A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure
Paying the Pied Pythoness
by
MaLAguA
Part One
Friday, January 6th - 4:12pm
Poe Cottage - Common room.
With school resuming next week, the situation was mostly the same across most of the cottages: Students coming back into the cottages, getting set up and exchanging news about their holidays and the break from the insanity of the school–or the normalcy of the place, depending on what they preferred. Despite the arrivals popping up since Wednesday, Friday was the day most of them arrived. As such, the cottages’ common rooms were filled with buzz and noise.
Gwen Silver had been about for a good while. Having been dropped off right after lunch, she spent the next couple of hours offering her enhanced strength to move the luggage of her cottagemates and the late arrivals to the school year. It never hurt to provide a friendly smile and a welcoming attitude to those that were finding themselves in a new environment. All the while practicing her conversation skills.
The arrival of her roommate, Ping, granted her a moment of respite after helping her carry the CPUs and pieces of tech back to their room. It was nice, just resting and catching up until her phone marked four in the afternoon. Afterward, she was ready to get back out and see what she could do or who she could find. It didn’t take long for someone to find her.
“Gwen!” A voice called behind her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Chris!” Gwen turned around to see her friend appear up the flight of stairs, bounding with the girl’s usual parkour acrobatics. Chris vaulted the corner, kicking both feet as high as her head before touching the ground with bouncing steps and leaping off the rest of the way down. For a second, Gwen feared that the girl would end with a spinning flip that would end with her either tripping or crashing against someone… again. And earn them a stern talk from Mrs. Horton as to no horseplay allowed on the stairs.
Fortunately, Chris refrained from making the flip. Instead, she leapt the last five steps while using the deceleration field around her to ensure a safe landing.
“Did you just get here?” Rather than giving her the customary and expected girlfriend hug, Chris tapped down a few step away.
It did give Gwen a good chance of seeing her friend’s attire, though.
Loose jeans and an old t-shirt that bore the faded print from a Power Rangers team. It wasn’t the most appealing combination for a girl… but not out of place on a teenage boy. Fortunately, Chris had her new coat on that could easily be zipped shut. The same couldn’t be said about the rest. Her face had a sheen of sweat to it, with her hair matted and greasy. While there was still the innate appeal of Chris’s face, her lack of care did no favors for her appearance.
“I did… got here after lunch, but spent the last hour catching up with my roommate helping her get set up,” Gwen said. “Did you just… get here?”
“How did you know?”
“Well…” Gwen said, gesturing up and down. “You look fresh out of the plane. I mean. I know I’m not that much better, but at least I washed my face in the airport’s bathroom.”
“I… I guess I didn’t think it was needed,” her friend answered sheepishly.
Gwen sighed, feigning frustration as she rested her forehead against her hand. “Chris. You are… You need to be more presentable. People are just this close to giving you the slob award.”
“I’m not even trying?” Chris was self-aware enough to run her hand through her hair. But all that did was ruffle it.
Gwen rolled her eyes. Chris needed more contact with other girls to keep up her appearances–and the fact that Gwen was counting herself as a decent example felt like something crazy. Especially when thinking about how things were last year, when she first began to manifest. That roller-coaster of thrill to shock to panic to sadness to a semblance of acceptance felt distant enough to look at it with nostalgia, and yet so close she could relive it by closing her eyes.
Those first days in Whateley, it wasn’t just about learning about her powers and what she was capable of, but also starting a clean slate on a whole new side of the social dynamic. Getting comfortable with who she was shaping up to be and who she became took some time but eventually got into a spot where she was happy with who reflected in the mirror, in no small part thanks to friends and family. Of course, there were some things that she was still figuring out, or trying not to think about. Things like dating or having a crush towards boys. Even the realization that she had never really been attracted to girls back when she was Oliver did little to get her off the jittery mindset whenever she came across any guys and…
Gwen opened her eyes to see Chris who, just to test the slob allegations, was pulling her shirt up to her nose to give it a clear sniff. “Stop that!” She gave the girl a quick hiss and a light smack. Being herself with Chris around definitely made her feel like the boy side within her was never really gone.
“What?” her friend said, defensively. “I was just wondering how bad it was… I think this is one of the shirts I was wearing during the break. I must’ve put it on without thinking after my mom woke me up. Said I was going to miss my flight, so I put on the closest thing to my bed.”
“Unbelievable…” was all Gwen could say.
“Sorry, I just had so much fun playing video games yesterday that I ended up staying up till late,” Chris said sheepishly. “I’m so glad my parents helped me do the packing.”
“Thank goodness for them,” Gwen said. “Because I wasn’t going to let you go out like that.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. We should go out and check things out,” Chris said as she turned around to go back upstairs, to the Sophomore’s floor. “I know my shirt smells. I’ll have it washed the next chance I get.”
“Good,” Gwen answered as she followed her up and into the lesbians and changeling wing, to room 237. Chris unlocked the door, using her thumb to push it open and step in.
“Your roommate isn’t back yet?” Only half of the space was occupied, with Chris’s bags at the foot of the bed.
“She told me she was going to be late. Probably arrive here tomorrow or on Sunday.”
“Lucky,” Gwen noted as she closed the door behind her. Chris was already taking off her jacket and making a mess of her tidied luggage as she searched about for clothes.
We’re all girls… but it’s still polite, Gwen thought to herself as she averted her eyes from her friend’s shameless lack of care. “So… how was the holiday? Got any good presents for Christmas?”
“Oh. I got the games I wanted. I’ve been missing my console while I was at school… So I might’ve gone a bit overboard playing,” Chris mused. Gwen could hear her shuffle about with fabrics.
“That’s nice. Anything else?” Gwen asked, not really thinking about her words as she stole a side glance from her friend, in the process of putting on deodorant after having made up her mind about her outfit.
“Hm… well. Mom got me a bunch of clothes. And by that I mean… a lot.”
“Really? Are they nice clothes?”
“A bit of everything… Some are my style. Others… not so much,” Chris said. “Still… she’s very excited about buying me clothes. She wasn’t like that before, either with me or my brother.”
Her mom must’ve been a bit too happy to have a daughter, Gwen thought. In her own case, most of her clothes were hand-me-downs from Ronnie’s closet. “And, did you do anything else other than play video games?”
Chris thought for a moment, almost to the point that she stopped what she was doing. “Eh… no. I did want to go to the skate parks, but it was closed because of the weather.”
“Really? Not visiting old friends or anything?” Gwen said only to realize how the question might be a sore topic. Many of the students in the lesbians and changeling wing had cut ties with their old friends after not just manifesting as mutants, but as those belonging to the other sex. Feigning the death of their old personas or just distancing themselves with a cover story was what could be expected–which is what admittedly, made Gwen’s trip home as a bit of a lonely affair.
Of course, with social media being ever-present in life, it was hard to imagine anyone’s manifestation status or condition as a mutant being a secret. Between classmates comparing notes and profiles going inactive and someone else appearing in the close circle of contacts, it wasn’t so hard to uncover the truth, as unbelievable as it might be, through some basic sleuthing.
“No… it was quiet.” Chris’s voice regained some of her usual tone. “Just stayed home and played some games. Spent time with my family.” And, with that, she was done slipping the shirt on, much simpler but far more presentable and stylish while not leaning onto one side or another of the gender spectrum. The jacket went back on soon after. “How about you? How was Christmas and New Year’s in Rhode Island?”
“It was the same. I guess,” Gwen said, before shaking her head. That was a lie. “No. I mean, not the same. It was different.”
“Vic?” Chris asked as she tried to stuff the rummaged clothes back into the bag after throwing the smelly shirt into a cloth hamper.
“Yeah.” Gwen admitted, sitting down on the bed just to rest for a moment. “I mean… It was nice… but it just hit me differently. Last year I was in the final stretch of my own changes but it was still the five of us: Mom, Dad, Ronnie, Vic and I, sometimes even a close friend of ours would join us… even though my sister was going to be leaving for college, she was true to her promise of seeing us again.This time, without him there, well, mentioning anything about him just killed the conversation, every time.”
“That bad?”
“Just a couple of occasions,” Gwen said, trying to not make it sound like it was a miserable celebration. “My parents blame themselves for him running away. My dad was worried behind his smile. Even if he knew that Vic’s going to Whateley under mysterious means. Fortunately, the day after Christmas, sent him a short message to his phone. That helped.”
“Couldn’t he send it on Christmas?”
“My exact same thought. Would’ve improved the night just a bit.” Gwen shook her head.
“And… Do you think Vic will go back home?”
“I can’t tell for certain,” Gwen said, though she leaned towards a negative answer. While she hoped for Vic to reach out to her Dad and ask to come back home, that was unlikely. She really didn’t think Vic would suck up his pride or shame after the runaway stunt and ask to go back home, just like that. “I just want everyone to be happy. Maybe living together isn’t an option… but at least to have them be on normal speaking terms.”
And then there was the matter of the situation Vic was in. How he managed to get sent to Whateley or convince Dereck’s mom to host him during the break. While she didn’t really have the full scope of the picture, she couldn’t help but suspect there was something hinky. Perhaps there was something else involved? Some organization or third party that paid his tuition? But Vic had been so cagey on the matter, she dreaded it might be something serious, like he’d gotten himself into someone’s debt.
But that couldn’t be it. Mrs. Kythe was a retired heroine, and both Vic and Dereck spoke highly of her…
She shook her head just as Chris decided to change the subject as well.
“So… I’m ready,” she said, standing before her friend and making a ‘ta daa’ gesture that was met with a chuckle.
“Your face is still sweaty. Let’s get you washed up.”
“Alright… alright,” Chris conceded as she got up.
A trip to the washroom put Chris in a more presentable status. Not perfect, but just enough with the justification that she came right off a flight. So with that, the two made their way down the stairs, ready to head out.
“How about we go to the parkour lab?” Chris suggested.
“Really? This early?”
“I want to book some time.”
“Don’t think the parkour lab or any place is working till next week.”
Chris thought for a moment. “Maybe the Crystal Hall is open? Having dinner would make up for the airplane food. Definitely neither good nor enough.”
“You had the airplane food?” Gwen snickered. “I had a bite of burger after I landed.” She paused to do a self check. “Although it wasn’t enough; I’m starting to feel hungry again. And the Crystal Hall should definitely be open.”
“Hey, maybe we can grab something to eat and visit Caro,” Chris said as she searched her coat pocket for her phone.
“Hm… did you, by chance, check her social media? I got notifications that she’s been active there but haven’t been checking,” Gwen noted.
“Not really,” Chris said, though her eyes were drawn to the Poe common room.
“It’s just got me wondering. How active would you be online if you had horns and scales…” Gwen trailed off as she followed her friend’s gaze. Not long after, a group of boys bounced through, bumping their way through the relative calm and quiet.
They were boastful and in high spirits, laughing and joking with each other. She guessed they must have had a fun time playing outside, judging by the bits of frost that clung to their jackets. Flakes fell off with each step taken. But there was something else: color. On the frost and, more importantly, on the snowballs that were bundled in a container one of them carried, there was green, blue, orange and violet, for what could’ve been a sort of paintball match.
Gwen didn’t recognize them by name, but she had seen them around the cottage. They were probably freshmen outside of the lesbians and changeling wing. There was, however, one of them that she’d heard of. The boy with wispy red hair on his head, he walked alongside the pack, tossing a blue snowball into the air only to effortlessly dash around to the other side to catch it. Swerve, a speedster who tended to lose his cool when talking to anyone of the opposite sex.. It wasn’t impossible to talk to him, but he usually slid in backhanded comments and the stink eye. Direct name calling was as bad as it’d gotten. Gwen had once got an insult just from standing with a group when the junior girls were trying to berate him.
“Got you good there!” Swerve laughed, patting the back of one of the boys, releasing flakes of blue. “No one can hit me when I’m skidding across the snow.”
“You’re insufferable, you know that?” the boy grumbled while the others chuckled.
“I like you all, too,” Swerve teased back, quite flirtatious.
“Are you sure we should be keeping these indoors?” asked one of the boys. “What if it stains the carpet?”
“Relax, the special color dye has a fixative to it. These snowballs won’t break apart easily,” Swerve answered. “Plus, soluble dye and ice. It shouldn’t be hard to clean, right?” His gaze strayed towards the open space within the common room that just invited him to play around with it. He tossed the snowball behind for a long toss and catch..
“That shouldn’t be allowed in, should it?” Gwen wondered as she turned to her friend, only to see Chris fixated on Swerve playing around and the colored snowballs. The thrill of her smile left no doubt to what she was thinking, as she asked:
“Can I play next time? Sounds fun.”
“Huh?” The boys turned to look in Chris’ way, and she reeled back from the attention.
“We’re not letting girls play… this is a rough game,” Swerve said as he threw the ball upwards, dangerously close to the ceiling, only to catch it at another point of the room.
“Well…” The boys exchanged looks. “We could try to play some other time, but we’re done for today.”
“Eyup. Sorry not sorry,” Swerve said, earning a subtle roll of the eyes from his ‘buddies’, one that Chris missed.
“Aw… well, I’m heading out anyway… Mind if I have one or three of those?” Chris pointed at the snowballs carried in the container.
“No,” Swerve said, but when the guys didn’t echo to him, he stopped on his tracks. “Right, guys?”
The boys exchanged looks and shrugged to each other, with the one holding the container propping it up so Chris could get her pick.
“And don’t mind Swerve,” another added. “He lets his mouth do more running than his legs.”
“They’re not nail polish, they’re ammo,” Swerve said as he tossed the ball into the air to dust his gloves off, letting blue colored frost onto the floor.
“You’re not going to report us, right?” one of the boys whispered. “The colorant is easy to wash.”
“We’re not RAs,” Gwen said before turning to Chris as she was grabbing a pair, offering one to Gwen, who declined. “Why do you even want snowballs?”
“Well, they look nice? Thought I could practice my juggling… or just throw them. They’re snowballs. That’s what they’re for.” Chris snickered.
“As long as you don’t throw them in here,” Gwen said, giving a nod to the guys as they moved away.
“You can try them out on the wall, outside the cottage. We’ve been playing around there,” one of the kids said as they were on their way up the stairs.
“You heard them. We can do it on the way. I have a mean throw,” Chris snickered.
“Oh really? Like this?” Swerve assumed a runner’s stance before lobbing the snowball in Chris and Gwen’s direction. Once the ball left his fingers, he dashed forward to make the catch.
Being in the way of a speedster should’ve resulted in a comedic yet painful clash. And that seemed to be what the speedster had in mind as he rushed at the two girls. Maybe he expected them to flinch and jump back. And even if they stood their ground, he was prepared to pull a rather stylish glide around them.
But Chris instead stepped in with her powers.
Passing the snowball in her hands to Gwen, she traced her hands through the air, spreading her purple deceleration aura in the way of Swerve’s path. The boy’s would-be crash was stopped when Chris’s palm touched his chest with as much momentum as a rough bump, while the thrown blue snowball was safely snatched in the air by her free hand.
“What the…” Swerve stammered as the last bits of the deceleration field in the air disappeared.
“That was cool. I wasn’t aware there were speedsters in the house.” Chris smiled.
“You don’t really pay that much attention around Poe,” Gwen chided as she took the snowball from Chris’ hand as though it was the key evidence of a crime. “That was reckless. People could’ve been hurt.”
“Yeah,” Chris conceded, albeit halfheartedly. “It was really risky. Could’ve been really bad if it’d been someone else.”
“Shut up. I knew what I was doing.” Swerve snapped. “If anything, you should’ve stepped back. Speedsters are dangerous.”
“That’s something I can agree with,” Chris smiled as she offered her hand for a shake. “Codename’s Celerity. I’m both the fastest and the slowest speedster here.”
“Hm… Think I’ve seen you around… the purple and white streak in your hair is easy enough to remember.”
“Isn’t it?” Chris said sheepishly as she reached for the streak of color that adorned her otherwise raven black hair.
“Be it as it may be. Think we should report to Mrs. Horton about this,” Gwen said.
“What? Why?” Swerve snapped, his legs jittery for a moment.
“Yeah, why?” Chris unexpectedly took Swerve’s side. “There’s no victim here, right?” And with that, she offered the blue snowball back to Swerve.
He just looked up at Chris with narrowed eyes as though wondering if there was some plot at play. Even as she raised up the ball again to renew the offer, he just scoffed and looked away, towards Gwen.
“I know you. You’re StarSentry, right?”
“I… am,” Gwen said, already regretting getting herself involved in this. She couldn’t help but find Swerve’s attitude irritating.
A smirk appeared on his face. “You're the school's ‘miss popular’, one of the nicest girls in school. I think I hear the guys from the other cottages add you to their bang-able lists. So feminine that girls want to be you.”
Gwen’s mind wasn’t equipped to grapple with that observation outside of increasing the blood flow on her face and clenching her lips. Was he lying about that? He had to be? Right? She thought to herself.
“I honestly, wouldn’t be surprised, Gwen.” Chris might’ve been trying to compliment her but that made Gwen want to give her a shove.
“Hmph… Gwen? What was your old name?” Swerve continued.
“Does it matter?” Gwen wanted to hiss.
“Hey. You know the rules,” Chris said, stepping in. “We don’t pry into other people’s pasts. If they don’t want to, then say nothing.”
“Don’t tell me to shut it up.” Swerve said, looking at Chris. “How about you? Also going to go quiet if I ask you?”
“No,” Chris said casually. “My original name is Christian Corbryn, Chris for short.”
“And now you go by,” Swerve carried on, his tone seemed to hint that he was going for a gotcha with whatever would be the answer, except…
“I still go by Chris.” She said it so casually and honestly, it was an answer Swerve didn’t know how to react outside of flinching.
“Really? Just Chris? Not Christina or Chrissy?”
“Well, Christina is my legal name and I hate the nickname Chrissy. Just Chris works.”
That got Swerve to pause and take a step back, just to judge Chris’ outfit. “Your clothes are neat. More boyish than I imagined.”
“Oh, this is what I’m comfortable with,” Chris noted.
“Really?” Swerve asked.
“I don’t really have much fashion sense. My mom bought these for me. Otherwise, I would’ve just opted to wear my Power Rangers or super hero shirts,” Chris answered in a disarming tone.
By now, Gwen had an idea of what was happening. She’d heard that Swerve was a bit of a gynophobe from some cottage mates, hence why she was told to avoid interaction with him… but of course, there were always some exceptions, like Pat who was socially transitioning back to being a boy. Chris who wasn’t that into the femininity scale was, inadvertently, giving the right answers.
“Hm…” was all Swerve did as he kept on inspecting.
“You want your snowball?” Chris offered again.
“Keep it. There’s more upstairs,” Swerve said as his attitude relaxed.
“Sweet.” Chris smirked.
“Say… Chris? I think I judged you poorly. Sorry,” Swerve said as he leaned in to give Chris’s figure another look, with a subtle shake of the head.
“No problem,” Chris said with a light smile.
With that, Swerve stepped away, though not before saying. “It’s a shame you’re a girl… Bet as a boy you would’ve been my type.
He had already turned around, missing Chris’ reaction as the smile lost its oomph and slowly began to fade from her face. “I…” she stammered frozen for a moment.
Gwen was quick to reach over to put a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
That was enough to get her to snap out of it. “Yeah… sorry about that. I’m sorry,” Chris said, shaking her head.
Despite being one of her best friends in the school, this was one of the peculiarities that Gwen couldn’t help but notice… but had yet to ask about. Chris was a person that, for the most part, could be defined as ‘unaware’ of certain aspects of her life. Some thought it was aloofness, with the way she often changed subjects around Poe meetings, or how she often focused on showing off some of her parkour tricks or playing video games. But whenever she was made aware of reality, her mind would blank out.
She had noticed this over the course of their freshmen year, but assumed it was a result of still being changing. Yet, it was still a problem that, as far as Gwen was aware, hadn’t been seen to by a therapist.
“Did you want to go to Whitman?” Gwen offered.
“Right,” Chris said, quickly bouncing back from that moment. “I look forward to seeing Caro again.”
“Same,” Gwen said as they returned back to their path, carrying on as they were.
“Winter term. Combat term. This should be fun,” Chris mused. “We have our team with the Capes… and we also have our mini team. We’re the three musketeers, the three primary color rangers. You, me and Caro.”
“She’ll be on board with it, right?”
“She will! Isn’t she always? We’ve been through so many things together, we’ve somehow become best friends.” Chris smiled before stopping. “One moment.”
She pointed to the side where the snow had piled over the grass. There, dyed in colors, was a wall that hadn’t been spared from the splatter, leaving a Pollock-esque design. Chris took two steps in and reeled her arm back to add a new blue explosion at the center.
When Chris passed a snowball to her, Gwen humored her friend by adding a broad green splat to the middle of the modern masterpiece.
“My fingers were starting to go numb…”
“Mine too,” Gwen said as she rubbed her hands as they continued.
“I still have a hard time believing it,” Chris said.
“What?”
“That I’m friends with someone who was the queen bee of her school. When we first met her, I was sure that it would be like in those movies and that we would be enemies till the end… but it turns out that was just the first act of our story.” Chris chuckled to herself. “Do you remember when she cursed us?”
“Yeah… the one that forced us to speak gobbledygook whenever we heard a bell…” Gwen shook her head.
“Honestly, think I got it worse. You don’t have a clue of how many bell-like sounds are around until you start looking for them,” Chris laughed. “I thought that would cement her as our enemy… but you kept on trying to befriend her.”
“Well… we went through some stuff, and realized that she was having as hard a time as we were. So I offered her invitations over and over.”
“We got into trouble together, then we had to bail ourselves out. Fought against and together…” Chris mused.
“And then she lost that bet, and had to join the capes,” Gwen mused. “Though I told her she didn’t have to follow through, she still did. I think that she might’ve done it even if the bet was cancelled.”
“You’ve tamed the dragon she was. She’s gotten really nice from the sourly antisocial and domineering horned girl we knew her as.” Chris said. “And I still can’t believe she has such a high opinion of you now that you’re the popular one.”
“Yeah,” Gwen said sarcastically. It wasn’t something she’d aimed for and wasn’t sure if she was happy or begrudging of the fact. “By the way, you wished happy new year to Caro?”
“And Merry Christmas.”
“Did she tease you about something?”
Chris thought for a second. “Actually… Yeah. Now that you mentioned, she did say she had something to show us?”
“Probably the happiest I’ve heard her, must be something really good.”
Chris’s stomach grumbled, just loud enough for them to hear. “Oh, after our planned stop at the Crystal Hall, right?”
“Yeah. Just a small detour,” Gwen said as they corrected the course, navigating through the still reviving campus as students, and one or another adult, were seen moving back in.
Friday, January 6th - 4:25pm
Whitman Cottage - Common room.
“I’m back.” Marlene Fisher, also known as Peppercat, shook the frost from her shoes as she stepped into the cottage. “It really feels like it’s going to snow tonight.”
In between the hustle and bustle going on, her entrance was met with little to no acknowledgment from the girls in the common area . Some of the girls had cast their vote on the use of the TV while she was out, and now they appeared to be marathoning The Hunger Games.
“Drat,” Marlene mumbled as she stepped into the common room. Everyone in the vicinity had their eyes trained onto the romantic scene of the movie. All she could do was pout. “I hoped we could watch Re-Zero or Bungo Stray Dogs.”
“Hey Marley,” said a girl from the side, the one with the short feline muzzle, pointed cat ears and a short velvety fur that covered her body. Her voice was sour but still friendly enough. This was Lilian Hendrick, also known as Mad Cat, a girl that was in the more awkward side of the Whitman catgirl spectrum. “Had fun outside?”
“What’s there to have fun with? Just snow and many people trudging about.” Marlene took off the puffy hat to let her own black cat ears pop up and flicker. Tracing a line through the air, she banished the containment spell, allowing her own tail to grow back out. A sigh of relief slipped through her lips as the magical effort that was in play disappeared. “Did I miss much?”
“Not really,” Lillian shrugged. “They decided on the movie and more girls arrived. Did you expect much?”
“I kind of imagined there would be some conflict. Drama? A couple of fights breaking out?” Marlene’s vision flickered and her nose twitched as her more feline traits reappeared. A slight shudder ran from the top of her tail to the back of her skull. It was the usual kickback whenever she used her power to hide her features.
“No such luck.” Lillian smirked. “Dang, so unfair to see you just change back to normal.”
“I know. I got lucky,” Marlene said. “As long as I balance things, I can hide things well enough.”
“Pft. Show off.” Lillian shook her head as she turned to look back at the movie.
Without another word, Marlene turned around and set off back to her room, only to stop as she ran into a familiar face as she turned around the corner. A latina girl of dark brown hair and rather taut physique, with her eyes looking quite wild and hints of sharper fangs as she smiled and spoke: “Marley!” Her arms were wide open for a hug.
“Sofia, how are you doing?” Marlene said after answering the gesture.
“I’m doing fine. Bien,” said the other girl. Sofia ‘Zoo’ Fontana was looking mostly human that day. More than Marlene, at least.
“That’s good to hear. Did you go home for the holidays?” Marlene pulled her friend over to the side so as to not block the flow.
“I wouldn’t miss a chance to go back home and enjoy the good food and a trip to the zoo.” Sofia smiled and looked out the window to the cottage’s yard. “Although I missed the snow. We don’t have it down there.”
“I’m glad to hear.” Marlene smiled back. It was nice to see her fellow sophomore looking so good. They'd all been worried about her after that whole thing with Whiskey and his gang, but now it was like shehad her friend back. The new year was looking up already.
“What about you?” Sofia asked.
“Same thing. Went back home, enjoyed the time with the family, tried not to cause much trouble…” Marlene left aside some minor incidents while testing out her new disguise in public. “Wished the break could’ve been a week longer. Could’ve shown my cosplay at a convention this weekend. But what can you do?” She shook her head. “So I came back here, where no one really appreciates Japanese media.”
“I think I understand” Sofia didn’t, and they both knew it. At least she was trying to be polite.
“So… has Caro arrived?”
Sofia’s expression soured slightly, turning from a friendly smile to a slightly smaller smile. “Yeah. Got here yesterday and… well, she’s really having a good time.” It was hard to tell if that last part was sarcasm or not.
“Hm… I thought you two were getting along.”
“Well, we are.” Sofia dragged her words as she considered. “Well… It’s not like we’re fighting. But…” She thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s just a me thing. I’ll tell you that she got herself a glow-up. Is that the right word?”
“You mean like a makeover?”
“Yeah, but that’s all I’ll say.” Sofia cast her eyes back the way she came. “Well, I’m going to head out to get some fresh air. Good to see you back.”
“Likewise,” Marlene said with a wave as Sofia walked the rest of the way down the stairs.
“Wonder what that meant?” Marlene wondered out loud, her black tail swishing from side to side.
Caro, also known as Malefis, was Sofia’s roommate and the GSD half of the pair. She had dark green and copper scales covering the back half of her body, elfin ears, and a pair of horns that grew from the sides of her head, curving around to her forehead before growing straight up, like a circlet or crown of sorts. Those changes came courtesy of the spirit she made the pact with: Grimma, the spirit of myth and stories, the sorceress of fables.
Needless to say, Caro had never been particularly happy about the physical changes, and spent a good chunk of the early first year at Whateley bemoaning how she got scammed and tricked.
She didn’t have to wait long, though. “Marlene! So good to see you again!” That was definitely Caro’s voice ringing behind her, but her tone was definitely chipper, as though she’d just won the biggest prize in the raffle.
“I’ve been here since yesterday. I actually thought you would’ve arrived early, like… all of us GSD cases…” Marlene trailed off as she turned around and got a good look at her friend.
At the top of the stairs was her friend, Caroline Hersebeth, the supposed sorceress of fables, given the appearance to match a fairytale sorceress. And yet now, she stood there as though that had never happened. Her horns were gone, letting her hair flow freely as she brushed them; her elfin ears were no longer hidden behind the moving locks and the scales around her body were no more, as shown by the sleeveless top she chose to wear despite the cold temps. Caro looked normal… No, she looked like a normal girl. An above median, but still normal, girl.
“Like what you see?” Caro mused. Either Marlene’s surprise must’ve been too apparent or she was just too gleeful about her situation to wait for the other girl to find the words. She took a spin to show off her scaleless arms, while brushing her hair to emphasize the lack of horns.
“You look…” Marlene managed to say, before Caro jumped in.
“I look perfect, don’t I?” Caro said with a smile.
“W-Well, yeah,” Marlene admitted. “Perfectly normal.”
“This is the real me, like, before I made the contract with Grimma, got the horns and grew the scales. Miss Popular. Guy’s heartthrob. No longer a GSD case.” Caro was ecstatic, using the phone at hand to look at her ears and the side of her neck. “I got here through the main door, like all normal-looking people.”
“And, how did you do it?” she had to ask.
“I managed to reach an agreement with Grimma. She gave me back my normal appearance and vanished for the holidays.” Caro smiled and waved at a couple of passing cottagemates, getting back looks of surprise–-and envy, in the case of a girl with blue skin and green hair.
Once it was just the two of them, Caro continued. “Because of it, I could go on the sightseeing vacation my parents prepared. How I missed that. To be normal. To have fun without having to worry about my glamour failing or anyone getting a glimpse of my scales.”
“So… you’re no longer an avatar?” Marlene wondered.
“Well, I was always more of a paladin, right? Beholden to a spirit’s whims and rules, not really having to host the entity within my hallow, but also making sure that no one would take that spot. Which is why I got this free pass.”
“That’s so lucky,” Marlene said with a slight frown.
“But get this,” Caro mused as she snapped her fingers, making sparks manifest into the air. “I still have my powers. This is what I always wanted from the start, when I met Grimma.”
“Oh! That’s amazing,” Marlene said, just for the sake of politeness. “And… is this how it is going to be from now on?”
Caro flinched at the question. “What do you mean?”
“Well, if this is an agreement with Grimma, she’s going to come back, right?”
“Hopefully, for some time. But I’m willing to try to make this last for as long as possible,” Caro asserted.
That seemed like folly, Marlene wanted to say but she held back her words for now. Not wanting to pretend to understand the situation beyond what felt like common sense.
“Say,” Caro shook her head. “Want to hang out later? I have to unpack my bags first, though.”
“I can help you if you want,” Marlene offered.
“Thanks, kitty,” Caro said as she turned around to walk back to her room.
Quietly, Marlene followed. She didn’t know much about Caro’s contract with Grimma, but she had the suspicion that this wouldn’t turn out well.
Hopefully, it would just be a harmless incident.
Friday, January 6th - 4:36pm
Just outside the Crystal Hall
“So, I thought, maybe I can join the anime club just for events?” Chris noted as the two strolled out the building and followed the walkway with Whitman as their destination.
“I don’t see the problem,” Gwen noted. “You really liked the stuff they showed, right?”
“I did. It was so fun. Marlene keeps a tab of the interesting ones each season,” Chris mused.
“The Future SuperHeroes of America isn’t exactly an exclusive thing,” Gwen thought for a moment. “I think.”
“Well… I can see some of the members raising a stink. Your boyfriend, for one.”
Gwen wanted to object, but she wasn’t sure of what Dereck’s stance would be. She could just as easily imagine him being dismissive on the subject as chastising Chris for not taking things seriously. In reality it didn’t feel like there was much going on with the group. “Well, Caro wouldn’t care”
“I know she wouldn’t,” Chris trailed off, pointing up ahead. “Oh, look.”
The traffic in the school appeared to be going down, especially as snow began falling. So it was hard to miss a guy trying to move large cardboard boxes across the yard. But that happened to be easier said than done as, just when he was passing on the smooth stone surface of the walkway, his foot slipped. The strap on one of the three boxes broke, leading to all three falling into the snow and a lot of cursing on his part.
Gwen’s first reaction was to step forward to lend a handp as the guy scrambled to check the contents, only to be held back by Chris.
“Just so you know… that’s Peter Ramsay, a member of Whiskey’s club,” she warned.
Whiskey’s Club specialized in the making of alcoholic beverages, devised exotic beverages that could give a buzz even to exemplars. They were the ones that got Sofia onto the alcoholic wagon only for Caro and Chris to later bail her out. Needless to say, there was a bit of a reason for them to be on bad terms with them.
“Still…” Gwen couldn’t resist going in for the assist and so Chris let her, following shortly after.
“Fuck! Fuck!” Peter grumbled as he moved about the snow, picking up some of the cans and bottles that had been dropped around. His cursing grew louder when he noticed that one of the bottles had cracked in the fall and was starting to leak from the bottom. He was quick to search his coat for a handkerchief to cover the leak.
“Are you okay?” Gwen asked as she reached him.
“Ugh… not really, the box broke. Fucking hell,” Peter said as he looked up to the girl, only pausing as his eyes stared at her for a bit longer than Gwen might be comfortable. “Um… excuse my language.”
“It’s okay,” Gwen began but Chris jokingly added. “You’re excused.”
Peter’s set on her and a small begrudging smirk appeared on him. Like someone ruining a moment. “Oh, it’s you, Chris.”
“Hey, Peter,” she said before turning towards Gwen before she could inquire. “We have some classes together.”
“And this cut- I mean, this one here is…”
“Gwen,” she introduced herself. It was always a surprise to meet someone new in this school. But then again, the campus was big and she really hadn’t paid that many visits to Emerson, nor had any curiosity in the underground booming booze business. “Do you need help?”
“Oh, don’t want to trouble you,” he tried to say, specifically to Gwen, but she was already moving over to help pick up the spilled contents, with Chris following her lead.
“It’s no trouble,” was all Gwen said as she got to work, kneeling on the snow and reaching over to some of the things that were flung the furthest by the fall. The scattered items were varied. The most expected ones were a couple of bottles, like the one Peter was trying to cover, filled with translucent colorful liquids that could only be a type of alcohol… of course, it was hard to tell if they had no label. There were also pieces of metal parts that probably belonged to large machinery, glasses that were spared from the fall and bags of peanuts, chips and other snacks.
“I think these are mushed,” Gwen muttered as she felt one of the bags of chips that had been struck by a can during the fall. To that Peter still cursed but still took the bag.
“What is this for?” Chris asked as she picked up at the rather fancy box that had managed to remain sealed during the fall. It made quite some rattling when she shook it.
“Don’t do that!” shouted Peter. He sighed in relief as the girl heeded his words. “Why do you ask?”
“Can’t a bro be curious?” Chris mused.
Gwen raised an eyebrow at Chris’ slip of tongue, but Peter took Chris’s words as a joke and just chuckled.
“Do you really wanna know?” Peter said. When Chris nodded, his eyes studied her expression, with his eyes darting towards Gwen for a moment. “Do you really want me to tell you both? Promise not to tell anyone? You two are Capes after all.”
“We are… but we still promise not to tell security, teachers or anyone in the group,” Chris said.
“Fine…” Peter said as he began to accommodate the items in the box. “It’s for Will’s new place.”
“New place?” Gwen asked. “He’s not in Emerson anymore?”
“No, for his um…”
“For his underground speakeasy?” Chris whispered, surprised. “Did he really get a new place?”
“Yep, the Bohemians sold him a small space in the tunnels under their jurisdiction, at a very discounted price, just a couple of weeks before the break,” Peter said as he looked at Gwen. “You should see it. It’s quite spacious and will be very sophisticated once we’re done giving it a makeover. There’ll be couches, game tables, a bar… I think Will was asking if he could commission a roulette wheel or some things to match the business model.”
“So it’s a casino bar? Sweet!” Chris praised.
“Ain’t it great?” Peter answered proudly.
“But…” Gwen interjected. “Aren’t you worried about being caught? I don’t think booze and gambling are legal here.”
“No… but we did strike a deal with some janitors and patrolmen… plus, considering the kind of stuff that gets done at this school, us providing fun and stress relief to our classmates feels like the least of issues, doesn’t it?”
Gwen wanted to keep on voicing her concerns, because stuff like Sofia’s dip into alcoholism wasn’t something she was sure she wanted to encourage, “I’m not–”
“How are you going to make sure that no one blabs about?” Chris interjected.
“Eh… we’ll use magic for that.”
“A spell?” Gwen wondered.
“A spell in a contract,” Peter snickered. “We had a guy craft these special contracts that will magically bind anyone willing to enter.”
“That sounds dangerous… Don’t think I would risk it.”
“It’s nothing to worry about. Just standard boilerplate stuff,” Peter said as he focused on making things fit into the cardboard box, potentially breaking some more of the frail snacks. “Nothing big, it just keeps you from babbling out the location or anything about the bar casino. That part wears off in a matter of months, it’s just to be sure no one will blab. The other, longer lasting part of the contract would tell us who blabs about it.”
“That’s interesting. You guys have it all planned out.”
“But that can’t last forever, right?” Gwen interjected.
“We’ve been kinda doing this since the mid last year. Close calls, we’ve had, but we’ve managed to skate by.” Peter thought for a moment as he finished fastening the boxes and getting back up on his feet, with Gwen helping him pick up the other boxes. “Hopefully, Crossby will manage to figure out a way to convince the administration or the cottage parents to let him do this…”
“I find that hard to believe,” Gwen admitted.
“Think he’ll be able to do it?” Chris asked
“Well… he has pull and influence, so we can only hope.”
“Well, wish you luck,” Gwen said just to wrap things up as she placed the box on top of the stack, making sure it was stable enough. “Need any help?”
“Nah, it’s okay. Plus I don’t think Will wants anyone near the place before it opens,” Peter said, taking a couple test steps before to make sure he could carry everything. However, before he was about to continue his walk to the tunnel access, he turned around, to look at Gwen, with a red face that was probably more than a product of the cold weather. “But… I mean. If you wanted, you could drop by the event. I would be sure that there was a good place at the VIP table. For, like… just the two of us.”
It took Gwen this far into the conversation to realize the reason that Peter was so chatty was because he was flirting with her. She stammered and felt herself blush at this sort of attention, and yet as much as it still weirded her to say that she had a boyfriend, she knew that it was for the sake of everyone to clear that up. Yet the emotional knot held her words back. “Oh, thank you b-”
“Hey, when’s the opening?” Chris interrupted.
“Oh,” Peter said, probably a bit too eager to also change the subject. “Soon. The grand opening will probably be next Sunday night.”
There’s also the option not to go. Just leave this for later, Gwen thought to herself.
“You two should drop by.” Peter added. “There will be something special on the first night.”
“Really? What?” Chris inquired.
“Well, for the opening, Will is preparing, with the help of an alumnus that works in the villages, several barrels-worth of mead. A recipe he investigated during the break, part of his study program. It’s said to be the perfect sweet drink from medieval times.”
“Um… We’ll think about it,” Gwen gave the diplomatic answer as she grabbed her friend's wrist and pulled her away. “Thanks for the offer.”
“See ya in class, Pete.”
“Later Chris, Gwen,” he finally said as he carried on with his trek down to the tunnels.
“We’re not going to go to that opening, right?” Gwen asked once they were back on the path as snow began to fall.
“I’m not much of a drinker. If he’d said there would be other food or games, I might consider it.” Chris thought for a moment. “Although I’ve never tried mead. Um, have I even heard of mead? Do you know?”
Gwen sighed, rolling her eyes, hoping her friend was just messing with her. “Well, you’ll have to go on your own and be careful… or I’ll have Caro fashion a spell to sober you up,” she said as Whitman cottage’s entrance was within sight.
And yet, when they reached Whitman cottage a couple of minutes later, they came across another surprise. Caro just happened to be making her way back into the cottage’s common room with Marlene by her side when Gwen and Chris stepped in. It really took them a second to recognize their friend without the horns or the scales, not to mention her new cheerier attitude.
“Chris! Gwen!” Caro said with a comfortable smile.
“Caro!?” Both girls blurted out, much to the amusement of Marlene and Sofia, who was just sitting on the edge of the couch, a couple of steps away.
The rest of the common room though, already being bored about Caro’s new makeover and focused on what was focused in their Hunger Games marathon, just shushed them.
“Don’t shush me,” Caro snapped, her gaze lingering to the crowd with a mischievous smirk as though she was considering retaliating for the slight.
But when her gaze turned towards Gwen and Chris, she relented. “Let’s go to my room.”
Fortunately, the foot traffic was quite light. It was just the four of them, plus Sofia who followed them soon after.
“You look great!” Chris complimented, getting her friend to do a twirl to show off her look.
“What happened? How?” Gwen was still trying to process what she was seeing.
“Not bad, huh?” Caro mused at the end. “I do look great, don’t I?”
“Has she been like that all this time?” Chris whispered to the other two Whitmaniacs with them.
“Yep.” “Constantly.” Sofia and Marlene didn’t look too enthused as they answered.
“Well, she’s happy about it,” Gwen justified as she stepped up. “I’m just confused how you managed to do this.”
“I guess I should get around to explaining it…” Caro said as they got to her door. “Alright, here’s how it went down...”
Friday, December 23rd - 2:59pm
Whitman Cottage Room 247
“See ya later, Sofia,” Caro bid to her friend as the door closed, leaving her alone in her room.
She took a deep breath, savoring the silence she rarely enjoyed. At this time of the day, girls were preparing to head out for a prolonged lunch with their groups or just enjoying the rather brief quiet of having their roommates out of the picture.
And to be honest, Caro wasn’t really looking forward to the break, as that was when her concerns began to mount up. She looked at herself in the mirror on her desk and all she could see was the pair of polished horns that curved themselves around the front of her head, the elfin ears poking her long black hair and the scales on the back of her body.
That was the problem she was facing. Were she to leave the school like that, no doubt she would attract unwanted attention.
And to make matters worse, she had promised her parents she would have a better handle on her magic. So, taking her at her word, they made vacation plans for the span of the winter break. She hadn’t known about this until a couple of days ago, and rather than admit failure, she insisted that it wouldn’t be a problem and that they didn’t need to change plans.
Even though one of the things she’d hoped to accomplish at Whateley was to find a way to conceal the inhuman aspects of her appearance, things around the school were so off the scale of normalcy, she easily dismissed that objective, constantly bumping it down the end of the list… at least until it was time to return to the real world outside.
But now that it was forced to the forefront, having a couple of days to work on it just wasn’t good enough. Of course, she could cook up a magical enchantment in under an hour and a glamor within minutes, for momentary concealment. But she needed something that would last days when she could barely make it last for a whole afternoon… And the law of diminishing returns in Grimma’s magic–that casting the same spell in quick succession yielded reduced effects and higher costs of mana–made sure that she would either need to craft a different variation of the short spell whenever she was about to head out or push the limit and then suffer the consequences.
That just meant she had the one option she was dreading.
In the silence of her room, after about an hour of meditation, she was resolved. She reached into her drawer of odds and ends and pulled out a green candle. It was the last of a set she’d made under Grimma’s tutelage, meant to be used to summon the spirit of fables whenever she was out in her wanderings.
With the strike of a match, a golden flame now adorned its top, letting sparks of ochre fly off into the air as the small candle burned itself out faster.
But the effects were felt right away as a darkness of green and gold seeped into the room from every corner, slowly pouring onto the ground like black mist before coalescing within the center of the space, right in front of Caro. The torrent swirled itself higher and higher, with a haunting, whistling wind that like vocalized singing reaching up into a crescendo.
And then the spire burst out like the blossoming of a flower. The ‘sheets’ of darkness opened out, transmogrifying into the outlines of sooty animals that fled into the flowing darkness. And at the center, a shadowy feminine outline could be seen, with glowing eyes and the ornate outline of garments that were ever shifting. Grimma loved to make an entrance.
“Caroline Hersebeth. Such a pleasure. Hast thou summoned me?” Grimma mused, her voice reverberating through the room, even if Caro was quite sure that only she could see and hear the entity. Once the spectacle was over, the shadowy mist that ebbed from the walls began to ease up. “To what do I owe this summon?” asked Grimma as she glided back to show the candle, now just a trail of pale smoke.
“My parents made plans for a vacation for the next couple of weeks until I make it back to school.”
“That’s wonderful,” Grimma said, her figure taking a polite seat on the bed. “Seeing new places, soaking in the culture of the land and expanding your horizon. The fun never hurts.”
“But there are problems with that,” Caro said, her eyes checking down on the time display on her phone.
“There are always problems. Aren’t there? I do wish that thou wouldst have a good time with your parents.”
“But it will be hard, thou knowest?” Caro added.
“And why would that be? Is there a threat on the horizon?”
Caro was half wondering if Grimma was being aloof or if she was being deliberate about it. Either way, with the time ticking and her parents coming to pick her up, her patience was running low. “Grimma. I want you to make me normal.”
“Normal?” Grimma laughed. “Why would I do that?”
“Please Grimma,” Caroline found herself doing something she rarely did, begging. “I know I used to ask for this a lot… and I still do. But please, could you undo the change to my appearance? Make me look like the normal human I used to be? No, horns. No scales. I don’t want to ruin this vacation with my parents. It’ll mean a lot. One where I don’t have to worry about being accosted as a mutant, where no trouble arises.” Caro held her tongue before she could blame Grimma for whatever trouble had already happened.
Silence lingered as the shadowy entity held her words, remaining still with only the black mist that exuded from her form trailing through the air.
“Thou couldst try to fix it yourself,” Grimma suggested.
Transform myself? Caro thought as she felt a knot in her stomach. “No. I can’t do this myself.”
Caro feared she might be losing her favor. She hated this. She hated that she was about to go down to her knees in order to placate to this spirit. It was in those moments that the memories of what it was and what happened to her flared in the most negative ways that could be. For every good experience and small victory that came from being in this school with these powers, there felt as though there was a massive defeat when she lost her position as normal school royalty before. And yet, she couldn’t do much by swallowing it, so much so that the words that she dreaded escaped her lips. “I’ll do anything. Please.”
Grimma looked down at her, her eyes seemingly narrowing slightly as a hand reached over to twirl with the smoke. “Thou and I are bound by interests and contracts. I see in thee and those around thee the stories that draw my heart, rooting for thee with bated breath. All the while standing by thy side to provide insight, knowledge and, as thou originally wanted, power. I believe our connection goes past the established duty to one another, devoid of malice even though fingers might be crossed.” Grimma stood up, letting the smoke cascade from her body. Caro could see hints of a circlet and what could be described as sylvan regalia about her.
“Alas, I hoped that thou wouldst be more daring in the use of thymagic, but I see some fears and wounds still run deep within thee. So I shall grant thy wish,” Grimma declared.
“Really?” Caro asked, practically unable to believe it. “Are you really doing it?”
“There is but one condition.”
“What is it?” Caro was quick to ask.
“I want your ring. The ring that has been created with the dragon’s blood.”
The ring. The special holdout she’d crafted weeks ago using Morgana’s help in order to give herself some extra power. The thing whose sister created so much trouble to quell. And yet, Caro didn’t hesitate. She was already reaching into her drawer and producing the thing that had only been tested once.
“What for?” Caro asked before handing over the item.
“As collateral, maybe. To appreciate the enchantworks.” Grimma extended her hand.
Caro didn’t need to consider it for long. “Okay,” she said as she placed the ring on Grimma’s palm. She was only slightly surprised that the ring didn’t fall through the smoky fingers.
“I thank thee,” Grimma said as she looked at the ring against the few rays of sunlight that pierced through the curtained window. “I promise I’ll keep thy ‘precious’ safe.”
“So… you’ll undo the changes?” Caro said, still processing the news.
To that, the spirit laughed. “I will, for a time. No tricks, no pranks, no schemes,” she said, crossing her finger on her heart as mists of green and gold swirled around her hand. “I do this as a gift for thee, for providing me such interesting insight into thy life and adventures, for allowing me into such a place where stories are built, for keeping on treating me with stories to read. And so, for the next few weeks, thou shalt be given the much needed rest in the form thou dost want.” And with that, she waved her hand before Caro.
The magical energy touched the girl’s skin, quickly sparkling up in light as it wisped around, spreading through her with a feeling of warmth and the chill of Grimma’s particular blend of curses and blessings. And it sent a shudder down the girl’s spine when she felt her body react to the will of the caster and something departed from her, to gather around the entity’s hand.
A sort of itching and twitching began in her arms. She felt the scales there fizzle and shrink, melting and disappearing into Caro’s skin with little gold sparks and flashes that made her feel unique, like she was Cinderella getting the dress from her fairy godmother… although she had to remind herself that said ‘godmother’ was the one who put her in the rags in the first place.
Her head felt the biggest load of magic as the sides of her head went both numb and charged. Magic enveloped the horned circlet on her head, making them slowly recede into her skull before vanishing into a puff of magical glitter. Before long, she could put her hand on her head and only feel hair and skin, with nothing harder than the skull under it all. She couldn’t help but smile.
A lingering twitch upon her elfin ears told her that their form had just been remodeled into the rounder and less conspicuous standard, completing her appearance. And all the energy that departed her now danced at Grimma’s palm, slithering into the shadow cloak.
“And done,” Grimma announced. Her other hand closed around the ring, and when she opened it again, it was gone. Caro was at a loss of words, reaching over to feel more of her head or prod around her arms or back underneath her shirt.
“It also happens to be a fortuitous occasion,” Grimma mused as she stepped aside, letting her see her reflection on the desk’s mirror for her to use. “Around the turning of the year, I have some matters to attend to, so I was going to make myself scarce. Sometimes, convenience just lines up with life, doesn’t it?”
“Uh huh,” Caro said dismissively as she stood before the mirror, turned to see her ears and turned around before raising her shirt to see her bare back. “It’s been so long.”
Grimma couldn’t really be mad at her little sorceress in training, so she began to prepare to take her leave, her form levitating off the ground and starting to glide close to the wall. “And with that, I bid thee farewell, May the ghosts of Christmas not see thee and the passing of the year’s torch not lose thine enjoyment. So that the next story of magic and adventure can start without the bad waters in the ink.”
“Goodbye, Grimma,” At least Caro wasn’t too absorbed to notice her departure. “Have fun wherever you go,”
Grimma smirked as her figure disappeared in the darkness. “I will see thee when I see thee. When this school becomes interesting again and thou needest my aid. And don’t forget. This favor I give is not meant to last.”
Soon after, her eyes closed and the dark figure retreated from the room.
At the time, Caro was so happy looking at her unblemished reflection, that she dismissed the words on the spot.
But she didn’t forget about them as dread over Grimma’s return began to bubble in the back of her mind the moment she stepped out of Whateley..
Friday, January 6th - 5:54 pm
Whitman Cottage hallway
“… And that’s what happened.” Caro said, wrapping up her recounting. “I just couldn’t believe it. I spent the time right after, pinching myself and prodding my skin to make sure it was all real.”
“Then, my parents picked me up, quite proud of me for having managed to turn myself back to normal,” Caro said with a smile that tried to hide away a concern. “And then, went off to have one of the best holiday breaks in my life. Want to know the places I went? A visit to Disneyland, Hollywood studios, then some relatives in Oregon and Seattle. Wonderful.”
“I’d love to hear more…” Gwen chimed in politely. “But, feel like we’ve glossed over the whole deal with the sorceress part.” Holding a pause as a group of sophomores and freshmen passed by, their gazes lingering on Caro’s appearance before giving her an approving or appreciative look, some even paying a compliment to her. That had been happening every now and then throughout the extent of her retelling.
“What’s left to say?”
“Well,-” Gwen began but Chris chimed in.
“You gave the ring away?! I didn’t even get to try it!” Chris blurted out, only to earn herself a small elbow jab to the ribs, one that left her reeling.
“Think it was a small price to pay for this,” Caro said.
“But it’s not as if you sold it,” Marlene pointed out. “You said she wanted it as collateral.”
“… Yeah,” Caro said after some hesitation.
“Aren’t you worried, though?” Marlene asked. “Usually, in fairytales, deals tend to come out with much more troubles than expected, like in Rumpelstiltskin.”
“I don’t think Grimma would screw me over… or else she would’ve given me something to suspect. If she planned foul play, she would give me a hint.”
Marlene thought for a moment. “Doesn’t sound like it would spring a rule to you like that, if it’s like your magic.”
“But she’s changing you back to normal then, right?” Sofia asked.
“Normal?” Caro blurted out. “This is normal!”
“That’s not what I meant,” Sofia corrected with a slight frown. “Like, you know, if you’ll go back to how you were before.”
Caro sighed. “Probably that’s the case… It just doesn’t mean I’m looking forward to that. If I’m lucky, Grimma will change her mind or that her vacation will take longer than we think.”
“It’s not like you can do anything about it, anyway,” Sofia noted.
“I don’t know about that,” Caro mumbled, loud enough for everyone to catch.
“What do you have planned?” Marlene asked with caution.
“Nothing,” Caro was quick to answer, earning a look from Sofia. “Just thoughts… I hope I can even consider striking a deal.”
“You hope to bargain with a spirit like Grimma?”
“It’s worth a shot,” Caro said. There was more there that she wasn’t saying.
“Well… best of luck,” Marlene said.
“Yeah, try not to mess things up badly. I am your roommate after all,” Sofia added.
“Wait, wait,” Gwen blurted. “That’s all?”
“What else can we do?” Marlene said. “It’s not like we see or hear Grimma often. I’ve only felt her a few times but that’s about it.”
“I can detect her… but that’s about it,” Sofia noted.
“And we don’t know magic,” Chris admitted, forcing Gwen to silently agree:
“Just be careful, alright?”
“I’ll be as safe as one can. Don’t get your whiskers twisted,” Caro sighed. To that, Marlene reflexively reached up to feel above her lips. “But that’s for later worry. I don’t know when Grimma will come back or if she will. So, I wish to enjoy this as much as I can!”
“Please, don’t make it sound like it’s a bucket list,” Gwen said.
“We can go to the movies! or the park! You can watch me pull off some tricks and…” Chris paused to look at Gwen for a moment before amending her comment. “Or just hang around and watch some shows? Like finishing last season’s anime!”
“Oh!” Marlene’s ears perked up. “I have a new list of anime series coming out this season. I can get the club to rent a classroom for a big screening.”
Chris nodded eagerly. “That would be cool-”
“Sadly, I think I… I think there are better things to do than spend the time watching shows.” Caro interjected. “I was thinking of things like spending time with friends? Going to the mall, buying some new outfits to look the part?” To that, she spread her arms so as to gesture at those present. “Say, how does a trip to Berlin’s mall sound?”
“I’m game for it,” Sofia nodded.
“I guess,” Chris sulked, but Gwen quickly interjected: “We’d be up to it.“
“Great!” Caro clapped to seal the deal.
“Just be careful about your appearance and security,” the little sorceress told Marlene, just as a tease before quickly moving around to jump on the next topic while missing her friend’s frown. “It’s so great to not have to worry about that!”
Still, bygones were bygones and soon, the group of girls moved back to the common room discreetly chatting about the details about their personal vacations just as the girls moved over to pause their movie marathon to restock their popcorn and drinks.
Sofia told them about the hot Christmas in Peru; Marlene, about a convention she attended; Gwen, being modest about her family celebration and Caro, delving into her retelling about the places she went and the things she saw in her west coast vacation.
Still, as the girls came back to resume their marathon and mentioned how it was snowing outside, Gwen and Chris excused themselves to make the trek back to Poe.
“It was good to see our friends in Whitman,” Chris said, breaking the silence as they carefully walked their way through the snow. Not that it mattered to them, since Gwen could just as easily hover above the ground and Chris could slide across the slippery path confident she could catch herself and decelerate any fall. It was just that there was something soothing about walking through the snow after the sun had set and the lights that guided them to the cottage had been lit.
“Yeah…” Gwen conceded dryly.
“Are you worried about Caro?”
Gwen nodded.
“I think I am too,” Chris said as she scooped. “I don’t think we’ve seen Grimma more times than the fingers on a hand… so I don’t know how that ‘negotiation’ will turn out.”
“I didn’t mean-. I mean, I’m worried about that too but…” Gwen said, lifting her gaze to the dark sky. “We both remember how she acted before, right? Like, at the start?”
“When she acted as though she was entitled to respect and attention?” Chris thought for a second before opening her mouth. “Think she’ll become a mean girl because she looks normal now?”
“I don’t want to say that,” Gwen shook her head. “It sounds as though we’re happy if our friend is unhappy.”
“I know what you mean…” Chris shook her head as she took a couple of strides forth. “Well, there’s no point in worrying about that right now. So how about we rush back to the dorm before the cold gets us sick?”
“Alright, alright,” Gwen conceded as she too picked up the pace.
Friday, January 6th - 10:58 pm
Whitman Cottage just outside Room 247
After spending some time drying her hair, Caro finally made her way back to her room. The flattery and some of the comments from some of the girls nearby had dragged on a bit longer than she expected. Not that she minded. She had grown into quite a popular and likeable figure since the start of the school year, but the last few hours just impressed everyone with her transformation from ‘evil queen’ to ‘beautiful princess’.
Of course, those were just some of the looks she got. There was no missing the ones of dislike, from nasty side eyes to subtle curdling in expressions. Most of them came from girls with GSD cases, the crowd she formerly belonged to, and it was easy to decipher the meaning: it was envy. It certainly took her back to her old school, with how many of the other girls just looked at her with the green tint in their eyes, throwing daggers at her in the wish for her downfall. She never let it bother her then, she wasn’t going to let it bother her now.
The hallways began to grow quiet as more and more of the girls began to turn in early after the long and interrupted day of travel, or the active day going back and forth sorting things with the school’s administration or helping people get set up. And while Caro was also looking forward to some more social interaction, and people fawning over her, she too was also tired from the trip and looking forward to laying down on her pillow and not having to worry about her horns.
She opened the door to her room only to be greeted by the twilit dark of the place. Not that it surprised her, it’d been over half an hour since Sofia slipped out of the common room saying that she was going to sleep… But what took her breath away for a moment was a pair of bright eyes that made themselves comfortable in the dark corner, where green and gold hues mingled and something moved in the dark.
It was only for a second, though. As Caro’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she realized they were playing tricks on her. The lights were a reflection of the mirror on her desk, while the green and gold were from Sofia’s coat that hung by the side of her bed, and the soft movement was the roommate breathing.
“I really need to finish my plan to deal with Grimma. I won’t go back to being a creature,” Caro thought as she carefully walked. Making an effort to make as little noise as possible for her sleeping roommate.
It still felt like yesterday when Sofia would drag herself back into their room late at night, after a bender night with Crossby and his friends. Drop herself on bed being clumsy and loud, without a care in the world and wake up the next morning in the sourest of moods. Knowing that she was sleeping soundly, with the exception of one or two snorts was comforting enough for Caro to be quiet herself.
Quietly, she sat down on the bed, moving the items left on her nightstand and preparing to tuck herself in. Although when she did, her hand strayed off towards the first drawer, where a soft glowing light seemed to shimmer and dance.
Tentatively, she opened it.
Within, stood out the new item within the pile of random stuff she used for her spells: an old wooden flute illuminated by the lights. Hand carved gorgeous work, bearing folkloric charm. With stylized rings etched on its surface that could’ve spelled out some sort of abridged hidden language. Its surface glowed as trails of pale blue mist ebbed away from its holes. Not many would see it, nor feel its power.
That was the first thing she had stashed upon her return. A familial item that had been sent along with her parents for the holiday trip. Her grandma probably thought that Caro might need a cursed item to study for a class, but as she saw the magic bound to the object, a thought began to rise in her mind that she had been mulling it over for quite some time. She reached into her bag and produced a small bottle, one of the souvenirs she bought during her trip, housing colorful polished stones within. A gift that was originally meant for Gwen.
Could it work? She wondered. But soon after, a confident smirk appeared as an idea fueled by vain determination crossed her mind.
“I’m going to make you a deal,“ Caro whispered confidently. “And I hope you take it… or I’ll try to surprise you.”
