Paying the Pied Pythoness (Part 6) by MaLAguA

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:05pm
Corridor outside of Whiskey’s bar,

Good, Caro, and Vic have almost found the mead. Nice plan to keep Peter distracted, the supply closet bought them a few more seconds at least. Crud, Trevor and Giselle would have to show up right now. Darn, Gwen's bluff doesn't work, and Trevor thinks they should do something about her. Thank you, Peter, for bailing Gwen out. Eep, it got them to back down, but now Peter wants to go on their date to Crystal Hall for dinner right now.

Okay, Trevor is being a manipulative ass to Peter. I don't know why he hangs out with this group. Close one, Gwen gets to wait with Peter until Will gets there. Good thing Vic is good at picking locks, into the kitchen and out of sight just in time. Trevor, why should Paul be the only one to clean the bathrooms? *eyes bug out* That close to Trevor and Giselle finding Caro and Vic, this just keeps getting more complicated.

Gah! Giselle's laughter, I imagined it too clearly. Caro, you are in trouble; you don't need to take the blame for this when your friends agreed to help.

“Screw it!” Peter broke the silence. “Let’s just leave. I mean, that’s what you said in the first place, right? That you were looking for someone to dine with.”

Crap, Peter is going to mess up the mission for them. What the! Dereck is there and wants to know what Gwen is doing in the tunnels beneath his cottage.

“Right… Right. About that,” Dereck said as he cleared his throat, lowered his head with his hand wanting to get near his face to think. “I… I thought a lot about it and I think I can forgive you for your indiscretion…”

“Forgive me?” Gwen blurted out. “What?!”

“It takes two to be a couple, but only one to break us apart,” Dereck said. “But I’m willing to take you back.”

Dereck, you might have just blown it and lost Gwen for good. Dereck sucks at improv, and Gwen is having to pick up the slack in this ruse to cover for him, almost blowing her cover.

“I offered to help you out. I’m good at… that.” Dereck caught himself before he could spill the beans.

“I said I was going to help a friend and that only I could help out, and you overstepped, just like you seem to react whenever I’m with other guys.”

She is right, she can't even spend time with male friends without Dereck getting suspicious.

This whole thing is getting out of control. Dereck seems about to explode on Peter. A broom and a bucket fall over, so Trevor heads inside to deal with it, only to slip and fall on the wet floor.

“Yeah,” Peter snorted. “A-And don’t think about snitching on us. The cottage parents know this is a clubhouse now and have never been able to prove we run a bar. We just make special non-alcoholic drinks and desserts.”

Darn it, it figures Whiskey's power keeps them safe from being caught yet again. Darn, no drinks for Dereck as Will arrives.

“I… I happened to be in the tunnels visiting a friend’s lab, I then got lost on the way back… I said that but in reality, I came here hoping to talk with Dereck… but then I ran into Peter and we spent some nice time together.”

“So I had a chance?” Peter asked.

“No,” Dereck said right away, crossing his arms with a smirk on him.

Gwen sighed. “You two are so dumb.”

Dereck, you and Peter need to both grow up a little.

“Then why was I forced to sit down and wait!?” Peter demanded.

“For safety. Can’t be sure until I have the cameras installed.” Will took a moment to look into the space. “Fine, we’re almost done, I guess. Just scrub and mop the floor and it should all be ready.”

Will, I would call him paranoid, but considering the number of times the staff almost caught them. A friendly game of Poker, it never stays friendly. The Great Gatsby, what grade is Will in again?

At least all this gave Gwen an excuse not to go on the date with Peter. A sigh of relief, I guess that means Caro and Vic are safe. Gwen says she is going back to her cottage, asks Dereck if he is coming, but he wants to stay for a game.

“Don’t ask me, we’re on a break,” Gwen said as she walked away, relieved.

And that was enough to get Dereck to go after her after surrendering the bottle.

At least Dereck isn't so dense he can't take a hint when Gwen is upset with him.

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:21pm (seven minutes ago)
Whiskey Bar- kitchen

Vic has to remain calm as the plan starts to go off the rails. Gah! Stuck there and forced to hear those two flirting and kissing, Caro and Vic have strong nerves not to scream out in agony. Giselle, I never would have thought she wouldn't like getting a judgmental look from Gwen. Even at her smaller size, Caro can't fit through the gap once the grate is off. Just how small is the gap?

And right then is when Dereck showed up. Rats, Caro's head won't fit through. Giselle hears the argument but doesn't wish to get involved.

“Sounds like a whole bunch of trouble I don’t want to get involved in… It’s cool to hear the arguments of power couples, though. If I find out anything juicy, I could probably barter it on All That’s little site.”

I don't like All That's little site. Dereck showing up has got Trevor nervous; he wants to make sure the storeroom is locked. Ugh, Trevor wants to get Dereck charmed as a regular. Ouch, Caro at least warned Vic she doesn't mean any of what she is about to say. Insulting and berating him about what happened between him and Gwen, all just to trigger the curse to be small enough to fit through the gap.

Vic is hurt at first, but then realizes why Caro is saying those things. Ouch, changes that fast and under half a meter now. Oh, good, the broom and bucket fell over just in time. Finally, Giselle leaves the kitchen, and Vic has the chance to get into the storage room. That has to be the fastest, under-pressure, lockpicking that Vic has ever done. Right after Vic gets into the room, Will arrives.

Two large barrels of mead, and Caro has a flash to fill up. Good, no cameras in the storage room. A way out, but it leads to the level below. I hope they get out without too much trouble. At least it isn't the Tangle, again. $10 for a liter of mead, Caro didn't wish to steal and is paying for it anyway. Seesh, just how many abandoned old clubhouses or similar places are there in the tunnels?

Cut the mental connection and tell Gwen they will meet up with her at the lab. Out into an illuminated corridor, there should be stairs nearby. Aww, Vic has to carry Caro because of how small and relatively slow to him she is now.

Saturday, January 22nd - 7:36pm
Tunnels - The tangle, fourth level - abandoned workshop

Marlene has to deal with the soot rats, and escapes to the top of a table where the soot rats appear to have trouble climbing up to. Sofia is shifting back into human form while fighting off the soot rats, trying to shift into a horse so they can escape. Sofia is getting swarmed; this is bad. Sofia can't keep fighting off an endless swarm. Finally! Marlene realizes she needs to cut the magic circle that is summoning them.

Marlene is on the right track, as the soot rats swarm to block her shot at the fringe of the magic circle. Darn it, the table is no longer safe, and Marlene is forced to jump out of the way and onto the floor.

The individual creatures appeared to merge themselves into a single black limb in an effort to ground her. Even as she climbed up onto the chair and clung to the table, they tried to pull her back by the hind leg.

Okay, I will never underestimate even small summoned creatures ever again. Sofia to the rescue with a jumping slam! Back to full feline as getting big doesn't help against the soot rat swarm.

They have a plan to end this; now they just need the opportunity to get close enough to pull it off. I never thought summons made of soot would be this dangerous.

“Chris! You made it!” Sofia called out.

“Here I come to save the day…” Chris sang off-key as she bounced away from the gathering pile of rats, and as she did, there was a twitch about her leg and tail.

Chris to the rescue, I love the Mighty Mouse quote. Oh crap! Chris came into an area with a lot of rats, the curse they used to transform her, darn it! I knew that thing would cause complications eventually. Grows larger and more dangerous, along with an urge to kill the rats; that is some curse.

“I think… I think so,” Marlene said, reassuring herself with a “She will be fine,” even as Chris let out a feral roar and charged through the forming masses. “I’ll just have to exorcise her as soon as this is over… just to be sure.”

And if it acts up again in the future, go to the staff for help!

So that is how the spell and magic circle work: every time you destroy one of the soot rats, the soot just flies back into the magic circle and replenishes the magic. Oh, good, Chris is still in control, she feels compelled to teach the rats whose boss. Mew bats off an icicle from Marlene with his tail and takes to the back exit of the room. Darn it! Mew escaped; they need that plushie now.

Ack! Sofia is being rushed by the soot rats fleeing from Chris. Marlene shifts back into human form and takes out the magic circle; thus, the threat of the soot rats has ended. Oh, Mew left the Puck plushie behind, and Marlene picked it up. Chris fell and toppled to her side; the curse better not do any harm to Chris. Chris is back to normal cat form, and Marlene is casting a spell on her. Oh, good, their bags and Chris's combat suit, she will have something to change into.

There were faint echoes of the thing acting up, which was the quelling aftermath of the outburst, but other than that, there appeared to have been no interruptions, no broken lines that would signify an infection into one or another. Marlene’s hand clutched the ghostly layer that was the ratcatcher’s curse and tugged it, finding it accommodating to her pull.

Too close, I hope they never have to take a risk like that again.

Marlene's hand on Chris's stomach tickles, hehe.

“I…” Chris paused as she stretched her body. “I feel… like I ran a marathon and pulled a… well, an everything. All my body. It hurts… but it’s passing. I just feel sore now…”

And this is why it is dangerous to use curses without knowing their full nature.

“I just checked. Doesn’t seem there’s anything wrong,” Marlene told her. “So… congrats on surviving being cursed.”

“Do I get a medal?” Chris mused, her words devolving into purrs Marlene’s fingers caressed her chin and stomach. “Stop that! That feels funny!”

Aww, Chris purring, if they could record this, some of the girls would pay for a copy.

“She’s fine. There don’t seem to be any signs of the curse seeping through or taking a hard root within her. Physically she appears fine. Still, I would have her get checked by the Mystic Arts department…” Marlene sighed. “If I get grounded by Mrs. Barton in the following days, I’ll know I fucked up.”

I doubt anything went wrong. Time to exorcise Chris, boy, didn't think I would read that in a story. A minute, up to an hour, until Chris changes back. Enjoy it while it still lasts, Chris.

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:35pm
Corridor near Emerson, third basement,

Dang, Gwen is really upset, she wants to just go back to Poe and forget all of this. Great, she has to deal with Dereck now, or the doof might mess up the ritual to break the curse by butting in again. Gwen had her part of the mission; she was all set to do it, and Dereck just had to butt in.

“I wasn’t going to let someone else think they had a shot at you.”

I knew it, it is jealousy once again.

“I think I did the right thing,” Dereck said. “Having them think that campus royalty was paying them a visit would’ve convinced them.”

“We’re only ‘royalty’ for those who care about that kind of thing, the bootlickers and aspirants! That didn’t work on them!” Gwen said. “You almost blew it.”

Dereck, you need to get that ego in check.

“I love you too…” she said slowly before taking a deep breath. “You know? I never had someone my age say that to me before. I never thought it would happen before last year. But when you asked me to be your girlfriend, I had so many feels, so many thoughts. I don’t know if it was joy or love… or fear that it would be the only time someone ever said that to me. Not sure if that’s the case anymore.”

“What, you’re going to break up with me?”

“I’m not… I don’t want to. I really don’t,” Gwen admitted. By now she was pacing around, as if trying to think where she was going. “I just want things to quiet down. I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to hear…”

Dereck, listen to what Gwen is saying, and try to understand her feelings on the matter. Ouch, she is really in pain from having to do this with Dereck.

Saturday, January 22nd - 6:45pm
Tunnels outside of Caro’s lab

Gwen is emotionally drained from everything that has happened.

“Caro getting cursed, Vic changing, Dereck just being… Ugh, I need a break and it’s barely been two weeks since school resumed.” She just wished for the night to be over, to at least knock one of her problems off her list.

She needs a break from any more drama for a while. Vic and Caro show up, and Gwen is shocked by how much Caro has changed again.

Now they have to wait for Marlene, Chris, and Sofia. But first, Gwen is finally getting an answer as to what's happening to Vic.

“I know what it’s like to wish things had been different,” Vic said. “Doesn’t make a difference, even if it’s so tempting.”

Vic is right, don't let the What Ifs haunt you, Gwen.

“Hopefully there’s something for me.” Vic shook his head. “Was it too much to ask to be an accountant or an office worker?” Though, being honest, he himself had no idea what he actually expected as a career.

Vic, after going to Whateley for four years, those two jobs would leave you stir-crazy inside a week.

Their Dad wants to know if Vic is safe. I wish his mom were still alive.

“Yeah… weird, isn’t it?” Vic noted. “Her name is Nerealu Nih-Eidire, if I recall it right. I call her Ner, for short. I would tell you more, but I’m not sure you’d believe me. And since the only time we talk is in dreams, it’s a bit fuzzy right now.”

“I believe you,” Gwen said. She was deeply intrigued by all of this… but at the same time concerned. “Though… there’s just one thing that concerns me. It’s a female spirit, right?”

“Think there’s a chance I might end up as… you know?” Vic gestured at Gwen, seemingly reading her thoughts.

Yeah, that was a concern at first.

“It’s not the same as what you went through, right? I mean, my roommate, for example, is an avatar with a female spirit and he’s just as much of a boy as anyone else in Twain. I compared myself to Ner and there are already differences between our appearances in terms of colors.” Vic held out his colored hand. “Plus, Lifeward and the school took blood samples and said everything was normal.”

I think it would take something drastic and very severe for it to happen now, so Vic will remain a boy unless some outside force changes things.

I wonder if the restricted section at Whateley might have a tome with details on neotritons in it. So glad Josh got that internship, I hope that ass at the Syndicate doesn't try to mess with his scholarship again. Finally, I'm glad Vic and Gwen got to talk about things again.

“They aren’t perfect, but they’re better, I think. I hope.”

“I’m glad.” Caro sighed. “I feel the same.”

Now to wait for the others so they can break Caro's curse. I wonder if Grimma will speak again once the curse is broken.