A Different Time, A Different Man - Invited

It seemed the restraints were no longer necessary, as Rosemary stepped back from the hypnotized beast that was Yangcong. Taori had never seen anything quite like this - no Tuffle trickery had ever even come close to this, whatever it was. Rosemary's explanation was brief, and none too enlightening. Taori's snout formed a frown at the Queen as she mostly seemed to dismiss his shocked reaction, and really only left the Oozaru with more questions than answers. "...Well, I guess I went and transformed for nothing," he mumbled as he glanced down at his own furry, gigantic form. He was almost disappointed he didn't get to give Yangcong the lashing he deserved, though perhaps mental slavery to Rosemary was an even worse fate for the senile old fool.

Somehow, Taori doubted he'd ever have to worry about Yangcong's evil machinations again.

As the old man was escorted off to a prison cell by the royal guard, Rosemary spoke back up, and Taori glanced back over to her. Well... At least she had some sort of reward in mind for him to make all this hassle worth the while. Still, Taori couldn't say he'd ever quite be comfortable with the condescending attitude of royal figures. He'd had a bit of an attitude problem even with his own direct superior in his younger days, and, well, he supposed he'd never quite shaken that defiance of authority.

But he knew to stay his tongue here, lest he end up a zombified monkey like Yangcong. "Right, I'll be on my way, then," he replied. Though... He had to power down from this giant form, first. Taori shut his eyes, and slowed his breathing as he turned away from the source of the Oozaru's power, and, after a moment, he began to shrink back down, until eventually, he was a ginormous ape no more, simply a six foot tall man. 

It was at this point, that a vaguely concerned Alpinia returned, her gaze still on the white Oozaru that had just been escorted past her. "Was that...?" she started to ask, and Taori sighed. "I'll uh, explain what happened on the way home." He glanced back at Rosemary and offered her a slight bow of his head. "Take care, your majesty," he said in a formal tone, and Alpinia bowed as well, pleased by Rosemary's warm remark. "Nice to see you as well, your majesty!" she replied in a jovial manner. The married couple then made their way out of the ravaged throne room and back down towards the exit. 

What a weird day, Taori thought to himself.