“Roxie!” a roar rumbles through the house “Roxie!” then again as no one responds.

A bundle of blankets shifts in the dark room as heavy thumping comes from the door, revealing a head “Coming!”

The manticore rolls out from her blankets, stopping upright with her wings sprawled across the floor. She yawns and stretches before opening the door, pulling the rope handle with her teeth.

She drags herself through into the main room, sitting on a pillow by the table as a bowl of porridge in placed in front of her by their goat like faulz aid. He’s titanoid, in the sense of two legs, two arms and upright, but is covered head to toe in thin fur with a goat head and hooves and with a pair of hands; unlike Roxie and her mom, who have a bestial appearance with four paws and no thumbs, besides their identical human-esc faces.

“Thanks” Roxie goes to dig in but is stopped by her mom poking her in the side with her stinger.

She draws her mouth in a line before leaning into her shoulder “Do you really have to do this?”

She leans into her mom “No, but I want to”

Her mom lets out a sharp sigh and sags “Of course that’s why”

“You can’t tell me that you don’t want to give having hands a try?” Roxie chuckles and leans into her.

She shakes her head and pads away “Yes, but I’d rather just get magic than transforms myself”

“I guess I won’t be needed soon?” the Faulz jokes as he tends to the pot and fire.

“You’ll always be welcome here, even if we make better food” her mom jokes which earns a snort from Roxie and a “Hey!” from their aid.

After eating and bidding her mom goodbye, Roxie pads away through the village towards the hospital. It centres around an open square where a large brass dial with various gemstones suspended by metal arms resides. In a ring around that is first the elders’ home, then the meeting hall and the hospital, after which the rest of the town grows naturally, wooden homes and sheds popping up as they were needed.

Roxie uses her stinger to open the sliding door into the large warehouse that was turned into the hospital, before striding past the village’s few sick or injured and into the back that has been turned into a series of private areas, cordoned off by hanging curtains. One of the areas are open, where a family has come to visit. It’s a small group of giant spiders, one of which, the one in the cot, has had undergone the transformation. The spider has been stretched upwards, bringing up their front legs, which now has a pair of sharp hands, and abdomen, which has formed into a large hunch, with the space between being a series of rings of black chitin to support the new body shape.

She waves her stinger at those that notice but continues making her way through to a large work area, where a harpy and human woman are currently sorting clothes and towels.

“Hey Gelga” she calls out to the woman who responds with a yelp and a sudden change of direction “I can come back later you know?”

“Oh no, no no. Everything is ready, just the last finishing touches” she walks into one of the privacy areas and places the towels on the side table before gesturing for Roxie.

She hops onto the cot and lays down, then lets Gelga reposition her, with her head over the edge towards a large bucket before feeding her a clear potion.

She reels back a bit at its taste before putting her head back into place “So, is this going to hurt?”

“No. the potion disconnects most of your nerve endings before it starts cannibalising your body to make your new one” Gelga responds nonchalantly.

The manticore starts to panic a little as the feeling in her body starts to fade “That doesn’—” then falls unconscious.

She awakes staring down into a puddle of blood and bone chunks, getting a full smell of the contents.

After a moment of fidgeting and groaning, as she attempts to move away from the bucket, her attempts attracts the harpies’ attention who moves it before checking her over “Are you alright, two grunts for yes one for no”

She grunts once.

Her furrows his feathered brow “What's the matter, you look fine”

The manticore shakily lifts her hand barely of the bed before dropping it.

“Oh, don't worry about that, in an hour or two you should start getting strength in your limbs, then we’ll get you something to eat and start your therapy” he smiles and wanders back to the counter with the various supplies.

She sighs but tries to settle into rest until then.

After a while, a boy speaks conspiratorially with a companion “Cool, she looks like an elf now”

A little girl responds to him “But she doesn’t have the long ears”

“I know but her hair are those big spines” She can feel one of the children clamouring onto the bed

Then feels something poking at her stinger “Look, her wings and tail aren't smaller”

“She wouldn’t be much of a manticore if they were” the one on the bed starts creeping closer to her face.

The one at her tail stops her tapping and crawls over her wing “But, but, when my dad took the potion his, his abdomen was gone”

“It’s on his back stupid, it's why he’s got that hunch” the boy on the bed tip toes his hooves over the other wing.

“Ohhh—” the girl pauses for a second before raising her front legs “Hey I’m not stupid, you're stupid”

“Sam, Delilah. Get off Roxie, she needs her rest” the harpy tells off the two children who run away as fast as they can “Should have known that they would have sneaked in”

Roxie slowly opens her eyes and croakily asks “So, I look like an elf now”

“Just the hair and facial features” he responds “Probably because you’re a mammal” he steps away and grabs something from the counter.

Roxie tries to contort her face “What?”

The harpy mulls something over “The mana soul we used for the potion was originally meant to turn a house cat into an elf” he then hands her a hand mirror which she uses to look at her face.

Most of her features have gone from the rough and neutral face of a natural manticore to being curved and pointed, but with some of the old remains; the majority of her teeth are still pointed, only the very front and back being changed, her eyes are wide with slit pupils and her ears are still lion like and positioned on the top of her head, though pulled down whilst slightly longer than before. Her nose also has adopted a rough texture and is a much darker shade than an elf’s', which her eyelids have also adopted, a change that doesn’t go past the affected areas. All of this is slightly obscured by a total lack of fat, built up muscle or the touch of the sun, a result of the forceful change making her look gaunt and sheet white.

“It was moms’, teachers project. Before she ran away with the cat” he sags and chuckles.

“And that—” Gelga silences herself and instead screams with her mouth closed whilst looking away “Woman was very sudden about it” She stops and sighs “At least it came in useful for Damien” She leans down and pinches the Damien cheeks, causing him to bat her away with his wings.

“Where have you been?” Roxie croakily asks whilst shifting.

Gelga strides over “I was seeing your mother off actually, you just missed her”

“Oh” Roxie looks down and frowns.

“She was in quite a state when she saw you but will come back tomorrow, until them—” she leans forwards and sits on the bed “Listen to me when I say rest”

She gladly spends the next week eating double portions and resting with little else happening before a new visitor arrives.

Roxie stops her push up as she hears Gelga “This way sir Ox”

A deep voice responds after her “Please, just Ox will do”

“Who’s that?” Roxie peeks over the edge of the bed to see a massive human, packed into a full suit of armour, staring down at her.

Gelga leans over her “Roxie! You're supposed to be resting”

She sits up proper “And I don’t want to”

Ox looks away “Please can you put something on”

Roxie frowns at him “Huh? Why”

He continues looking away “Because you're naked”

“Everyone’s naked” she cocks her head to the side.

“Please” Ox sighs dejectedly.

“Fine” Roxie pulls her robe on from the nearby chair “Better?”

“Good. Now back into bed” Gelga stands with her hands on her hips.

Roxie huffs and jumps back into her cot with a forced smile.

Gelga holds out a hand to indicate Ox “Right, sir Ox here was interested in seeing you”

Roxie turns to Ox.

He strokes his massive moustache as he states “I was interested in seeing this process of making the beasts Titanoid”

Roxie opens her arms “Well here I am, the latest one”

“Yes, and I must say you are an odd blend” sir Ox muses “Manticore was you?”

“Am—” Roxie stares Ox in the eyes “I am a manticore, I still have everything just a little less fur—” she looks up and half nods “And on two legs”

“My apologies” Ox then bows “May I ask why?”

Roxie points to Gelga “If you want to know the odd bits about the potion, ask her”

“I meant your reason to go through with—” Ox pauses for a moment before carefully saying “This”

Roxie thinks for a moment “I am a guardian of the village. And one of my responsibilities is, in addition to protecting it, is to also be first contact with outsiders and I thought a more—” she indicates to herself “Titanoid form would be more.... Approachable” she nods, then holds up her hands and wiggles her thumbs “Plus thumbs are cool. Can hold things and shit”

Ox pauses, then just let’s out a small chuckle “Hah. Good a reason as any” he then glances to the large combat manual to the side “You read?”

“Yeah, I read. Is there a problem with that?” Roxie shows the tips of her teeth as she says this.

“Oh. No. Nothing. If you excuse me” He bows before walking out.

Roxie and Gelga watch Ox escort himself out of the warehouse before Roxie comments “Great first impression”

Gelga just shakes her head before pointing at Roxie “Two more weeks, ok. Two more and you're out”

Roxie rolls her eyes and says “Fine, no more push ups”

“Or any exercise” she the points at her again to emphasise her point before threatening “Also, seeing as you're so active, we'll start more intensive physical therapy. Tomorrow” before leaving Roxie alone in dread.

The next week comes and goes in a blur of extreme yoga, every muscle is stretched and pulled as every shape a person’s body can be bent is explored, interspersed with reading combat manuals and actual resting, all until a spider rushes into her area.