A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure
Paying the Pied Pythoness
by
MaLAguA
Part Four
Friday, January 21st - 11:43am
Whateley Campus
The start of Caro’s day with her new form had been a trying time for her. Not that she didn’t expect it, but there was just not enough mental preparation that could allow her to weather the feeling of stares and discord towards her, the quiet mockery and the not so discreet pointings. The humiliation. She despised that feeling. It was one that she’d sworn she would never feel again, especially after she grew her horns. And yet, there she was, sporting what could be considered far, far worse than just a bad haircut or wearing her clothes backwards.
And there was no escaping it.
Whereas yesterday only a few students might’ve seen her new, more ratty appearance, now that she forced herself to join the normal flow of a class day, she was there for everyone to see. She did her best to ignore the mixed comments as she passed by, either addressed to others or to her.
“So it was true.” “She’s so small.” “Think she’ll get worse?” “Is that really Caro?” …were some of the more sympathetic words she got while on her way to the Crystal Hall and then to class. Unfortunately, those weren’t the only ones she got. “Well, well, well… if it isn’t Miss High and Mighty.” “Welcome to the furry life?” “Want to be my lab rat? There’s cheese involved.”
They were jokes, either of innocent or ill spirit, but in Caro’s mind they were all the same. She hated any sort of observation about her appearance… and yet the more she thought about it, she couldn’t really bring herself to hold a grudge on them. After all, whenever Caro ‘protested’, they would point out they were just repeating her own words.
Fortunately, once the classes began, the attention was drawn towards the front as the lesson was given. Though that wasn’t to say that there weren’t any obnoxious tugs on her tail or notes about how much smaller she was turning out. And they wouldn’t be wrong.
“This is but a horrible nightmare,” Caro thought throughout the morning class. She couldn’t concentrate. How could she? The curse was still active and at the ready to take another leap the moment she were to snap at one of her classmates… In fact, she confirmed it that morning at Whitman, when one of the girls got her to lose a couple more centimeters and grow a bit more fur As her tail touched the ground, she jumped at the feeling. She was lucky that the clothes she was wearing still fit her and that Mrs Savage had quickly stepped in to stop them from asking further questions or pressing her on the matter.
Still, she was sure that word would spread out about her condition, if it hadn’t already by those who were privy to yesterday’s inaugural incident. She definitely had rivals and enemies that would quite love to punch her way… and if the past twelve or so hours were any indication, she would probably be done before the weekend. And that was the question that Grimma needed to answer the next time she could: just how bad would this get?
Even if she knew that she needed to keep her mouth closed, there was something about this whole situation that forced her tongue. Maybe it was the frustration over everything? Maybe it was part of the curse. Even something like giving the middle finger got her claws to grow a little bit pointier, as she learned during class.
And that was not discounting the idea that she might’ve changed overnight. She had no concrete measure for it, but she could’ve sworn her tail didn’t reach her knees before she went to bed and now it was at her ankles.
As she currently stood, she was about three feet tall and feeling dense patches of fur around her body. Claws adorned her fingers and her poorly fitting footwear, which kinda sucked considering it’d snowed the night before. And her face bore the beginnings of a small muzzle, with the matching ears, whiskers and incisors. That last was particularly upsetting, given how proud she was of her good teeth as an asset. Fortunately, she still found herself able to speak clearly despite that. She suspected Grimma left that bit in just so she would still be able to cuss out… at least for now.
With all that, there was no focusing in classes. As the teacher gave their lecture, her mind was driven towards the problem at hand. She was driven to discover the chinks on Grimma’s game and crack the weakness in her curse. There was always a way around this, wasn’t there? She had to have enough experience with her own magic to fix this.
And yet, it was a daunting task. Not only was she the direct victim of a curse but now she was dealing with it on her own. With Grimma definitely being the culprit, she couldn’t count on the spirit’s insight or advice on how to deal with it. Not that the spirit of fables did a lot of handholding, the way she came and went as she pleased. But with the biggest safety net out of the way, it felt as though Caro’d been pushed off the plane with a DIY parachute kit. And the ground was approaching fast…
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice when the class was concluded until she picked up on her classmates making their way to the exit of the classroom. Putting her books away, she just followed the flow of students trying to think things through. Something that was harder than she expected while trying to avoid herself getting bumped by others and enduring the constant snickers and giggles that came about with her presence. At the second rodent-related joke, she’d had it and departed the building to trek her way around campus.
There was no point in going to class if she wasn’t going to be able to focus…
Fortunately, the campus was fairly open. With students on their way to the next class, the space would be much freer in the next couple of minutes. Then, it would just be her, other students skipping class and the staff tending the snow-buried garden. Good enough space to think.
“What will I do if I end up as a full rat?” were thoughts that were quick to appear and even quicker to get punted to the side, forcefully replaced with “I will break this curse on my own…” like a sort of reassuring mantra as she began to list the things she knew:
It was changing her into a rat. How far would it go? She had no idea.
It happened whenever she cussed or even made a rude gesture… but it would only count when said to others, with the consequences dependent on the degree of the insult, it seemed. Though she had no intention of testing this to confirm it.
“Those were the things I already knew,” she told herself as she passed around a hedge. “On the unconfirmed side is whether Grimma was behind this… I mean, this sounds like something out of her playbook. Plus she’s currently trapped in a flute, so there’s the motive… and yet, something about all this feels off. This isn’t Grimma’s usual way of operating. I mean, she has that rule about me wording the magic, paying the cost and then leaving some conditions to make it efficient. I don’t think she would expect me to give out an answer without writing down the question first…
“But that being said… She does seem to use magic without really having to struggle with wording most of the time. So maybe the rule doesn’t apply to her?” Caro noted as she decided to stop near a bench to unload her backpack. “She wasn’t that angry when I sealed her, right? She was almost treating it as though I managed to pull off a prank…“
Could Grimma really have been that offended or vindictive? She honestly didn’t feel as though she knew enough of her to tell.
“With the way things are going, I’ll have to question her. And for that, I’ll have to get her out of the flute. But that means I’ll need to prepare a containment circle for her.” Caro paused for a moment as she looked down at her hand. Still looking human enough despite the little claws that had replaced her fingernails, with the wisps of hair growing on the back. She tried to concentrate on her energies and mana. Yes… Effectively, she still had her powers but they were at a lesser degree from before. Was it because she was fighting the curse or because she no longer had Grimma’s patronage? She wasn’t sure, but was scared nonetheless.
She pressed her hand against her stomach, and closed her eyes to feel things properly… There were energies, her own small well that was awakened by Grimma… but there was also something else and alien within–the curse, thriving and strong, with no intention of letting go, even if she felt she could draw a tiny amount of energy from it.
“Still… I should be able to cook up something as long as I word it well and pay enough of a price,” Caro grumbled, as though she needed to pay any more than she already had. Unfortunately, there were no other options… short of handing the vessel to the magical art’s department so they could deal with it. The problem with that thought was that, if they were to find out she’d trapped Grimma, they probably would decide to perpetuate the incarceration out of concern that the spirit might just make matters worse. Which would leave Caro in a definitely unwinnable scenario.
“No. I’ll deal with this myself,” Caro decided, producing the practice notebook from her bag, the one she used to sketch and plan the enchantments. “Let’s see… a date and a time. The Tangle seems like a good place to have mystical shenanigans happen, but too chaotic. My lab is already well insulated so maybe it’s just as good of a place to try it…” The pages quickly flipped from the start to the present, catching glimpses of some of the spells she prepared from that point till now, including the notes for the transfer of curses and the creation of the containment items.
“Huh?” Just as she happened to catch a glimpse of a blank page, she also noticed a page she didn’t remember scribbling. There were no notes or markings. No doodles or hasty crossings, just stylized calligraphy in soot black ink that revealed a sort of poem… or rather, a story?
“No way…” Her heart skipped a beat as she saw it. This was the curse! And yet before she could properly read through it, her enhanced ears twitched in alert at quick steps approaching her. She turned her head just to see Alvina make a sweeping pass, with an outstretched hand slapping the notebook off Caro’s hand and into the snow.
“Hey!” Caro frowned only for a gloved hand to push her back into the bench.
“Is this really Caro?” Donna said amusedly.
“She is,” Alvina mused as she strode forth to pick up the book, dusting the snow off it. “Is she smaller now?”
“She definitely is,” Miriam mused from the side. As each of them came up to the bench where Caro sat, she felt how they towered over her. Their grins could be described as mischievous… at best. “Oh, how far Miss Resurging Popularity has fallen, even more so than before.”
“Told you. Bet there’s some sort of curse in these GSD cottages.” Alvina smirked, sounding much more confident than she had appeared in the past couple of days–though it really shouldn’t have surprised Caro considering how the situation had been flipped. Normally, girls like her would leap to the opportunity to be on top.
“Don’t you have classes to attend?” Caro asked, hearing the bell for the start of the next class.
“Don’t you?” Alvina smirked.
Donna snickered. “Rats don’t go to class.”
“Aw, it’s such a shame, you looked quite nice,” Miriam lamented. She looked uninterested after the initial surprise.
“She is getting worse,” Alvina noted. “Before she was up to my chest, but now… she’s getting tinier and more animal-like.” Absent-mindedly, the girl flipped through the corners of Caro’s notebook, scratching the cover in the process.
“Hey! That’s mine!” She tried to lunge for the notebook but found herself just short of reach. Alvina was an exemplar–a low-rated one, but enough to have great reflexes and reaction speed.
“Wow, quick little vermin.” Alvina smirked, dangling the book just out of reach while Donna caught Caro’s grasping arm.
“Oh my god, she’s furry here. Yeah, GSD case through and through,” the girl teased as Caro pulled back.
“That’s not …” Caro wanted to deny it but she knew that was just playing into the teasing. It was something she’d done to some classmates from her old school, she hated to admit. “Give me back my book.”
“So, what is this? Is this your class notebook?” Alvina mused as she skimmed through some of the pages. “Just a bunch of notes and poems.”
“I think that’s the book where she writes her curses,” Miriam noted.
“Gross.” Alvina held the thing by a corner.
“Hey! Give that back!” Caro snapped. Her hand made a fist, digging her claws into her skin. “You idiots! I need it to fix myself!” She realized the error just a little too late as she felt the wave of changes spread through her body. The hair on her torso grew a little bit denser as her tail popped a couple more vertebrae.
“Not fair… this isn’t fair. Even when it’s justified I still get punished,” she grumbled under her breath, gritting her teeth as she tried to relax her body–but it was hard to ignore that jolt.
“Something happened?” Alvina asked.
“Think she changed a little bit more,” Donna laughed. “Let’s see how far we can push her.”
“This’ll be gross… Count me out,” Miriam said, though without taking a step back.
“I thought we were…” Caro said, only to stop herself. No, they weren’t friends. They never were, never had been. She knew that much from the moment they reached out for her. They were just social climbers, girls that hoped to be pulled along by the attention she was getting, only to use her as a stepping stool when the moment was convenient.
“Come on, cuss us out. That’s what changes you, doesn’t it? Makes you more of the ugly rat you are…” The words stung, and Caro felt the anger bubble within her, wanting her. In that moment, she thought of her friends… of the people she once considered her friends. She wanted to well up in the form of tears as the girls towered over her, without the prodigious magic that made her feel as though she could fight back.
“Shut up! Shut up! You…” Caro said, holding her tongue for a moment. How she wanted to say it, how she wanted to cuss, scream or even dare to fight them, fearing that all those things would just spell a big leap for the curse. And yet she wanted to do it so badly at the sound of their snickers, forcing her eyes to hold back the tears.
“What’s wrong, rat girl? Are you going to cry?” Alvina mused as she took a step forward.
“Hey!” A boy’s voice called from the side, loud enough to get heads to turn. There was a familiar face: Victor Rivera, Gwen’s stepbrother, standing just a couple of steps away. From his hand, a bubble of water swirled with snowflakes within.
And yet, after the surprise and recognition came the notice of differences about him. There was an odd coloration about his hands and in the markings on his cheek, while his ears appeared somewhat pointier than before. Vic had a GSD? Caro wondered for a brief moment.
“Are they bothering you?” Vic said. He didn’t seem to have recognized her, but was still preparing himself to act. At his hand was a large mass of water that was dragging chunks of snow from the ground just to add to it.
Caro realized he was asking for permission to intervene and quickly nodded her head for help.
“Who are you?” Alvina demanded.
“Someone itching for a fight against upperclassmen,” Miriam cooed.
“The bottom of the barrel sticking together?” Donna smirked, though she quickly backed away as a long water tentacle threatened to catch her leg.
“Back away or you’ll be getting slushed, and it feels as though it’ll be a cold day today,” Vic warned as he took another step. He raised his arm to let the water mass stretch itself into the makings of a whip for another attack.
The girls exchanged looks with a frown. As far as Caro knew, the girls had their own particular blend of powers, as all of the people in this school, but nothing that could really be exploited right now. So they did the logical thing and took a step back.
“She has my book,” Caro called out.
“Give it back,” Vic ordered. He prepared a water whip for a wide-reaching swing, with as much of the snow gathered around the tip for the coldest splash.
“Fine!” Alvina scoffed. She tossed the book aside as they made their retreat.
Caro lost no time jumping off the bench to pick it up. Fortunately the cover spared the contents from any sort of damage from the snow. A quick flick of the pages revealed that Grimma’s spell was still there.
“Are you alright?” Vic asked while throwing away the bunch of water onto the side.
“I’m… fine,” Caro muttered, looking away from the book. She really wasn’t, but there was no point in getting into details right now. Instead, she clutched the book against her chest as she got up. She wasn’t going to lose her only clue to fixing this.
“Wait… Caro? Is that you?” Vic asked, getting a better look at her face. “What happened to you?”
“What do you…” She paused herself, thinking that the aggressive “What do you think happened to me” would trigger more of the curse. She’d just been so tired of getting the exact same questioning comments and looks from everyone in her vicinity that it was just at the tip of her tongue. A deep breath was enough to get her back in line. “I could ask you the same thing… what happened to you?”
“I…” Vic looked down at his hands as he rubbed the cold off them. “It’s a bit of a long story. Wouldn’t know where to start.”
“Mine…” Caro was about to pretty much echo his answer, but just after a second of consideration, she realized it wasn’t that complicated. “I… I got cursed by my patron spirit… so now I have to break the curse.”
“Sounds rough…” Vic said with a sense of familiarity in his voice.
“I know. I’ll fix this… I have to.” The last part being muttered under her breath.
“Is… is Gwen helping you?”
Caro flinched. Considering how bad their last conversation went and the silence that followed, she began to dread the conversation that would follow. “We had a bit of a falling out.”
“That sucks…” Vic said, somewhat nervous. “Was it bad?”
“I guess… I guess you could say that I showed them the real me and they didn’t like it,” Caro said. The same excuse she’d been using all this time now came across as more sorrowful than determined.
“And who is that? The real you.”
“Someone who was in it for the popularity, I guess.” Caro shook her head. “Though I guess I would trade it all if it meant I would have other people with me right now.” She sighed, with the words ‘I’m a fool’ stuck in the tip of her tongue.
“Friends are what keeps us grounded, I think.” Vic occupied the bench, and as he did, he looked at his hand. “I would be much worse off if it weren’t for the people around me. Even if you don’t feel super close, it still matters.”
“Yeah,” Caro mumbled. “For better or worse. I’ve had people around me only at my best and it stressed me to be on my guard. But Gwen and Chris were the ones that reached out for me at my worst last year… I don't think Marlene or Sofia would either.” And with that, the silence lingered for a long time, her clawlike fingernail running along the edge of the notebook, lost in consideration.
In that interim, her eyes strayed over to the side, looking at Vic as he was a bit more pensive in his condition. “And what are you doing here?”
“I… I was running late to class. I’m just feeling a bit low on energy.”
“I know the feeling. Your mind can be elsewhere sometimes, huh?” It did make Caro wonder if Gwen knew about this… but then again, she did have more pressing matters to tend to.
“I have to get going. Some reading to do,” Caro said as she picked back up her bag and got up.
“Alright.” Vic sighed as he pushed himself up as well. “Hope you can manage to break your curse. That’s not something I thought I’d say today.”
“Funnily enough, it’s not something I did either.” Caro managed to smile enough to show her slightly altered dental work. “Thanks for the help, Vic.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said, but she was already marching away with quick steps towards Whitman cottage.
“Once all this is sorted out. I’ll give Marlene, Sofia, Gwen and Chris a heartfelt apology. Fuck, things were much simpler before I got my head stuck on school hierarchy bullshit…” Her ears twitched as they remained attentive to the vicinity. She wasn’t going to let herself be jumped again.
“A plan. I have to make preparations for whatever Grimma has set up for me,” she reasoned. “First, I need to move the flute into my lab. Then, I’ll get to work on breaking the curse.” Thinking it through, she opened up the book on the marked page to give the spirit’s words a proper read.
“In a home filled with perils lived a little rat with her enemies. No one loved her for who she really was, but by pretense. Valiant steps would take her to low places. Enters a witch, who, despondent of the young rat’s pleas, gives her a gift. Real boons come when the real unblemished her emerges. That day on, every praise would make the little rat taller and prettier.
Made more confident and assured through the day, or whenever she spread kindness. Yet met together by four of her closest enemies, a gathering was made for the witch.
Making herself more and more like the humans she admired. Excluding a great cat spirit, from another story’s fantasy. Appreciation oozed as a reward she gave the witch. Nectar of honey that was brewed by an expert as a token of gratitude. In the end, she lived in joyful quiet solitude blending in with their kind. Never trying again to let the blessing within her leap out. Going forth for a dull time, the story is now over and done.”
Caro’s feet had stopped in their path as her eyes skimmed through the words again.
“Huh?” was all Caro could say. Her head cocked as she tried to make sense of the prose, rather than a poem as she’d come to expect. “This might be trickier than I expected.”
Friday, January 21st - 1:13pm
Whateley Campus
Caro crossed the school campus with hasty, nimble steps, making her way into the tunnel’s entrance closest to her lab. The path felt much more straightforward than trying to guide herself through the maze of tunnels. Her hands made sure they had a tight grip on the backpack and its contents: the flute that housed Grimma and the glass bottle that held the ratcatcher curse–which was, oddly enough, making Caro more and more uneasy whenever she saw it.
This must have been what it was like to carry a bomb. Either something would happen to the vessels, a crack or a shattering, that would release the contents in an explosive way. Or she would be stopped and inspected by campus security, be found carrying items that would be confiscated in a heartbeat.
All of that put her in a state of hyper-awareness. Now that classes were on their lunch break, there were more students around and about. All it would take was for someone with a grudge to see her in her current state to spell out danger. Maybe Cestus would demand for a rematch for the time she crashed into his gladiatorial arena. Maybe some of the snooty classmates on the mage track would take the chance to belittle her. Or maybe Alvina, Donna and Miriam would be interested in continuing pushing the curse further.
She had made it into the entrance of the tunnel and was on her way down the sloped pathway when she heard, “Caro?” Her ears twitched and she stopped in her tracks. It was Gwen’s voice, echoing from the near distance.
“Is that really her?” Chris sounded just about as far.
Caro sighed and steeled herself. Her grip tightened around her bag. Once again, she really hated the situation, the diminished state she was in. So used to meeting everyone at the same height and just knowing that they would look down on her, it upset her. She had really hoped this could wait until she was back to normal.
She glanced behind to find Gwen and Chris approaching with hastened steps. Both of them looked surprised and concerned.
“So, it’s really true. You got, um… smaller,” Chris said, with as much awkward tact as she usually had, as well as a mixture of surprise and amusement in her voice. That earned a slight elbow jab from Gwen once they stopped. “Hey!”
“What happened?” Gwen was looking down at Caro, maybe trying to decide whether to kneel or not, just to be at eye level. The sentiment was the same.
“Yes, it’s me. Just get on with it and start mocking me. Get it over with.” Caro hoped to get this out of the way fast. Why else would she expect anything different… which made it just as surprising when nothing of the kind was said.
“What are you talking about?” Gwen said. “We’re worried about you, Caro. When Marlene told us about what happened to you, we feared the worst. We actually hoped to catch up to you in the last class before lunch, but we didn’t find you.”
“Gwen just up and flew to try and find you. She’ll probably get a citation for that,” Chris said, earning another reprimanding elbow nudge from Gwen.
“So… you’re not here to mock me?” Caro asked.
“We could mock you, if you want,” said another voice from the entrance to the tunnel. Marlene was peeking in, with her cat ears flicking with curious amusement. And along with her was Sofia.
“What are you doing here?” Caro demanded. She was still somewhat sour from the conversations a few nights back.
“I just wanted to check on you. Concern and all that,” Marlene said as she stepped in, joining the growing knot in the tunnel’s entrance. Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone interested in getting into the tangle section, for the moment.
“What do you want?” Caro asked defensively. Despite all the things that she’d been through, of all the troubles that had taken place ever since she came back, she still found Marlene’s presence as irksome as before. This was the person that was constantly checking the time just to see when Grimma would return, the one who appeared to be happy when Caro lamented her status as a GSD case.
“I’m worried. How else would I be?” Marlene said. “You messed up with your patron and got cursed.”
“And you’re here to give me the ‘I told you so’?” Caro said with a slight frown. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t pressed my buttons.”
“You were already cursed. If I hadn’t forced your tongue, it would’ve happened eventually.” Marlene placed herself before Caro, standing tall to her diminished size. With the tail swaying behind her and the ears perked at full attention, she appeared imposing, and yet the smirk about her didn’t set Caro to panic or fear for her skin like Alvina’s group or the ratcatcher curse did. “I don’t regret anything. I was just honest about how I felt.”
Silence lingered after her words, letting Caro mull over things. Her clawed fingers clasped the fabric of her clothes, as she clenched her teeth. Even her tail became stiff for a moment as her eyes bounced from girl to girl before landing back on Marlene. And then, she let go.
“I’m… I’m sorry. Okay? I… I’ve been acting like a bad friend. To all of you.” Caro said it. Despite not finding herself enjoying the admission, the words flowed much more easily once the first was uttered. “I spoke the truth when I said that my real intention for coming to Whateley was to get myself back to normal. And yet I was disappointed not only because I couldn’t do it, but also I couldn’t be the big shot influencer anymore. I was so used to things being different, to having the girls follow my every word and guys bend over backwards for me. Obviously that doesn’t work here. Things are just upside down.”
“Gwen certainly knows that the whole popularity thing is skewed,” Chris said, this time managing to dodge the elbow jab without even looking.
“She’s not wrong,” Caro said. “At first, I wondered how you could do it without even trying. I even resented you for that… But then we began to spend time together and things became much more interesting from there on. I was having fun without chasing the popularity ladder. But I never forgot what I wanted. So when Grimma gave me what I wanted, I took it and treated it as my victory.”
“Even if it was temporary.” Marlene asked.
“I was going to make it not be temporary. I made preparations and…” She clutched the bag, feeling the enchanted flute there, but her eyes quickly went to the entrance just behind the girls, seeing the shadows of passing students move back and forth. No one appeared to be interested in taking the entrance that would lead them closer to the eldritch maze… but words could still travel. “Maybe I shouldn’t talk about this here. Right now, I’m dealing with a problem and I’ll fix it myself.”
She took a couple of steps deeper into the tunnel only to hear Sofia clear her throat. “And you’re going to go it alone? I remember you stubbornly insisting on helping me last year, even if I didn’t want it. I think it’s time I should do the same.”
“Yeah, you’re not alone, Caro,” Gwen said as they followed her.
Caro felt jittery. It was the knowledge that she had dragged her friends into her embarrassing predicament–but it was also the joy of knowing that she wasn’t alone. She didn’t say much as they carried on, going down the stairs to the levels under.
“So…” Sofia asked as they began their descent down the stairs. “After what happened. You began to just go back to how you were?”
“I felt confident about myself enough to try to retake the social agenda… I mean, not having to worry about the enchantment for an outing alone was a huge boost, letting me be part of activities with others.”
“So you went back to being a plastic?” Marlene asked.
“Marlene…” Gwen chided.
“She’s right, though. I just picked up where I’d left off. It was my first normal vacation in a long time, and I fell into the old habits, posting on social media, sharing my new old looks, and it was easy. You know? Regaining my old following, quelling the rumors that I was a… freak. It was just so easy to fall back into it. Maybe I was a little bit more driven. I was worried I would end up going back to how I was. Pushed myself into gathering after gathering just to cultivate followers.”
“And was it fun?” Chris asked.
“No… not at all,” Caro admitted. “Cramming so much started to become stressful. I mean, I was still somewhat in my element… but I wasn’t in it for fun, just for the power. I just didn’t think I would lose it all this fast and end up as a rat. Although, I’ve been acting like one, I guess.”
“I mean… it’d be rude to mock you if it’s a sensitive topic. That’s not to say that there isn’t any material there,” Chris said, in an attempt at humor. The girl really did probably have a list of puns and jokes at the ready.
It did work, getting Caro to smile. Sure, turning into a rat as a punishment would be hard to live down, but there were other things more worthwhile. “I guess I deserve it. I threw away everything I’d been starting to build here. And for what? For the approval of some stupid vapid bimbos. I… Oh crap…” Caro cursed, realizing too late that the curse activated. This time it affected her tail, getting it to grow long enough to touch and drag itself on the ground whilst her fur spread further. But the main reason she had to stop was to clutch her face. It honestly felt like it had been hit by a football. Her hands confirmed that her nose had grown just a little bit further.
“Caro? Are you okay?” the girls asked.
“She changed a bit more,” Chris noted.
“Crap, “Caro cursed. “It keeps happening. Let’s hurry to my workshop. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
And with a hastened pace, the girls took off. Gwen even went as far as carrying Caro just to get there faster. And for once, she didn’t mind.
Friday, January 21st - 2:35pm
Basement 2nd level, Caro’s lab, on the fringe of the Tangle
Within Caro’s space, the contemplative silence was broken by a light tap on the door. “Open up!” Chris’ voice chimed through, “It’s us. Express delivery! We brought the food!”
The door opened not long after, letting Chris and Sofia step in, each with a bundle of wrapped-up sandwiches in the bag. “Let’s see if I got the orders right,” Chris said before she began to hand them out.
“You wanted yours with extra cheese, right Caro?” Sofia mused as she handed one of the packages to the owner of the lab, just for a roll of the eyes as a response.
“Funny,” Caro said as she unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite.
“We should probably cut it with the jokes,” Gwen said.
“I think it’s a fair one,” Marlene mused as she took her own meal. “It seems like a good balancing of the scales after all the cat jokes you crammed into the last couple of days.” That earned her a scowl from Caro, but the girl quickly relented.
“Sorry,” Chris said sheepishly as she reached over to pet Caro’s head. “I just find you cute being that small.”
“Careful, I can bite.” Caro frowned, her tongue feeling the larger incisors in her mouth.
“I say keep on doing it, Chris,” Marlene chimed as she took a bite off her meal.
“Tsk…” was Caro’s only answer.
“So…” Chris asked. “What did we miss? Did you find something?”
“I’m just about finished writing Grimma’s ‘story’ on the board.”
“Just now?” Chris asked.
“Caro wanted to copy it perfectly,” Gwen explained.
“It’s a precaution, in case Grimma hid something in the text,” Caro said as she took a couple of steps back before turning into the board, watching in silent contemplation in between bites. The other girls did the same.
“Were you going to ask Grimma to fix it first? Sounds like a simpler solution.” Sofia looked to the side of the table where the cardboard box Caro had been carrying was laid down. With the lid open, its contents were there for everyone to see. One was the flute that was used as a vessel, still faintly oozing darkness, the other the crystal bottle with the swirling mist that was the original curse.
“I thought about it… but Grimma has been awfully quiet since everything began,” Caro said.
“Is she mad at you?” Chris leaned in closer to the open box, her hand waving above the flute as if trying to sense anything, only to reel it back as the tendrils of fading smoke drew closer. But no real answer on that. “Is this safe?”
“It should be. I made sure that anything that slipped off from the flute would be inert… at least for a time,” Caro said before stretching her hand out. “ Can you… give it to me?”
That felt like an odd request since, while Caro had grown small enough to have trouble seeing the contents of the box, she should still be able to grab the box off the table on her own. Still, Chris humored her, picking the flute with only mild trepidation and handing it over fast. She dusted off the tendrils of smoke quickly after.
“I’m going to try again,” Caro informed them as she held the flute before her. And once they all took a step behind, she began. “Grimma? Are you there? Answer.” She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the object. There appeared to be no answer other than the trickling flow of black smoke, so she pulled it closer to her ear.
“I was going to ask…” Chris whispered, but Caro’s ears managed to catch. “Did anyone else pick up when she said ‘at least for a time’?”
“That’s because she didn’t think the flute would keep Grimma sealed forever. Just for a couple of months,” Sofia explained. “Enough to get it sent over to her grandmother.”
“Makes sense. Grimma should be someone that can’t be dealt with as easily,” Marlene noted. “I still can’t believe she would do something so foolish.”
“I thought I already gave my reasons,” Caro half growled before sighing as she lowered the flute. “It’s useless. All I hear is the hollow whistling.”
“Then… are you even sure she’s in there?” Gwen chimed in.
“Then how do you explain this?” Caro said, pointing at the still flowing smoke.
“I don’t know.” Gwen shrugged. “Maybe it’s kinda like a cardboard cutout that was left there to confuse you?”
“How would you check?” Marlene asked.
“Is there a chance she might’ve escaped?” Sofia asked. “Maybe she cursed you to weaken the prison?”
“No, my enchantments should remain in place and work perfectly even if something were to happen to me,” Caro said, with that last part bringing a chill down to the tip of her tail. The prospect of that being the case felt all too real.
“Then how about you break the curse so we can check?” Sofia suggested.
“That would be an option I’d rather not risk,” Caro admitted. “I’m afraid that she’d just fly off and disappear if I give her an opening.”
“Until then, you’re dealing with a situation where you don’t know whether Grimma has escaped your prison.” Marlene shook her head. “I’d use it if I knew there isn’t another way around this.”
“You’re leaving a question mark as your last hope?”
“What else can I do?” Caro frowned. “Turn her over to the Magical Arts department? They’ll probably put her in a vault.”
“If she’s really there,” Sofia noted.
“That’s…” Caro took a deep breath. She was about to dig herself deeper just now. “The point is that I can’t rely on Grimma coming in to save me at the last minute…” She looked down at the flute in her hands and sighed, offering it to Chris. “Can you put this back?”
“Sure…” Chris conceded, though she was still hesitant about grabbing Grimma’s container. So she did the job fast and carefully, putting it back into the box.
“It’s safe, Chris. I think,” Caro said.
“It has a leak,” Chris noted as she dusted her hands off. Though rather than walking away, she was drawn by the little glass bottle with the blue swirling magical energy. “Not like this one. This one is safe, right?” She said holding it up with the same curiosity one would to a lava lamp.
“It should be,” Caro noted, but she still took a step back from it.
“Is it upsetting you?” Marlene asked moving in closer towards Chris just to admire the little swirl of energy around the glass with a sense of curiosity.
“That’s the curse that was originally in the flute. The ratcatcher curse.” Caro averted her eyes from it.
“This is…” Marlene said as she stared deeply into the swirl of energy, her eyes flashing slightly as she saw the entity within take a more recognizable form in its echoes. “This is a feline curse, isn’t it? I would’ve imagined the flute of Hamelin to have a different type of magic.”
“Not sure if it’s the same flute of the legend,” Caro said. “But it has some sort of aura about it that is… really starting to scare me stiff.”
“Well, were there other enchantments in the flute? Probably those were the ones that made things work with the influence of the spirit as a power cell.”
“I supposed that was the case,” Caro muttered. “I just can’t really afford to get close to it with each passing change.”
“So it’s a cat curse?” Chris said, squinting at the flask. “I think I see it. It’s like a little cat made of blue fire and smo- Hey!” She said as the flask was casually taken off her hands.
“I’ll take this,” Marlene said.
“Why?” Chris frowned.
“Because, with Caro being nerfed and scared of the little thing in the bottle, I’m the only one with the magic to manage this,“ Marlene explained.
“I’m not scared of it…” Caro frowned but sighed. “But just keep it away. Please.”
“You got it,” Marlene said as she slipped the bottle into her pocket.
“Now,” Caro sighed as she turned towards the board, where the spell was laid down. “Are we done with the distractions?”
“Sorry,” Chris said.
“It’s fine,” Caro assured. “Now that you’re all caught up, back to the problem. If I can’t rely on Grimma… that leaves either breaking the spell or countering it with one of our own.”
“Either of which might well be near impossible unless you can convince the magic teachers to lend a hand.” Marlene noted.
“So, the only thing that can be done is to break Grimma’s spell.” Caro directed the girl’s attention towards the board ahead of them, where the story that appeared on her notebook had been meticulously copied.
“In a home filled with perils lived a little rat with her enemies. No one loved her for who she really was, but by pretense. Valiant steps would take her to low places. Enters a witch, who, despondent of the young rat’s pleas, gives her a gift. Real boons come when the real unblemished her emerges. That day on, every praise would make the little rat taller and prettier.
Made more confident and assured through the day, or whenever she spread kindness. Yet met together by four of her closest enemies, a gathering was made for the witch.
Making herself more and more like the humans she admired. Excluding a great cat spirit, from another story’s fantasy. Appreciation oozed as a reward she gave the witch. Nectar of honey that was brewed by an expert as a token of gratitude. In the end, she lived in joyful quiet solitude blending in with their kind. Never trying again to let the blessing within her leap out. Going forth for a dull time, the story is now over and done.”
Chris said, broke the silence.“I… I don’t follow. It sounds like a short story.”
“I find it nice,” Gwen said. “A story about a rat that turns into a girl.”
“Quite the opposite of what’s happening to Caro. Is that the only connection?”
“There is obviously a trick to it,” Marlene noted. “What do you think, Caro?”
“Well. Normally, I lace some of my more complex spells with hidden tricks and words.” Caro said as she approached the board with the marker at hand. “I use double meanings, hidden capitalizations and patterns to inscribe a hidden message or instruction.” Her words were strained for a moment as she struggled to stretch to draw circles around letters, the first one of each sentence. “In this case, since it was written in prose, I didn’t notice at first… but I did pick up on it not long after.”
“Invert. My. Meaning,” Chris read out.
“It feels a bit vague… doesn’t it?” Caro reasoned.
“Yeah,” Sofia said. “Is there a general meaning to the whole story?”
“The story is about being nice to others and getting changed. I’m clearly going the other way. So that much is starting to make sense. But it doesn’t really spell a cure, if acting nice won’t fix me.”
“Have you tried it?” Sofia asked.
Caro thought for a second. She couldn’t help but admit she’d been quite lacking in the positivity department. It wasn’t something she’d been eager to do, but it was worth trying. “Sofia?”
“Yes?”
“I… I know I haven’t been the easiest to deal with, but I’m glad to have you as a friend and as a roommate. You’re strong-willed and very honest, which is something I kinda respect.” Caro felt her cheeks blushing red as she said that, much to the discreet smiles of some of the girls present.
There was a bit of silence in the room for just a couple of seconds that felt a bit stretched before Sofia answered, equally bashful at the unexpected praise. “Thanks…”
“So? Did you feel anything?” Marlene said between snickers.
Caro paused for a moment for a quick self-check before shaking her head. “Nothing.” She was unsure if she should feel mortified or relieved that their guess was wrong.
“Is there something else we could try?” Marlene asked.
“Wait? Are you really inverting the meaning of it?” Chris asked, cocking her head. “As in, treat every sentence as if it's the opposite day?”
“Every sentence? Not sure if that would make that much sense.” Gwen asked.
Chris shrugged. “It doesn’t have to be coherent. But you do get the gist of it…”
The girls exchanged looks before going back onto the board. This time, interpreting it in the opposite sense.
“In a home empty of perils, lived a little rat, (or should it be ‘girl’?) with friends.” Gwen tried to interpret first. “Everyone loved her for who she really was, not by pretense. Fearful? No, Valiant steps would take her to high places. Enter a witch, who… sympathetic? Of the girl’s pleas, gave her a curse? No? A blessing.”
“Think ‘curse’ works fine,” Caro noted as Sofia took over.
“The ‘curse’ would come out when the fake her would emerge. That day on, every praise… or insult would make the girl smaller and… uglier?”
“Don’t think that last part rang true,” Chris noted.
“Well, she’s not beautiful by human standards, but she is cute.”
“Can we focus?” Caro asked.
“Right… right,” Chris said, taking over. “Made more insecure through the night, or whenever she would spread… ill? Bile? Yet, met together by four of her closest… friends? a gathering was made for the witch.” As she said it, the eyes looked around at the four friends present.
“Ahem,” Marlene continued. “Having made herself less and less like the rats she detested. Inviting to the seat a cat spirit that belongs to another story of fantasy. Regret oozed from the witch’s blessing. Nectar of alcohol was brewed by an expert as a token of apology.”
“You took some liberties,” Caro noted.
“It’s what I feel makes sense.”
Caro thought for a moment and then continued. “In the end, she lived a life of… excitement, standing out among her kind. Always trying to let the curse within her out. Going for a life of action, the story is never over.”
“That was a lot,” Chris noted. “But it makes a bit more sense… right? If you flip the meaning it does seem more like what’s happening to you, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Caro mumbled.
“It’s still not clear how to break the spell, though,” Sofia noted.
“Not so fast.” Caro said as she highlighted parts with the marker. “The revised spell speaks of a gathering of four. Which…”
“Would be us,” Chris said. “So we have to have a sort of tea party?”
“Actually,” Marlene chimed in. “I think I have notes on a ritual that could be used to invoke and compel a spirit to a gathering. Could it be that sort of thing? A coven-like summoning.”
“A ritual? And are you sure this could work out?” Caro said.
“It’s likely. It’s also used to expel curses.” Marlene nodded and pointed at the written spell. “Provided we have the right offerings.”
The mousegirl sighed. “It's the best option, I suppose.”
Chris was near to vibrating with pent-in excitement. “So, we get to be witches?”
“Magic would be optional for that,” Marlene assured.
“And is that all?” Gwen asked. “Because there are other things that are mentioned that haven’t been addressed.”
Caro nodded. “It mentions a ‘nectar of honey brewed that is brewed by an expert-”
“Or a novice,” Gwen added.
“Or a novice… not sure I follow. Honey brewed into what?”
“Do they mean brewing sweet honey? Gwen wondered.
“Could it be?” Sofia thought out loud, earning her the attention. “Is it talking about mead?”
“Mead? As in the fantasy drink?” Caro asked.
Sofia nodded. “It’s medieval, I think I remember Will mentioning something about it using honey.”
“Hm… if you’re talking about Will,” Gwen said. “Chris and I ran into one of his friends a couple of days ago. They were having a special drink for the opening this Sunday.”
“Any chance it could be mead?”
“I think it was, right?” Gwen said, looking at Chris.
“Think so too,” she concurred before going to talk with Marlene.
“Well… that’s something, I suppose… Although, it just had to be Will and his company.” Caro sighed. “And that leaves the other part the… ‘great cat spirit from another story’s fantasy.’ I’m not really sure what could be meant by that… I mean there are many cats here but the fantasy great spiri-”
“Ooh! Ooh!” Chris squeaked, raising her hand along with Marlene. “We know what that is! It’s Puck, from Re:Zero.”
“He’s a great and powerful spirit that takes the form of a cat. He’s actually incredibly strong and a key secondary player in the story and-” Marlene continued.
“Okay, okay, I get it. I guess it does fit in what it’s described.” Caro thought for a moment. This did beg the question if Grimma planned for this and how far she knew this was going to happen. “And it’s awfully convenient because I do have that plushie you gave me.”
“Do you have him with you?”
“Think it’s in my purse, back in my room.” Caro let out a relieved sigh. It really seemed as though that was the right answer, and that just meant: “I guess that just means that the biggest problem for us would be to get the mead… You mentioned it would be the hook for his business’s grand opening, right?”
“That’s what I recall…” Gwen noted. “Said they got this new cool place in the tunnels.”
“Did Will tell you that?” Sofia inquired.
“Actually, it was one of his friends,” Chris chimed in. “He appeared very interested in Gwen.”
“Must’ve been Peter.” Sofia took a moment to recall. “Last I checked, he was looking for a girlfriend… And I think he had you high in his list of girls he would like to date.”
“They talk about that?” Gwen blinked.
“I think they did. I recall your name being mentioned,” Sofia shrugged.
“Of course you would be on someone’s dream list.” Caro shook her head. “But we can use this in our favor… If you use your charm and popularity to distract him long enough, we could sneak in and obtain some of the mead.”
“What?!” Gwen’s voice cracked into a startled squeak before quickly shaking her head. “No no no no. I can’t do that. There has to be a better way… what if we ask him?”
“I… I don’t think Will or his friends are fond of me,” Caro said.
“Or me, for that matter,” Sofia said.
Unable, or rather unwilling to say anything, silence was allowed to reign for a moment. Uncomfortable as they waited for a decision she didn’t want to give.
“But I could ask him.” Gwen said.
“And what if he says ‘no’? Then they know what we’re after. Gwen… please.” Caro felt the butterflies in her stomach. She wasn’t sure if she was interpreting it right, but it certainly felt plausible considering some small differences she noted. “If I read the wording well, there’s the implication I’ll change more during the night and that is not counting people trying to push me around.”
“Maybe…” Gwen tittered. “Maybe if you try to have patience and have a bit of control?” she suggested with her voice rising to a squeak, just trying to get off the hook.
“Please, Gwen…” Caro pleaded, but was admittedly scared of the consequences.
“Caro is kinda right…” Marlene chimed in. “I think I overheard some of the girls from Dickinson saying they were going to try to push her buttons. I bet they will try something next week, during or after classes where they know you’ll be.”
Worry began to grow within Caro as she pictured how things would go.
Gwen’s face was quickly collapsing inward from distress. “But… I have a boyfriend.”
“We’re not telling you to go to second base with him,” Marlene said. “Just distract him. Be friendly without committing.”
“Are we sure this is the only solution we have?” Gwen asked. “Maybe just go and buy some of the mead?”
Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed away by Marlene chiming in. “This is a limited time thing done just for the opening. There’s a chance that there won’t be any after tonight. We could try to go during the opening and take a glass or something with us…”
Sofia interjected, “And even if Will has somehow managed to convince the members of the staff to not close his operations, he would still be very cautious about what leaves his business. Would probably make sure that not even the empty glasses are taken out under his watch without a good reason.”
“I, of course, wouldn’t qualify as a good reason,” Caro half-joked.
“So, we would need to take it before the main event, before they even worry about the preamble… Tomorrow.”
“I don’t want to steal anything,” Gwen protested.
“We can leave them some money to compensate for it,” Caro said.
“I… But…”
“Please, Gwen. This is probably the only way we can do this.” Caro pleaded.
“I…” Gwen stammered as all the eyes were on her, pacing around as if wanting to get out but not really daring to leave her friend in need. It took her what felt like the longest minute before she gave her answer. “Fine… If it’ll break the curse. I’ll do it.”
“You don’t even have to steal anything, just be Peter’s friend for a moment,” Chris reassured.
“No idea how I am going to explain this to Dereck,” Gwen mumbled to herself before looking back at Caro. “Okay, assuming that I play the role of distraction, what next? Are you four going to sneak into the kitchen and take the thing without getting found out?”
“We should probably have a smaller team do the retrieval,” Caro muttered. “Who could do it?”
There was a small pause as all looks went onto Caro.
“What?”
“Well…” Chris chimed in.
“You are kinda small as you are.” Marlene said.
“And this is kinda your doing.” Sofia added in.
“But I’m kinda useless as I am right now. Can’t even use my magic as efficiently as before,” Caro admitted.
“But you still have it, don’t you?” Chris said.
“I do,” Caro reassured, pausing to do an internal checkup only to nod again. “Some small fraction.”
“So you can have something prepared,” Gwen said.
“I don’t think I can… But, you know? Fine, I’ll deal with it.” Caro decided. “It’ll be tomorrow, and there can’t be any errors. Which makes me wonder. Anyone know how to unlock doors?”
The girls exchanged looks in silence.
“We could try to learn how to lockpick watching tutorials,” Chris suggested, though her tone spoke volumes about the hope of it. “But don’t think we can master it in a day.”
“This isn’t good. If we can’t deal with the easiest obstacle…” Caro mumbled pausing for a second to think. There was a clear answer that came to mind, just after the events of today… and she really couldn’t think of any other person better suited for the job. “I think I might have an idea for that…”
There were curious glances and looks abound, but they nodded at the assurance.
“Do we have a plan, then?” Chris said, sounding a bit disappointed that she couldn’t be given a bigger role in this mission.
“Yeah, we do, things are set.” Caro moved over to grab the flute from the box. “What do you say, Grimma? Are we on the right path?”
Unsurprisingly, there was no answer, just the oozing of black smoke. It made Caro wonder if Chris was right and the spirit of fables and stories wasn’t really there, that she was simply talking to a smoke enchantment.
“It’ll have to be enough.” As she carefully placed the flute I back in the box and covered the lid.
“I think that should be it.” At that, Marlene checked the time. “It’s past four in the afternoon, and I have some things to do…”
“Right. We have things set for now.” Caro said, taking a pause, feeling relief wash over her. While she wasn’t out of danger, knowing that she had others to rely on, put her mind at ease. It was a feeling she could hardly remember experiencing till coming to Whateley, one that was so easily forgotten. “Thank you… Thank you for everything.”
“You don’t have to say anything, Caro,” Gwen said with a warm smile.
“That’s what friends are for,” Chris said.
“Yeah,” Marlene concurred.
“No te preocupes,” Sofia added, which Caro imagined translated to ‘no problem’.
“Thank you all,” Caro sighed. “I’m sure we all need to make some preparations. So we better get going.”
“If anything happens, be sure to send a message,” Marlene said as she approached the door.
“Good call,” Caro conceded. “We’ll meet tomorrow at noon.”
With the door opened, the girls talked amongst themselves as they booted up the map app, just to be sure they could find their way out. Caro exited last, so she could close and lock the door to her lab. And as she did, a shudder ran through her body. Her ears twitched, pulling her direction towards the opposite path, where the lights had disappeared above a crossroad, as it tended to happen when the Tangle tried to act up.
But as she squinted, Caro thought she could make out an odd outline within the pitch darkness, with a faint glow of eyes that opened. Yet, the next instant the light returned, revealing the empty intersection.
“It must be nothing… it must be nothing, just the Tangle playing tricks on me,” Caro said as she heard her friends call upon her. Pushing thoughts away, she followed them after double checking the lock on her door.
“I’m still not looking forward to this,” Gwen complained.
“I’ll give you some tips on flirting and what I know about Peter…” Sofia said, letting the girls hear Gwen groan.
“Hey, Chris?” Caro asked, slowing her steps.
“What is it, Caro?” Chris asked with a friendly tone, letting Sofia and Gwen move on ahead.
“Think you could walk me back? I need a bodyguard.”
To that, Chris gave her a playful salute. “Yes ma’am!”
“Don’t forget about the Puck plush,” Marlene reminded before she upped the pace and went up the stairs to the upper levels.
“Can’t believe my gift happened to be the key to solving everything. Just wish there’s more I could do,” Chris pouted. Caro tried not to mind the tone, even if it was annoying. To the other girl this was all an adventure.
“Well, you’ll be the backup tomorrow,” Caro assured, finding within herself the ability to smile. Sure, there was still a big mission taking place tomorrow… but everything just appeared to be solvable.
“So… where are we going?” Chris asked.
“We’re heading off to Twain to ask for help…” Caro said.
Friday, January 21st - 7:12pm
Whitman Cottage
Caro took a deep breath as she stepped back into Whitman Cottage, fresh from being dropped off by Chris. The cottage girls greeted her with some light pestering, continuing the morning’s session of karmic teasing for the way Caro had disrespected some. Fortunately, it was much tamer than before, either because the joke ran its course, because the girls empathized with her situation… or because Mrs. Savage gave them a stern talking-to. There was the usual ‘Ratface! Hide the cheese!’ greeting from Pastel, the unfiltered rainbow girl, or ‘Yummy snack’ from Shisa, the only person who had it worse than Caro in the animalism department, for now. But even then, she could tell they did it in jest (or at least she hoped), never rising to the level of bullying she got from Alvina and her crew.
It was still a weird thing to tread through the cottage after having lost nearly three feet in height. It certainly made the world seem much bigger and worrisome than before. In the moment of quiet solace, it was easy to fall into the trap of imagining how bad things would be. What would the view look like if she happened to shrink down to a foot tall? How about six inches?
Fortunately, she happened to run into a friendly face before she would have a panic attack in the hallway.
“Marlene.”
The catgirl appeared to have been leisurely pacing down the corridor with a small stack of papers in one hand. Upon hearing Caro’s greeting, her focus was taken off them. “Ah, Caro,” she greeted back, lowering the papers. “Glad you could make it back to the cottage unchanged… you haven’t changed any more, have you?” She leaned to the side with a measuring gaze.
“Yeah, Chris helped me on the way to and from.”
“And where was it?” Marlene asked.
“Just the last person we might need for the job.”
Marlene cocked her head. “You’re including someone else into this?”
“It’s not a big deal. Just someone I thought might have the powers we need.” Caro said. I’ll tell you about him later.”
“Him?… Alright,” Marlene conceded. “So you have all you need?”
“I do,” Caro assured. “Other than tomorrow? I think so. I was just about to go grab the plush.”
“Oh cool.” Marlene followed Caro, making it clear she was tagging along.
“So… what’s that?” Caro asked.
“This?” Marlene pointed at the stack of papers in her hand. “This is just a small script Marionette was planning on doing for his puppets.”
“A puppeteering play? Do you need a script for one?”
Marlene smiled. “It is if you want to add an extra bit of oomph and direction.”
Caro shook her head. In all honesty, she was too concerned about tomorrow to afford asking anything further. If it were a couple of days ago… she probably wouldn’t have bothered. But if she’d been asked before the winter break, she would probably have half a mind to check it out of literary curiosity. It would have to be for another time. “Well, do hope to see it.”
“You could visit the anime club often for showings.”
“Heh.” Caro chuckled, rather than give out an answer. She opened the door to her room and allowed herself and Marlene in. “Honestly, with all that’s happened… I’d just be happy to go back to how things were just before I left for the winter break.”
“Thinking your appearance before wasn’t so bad?” Marlene asked as she fiddled with the papers.
“I didn’t like the scales of the horns… but I guess things weren’t getting worse for me back then.” Caro sighed. “I just wanted a fix, you know?”
“But, was the fix worth it?” Marlene said.
“I know… I know… I almost lost all my friends because of that. And I would’ve deserved it.” Caro sighed. “Can’t believe I would’ve traded you just for a dip back in the shallow end. I felt like I used to, always with my guard up, distrusting everyone’s motives while I was at my old school…”
“Yeah…”
Caro shook her head. “And I was relapsing. It still doesn’t warrant the curse I got, though.”
“Hehe, no, it doesn’t… Though I’ll miss seeing you all cute and little and ratty.” Marlene snickered.
“Oh b…” Caro was about to say, only to hold her tongue at the last second. With all the favorable news, it was easy to loosen the guard around the curse’s trigger. “Well, I can’t complain… next thing I know, I could end up becoming a cockroach and miss being this. I guess it’s the whole fully turning into the rat part that is really starting to get to me,” Caro admitted. Having read the poem, she had a sense that this whole curse would be a one way trip. “Can’t believe she would do this to me.”
“Must be some sort of tough love,” Marlene noted. “And… I wanted to ask… Why have you never tried turning yourself back to normal? Not just using illusions.”
Caro sighed as she climbed up on her bed, near where she kept her purse stashed. “I tried it… once. I tried to fix myself using magic and it worked, for a moment. Then I found myself changing into a giant dragon that ended up nearly trampling my hometown.”
“For real?” Marlene said, her jaw almost dropping.
“Yeah,” Caro said, admittedly amused by the reaction. “I turned into a big magic dragon that ended up stamping my way through the forest to the nearest city. Another mistake I made.”
“But that wasn’t because of your spell, wasn’t it?”
“It wasn’t… it was mostly something else that was going on with me.” Caro shook her head. “Still, the feeling of changing against my will was something that’s stuck with me for a while… After that, dabbling with transformation curses and blessings wasn’t something I was too keen on.”
“Think it might be a mental barrier you might overcome?” Marlene asked.
“I guess that having a change happen in bursts, while upsetting, is starting to get me numb to the idea,” Caro mumbled. “Heck, if I hadn’t found the lines, I would’ve actually tried… even though the curse would just kick in again, and I’m not in my best shape.
“You know what?” Marlene thought for a second. “I know a thing or two about curses. I’ve even been making headway on making myself physically human, not just illusions. At least temporarily.”
“You have?” Caro’s eyes went wide with surprise
“I cracked the formula during the break. If you’d asked about it, I would’ve helped you… but, well, you know.”
“Wish I’d known before making the deal with Grimma.” Caro shook her head. Even if Marlene’s solution wouldn’t have applied, she would’ve been happy to see it.
“Let’s get you fixed,” Marlene assured.
“Yeah,” Caro agreed as she reached around the edge of the bed to pick up her purse. “Just one last piece of the puzzle to get.”
The bag was still stuffed with the odds and ends she planned to take along to that party last Thursday: her makeup, some perfume, tissues, brushes and so on. And yet, no matter how much Caro dug through, she couldn’t feel the soft plush body. With each passing swipe of her hand, the more the panic mounted. Her claws scratched the inner lining as the search grew more frantic.
“Caro?” Marlene asked.
“It… gone. It’s gone!” Caro realized, upturning its contents on the bed, letting all the clutter fall until the bag was left inside out, and the plushy was nowhere in sight.
“A-Are you sure it was in that purse?” Marlene asked.
“Yes I’m sure!” Caro blurted out in a panic.
“Think back… That was Thursday, right? What happened?”
“I remember… I remember seeing it there just before I headed out to the party…” She paused before looking up at Marlene. “And then ran into you and Sofia…”
Wednesday, January 19th - 7:20pm (Two days ago)
Outside of Whitman Cottage
On the nights during or after the snow befell the school, the campus tended to be for the most part silent outside of the cottages, with the usual exception of an argument or two to break the monotony. The character plushie, having been hastily tucked in, still rested halfway up the top of the purse.
And then, suddenly the world was upturned as a deftly thrown ball of snow, slightly enhanced with magic, struck Caro’s side. It sent her to the snowy ground, near a bench. The open contents spilled out during the fall, scattering across the snow.
“Oh crap!” Marlene gasped. “Sorry Caro, I thought you were going to do something more dangerous.”
“Fuck…” Caro cursed, turning around to spot Gwen and Chris trying to take a step in to help her. “You two. That’s enough. I don’t want your help.”
“But-” Chris tried to say, but Caro wasn’t hearing it.
“That’s enough! Stay there!” She got to her knees and reached for her purse while grabbing every one of the spilled items she could find. Her priorities were her phone and wallet before going after the brushes and bottles of special makeup.
“That’s enough. Stay there,” Caro snapped once she’d pushed herself up on her feet. “Crap… If this is how you’re going to react with my happiness, then fine…” her voice grew distant as she stepped away.
And yet, in all that happened, hidden within the shadow of the bench, lay Puck’s plushie.
This late at night foot traffic was a rarity, and even then, it lay concealed within the darkness on the soft snow, invisible to everyone…
… but one.
A figure stepped past at a few breaths before the stroke of midnight. Walking on all fours, its tail swished and swayed about. It unfurled to appear much more than a common animal before resuming its stereotypically sleek concealed form. Its eyes, slitted and glowing in the night, had no trouble spotting the little animal plush and, with utmost care, it pinched the doll’s ears before running away, before anyone else could see.
