The Mynci pulled the curtains shut to block out the brilliant sunlight and the sight of all the fun he was missing, and trudged back to bed. He felt awful -- his joints were all achy, and his throat felt like he'd eaten a Thornata without peeling its pointy skin off first.

Aemyn closed his eyes and settled back on his pillow, hoping that a nap would take his mind off his sore throat. Before he could drift off to sleep, though, his bedroom door opened, and his older sister Cemar came in.

"Are you feeling any better, Aemyn?" she asked, her brow furrowed in concern. She laid her hand on his forehead. "You're still burning up."

"I'll be OK," Aemyn said, trying to sound brave. "It's just a cold." He eyed the bag in Cemar's hand hopefully. "Did you get me some medicine?"

"Yes..." the Nimmo began, "...but it's not quite what you're used to. Odric guaranteed it would work, though."

"Who's Odric?"

"Oh, just a friend," Cemar said dismissively and carefully pulled a small bottle out of the bag. "He said one spoonful would ease your sore throat, and two spoonfuls would help you get some sleep."

The Nimmo uncorked the bottle, and a horrible stench filled the room.

"Ugh! Where did you get that? It doesn't look like it came from the Pharmacy."

"Come on, Aemyn. It's medicine -- it's not supposed to taste like candy... or smell like Rowzez." Cemar filled a spoon with the disgusting blue liquid and thrust it toward Aemyn, who recoiled against his pillows.

"Gah! It's like a mouldy bread and durian smoothie! I'm not taking that!"

"Well, it's all we have, Aemyn. So unless you want to spend all summer in this bed, you'll take it!"

"Fine!" The Mynci opened his mouth and let his sister pop the spoon in. The taste was unbelievably even worse than the smell. "Blllleeecccchhhhh!"

"Oh, grow up! You need your rest, so take another spoonful."

His sore throat did feel better already, even though Aemyn suspected it was because the terrible taste had distracted the rest of his body, so the Mynci let his sister give him another dose. He needed his rest after all.

Cemar left the room to let him sleep, but sleep wouldn't come.

"So much for her weird medicine," Aemyn said to himself. "Maybe if I take another dose..."

Closing his eyes and holding his nose, the Mynci swallowed down one more spoonful of the horrible liquid...

"Did you do it?" the young Ruki queried, drawing his hood further over his head with one curiously gnarled paw. "Did you give him the medicine?"

Cemar sighed, wrapping her paws around herself. "Yes," she whispered, the word dripping with pain. "I gave it to him! Now give me what you promised!"

"Did you make sure he took two spoonfuls?" the Ruki pressed, voice raspy. "Two! No more, no less. The consequences will be dire if he did not take exactly two."

"Yes," Cemar snapped, patience gone. "I gave him two spoonfuls, and then I put the medicine..." She trailed off. "Oh no!"

The Ruki smiled, strangely satisfied. "It is done. Thank you for your cooperation." Grabbing the suddenly silent Nimmo's hand, he pressed an object into it.

Cemar instinctively grabbed the object, but the horrified expression remained on her face. "Aemyn, please tell me you wouldn't be stupid enough to..." Distractedly bidding farewell to the Ruki, Cemar took off through the darkened streets, feet pounding a staccato rhythm on the dirt, hoping against hope that she'd put the medicine up...

A few hours later, Aemyn awoke, feeling refreshed. Surprisingly, his throat barely hurt, and his aches had vanished. Wow, that medicine worked wonders, he thought. If only it didn't taste like rotten Chokatos and spoiled Kau milk. Aemyn swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. He yawned and stretched, scratching his head with his wing. Wait, wing?!

After a second of shock, Aemyn ran to his mirror. The pet that looked back at him was not a small shadow Mynci, but rather an evil-looking Darigan Pteri. Aemyn tried to open his mouth; the Pteri in the mirror opened its beak. He waved an arm; it waved a mustard-yellow wing. Convinced now that this strange pet was, in fact, him, Aemyn returned to his bed, sat down, and began to think.

It must have been that medicine, right? That's what did this to me. Aemyn grabbed the bottle, but almost dropped it. I still have to get used to these wings, I guess. But eventually he was able to gain enough control to examine the bottle. It was a small glass object, filled with the stinking bluish brew. It had no label or engraving of any kind. Aemyn shrugged. If three spoons turned me into this, then maybe a fourth spoon will change me back to normal. The now-Pteri uncorked the bottle, poured a dose of the medicine into his spoon, opened his beak, and swallowed more of the odd concoction.

Cemar continued to run through the dark allies of Neopia Central, nimbly avoiding trash bins and piles of rubbish. She ran the route instinctively, as if she had taken this exact path many times before. Finally, completely out of breath and with an ache in her side, she took a moment to rest and leaned against the brick wall of a shop.

She now examined the item she held in her hand. It was a silver coin, imprinted on one side with the head of an Eyrie in profile, and on the other with the creature's tail. Yes, it was exactly as Odric had promised. Cemar gave it an experimental flip. It came down heads. Another flip. Heads. A third. Heads yet again. She continued flipping the coin in the air and catching it, and it continued to land heads. The run of luck was impossible, yet the streak continued: ten times heads. Eleven. Twelve.

Cemar slid the coin carefully into her pocket and gave it a pat. She knew that with this, she could finally have all she had dreamed of. And if that meant sacrificing her brother, well, then, so be it. But Odric had assured her that two spoonfuls of the potion would only put Aemyn out of commission for a few days, at the most, and that was a price Cemar was willing to live with. However, who knew how much of the foul brew her brother had actually taken...

Cemar rested a moment longer and then took off running once again. She just hoped that she would reach home in time to stop Aemyn from making a potentially fatal mistake.

A hooded Ruki stood on a rooftop and watched the Nimmo run toward her house. He smiled to himself and pulled a silver coin from his pocket. On one side, an Eyrie's head. On the other, its tail. The Ruki flipped the coin. Tails. He flipped again. Tails. Again. Tails. Odric put the coin back into his pocket and began to chuckle. The plan he had been masterminding for years was about to come to fruition, thanks to a greedy Nimmo and her foolish brother. Now to wait for the final piece to fall into place...

Pulling the hood of his cloak over his head, he slunk back into the shadows and bounded across the rooftops like liquid shadow itself.

Aemyn immediately wished he hadn't.

The second the horrid, malevolent concoction slid down his throat, he clapped a wing to his belly. His stomach was frothing, boiling, struggling against the vile formula which he was treating himself with.

What was I thinking?

His knees buckled as his belly heaved, and his room swam alarmingly before his eyes. Aemyn fought to breathe, concentrating on steadying his breaths in the chaotic whirl of sensation.

And suddenly, everything was... fine.

Numbness replaced the aching joints and stinging throat, the pain he could recognise even in his dreams. Everything became soft and safe and gentle, and he felt comforted, like a baby wrapped up in his blanket.

Suddenly, it didn't matter that he was sick, or overdosed with nasty medicine, or even in the wrong body. Everything was nice and warm, and he felt... complacent. He had just begun to close his eyes when he realised the pain wasn't actually gone. Suddenly he was aching again, perhaps even harder than before.

No, it was a new pain. Growing. Like flame, it razed him, leaving no part of his body untouched by its destruction. He cried out, but no sound escaped his lips.

And in the mirror, he saw it all.

Dull golden feathers slipped into murky green, mottled with straggling orange spots. A set of muscular arms bulged from his chest, like an Elephante's limbs with Grarrl claws. Definitely too bulky to fly with. Horns like a Darigan Krawk's sprouted from his forehead like thorny vines sluggishly twisting their way to the sunlight, with a fringe of black hair puffing up in between. A sharp, jagged arrowhead point burst from the tip of his curled tail, and Draiklike ears grew from his head.

Aemyn went rigid.

He wasn't a Darigan Pteri.

He wasn't anything.

He was a strange mismatch, a random collection of Neopets thrown into one body.

His eyes fell across the little bottle, sitting so innocently, bearing no inscription of destruction or warning.

Did he have anything left to lose?

And then he heard the door to his house creak open...

Cemar opened the door to her Neohome and stepped inside, glancing around the living room with a slight edge of paranoia.

Everything looks normal, she thought, taking in the sofa, side table, and lamps. But her stomach was still uneasy, as if she had just eaten a couple of raw eggs.

Carefully, still clenching the silver coin in her paw, she made her way down the hall to her left toward Aemyn's room. Hung up on the walls were family portraits, many of them showing a young Nimmo playing next to an even younger Mynci. Cemar's stomach lurched, wondering why she was getting such a bad feeling.

And then she smelled something. She wrinkled her nose as the stench of mould and decay floated through the air -- almost like the smell of Odric's potion, but ten times worse. And then she heard a noise. A slight scuffle coming from her brother's room.

Cemar's heart pounded fiercely. She reached up a hand, clutching her chest. Odric had said he'd be out like a lamp...

The Nimmo paused in front of the oak door, trying to control her heavy breathing. "Ae-Aemyn?" she whispered tentatively. "Aemyn, are you awake?"

At first there was only silence. Then "Cemar?" came her brother's voice from the other side of the door. "Cemar... S-Something's wrong."

And suddenly the door swung open and Cemar screamed. Standing in her brother's room was a massive creature so horrifying, so wrong, that she couldn't bear to look at it. It was an impossible figure, a mixture of different Neopets, and it was terrifying and brutally ugly all at the same time.

She covered her eyes with her hands frantically. "Aemyn? Is that you?" she cried. She peered through the slits between her fingers, her stomach lurching at the sight of him, and the creature nodded.

"I couldn't sleep," came her brother's timid voice. "I thought another teaspoon would help--"

"Aemyn!" Cemar shouted exasperatedly, but a sob caught in her throat. She wasn't angry at him -- she was mad at herself. This was all her fault! "You were only supposed to have two spoonfuls!"

"I'm sorry!" Aemyn cried. "I didn't know! I thought it was safe." He paused, shifting uncomfortably in his awkward bulk. "Sis, I'm scared. Will I be stuck like this forever?"

Cemar inhaled sharply -- and then wished she hadn't. The horrible stench was coming from her brother, and it made her gag. "I don't know," she finally admitted. "But I'll tell you what... I'll take you to see Odric. He's the one who brewed the potion. He should know how to help y--"

Suddenly, her words were cut off as a sharp pain went up through her hand. "Agh!" Cemar gasped, glancing down to look at the coin still in her grasp.

"What's that?" Aemyn asked curiously from across the room, but the Nimmo ignored him and stared at the silver coin instead. However, instead of seeing the head of an Eyrie engraved on the coin, there was now the likeness of a Ruki. A familiar Ruki.

"Odric?" Cemar breathed in confusion, and suddenly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, the image winked back at her...

Aemyn looked from his sister to the coin, and back again. His mismatched eyes bulged. "Cemar! What is it?" He would soon receive the answer, as the Ruki on the coin began to chuckle.

"My, my... you sound so confused! Cemar, I'm very unhappy. You said you had only given him two spoonfuls, but he looks as though he's taken at least four." The Ruki's tone was mocking and filled with false sadness.

Cemar scrabbled at the coin, trying to pick it up, but every time she grabbed at it the coin slipped out of her fingers. The third time she grabbed for it, it began to roll of its own accord, but the Ruki on the front remained face up. "Goodbye, Cemar. You didn't earn this properly..."

The Nimmo chased the coin frantically, her eyes wide. Aemyn stumbled, trying to follow, but was stuck in the doorframe before he could get much farther. Cemar followed the coin, but each time she grabbed it it simply popped out of her fingers. The coin rolled a few more feet, and then fell through a crack in the floorboards.

"No!" Cemar cried, trying to stick her fingers into the crack. "No, no, no, no..." It became a mantra as she pried desperately at the floorboards. She thought she heard a faint "so long" from the crack, but was unsure. She sat there dumbly for a moment, and then started to cry.

That's when there was a loud cracking sound, as Aemyn broke his way through the doorway...

It was the sound of horror.

"What did you do to me?" roared Aemyn. "Who is Odric? What is that coin?"

Cemar staggered back. This wasn't her brother. There was no trace of innocence, no trusting kindness, in that monstrous voice.

Tears spurted out of her eyes. "I didn't know, Aemyn," she cried. "I didn't know the potion would do this. I didn't know..."

"Just tell me what happened," the horrendous figure loomed closer, its ragged wings trailing, its claws clicking, its horns and myriad tails swaying as it moved.

"I wanted Neopoints," Cemar sobbed. "I was always losing at the Wheel of Excitement, making Mortogs explode at Kiss the Mortog, losing to the Skeith in the Meridellian palace. I just wanted Neopoints, a bit of money to call my own. You're always falling sick, my poor, dear brother. I'm always having to make sacrifices for you, saving up for medicines, not getting to play as much as I'd like to, tending to your every need... I... I can't say just how sorry I am. When I met the sorcerer Odric, who promised to help you on your way to recovery and give me a magic coin in exchange, I couldn't resist... at last, I thought, all my sorrows and hard work would be over. I would always beat that Skeith at Double or Nothing, I would never have to worry about you being sick or us being poor again..."

She then became aware that Aemyn was no longer listening to her.

"Aemyn?"

The baleful eyes turned away, and the misshapen ears stood tall in the dimness. Cemar watched, half-frozen with fear.

Aemyn's mangled voice then came slowly, like a nightmare. "I must go. Odric is calling to me..."

"I must go. Odric is calling to me." Aemyn repeated, the hope and dreams glimmering in those eyes replaced by an eerie crimson mist, bleeding malice. His bulky feet pushed him onward, toward where fate led him. Cemar looked on, horror building up in her and causing her heart to rap against her chest as if it were a drum. A strangled sob escaped from in between a crack in her lips, and her knees threatened to buckle beneath her, to no longer carry her weight.

"Aemyn, come back!" she cried, sapphire tears of sorrow seeping from the rims of her widened eyes and cascading down her cheeks in a soft trickle. Her tall, slim body trembled as a hazy mist grew in front of her eyes, her brother's form fading away, slipping away. "AEMYN!"

Aemyn came to a stop, turning his head just enough to set eyes on his shaken sister. The crimson tinging his gaze flickered briefly, returning to pools of inky black that reflected sympathy. But then, the force driving him away from his normal self took over again. He broke into a run, careful not to tangle his long legs.

"You're losing all your precious belongings, Cemar." Odric's voice echoed in the recesses of Cemar's mind, seeming to grow louder. Her head pounded with a dull pain, and she clutched it with her hands, trying to scream, to let all her feelings out in a single miserable sound. However, her throat only managed another sob. "But don't worry. You can keep your house. I don't want this ugly little house anyway." His voice had become sickly sweet, like sticky syrup pouring down in a thin torrent.

"Give Aemyn back. You can have anything you want. Just give my brother back. He's my only reason to keep going, to stay strong. Odric, please!" Cemar pleaded.

"Sorry, but that option is not an available one. I already robbed you of anything worth keeping," Odric responded and despite his absence, she could tell by his tone that a smirk was tearing across his face. "You have failed me once, Cemar. And for that, you shall pay. There's only one way you can get your brother back...”

"Tell me! I'll do anything!" Cemar murmured, smearing her tears away. She knew that the price wouldn't be a good one, but she would do anything for her brother. He was the only family she had and if he left her forever, then her heart would be a dying pulp, pulsating slowly as it mourned for him.

"Oh, the price will be very simple indeed," Odric replied. Cemar hesitated for a moment, knowing that he was weaving together a horrible lie.

This is my brother we're talking about, she reminded herself. I need him. I need him to give me a meaning in life.

"Name your price," The Nimmo prompted, the back of her mind screaming a warning to her, but she ignored it. She had already made her decision; she would get Aemyn back no matter what the price was.

A laugh, tainted with sheer malice that was not attempted to be buried, sounded. "You must..."

The Ruki's voice trailed off in a mocking chuckle that echoed through Cemar's mind, an echo that grew louder and more frenzied the longer she stood still, frozen with fear and indecision. Shaking her head to clear it of the dark wizard's terrible taunting, the Nimmo suddenly felt claustrophobic, as though the walls of her small house were closing in on her and, with her hands futilely pressed against her protesting ears, Cemar ran from her house, following the path her changeling of a brother had taken just minutes earlier.

Cemar retraced her earlier route, and while she despairingly pondered the only option given to her by Odric, she reached the alley that snaked its way toward the wizard's lair, and she slowed and shuffled to a halt with shock at what she saw there: from every entrance to the alley came horrible mutants of forms formerly unimaginable to the Nimmo -- giant brutes that slithered and tramped and bounced and flew on paws and claws and talons and hooves; an army of creatures which, in their aberrance, forced Cemar to turn her head in abject horror.

When the Nimmo turned back, nerves steeled by a deep and cleansing breath, she could not discern her brother's form amongst the swarming mob of freakish beasts, the tangle of horns and wings and tails and spikes that robotically marched and lurched toward Odric. Overwhelmed by their numbers, Cemar blurted out, "How many desperate Neopians made dire deals today? How many potions did that vile wizard sell?" And then the solution struck her with such force that she stumbled back a few steps. "The potion!" she exclaimed. "Odric promised that Aemyn would be changed back to his normal self if I only drink the potion. I have no choice but to obey."

With resolve inflaming her blood, Cemar turned and raced for home.

Inside an ordinary-looking house on an ordinary-looking street that branched off of the well-used alleyways of Neopia Central, a hooded Ruki withdrew a coin from the folds of his robes and tossed it jauntily into the air. As it spun through its arc, catching the light on its highly polished surfaces, the Ruki taunted, "Tails I win, heads you lose." He caught it expertly in his opened palm and grinned with satisfaction at what he saw there.

Replacing the coin, he resumed his former activity -- dancing around his workroom on legs like springs, waving and stretching his arms as though pulling the strings of dozens of unseen marionettes, laughing maniacally to himself.

Cemar skidded to a halt as she turned the corner into her brother's bedroom, avoiding the splinters of wood and plaster that now covered his floor. Opening the blinds and scanning the room, she quickly found the small glass bottle she was looking for and was relieved to note that it still held a third of its brackish blue liquid. As she reached for it with a trembling hand, another object on the floor struck her eye: glowing green, the object seemed to refract the sunlight into a corona of verdant fire.

The Nimmo bent and retrieved the coin, for that was what she now discovered the object to be: a coin embossed with the same Eyrie as the one Odric had given to her, with one important difference: this coin, rather than being struck in ordinary silver, was carved in a perfect circle of clear emerald. As she held the coin in her palm, she could feel the power and magic it possessed.

"Odric?" Cemar called into the reaches of the empty house. Looking around as though expecting someone -- something -- to respond or appear, the corners of the Nimmo's mouth curved up in a relieved grin when she realised that Odric's taunting voice seemed to be silenced.

With confidence Cemar placed the coin and the potion into her pocket and strode through her home with purposeful steps.

When she reached the front door she announced to all of Neopia, and to no one in particular, "I know what I must do..."

Using her small form as an advantage, the Nimmo was able to slip between the jostling mutants as they fought their way along the alley to get to Odric at the other end. Once again, Cemar was unable to distinguish Aemyn's mutated body from the rest. She felt a pang of sadness at this realisation. No. There was no time for sadness. She would see Aemyn again later when this mess was taken care of.

After breaking free of the pack of Odric's victims, Cemar was able to get going at full speed along the rest of the alleyway, toward a nondescript house at the end. That must be his hiding place...

The Ruki paused in his dancing as a sound reminiscent of a stampeding Elephante herd resounded throughout the house. A smirk slid across his face. It had worked. They were coming to him. Soon, all the pieces of his master plan would be in place. All he needed now was that Nimmo fool Cemar.

And sure enough, he could hear now the lighter footfalls and the softer breathing that announced a creature quite different from the horde of mutants now assembling before him.

Cemar burst through the door of the house, seeing a hooded Ruki as she entered. "Odric!" she stated firmly, storming up to him. The Ruki looked at her with a lazy grin as she approached.

"Cemar," he greeted smoothly. "It's so good to see you in such a timely manner. I trust you know what you have to do?"

Cemar nodded. "I do know," she said quietly, determination in every syllable.

Something stirred in the traces of the Ruki's eyes visible from beneath the hood. "You did not take the potion," he commented. "Do you really expect me to free your brother if you cannot do as I ask?"

Cemar smiled grimly. "I'll take your potion, Odric. I'll take as much or as little as you like, and I'll do whatever you tell me to do. But first --" She pulled out the emerald coin. Odric gasped. "-- heads or tails?" She tossed the coin in the air where it caught beams of sunlight filtering through the windows. Cemar's eyes were cold and locked to Odric. The Ruki's gaze had followed the coin skyward, and he now watched it descend gracefully back into Cemar's palm. The Nimmo grasped the coin tightly in her hand, hiding the final answer, the side of the coin which would determine the future of both Neopets.

Cemar looked expectantly at Odric. For once, the Ruki wizard was at a loss for words. "Heads or tails?"

"Tails!" shouted Odric impulsively. It had always been lucky for him before. Maybe, just maybe, it would work again this time.

Cemar felt the area of her palm under the coin tingle as Odric uttered his choice. A moment of suspense danced between the two Neopets before Cemar opened her palm.

The Eyrie's head was facing upward.

Odric made a rasping sound and fell to his knees. "N -- no... No!"

"You lose," Cemar said quietly.

"I -- cannot -- I cannot! Arggh!" Odric clutched his face with his hands. A bright red glow began to shine from behind his fingers. Odric stared in horror as the coin he held began to glow crimson. As the burn got brighter and brighter, he began to get paler and paler. Suddenly, it gave an almighty flash that rendered the room completely white. Cemar covered her eyes with both arms. When she dared open them again, Odric was gone.

But what did that mean for Aemyn?

Cemar sprinted from the now-abandoned Neohome where a strange -- pleasantly so, but still strange -- sight met her eyes. A massive assortment of pets (all of one species) were sitting in the alleyway and looking thoroughly lost and confused. Cemar was able to filter them all out, though, except one. Sitting almost foremost amid the crowd was a small shadow Mynci clutching his head and peering around dazedly.

"Aemyn!" Cemar cried, the happiest she had ever been to see her brother. She ran to him, pulling him into a hug.

"Cemar? What's going on? I don't remember anything... Where are we? What happened?" Aemyn mumbled. Cemar shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter, Aemyn," the Nimmo spoke, her voice choked by tears. "All that matters is that you're okay now."

"Hey yeah, I do feel a lot better now," the Mynci said. "Whatever that medicine was, it ended up working in the end, I suppose."

"Y-yeah, I suppose it did," Cemar said, not necessarily meeting her brother's eyes. She still had the potion in her pocket. "Listen, Aemyn. Can you stay here for a second? I have to go do something..." Without waiting for confirmation, the Nimmo ran off, back into the Neohome. Once inside, she stood over the sink and turned on the water.

"Goodbye, you foul, vile concoction," she muttered as the glutinous liquid seeped from the bottle and down the drain, mixing with the water to ease its way through the circular hole. For good measure, Cemar also smashed the bottle against the far wall. "That's the last anyone will ever know of you, Odric, down the drain and out of mind."

Aemyn sat on the ground as the other pets picked themselves up and conversed blankly about where they were and how they had gotten there. They all seemed just as confused as he. When no consensus could be made, eventually the others just wandered off down the alley and back to their lives. Perhaps this had all just been a dream? One massive dream that they had all shared and forgotten.

Aemyn longed to go home and go to bed, but he had to wait for Cemar -- whatever she was doing. He sighed and looked up at the Neohome. She was still in there, doing... something...

A glint of light caught his eye on the ground. Interested, Aemyn peered around. What had it been? As his eyes raked the ground, it came again. A small glitter of pinkish light dancing just at the edge of his vision. He stood up, taking a few steps forward...

There it was, right on the ground. A ruby red coin settled so that the tail of an Eyrie was facing upward. Chancing a glance up to make sure Cemar was not on her way out, Aemyn snatched the coin from the ground and pocketed it. He wasn't sure what had made him do it; there was just a... feeling prickling in the back of his mind.

This coin could come in handy one of these days.

The End