Chapter Two
Oh Brother!
The elf brothers stood there in silence. It didn't last long, as they began to examine themselves.
"Man, Barley, you need to lay off the Cheese Puffs!" Ian said as he looked over his now bulky figure.
"Not fair!" Barley whined in defense. "They're my favorite snack. Besides, I've always been big-boned. Why is it now you decide to criticize my body?"
"Because now it's my body! And I'm telling you right now, you better not stress-eat in yours!"
"Low blow, Ian! You know I don't deal with stress very well. It's how I've always coped and old habits are hard to break." Barley then looked at himself. "Besides, you're as skinny as a toothpick! You can stand to gain a few pounds."
"Don't you dare!" Ian pointed a chubby finger at his now little brother.
"Fine. But we gotta tell Mom." Barley began walking toward the stairs.
"Oh no you don't!" Ian quickly rushed to block him. "We're not telling Mom! In fact, we're not telling anyone!"
"But, Ian," Barley tried to get past, but thanks to Ian and his sizes being switched, it was a futile effort. "Ian, what if she can help?"
"She can't. Don't you see? This is a magic problem. Something must have happened with the wizard staff." They both went and sat on the bed. "Barley, what are we going to do?" Ian asked.
"You're asking me for advice?" Barley replied, puzzled.
"Well, yeah. Just cause I can do magic, doesn't mean I know it. At least not like you."
"Then," Barley began, rising to his feet. "We better get started on a counter spell." he got out a piece of paper and a pencil out of Ian's desk.
"Wait a minute, you mean we're going to have write our own spell?"
"Yep."
"Isn't there a spell in Quests of Yore we can use?"
"Nope."
"How long is this going to take? I have an English exam tomorrow." Ian remembered.
"Yeah, and I have Quest Con, but writing a new spell isn't easy. It takes time, and you have to be careful how you word it. If you don't, the spell can go horribly wrong."
"Like, how?" Barley turned around to face Ian.
"Remember when you shrunk me?"
"Yeah, and I apologized.
"Not the point." Barley sighed. "It happened because the spell wasn't executed correctly."
"So?"
"So, that was a spell that was already created and look what happened when it wasn't done right. Unknown Magic is seriously powerful stuff. You have no room for errors or mistakes. There can be serious repercussions for messing with Unknown Magic." As he said this, he lay down some of his game cards on the desk and motioned for Ian to come closer. "All the magic you've learned so far, have been spells that were already written." he said. Ian looked at the cards and noticed they were all the spells he was familiar with.
"So what happens when you create a new spell?" he asked.
"Well, there are rules you have to follow when writing Unknown Magic. One is, it has to benefit the mage."
"Easy." Ian smirked. Barley shook his head.
"No, it's not. 'Cause Rule Two is, although it can be used to damage objects, you can't use magic to hurt your companions. Rule Three: When writing a counter spell, you have to go on a magic cleanse. Which means..."
"I can't use magic until we break the spell?" Barley nodded.
*(0_o)
The Lightfoot brothers quickly got to work. They reviewed Barley's game card deck, they studied Quests of Yore's Magic handbook, and then began trying to write a new spell. They figured rhyming was a good place to start. Ian found the thesaurus on his bookshelf and was looking over possible words to say in the incantation, when Barley found a particular card he thought might come in handy. It wasn't one he used in his campaigns, because he didn't quite understand how it worked. But something told him that now was the time to find out.
"Hey, Ian, come take a look at this!" he called, excitedly.
"You wrote the counter spell already?"
"Well, no."
"Then you found a spell that can fix this mess?"
"Sorta."
"What do you mean 'sorta'? You don't sound very sure about it."
"Will you just get over here!" Barley said raising his voice.
"Ian? Is everything ok?" Laurel called from downstairs.
"Yeah, Mom." Ian replied on instinct.
"Barley, I wasn't asking you!" Their mom replied in a firm tone.
"Ian, what are you doing?" Barley whispered.
"Sorry, I wasn't thinking."
"Remember, we're not exactly ourselves at the moment. Until we break the spell, we gotta pretend to be each other."
"What?" replied Ian, clearly not liking that idea.
"Just watch me." Barley said with a wink. "Uh, yeah, Mom. Barley and I are just playing Quests of Yore." he called down to Laurel, cracking his voice exaggeratedly.
"Barley! I do not sound like that. And we are not playing Quests of Yore!" Ian whispered, annoyed.
"Look, just play along, alright? You didn't want to tell Mom, so we can't let on about what happened. We gotta lie low."
"Fine." Ian sighed in defeat."Yeah, he's beating me pretty bad!" he said loudly and dramatically. Barley shot him a look and Ian just smirked and shrugged.
"Oh, my two boys are finally spending quality time with each other! Alright have fun."
"We will." the brothers said together and shut the door then sighed.
"That was close." Ian stated, standing pressed against the door then sliding down to the carpet. "Now what is it you wanted to show me?" Barley smiled then held up a card.
"It's the only spell we can do right now. It's called the Wisdom Spell."
(o_o)
"So we just ask it a question, like a smartphone?" Ian asked, holding the staff and standing in the center of the room.
"I think so?" Barley replied, studying the card in his hands.
"You think or you know?"
"Just do the spell." the now little brother said, without even looking up.
"Fine." Ian took a deep breath and began reciting the spell. "Oh Great Staff That I Bring On This Quest, Grant Me Your Wisdom, So That I May Pass This Test!" Nothing happened.
"Here, your holding it wrong." Barley went to grab the staff, but Ian anticipated this and held it out of reach.
"No way are we doing that again!" he said.
"Aw C'mon, Ian. Just let me help you." Barley whined. Then a moment of clarity washed over his face. "Wait a sec. What if we have to do it together?" he asked, looking up at his brother. Ian just raised an eyebrow, clearly oblivious. "Let's try doing the spell together. You have the gift but I have your body. That's why the spell didn't work." Ian thought for minute, then made a decision to trust Barley.
"Ok. Let's do it." Both elves grabbed the staff and recited the spell. "Oh Great Staff That I Bring On This Quest, Grant Me Your Wisdom, So That I May Pass This Test!" The staff took on a purple glow. "Holy emeralds, it's working!" Ian exclaimed.
"Told you so." Barley said with a smirk. Suddenly a voice spoke from the staff, startling the brothers.
"Oh mighty wizard and warrior, what questions hast thou to ask thee." said a deep masculine voice.
"Let's just be direct. No dramatic stuff." said Ian. But it was too late.
"Oh great wizard staff, what spell hast thou cast on my brother and I?" The now big brother face palmed. But the staff spoke again.
"A Quest Thou Will Take In Each Others Shoes, To Learn How The Other Live. When Thou Hast Given That Thou Hast Not, The Quest Will End As Thou Hast Sought." The purple light on the staff dimmed, then went out completely.
"So what did it mean?" Ian asked, looking to Barley for insight.
"Well, I think the 'quest in each others shoes' part, that was the switch. And 'the quest will end as thou hast sought' that's when we switch back. But I don't understand the middle part." Barley said, scratching his now bare chin.
"Barley, cut it out! You're going to give me acne!"
"Sorry." he shrugged, dropping his hand to his side. Ian thought for a moment.
"I think we have to give something we don't have to each other; but what?"
"Well, we'll have to figure it out tomorrow." Barley said hopping onto Ian's bed.
"Oh no. No no no no no. I'm not sleeping in your smelly room!" Ian protested.
"What choice do we have? We can't let anyone find out, remember? If Mom finds Ian in my room, she's going to suspect something." He shook his head then lay down, pulling the comforter over his slender form. "We gotta lie low. So, I'll take your exam and you'll go to Quest Con. After that we'll figure out what the staff wants us to give each other, ok?"
"No! Not, Ok! I can't be you! And there's no way I'm letting you go into my high school as me!"
"Good night, Ian." Barley yawned, already half asleep.
"No! Barley, wake up! I didn't agree to this! We're not finished!" But his brother was already fast asleep, snoring rather obnoxiously. Ian stomped to the stairwell, then glanced back. Barley was drooling on his pillow, and as if on cue, he turned over to face the wall. Then a skinny arm reached from that side and scratched at his crack. Ian stuck his tongue out and winced in disgust before continuing his descent. He marched heavy-footedly down the stairs and to Barley's room on the first floor. Laurel saw her eldest slam the door to his room from her spot on the sofa, leaving her to worry.
Second chapter yo! Hope you enjoy! Remember to Read, Review, Follow and Favorite!