe he could push himself through... Klarth pushed his small, furry body up against it and somehow managed to slide his way through. He fell on the ground, tired from all of that work, but his journey wasn't over yet—he had to find a mirror.

His house was much bigger than before. He bolted to his right, down the long hallway. He skidded down the wooded floor and charged towards the bathroom—and hit the close door. "Ow..."

Klarth rubbed his wet nose with his paw, trying to sooth the damage. Inside the room, he hears a flush and then running water. Oh no, Milard! I can't let her find me like this—however I look! He glanced around, looking for an escape, any escape. He spotted the door into the kitchen and rushed in.

Maybe she won't come this way... Klarth thought as he paced around, wondering what on Aselia happened to him. Hey, Origin! ...Oh wait, I don't have any of them right now...

"Klarth, do you want anything to eat?" Milard's voice rings loudly through the hall as her footsteps echo through the halls, walking Klarth's way. The summoner froze. He didn't want her to find him...

Milard Rune was his assistant, so if anyone could help him, she could. However, he couldn't bring himself to wait to see her—he didn't want to see her like this, no matter what. He noticed an open window, but it was high up, over the kitchen counter. Still, it was his only chance of escape; Klarth squat down and then leapt with all his might, surprised to find himself soar through the air and up to the high counter—he lost his footing and fell flat on his face. "Ow... at least I made it to the counter..." he mumbled.

He stood up on all four legs and prepared to jump again, when a huge shadow loomed over him. Hands grabbed just under his front legs and lifted him into the air; Klarth struggled, trying to get free, but it was useless. "Ow ow ow! That hurts!"

The large hands placed him back on the ground, but still held on to him. "A cat...?" Milard's voice asked.

Oh no! Klarth thought as he froze again. She found me...!

Her hands loosened and pet him gently. Her hands felt nice rubbing over him, and he let out a soft purr. Wait... what Milard said... I'm a cat?! But... I'm not supposed to be the summon spirit!

"Are you hungry?" Milard asked Klarth as she would address a child, which was kinder than she had ever spoken to him before! She stood up, her long orange dress flowing elegantly around her bare feet. Klarth stared up—he had never had to stare up at her before, but now she was like a giant and he only an ant. She had long blue hair tied back in a braid and blue eyes. Her dress was pure orange with yellow embroidery around the edges, and on her shoulders sat a darker orange shawl—unlike Klarth, she preferred to wear plainer clothes. After pouring something in a bowl, she set it down in front of Klarth. He stared at the water, wondering how he was supposed to drink it if he couldn't pick up the bowl. "What do I have for a cat to eat...?" his assistant muttered as she searched through the refrigerator.

Well, it was too late now to hide it, so he felt he might as well talk. "I'm not a cat! I'm a human, and I eat human food!"

Milard smiled at the cat as if he had said nothing and then turns back to the fridge.

Did she not... understand me...? Klarth thought as fear gripped him. He hadn't considered this happening! "Hey! Milard! It's me, Klarth!" On her silence, he continued, "Milard! Listen to me! I'm not a cat!"

"Ah, this should do!" the woman exclaimed as she pulled something out of the fridge.

No... she can't understand me... Klarth's world fell apart. What was he supposed to do now? How could he change back? He couldn't talk to his summon spirits, he couldn't talk to Milard... he was on his own.

The woman placed a plate with food on it in front of him. Tuna... cold tuna. It smelled horrible, so Klarth drew away. She can't expect me to eat it like that! It's not even sushi! Sushi wasn't common in his society, but Fujibayashi Suzu, a young ninja girl from one hundred and fifty years in the future, had introduced it to them during their travels through time and space, to defeat the demon king Dhaos.

"Are you not hungry, then?" Milard questioned as she pet the small cat. "How'd you get in here?"

"I'm not a cat! Go look downstairs—something's gone horribly wrong!" Klarth tried one last time to reach out to her.

"Hm... one of the neighbors must own you. I'll see if I can find your owner. You can stay here in the meantime..." She stood up, and headed towards the basement door, Klarth at her feet. Maybe she'll check and realize I'm not there! he thought. He hoped.

However, Milard dashed his hopes when she didn't even try going down the stairs—she stood at the top and called down, "Klarth, there's a cat up here—I'm closing the door!" And she did just that.

He knew how he often was in the lab—he could be down there for hours and not reply to Milard at all... so to her, all of this was completely normal. What if she never realizes that I'm a cat?! What'll I do?! I don't have hands to undo this, and nor can I stand high enough to reach my materials... but I could try! Wait, but she closed the door... I'll have to go in tonight and see! And she'll notice that I'm missing by that time!

Finally, a plan... he could work with that. He followed Milard out the door, into the town of Euclid.

Milard glanced down at him as he trotted along by her feet. "You're a smart cat, huh?" She asked with a chuckle. "And obedient... Klarth could learn some from you." She picked him up; Klarth tried protesting, but it didn't help him at all.

"What do you mean by that?!" Klarth demanded, knowing that Milard couldn't hear him anyway. "I'm smart!"

She knocked on the first door, asking them if they owned the cat she carried in her arms. Euclid was a small, quiet town with horrible musicians, so it didn't take her long to check all of the houses. The pass by the musicians was the worst part of the trip for the cat... Klarth always knew he hated them, but their sound was much worse with the hearing of a cat!

"Well, I guess you're a stray..." Milard concluded after their journey around the town. She gently set him down, on his feet. "You can stay with us if you want, but I suggest you don't go near Klarth's experiments..."

"You know, you could consult me before letting a random cat into our house..." the summoner muttered to himself, annoyed. Still... he was grateful that he could still stay there. He didn't want to be a stray!

Before returning home, they stopped by the store, where Milard purchased food and other accessories for him, while he waited by the door. When she was done, they returned home.

They entered the house, Milard closing the door behind her new cat, and then she silently headed farther in to deposit the items elsewhere. Klarth hadn't bothered seeing what she had bought—he didn't even want to be a cat in the first place! I'll go down to the lab as soon as she opens the door, and then I'll reverse this!

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So what'd you think? This one's a lot of fun so far... If you have any suggestions of mischief for Klarth to get into, please let me know! Also, suggestions for a name for Milard to give her new cat would be very helpful!

-Ayame