Should've said before: The book Sam was reading was Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian. The woman was Hades' mortal lover, who had two children with him before being killed by Zeus. Hades loved her, and wanted to bring her and the children to the Underworld and build a palace for them. Their story is so tragic. Beth got the ring off when its evil outgrew the ring and the spirit inside escaped and wanted to possess her. But she defeated it by putting the ring on a dead bird, who couldn't do anything. Beth also destroyed her little sister's dolls while wearing it. Poparena made a big deal out of how MB III tried to explain Evan's clothes growing with him, and how he was willing to ignore it until they tried explaining it.
Kiran rubbed his throbbing knee, hoisting one of the dolls off him. He winced, from both the pain in his body the distressed screams and cries coming from the little girl who had seemed so sweet and quiet. Kiran supposed he couldn't blame her. He didn't know what Rosemary's problem was. He had been sipping the tea, even beginning to talk to the other dolls, when she had toppled the dollhouse over. The other dolls were lucky. They couldn't feel pain. The tea he had been drinking had spilled onto him as well. Thankfully, it was cold, but Kiran was miserable. He wished his brother was there. At least they could share the awful experience, like they had shared shrinking.
Kiran covered his ears, still lying on his back. He couldn't believe the anguished screams were coming from the same sweet, quiet girl. Her dad was talking soothingly to her, and it was having an effect, but very slowly. Kiran got to his feet and lifted his legs over a window, climbing over it, falling with a yelp outside. He brushed himself off before staring at the open window, providing a nice view of the park, even though this room was on the lowest level. The wind made his flashy clothes flap. He stepped closer to the window, liking the cool air on his face. He glanced behind him at the dollhouse blocking everything, and stepped out onto the windowsill. At least there, he couldn't hear the screams.
Kiran watched everything for a little while, almost wishing it was higher so he had a better view. He spotted Selena's sister and a boy pass, laughing and eating black ice cream together. Kiran was about to call to them when he spotted someone else pass. It was a teenage girl with long black hair, blue eyes, and a pasty, acne-riddled face. She had a warm, friendly smile that turned into a surprised expression upon seeing Kiran. He waved his arms frantically and yelled to her.
Her dull blue eyes stared at him, her pasty face screwed up in concern as she lowered it to his tiny one. He could almost reach out and touch one of her pimples, but he had more tact than that. "Help me!" he screamed. "Please help me!"
"Okay, okay. I'll help," she said. She picked him up and carefully placed him in her pocket. He winced. Her hands were so wet and slimy. "What happened to you?"
"I got shrunk down!" Kiran squeaked. "So did my brother!"
"Oh, your brother?" Her eyes widened. "My friend found your brother, I think. She has him now."
"Really?" Kiran asked, relieved.
"Yeah, he's in Werewolf Village right now," she said, petting his black curls. "Should I take you there?"
Kiran's eyes widened. "Werewolf Village?"
"Yeah, my friend works there," she said. "People often think we're sisters. We look so similar. Well, not really. She's much prettier than me. But anyway, she found your friend lying on the floor naked and made clothes for him. Then she took him to Werewolf Village to get examined in the salon."
"I don't think that'll help," said Kiran.
"Probably not," she admitted. Then she gasped. "Oh! I know something that might help."
"Really? What?" Kiran asked excitedly.
"I'll take you," she said, tucking him completely into her pocket. He sputtered as his head was forced inside, before shuddering. He didn't like dark spaces, unlike Ray. It was a good thing his last name was Kumar instead of Dark.
Despite the darkness, he actually enjoyed the ride through the park, hearing all the chaos outside without experiencing it. Then he felt her enter a restaurant. He hoped it was the one in Werewolf Village. The food there was decent. But he had a feeling it wasn't. She took her order from Chef Belcher and then left. When they arrived at Werewolf Village, Kiran poked his head out, wincing at the sound of all the growls and snarls. It didn't seem to bother the girl, though. She entered Moment of Paws and found her friend in a private room at the back. Kiran gasped upon seeing it was Nora.
"Nora! It's me!" he called, waving his arms. She turned to him, a surprised look on his face. Kiran was more surprised to see Ray there as well, lying in a mini toy bathtub filled with water in the private room with his hair lathered in shampoo, though only a drop or two of it, and the lid of a measuring cup with water in it in his hand. He looked up almost lazily upon seeing Kiran, and smiled at him.
"It's not fair!" Kiran cried indignantly. "I've been through so much, and you were just here the whole time, relaxing?"
"Not the whole time," said Ray, flipping his wet hair. "I spent some time relaxing on the floor before Nora noticed me."
"So not fair," Kiran grumbled. "Do you know what I've been through? I got dressed in doll clothes and put in a dollhouse, and then it toppled over."
"That's too bad," said Ray lazily. Kiran wanted to punch the lazy smirk off his face.
"Edith! You found another one?" Nora exclaimed, staring curiously at Kiran.
"I found him on the windowsill of Stagger Inn," explained Edith. "He said he was this boy's brother."
"Half brother," said Kiran, not wanting to be associated with him right now.
"I wanted to tell your mom she left her handbag here," explained Nora. "She was asleep, and I didn't want to disturb her. I left her handbag there, but then I saw your brother lying on the ground. I thought about bringing him here to see what was wrong."
"More like so he could laze around and enjoy himself," snapped Kiran.
"You know, you can join as well," suggested Ray.
"With you?" Kiran squealed. "No way!"
"I'll make one for you as well," offered Nora. "No, wait. We're out of bath tubs. Get out, Ray. You've been in long enough."
Ray grumbled as he got out, wrapping a napkin around himself and blowing the hair out of his eyes.
"Everything's so blurry for me," Kiran groaned. "I wish I had my glasses."
"Oh! I can help with that," Nora explained. She rummaged in drawers at the end of the room and pulled out a mini pair of glasses Kiran had seen on one of the dolls. "These actually work. Try them on."
Kiran tried them, and was surprised to see they actually did work. They weren't his exact prescription, but close enough. Just like when he had put on glasses for the first time, he felt amazed by how clear everything was.
"I brought something that could help them get back to normal," said Edith, taking a container out of her pocket while Kiran hurried into the bath tub. It was filled with a thick, lumpy green liquid. "Monster Blood Soup. It'll help for sure."
"Oh, yeah!" Kiran agreed excitedly. "I saw it on TV. Apparently, it makes things huge. Just one helping could make you grow past a house."
"Yes!" said Edith. "When you and your brother are tiny, it's perfect for you."
"I don't know," said Ray hesitantly.
"Try it," Kiran urged, settling down in the tub as Nora refilled the water. "I want more time in here."
"I really think it'll work," agreed Nora, looking at her friend appreciatively. "Good work, Edith."
Ray shrugged. "Might as well give it a shot."
Nora picked up the bath tub and Edith backed after lowering the spoon to Ray's mouth and letting him take a sip of the thick green soup. "Oh, wow," he muttered. "It's delicious. Almost as much as the gunk I had that probably made me shrink. It's thick and creamy and kind of lemony, with a bit of salt and pepper..."
As he was explaining how good it tasted, they all shrieked as he started growing, including him. Then they shrieked again, for a different reason, and averted their eyes.
"Yes! I'm back to normal!" Ray cheered, jumping up and down. "Uh... maybe I should put some clothes on first."
"Here." Edith handed him a bathrobe hanging from the back of the room without looking, and he hurried to put it on before continuing his cheering.
"Now can I?" asked Kiran.
"Maybe we should look the other way," suggested Nora, putting him down and placing a bathrobe next to him.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Ray told Edith, wiggling his arms and bouncing up and down.
"It was no problem," Edith replied with a grin. "Just one of my brilliant ideas."
"I wouldn't mind staying in the bath tub a little longer," quipped Kiran.
"I'll give you a free session afterwards," promised Nora. "Just have the soup."
Kiran eagerly took a sip, and his eyes widened. "You're right, Ray! It really is amazing! And it's lemon-flavored. The chef must be really good. It tastes just like chicken soup."
As he started growing, they all turned around. It took no time for him to change into the bathrobe. Then he started cheering and running around as well, slapping his brother high fives. He couldn't see clearly anymore, and stepped on his glasses while dancing around.
"Yay! We're back!" He actually tried hugging Ray, before catching himself. To his surprise, Ray hugged him, before immediately letting go and looking horrified by what he had done.
"Yes, it's very exciting, but keep it down," Nora warned.
Suddenly, the door of the private room happened. "Is everything alright in here?" A man poked his head in. "I heard a lot of noise."
"Oh, everything's fine, Dad," said Nora. "The customers were just really enjoying their session."
"Yeah," Ray agreed, grinning. "It was amazing."
"Well, I'm glad to hear it," said Nora's dad, stepping inside. Kiran read Grady on his name tag. His eyes settled on Edith. "Nice to see you here, Miss Mortman." Kiran's jaw dropped.
"I told you, call me Edith," she insisted, while Ray gasped, his face becoming even paler than usual.
Nora spoke to her dad more, while Ray and Kiran tuned them out, gaping at each other. Once he left, Kiran spoke up in a meek voice. "What... what did your dad call her?" he asked Nora.
"Huh?" Nora stared at him.
"Oh, that's my name," said Edith. "I'm Edith Mortman."
I knew I had to choose an old-fashioned name for her. I got Edith from an Enid Blyton book. Monster Blood Soup is an item on the menu described as "One sip of this, and your problems will seem a lot smaller. So will everything else." At least both the things they have to shrink and enlarge themselves are tasty lol. I had the same solution in my other story. Now I kind of want someone having Monster Blood, and then purple peanut butter to reverse it.