Paying the Pied Pythoness (Part 2) by MaLAguA

Saturday, January 7th - 4:43pm
Berlin Mall

Oh boy, out at the mall in Berlin with her friends. I hope trouble doesn't show up. Alvina and Donna from Dickinson, and Miriam from Poe, I wonder why Caro invited them along? Oh, great, social climbers, just what Caro's ego doesn't need right now.

“But it does bode well that they really pay me more attention than Gwen. I still have the full package, the looks, the attitude and the magic to create rules that bend reality,” She couldn’t stop smiling as she picked the item up and tried it on. “I’m sorry, Gwen, but I’m going to overtake you. Hope we can still be friends, though. I know you don’t care for this sort of thing.”

These kinds of thoughts are why I'm worried about Caro right now.

Caro, you let those three come on the trip to praise you, act as yes girls. Gwen is right, you should accept you won't have these 'normal' looks for long, it is the price of your deal.

Inwardly, she reminded herself that Gwen didn’t have the sort of malice to pull off that sort of backhanded comment… or did she?

Don't let these kinds of thoughts turn you against your true friends, Caro. Oh no, Caro doesn't know Gwen is a changeling and used to be a male. Her mom and sister help her shop for clothes, but she doesn't know fashion. Hey, some girls don't know fashion, nothing to be ashamed of.

Jorts! You should wear Daisy Dukes at that rate. Ouch, only Gwen from her friends tagged along; Chris, Marlene, and Sofia had other plans. Darn it! If those three social climbers hadn't come along, she would have all her friends with her. Marlene went to one of the magic shops in the area, and Chris tagged along, rats. Please, don't think they are ghosting you just because they have other plans. Trying for Venus Inc., nooo!

“Don’t think they love GSD cases, but I bet you could make a Cinderella-like enchantment that catches their attention,” Miriam noted.

Caro laughed in agreement, and yet a growing side within her really considered it. If Grimma were never to return, nothing would stop her from regaining her popularity, going back to being the queen bee. But that was a big ask…

If she did nothing about it.

Miriam, why did you have to open your big mouth? Now Caro is more determined to ensure she keeps her 'good looks' even when Grimma returns.

Saturday, January 7th - 5:02pm
Berlin’s mall deck

Chris, you have to be more careful when it has snowed recently. Close one, don't want to out yourself as a mutant in public, Chris. The skate park is closed; I should have known Chris came for that.

“Yeah, but it’s different,” Chris said with a slight shrug. “It’s the difference between finding a challenge in a toy and making the toy. It doesn’t feel the same.”

Why not have any skater friends at Whateley work on a project to make an on-campus skate park?

Ducked out and lost track of them. Chris, you need a GPS for your friends when off-campus. Caro's new hangers-on annoy me.

“Well… Some girls at Dickinson take pride in the lack of GSD cases in their cottage. It’s the classic pretties versus uglies between the two cottages. Poe might also be included… but there aren’t that many cases around to count.”

Those girls give Dickinson a bad name, and need to be taught that having GSD or not doesn't matter when they are all mutants.

Aww, so Marlene knows why Caro is acting how she is since the GSD is gone.

After a brief pause, Chris answered. “I don't think there’s a difference. That no matter what, you and Caro are still the same friends.”

“I guess so. I just hope this new Caro isn’t the real one she’d been holding in.”

We all hope that. Hehe, Chris being deep. Hmm, now I'm curious to see what Chris bought for her friends as late Christmas gifts. Regarding the cat, it seems Marlene has been using magic to conceal her GSD or suppress it in some way, based on what we've seen.

Ouch, Caro is upset that Chris and Marlene left her. Caro! How could you be so cruel to a friend like Marlene just to play along with these mean girls? A Puck doll, a cat from an anime Chris watched, and she got it as a gift for Caro. Josephine pulls up, time to return to Whateley.

Making a headcount, the chaperone was more than relieved to know another outing to Berlin had happened without any troubles.

Okay, so it hasn't happened as often as in year 1. But the school year isn't over yet!

Monday, January 9th - 4:03pm
Whitman Cottage

Caro posing and taking selfies for her social media account, oh brother. Uh, Caro. Fear of vengeance is not something you should be instilling into your old classmates. Yes, you need to realize the good your GSD did; it made you stand out. Oh god, that message she posted, so painful.

Caro, if you love them getting salty in the comments, then their insults do mean something to you. Sofia added cat to the menagerie, good choice. Caro, you are going out of your way to insult people and brag about your looks while not thinking about when Grimma comes back. So yes, others are reminding you of it, but not in the hopes of it happening, just to prepare you so it won't be a shock. Listen to Sofia! Grimma won't like your plan; it is going to backfire, and you will end up regretting it, Caro.

Some friends want to meet at the Crystal Hall, all those things, these are fair-weather friends who, the moment you need help, won't be there. Oh crap, Caro took the cursed item her grandmother sent her. An entity sealed within it, and you didn't think to take this to the head of the Mystic Arts department immediately!

“And why does it feel… off?” Sofia asked. Of course, while non-mages couldn’t see the magic that radiated from it, that didn’t mean they were all completely oblivious to it.

“Because it’s, um, cursed.”

“Embrujado!?” Sofia blurted out.

Okay, someone needs to be sent to collect Caro's grandmother's gallery for the safety of everyone.

“It’s nothing dangerous, really. Think she said she bought this thing in a German town some time ago. It was said to have either helped a town or ruined it when pests came to the spot… although I can’t recall if she said it was the original item or if it was an imitation. It does have a nice name, though: rattenfänger.”

The Pied Piper of Hamlin's flute! Real or an imitation, Eldritch needs to be given it for disposal, past tense. An item treated to contain an entity. So, if Grimma doesn't agree to your demands, you are going to try and imprison her in that thing. Caro, you are being highly foolish and very arrogant right now.

“Removing the curse? I don’t think so. I mean, my grandma said that she would’ve been able to release the curse without breaking the thing… but she hasn’t because of how useful it is,” Caro said. “Which is why, before I tend to my new social life, I’ll be passing by Mrs. Grimes or Vanity Girl just to know how it can be done.”

Mrs. Grimes, wait, Grimes got married since Gen 1! Caro, you can't promise anything cursed will be safe.

Chris and Gwen are stuck helping Mrs. Horton organize the cottage's evening. There go some of Caro's plans. They aren't trying to avoid you, Caro. Did she have this kind of paranoia about things before she manifested?

Tuesday, January 10th - 6:11pm
Whitman Cottage

Laxed classes, so it is still like break. Sofia greets Chris and Gwen when they show up, dropping by to say hi. Aww, the Parkour Lab won't open, poor Chris. Marlene is out at a meeting for the anime club, and Caro is off at one of those 3 things she was invited to. What is the jackbox?

Rats, Caro was back in time for curfew and missed Chris and Gwen by 10 minutes. And the same the next day, neglecting her friends over her reignited social life is a bad idea.

Thursday, January 12th - 6:52pm
Tunnels near Caro’s workshop - second basement

Caro, what did you make? An enchanted container to hold the curse, very bad idea.

What she would do with the curse was up for debate. Whether she would unleash it on her enemy or leave it stored for as long as the thing held, whether it would be released or transferred to a better vessel, it was a question for another time.

You don't toy with ancient curses; this isn't like the curses you have crafted with Grimma's help, Caro. All this just for the flute, so if Grimma doesn't agree to her demands, she can try to imprison her in the flute. Wrong, Caro. This time, you are trying to deal with the spirit of myth and stories using an item from a German story; she will take this as a grave insult.

Now, who is it with feline eyes spying on Caro from the air vent? Mew, it has been a while. Aww, it is nice to see Mew is getting more adventurous. I hope Cookie doesn't play too roughly with her.

She reminded Mew of the frequent dark visitor to the abandoned lab, albeit somewhat faded. A kind figure out of this world that would happily tell her stories, or turn on the screen to keep her entertained.

Aww, Grimma being Mew's friend is something I love.

Wednesday, January 11th - 6: 42pm
Dickinson party room in the tunnels.

Caro, you should come to your friends for comments and advice about makeup. Or at least some of the nicer girls on campus, not these girls. Magic color-changing ink, she did that for vanity, good grief.

How she’d missed having people fawning over her.

This is getting sickening to watch. Just how far will Caro climb before she falls again due to her vanity and ego?

*cringes* Okay, those girls fighting over the magic ink, that is just pathetic. Feeding her ego more, I just want to scream right now at those social climbers. Tonia, the girl from Melville, has me worried about her girlfriends and getting to know Caro better. Smile inwardly at your friends having to ask if you are going to be somewhere just so they can visit with you. Caro, you need to get your head deflated now.

Having fun with the girls and asking if they want to come over. Caro, you are forgetting who your real friends are.

“That Chris,” Caro mused with a light smile. She did feel a little bad that her friends weren’t there with her, but this wasn’t their element.

A message like that from Chris, from all your friends, and yet you keep ditching them to hang out with your new 'friends'.

Chris texts to ask if Caro is free tomorrow.

Because, as much as she hated to admit it, Chris and Marlene’s ideas of fun would belong at the bottom of the social chain, as far as she knew.

And yet, a part of her felt duty-bound to just spend some time with the girls that stuck next to her no matter what last year. Even despite her worst moments…

It was still a very close call, taking several seconds of her typing an answer before deleting and going for the other.

[Sorry, I have some plans. Maybe later.] She texted with a sigh.

I want to hit her with a clue-by-four right now. Saying they're your friends, while ditching them to social climb, sure doesn't seem like you are a good friend anymore, Caro.

Sunday, January 15th - 11:23am
On the way to Whitman

“And Caro is our friend. Don’t think it right to treat her as the ‘new’ Caro.” Even though she wanted to believe that, she was incredibly uncertain. “Just try to treat her as we always do. Should be about right, right??”

Gwen, has she been treating you the same as always? Ouch, what Chris said is kind of hard to ignore. Was Caro just pretending to enjoy what they liked in the past to have friends to hang out with?

A week back at school, and Gwen hasn't seen Vic yet. Boy, he hasn't gotten good at avoiding people. Today is Vic's birthday, and Gwen is worried about him. If you knew the history of Vic's birthday, you would know why he doesn't like to celebrate it. What cosplay costume is Marlene working on? Caro, why did you say those things about the trip to Berlin? Why is she ditching her friends once again? Caro made a tongue bath joke to Marlene; she needs to be dragged away from her new 'friends'. Relax, I'm just joking, is never an excuse for a cruel comment!

“That is not cool,” Gwen mumbled. “She’s acting as though she won’t be going back to the way she used to be.”

Caro is plotting, but doesn't realize how powerful Grimma is.

“No,” Marlene shook her head. “We’re just meeting the real Caro. I’m convinced that, if Grimma hadn’t altered her appearance, that’s the Caro we would’ve been dealing with all this time.”

Marlene isn't wrong; I just wish Caro would remember who her real friends are.

“It slipped my mind. Some of the girls that were coming were already planning to go early, and I knew that you two had stuff you were busy with, so I didn’t want to rush you.”

Someone needs to slap Caro at this point for her callous attitude and cruel remarks to make her realize what she is becoming.

Wednesday, January 19th - 5:42pm
Whitman Cottage - Room 247

Social works and activities, she just cares about getting ahead in popularity now. She is doing the same thing she did at her old school before she manifested; her ego is out of control. Grimma messed up your life; you took the deal expecting power without a price. Why is popularity so important to you over true friendship, Caro? Relive her glory days in junior high, arrggh.

You have abandoned your friends for the path to power and popularity. She messed with your form to teach you humility, and that false friends aren't worth it. You didn't learn. At least she kept Puck and liked the gift.

“... I get that we’re not entirely happy with her but we can’t try to fix her.”

So that’s what they were really like when she wasn’t there to see…

You hear part of a conversation and assume the worst, you haven't even been around lately, Caro.

A few minutes ago.

Gwen and Chris are heading to Whitman to meet up with Caro.

Even though neither of them wished to admit that they were starting to grow concerned about the state of their friendship.

If only Caro knew their concerns and the whole conversation. Chris is afraid of losing her as a friend, and Gwen is afraid this is the true Caro, ouch. Chris sent a message or two, but Caro didn't answer.

Swerve asked Chris if she could cut her hair, good grief. Gwen went on a date with Dereck, but is afraid as Dereck prods her about her life before Whateley. Sofia and Marlene are coming back with a group of Whitman girls; they think Caro might have already left, but still a chance she is up there. Adjustment period, Chris, please don't try to excuse Caro's rude behavior with that. Ouch, Gwen wanted to have an intervention, but backed out of it. Caro is cracking jokes at the expense of the girls with GSD. Okay, Caro needs some humble pie and fast.

And here is the part from Gwen that Caro heard, thinking this is all they said about her. Caro's response, that isn't what Gwen said at all.

“Well, it’s more like an adjustment. You’ve been blowing your friends off over the past week and a half. And being unpleasant to be around.”

Caro's response, ack. It is like she can't tell her real friends from the fake ones anymore.

“It’s a very polite way of calling you a stuck-up B.”

“Oh, I heard that before. Kinda what they used to call me and my friends before I came to Whateley, but they did that out of jealousy,” Caro said thinking back. “Granted, they were mostly right.”

Caro, think about why they say that, please.

“And that doesn’t give you pause?” Marlene crossed her arms. “You’re just acting like the classic mean girl.”

“Am not.”

She has been around the stuck-up yes people she has surrounded herself with; she can't see the truth of what she has become. She said those things, that is not affectionately, Caro!

“But you don’t take well when people stand up to you. When they insult you back, like Pastel did, you didn’t exactly wait to pull out your magic as a threat.”

Caro frowned, much like she caught someone speaking out of line. “I didn’t like her attitude… and she kinda deserves it, but in the end I didn’t follow through.”

Caro! How dare you threaten someone else just because you can't take a taste of your own medicine! Police her words, sorry if that is how you feel. Caro, you need a lesson in humility before you tick off the wrong person and get sent to Doyle or worse.

Caro turned towards Chris and Gwen with a threatening glare, trying to coax them to drop the subject. It didn’t work.

Grimma, get back already before Caro does something in anger she can't take back.

“Either way. I tried to. That’s the kind of thing I’m used to having fun with. I always cave in and agree to watching your nerdy movies or playing games with you. Why can’t it be the other way around?” Caro said, her tone trying to sound hurt. “Now that I’m back to how I’m supposed to be I thought there would be more things I could do with my friends.”

As you said to them, if you felt that way, you should have spoken up and told them.

Gwen, I know you don't want conflict, but this has to happen.

“Why? Because the new ones accept me for who I am? At least they don’t wish for me to get dragged back into looking like a freak? But that’s probably what you’d want, right? Like your dumb cartoons. No wonder your old pictures show you like some nerd.”

Caro, you have gone too far. Calling Sofia a loser and a furry, yet when Gwen says you went too far, you act hurt and like she is taking sides. I hate it when someone acts like the victim when they are the one in the wrong.

Marlene is right, you made a deal with Grimma, yet you act like you don't have to keep your part of it, because you want to keep your current appearance.

“This was a long overdue thing,” Caro scoffed. “The main reason I came to Whateley, for me, was to see if any of the magic teachers would fix my appearance. Unfortunately, all I got was the ‘it’s too dangerous’ answer. ‘We don’t do that.’ ‘Don’t even try it.’ ‘A paladin shouldn’t make demands but just accept.’ All handwaved dismissals to cover that I just can’t be out and about as a freak case. So, my next hope was to research a way to strike a deal with Grimma, in spite of everything… but then, I was distracted. Because of you.”

They befriended you, and you blame them for that. Caro, after this is all over, you will be lucky to have even one friend to stand by your side.

“Yes! You two. I now realize that you’ve been distracting me all this time. I would’ve been more prepared if I had been focused on my goal.”

“Is that all that was?” Gwen said.

There was a sadness in the girl’s eyes that wasn’t expected at all. It made Caro stammer. “I-I had fun… b-but I could’ve been better.& Could’ve done better.”

You may be sad about saying it, Caro, but you blame them for your own lack of discipline and working on a solution when you had the time.

“You sound so much like Grimma,” Caro scoffed, raising her voice just to stop Marlene from talking. “You both talk like you know what’s best for me. She would have me turn into a fairy tale monster just to ‘steer me away from my bad friends’. You don’t sound any different from her!” And she punctuated that by throwing a halfmade snowball at Marlene.

Caro, you are a fool to not listen to Grimma or Marlene about this. True friends don't care what you look like, yet you didn't learn that lesson.

Ouch, the counterstrike by Marlene knocked Caro into the bench. Chris and Gwen go to help her up, but Caro doesn't want their help. React to your happiness, you threw a snowball at Marlene simply because you didn't like what she said! You haven't really heard anything any of them said, just what you want to hear. Gwen, don't spiral thinking about what you might have done better.

“I don’t know if this is the real Caro… but I don’t want to believe she thinks that a friendship with you two isn’t worth keeping,” Marlene assured.

I hope Caro gets over herself soon. Go off to hang somewhere else for now, and Sofia is stuck sharing a room with Caro, who is ticked with her again, rats.

Wednesday, January 19th - 11:32pm
Whitman Cottage - Room 247

Caro, they were trying to talk with you, reason with you, and you see this as a betrayal.

“How dare she? Saying that I’ve changed? That the me with horns and scales, the one that looks like the villain straight out of a fairytale, was the better version of me? Do they thrive on my misery?” Caro& got to her feet. “I’m just enjoying myself. Trying to get back the life I used to have before everything. Isn’t that right?”

You ditched them to hang out with fake friends and have started making cruel remarks to those with GSD, including Marlene. You need a recording to show you what you have been doing at this point to get it.

Using that on Sofia so she can sleep soundly, at least it seems kind. You took them to the mall, but planned to do things only you would enjoy. They ditched you once, and you started to consider whether they were really your friends right then and there. You need counseling. New friends to replace them, Caro, that is the talk of someone hurt and in pain who needs to talk it out with her friends instead of bottling it up until it explodes forth. A change of cottager, you will regret it, Caro.

You were betrayed once, but that doesn't mean it is happening again. Ugh, no wonder she is so quick to think it is betrayal again. About to take another selfie, but what is on the nightstand but the ring. Grimma is back. Caro is polite to Grimma, and Grimma has just arrived.

“I’m changing my phrasing. Someone told me it could be… obnoxious at times, others just love it. But I’m willing to entertain it.”

Well, that will make reading Grimma's speech much easier. Grimma had fun with the ring, and some of her acquaintances found it an object of interest as well.

“Very special individuals. I’m a pest, a ghost, an ally and a tutor to most of them. To some, I am a mother, to others, a friend. There’s even a group that thinks of me as something more,” Grimma mused as her finger danced in the air, creating the outlines of men and women. “Strands of every life. Rangers, caretakers, mages, enchanters, writers and so on. Different walks of different rounds… but worry not. You are among them, as my paladin, as they mentioned.”

Boy, I now wonder the number of people she visits. Caro, being hostile towards Grimma is foolish at best. Bring Caro into someone else's story, oh boy.

Caro tries to work on Grimma's sympathy with tales of what might have gone wrong on the trip if she had to rely on a glamour.

“What happened back then was… unfortunate. But rather than the risk, it seems as though a block was born that bars you from a world of fun to be had.” Grimma smiled, or at least Caro imagined she did. “I should strive to help you.”

“I’m not going to try.”

Caro, you have Grimma and her magic, yet are afraid of what it can truly do for you. She strings Shisa along rather than admit she can't do it; that is cruel. Caro, you are taking everything Grimma and your true friends say in the wrong light right now. Those are curses, yikes. Grimma collects them; Caro, please abort your plan, it would be foolish at best to try to trap her.

An argument with her friends.

“I don’t know if I should use that word anymore. Marlene, Chris, Gwen and Sofia have been acting up against me all this time. They don’t seem to like me when I’m not a monster. Clearly awaiting your return.” Caro inwardly cursed, wishing that she hadn’t brought up the subject of their deal.

Caro, you are misinterpreting things and seeing everything in a bad light.

“Because I’m on my way back to being popular. To build up the following I used to have before. Back to being the best version of myself.”

Caro could hear Grimma sigh while her head shook. “I sincerely doubt that.”

“Of course you would side with them,” Caro scoffed. “I was working on making new connections every day. I was regaining the social life I once had. Going places, getting a following and becoming the most important person in the thoughts of others.”

Caro, if you can't see that friendship is more important than those things, you have serious issues.

“Well, that is what happened. The friends think of me as an enemy now that I’m no longer suffering from my appearance.”

“Suffering,” Grimma shook her head. “A funny word to use considering what I’ve seen of you around here.” With that, she stood up and took a couple of steps around the room that felt more immense within Grimma’s domain. “It does bring back memories of the ‘you’ from before. Someone who would willingly stave off the culling of vapid company to avoid sifting the gold from the chaff.”

You care more for attention and 'likes' on social media, you care for quantity over quality of friendship. That is what Grimma is trying to say.

You know Grimma is right, you were happy with your friends, and you are throwing them all away for vapid, shallow idiots who will abandon you at the first sign of trouble. Caro, you hear what Grimma is saying, but your fears at taking hold of you again. A counterspell barrier, Caro, you have done it now. Sand and a spell to trap Grimma in a barrier, to force her to take the deal or be imprisoned. Caro, if only Mrs. Carson were still around and could have drummed into you the danger of trying to screw over a powerful spirit like Grimma.

“And bow to you? There is no negotiating your way out of a deal. You won’t succeed.” Grimma’s words came as a grave warning. It was enough to strengthen Caro’s resolve to move on.

Caro, that was a warning; no matter what you do to Grimma, this won't end well for you. Caro, using the flute is borderline suicide.

“I needed to work up the courage for this. But I’m not going to let you undo this new life that I’m building. Throwing me back into how I was… it is too much to even think about abandoning,” Caro said. “You always told me to be more daring and seek the next twist.”

And yet you were too much of a coward to try transformation magic on yourself; this is a lot more risky.

All that was acting on Grimma's part, I knew this wouldn't work. Oh, so it did work; she just likes to act when given the chance.

“To think you would go to these lengths to learn the wrong lesson. I’m both impressed and disappointed,” Grimma said, with no malice about her words. “I still applaud the effort you put on this twist and I can’t wait to see where the consequences will get you. Maybe further along, past the obstacles from before.

Caro, you have just fallen into a big blunder. Never try to screw over a spirit when you don't know all the rules in play! Oh, Caro, drunk with power on your deed is the worst thing to be.

That wasn't standing your ground with Grimma and winning. That was throwing a temper tantrum to get your way, and not thinking about the potential consequences. Oh, she won't hurt or kill you, but there are fates far worse than either of those when magic is involved. Caro, if you think Grimma is fine with this, you are more foolish than I thought was possible.

This magical creature, it isn't Mew, is it? Hhm, it seems like Grimma might have left behind a failsafe in case of something like this happening. That tale has me curious as to the meaning of it. Is it referring to Caro? It sure seems to be.