III
~Hierophant~
~Hierophant~
It
didn't take Zotha's little high priestess too long to get showered
and dressed, ready for breakfast. Out of a dresser and closet full of
various options, she chose a sleeveless blouse and a short skirt, and
seemed not the least bit troubled by the latter. The demoness wasn't
feeling so adventurous with her own clothes; girly and cute was fine,
but fluttery bottoms still seemed a little unusual to her. Either
way, they headed off to breakfast.
Jess had
a worried expression when they passed some people in the halls, and
outside, and then a mildly confused one when there was no particular
reaction to their...quite unusual appearances. “There's a
simple veil over us,” Zotha explained once they were alone and just
before a question could be asked. “We look like humans with normal,
non-glowy eye colors unless they're 'in the know' already, or we want
to reveal ourselves. Also, when we talk we can turn on a 'mode'
that makes other people perceive us as talking about whatever they
find really boring so they'll tune us out right away.”
“Did
you, just think that up this morning?” Jess asked, curious.
“Hmm.
I don't know if 'think it up' are the right words. Many of my powers
simply came to me either as I changed, or not long afterward. For a
lot of things, I basically ask myself 'can I do something like this?'
and get a yes or no response right away. Since you're channeling my
power it should be the same for you, too.”
“I'm—really?”
she said, astonished. It seemed she hadn't even noticed all this
time. “I-I thought I was only able to borrow your power with your
permission,” she said.
“Well, it's something like that, sure. But the 'asking for permission' is fast and doesn't require conscious thought exactly. It's complicated,” she said, putting up her hands. “By the way though, that 'seed of power' thing I did with you is actually a pretty interesting beast; it sort of behaves like a test of loyalty. It withers right away if the target doesn't like me, and grows better the stronger their devotion. So...that's how I know I can trust you with my power, if you were wondering. It is a little weird you were that devoted to someone you've barely even met, though.”
“W-well, I had been preparing for a long time for your arri—I mean, ascendance,” Jess corrected. “E-even if I didn't know it would be you, specifically, I had been mentally preparing to..s-submit myself to a demonic master for a long time.”
“Well, it's something like that, sure. But the 'asking for permission' is fast and doesn't require conscious thought exactly. It's complicated,” she said, putting up her hands. “By the way though, that 'seed of power' thing I did with you is actually a pretty interesting beast; it sort of behaves like a test of loyalty. It withers right away if the target doesn't like me, and grows better the stronger their devotion. So...that's how I know I can trust you with my power, if you were wondering. It is a little weird you were that devoted to someone you've barely even met, though.”
“W-well, I had been preparing for a long time for your arri—I mean, ascendance,” Jess corrected. “E-even if I didn't know it would be you, specifically, I had been mentally preparing to..s-submit myself to a demonic master for a long time.”
“Heheh.
You're really weird,” Zotha said. “I guess I don't have a lot of
room to talk now, though.”
They
arrived at the dining hall, and ordered food using the demon-girl's
student card in the machine since Jess's was still back in her “old”
apartment. Once they sat down, the demoness said, “Now, here's my
plan for dealing with our changes smoothly. Listen closely, as we
need to have our story straight...”
Zeke
had, in the course of being curious and researching various things,
learned of the official channels through which to report supernatural
incidents. They didn't lock up the victims—where the word applied—
or anything like that, and were even known to help “clean up” the
messes such incidents sometimes caused to people's lives, too. That
was where the two of them went next.
They
identified themselves, and allowed a person to 'identity scan' them
to confirm it (a spell which Zotha carefully monitored the contents
of, but it wasn't even capable of noticing the demonic power in
either of them). Then they explained that each of them had received
separately, in the mail, a strange artifact which had suddenly
activated last night. Jerod had appeared in Zeke's dorm room, both of
them had been transformed along with their clothes, and the artifacts
had promptly disappeared. Zotha supplied them with some supposed
leftover packaging from the described artifacts' delivery, which
wouldn't lead their investigators anywhere but made the story more
plausible. As she had hoped, the first priority was not trying to
discover the origin of the artifacts (despite what the person
interviewing her said), but rather attempting to establish some level
of 'normalcy' for the victims.
The request was made to help allow Jess to move in as her roommate in light of their shared predicament and the fact that Jerod had had a male roommate before; they were assured it would be taken care of. Their identities were confirmed to their respective families during some moderately awkward phone calls—but it was, just as the supernatural incidents people suggested, better to get this over with sooner rather than later. Arrangements were made to inform each of their professors. By the time it was all over with, it was time for lunch.
The request was made to help allow Jess to move in as her roommate in light of their shared predicament and the fact that Jerod had had a male roommate before; they were assured it would be taken care of. Their identities were confirmed to their respective families during some moderately awkward phone calls—but it was, just as the supernatural incidents people suggested, better to get this over with sooner rather than later. Arrangements were made to inform each of their professors. By the time it was all over with, it was time for lunch.
Jess
tried her hand at a little bit of magic to quickly transport some of
her more important items from her old dorm room to their new one; she
left her old clothes and some other token objects to be moved
mundanely later. They had lunch together, and worked through the next
phase of their plan.
“Now
then,” Zotha said. “We first need to get everyone who's in a
position of high authority together and 'reward' them, just as I
promised. While I do have the sense that I would recognize any
one of our members if I saw them, I honestly don't know how to
contact any of them.”
“I can take care of that,” Jess said, nodding. “I memorized every member's contact info: Email, phone number, dorm room, schedule. You can't risk keeping a record of that kind of stuff, so I learned how to keep it all in my head.”
“That's...distressing under most contexts, but useful here at least,” the demoness said. She leaned over and patted Jess's head, an expression she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. “Good girl.”
“Heehee.”
“In that case I imagine you can get a message out to the other leaders of the bunch to meet at...? Hmn. I didn't quite think far enough ahead,” she realized. “Oh, wait! That shack out in the woods with a bunch of little rooms in it, do you rent that out just for the initiation rituals or what?”
“I can take care of that,” Jess said, nodding. “I memorized every member's contact info: Email, phone number, dorm room, schedule. You can't risk keeping a record of that kind of stuff, so I learned how to keep it all in my head.”
“That's...distressing under most contexts, but useful here at least,” the demoness said. She leaned over and patted Jess's head, an expression she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. “Good girl.”
“Heehee.”
“In that case I imagine you can get a message out to the other leaders of the bunch to meet at...? Hmn. I didn't quite think far enough ahead,” she realized. “Oh, wait! That shack out in the woods with a bunch of little rooms in it, do you rent that out just for the initiation rituals or what?”
“Oh,
my family actually owns the land out there,” her priestess said,
grinning eagerly. “That's why I was able to get stuff built without
anybody noticing. The ritual monument was way harder to do,
and I couldn't involve them directly because obviously. But that
shack was easy, I just told them I wanted somewhere of my own to hang
out in from time to time and they let me do the floor plans and
everything!”
“...I
am so glad you're on my side now,” the demoness said after
taking a moment to take all that in. “Okay, we'll tell them to meet
there. Then we'll interview them one by one—me in one room, you in
the other. The idea is to find out what they want the most and
fulfill that desire.” She leaned forward a bit, giving a slightly
stern look. “And we want to grant these wishes in a
no-strings-attached manner. Permanent, completely beneficial effects
that they don't have to come back to us to renew or fix or anything
like that. The idea is to earn worship through gratitude, because
that will make them way better at helping us get more
followers. Plus—I don't know how else to put this, but I'm really
starting to like the 'taste' of genuine gratitude. It's mostly just
you right now, but I can tell it gives me a stronger, purer power
than the mix of uncertain fear and hope I got when I was first
empowered.”
“Okay!
Can do,” Jess nod-nodded, getting out her phone (recovered from her
dorm room, of course; it hadn't been taken to the ritual because GPS
existed) to start sending a few texts and emails. Zotha considered
warning her not to use her voice for any of the 'invitations',
but then remembered that her priestess was in fact way too clever to
make that kind of mistake.
Messages
consisting of only a command to go somewhere or do one very specific
thing were nothing new. Jerod insisted that it enhanced the mystery
of the cult and made people do whatever the command said out of
curiosity if not intimidation. In this case it was still a little
annoying—he'd driven off with their new “demon lord” last
night, and Parker hadn't heard from her or his roommate
since—not until this one terse text. Well, nothing to do but
confirm that Cameron and Riana had gotten the same orders he had and
offer them a ride out to the initiation shack if so.
A little
later, the three of them got out of the car and walked up to find
Andrew standing around in front of the door. “Hey, what're you
waiting around for?” Cameron said, walking up and giving him a soft
punch in the arm. “The man said to go inside, so why
ain't-cha inside already?”
“Lay
off, Cam,” Riana said, grabbing his arm to pull him away. “Like
you're not as terrified as he is.” All three of them had
established during the drive over that they hadn't expected a real
demon to show up. Parker was feeling the guiltiest about smashing
that guy's window and dragging him out there, but he'd been thinking
the whole time that nothing would happen and then they could just try
to apologize and laugh it off with him afterward...or maybe that
Jerod would be a decent guy for once and take the fall for it now
that the whole “summon a demon” plan hadn't worked out. No such
luck, it seemed, and if anything it felt worse that they were
probably going to all get away with it now.
The door
opened, and a girl none of them recognized—short, very curvy, with
long dark hair and purple eyes that had a curious glow somehow
visible even in the afternoon sun—leaned out to look around at them
all. “Hey! Please, come inside,” she said in a friendly tone,
moving out of the way while holding the door open. “Our master is
waiting~.” The four of them exchanged a brief, defeated look before
heading inside as directed, Parker now reluctantly at the front.
The
interior had been redecorated. Well—that was a severe
understatement; looking around, he was pretty sure that the cozy
lounge-ish space shouldn't fit in the tiny antechamber the
shack was supposed to have. Had they spent all day renovating this
place? By themselves? Who were “they” exactly—considering
that Jerod was nowhere to be found inside; it was just the glowy-eye
girl and their new mutual lord and master, so...
Wait.
It
clicked in Parker's head, and he looked back and forth between them a
couple of times, flabbergasted. The (relatively) human girl seemed to
notice the recognition in his eyes and just giggled softly at it.
That was it—he decided—they were probably not getting out of here
without turning into the demon lord's personal slaves or something.
Not what he'd wanted out of the weekend, or this entire crazy cult
plan of Jerod's, but—well, at least they would probably be
high-ranking slaves or...whatever. Maybe even keep a shred of
their original wills or personalities, if they were lucky.
“Welcome!”
the demoness said cheerfully to the group once they were all inside.
“I hope the invitation didn't inconvenience you too much, but we
have some important business to attend to. First of all~, this is
Jess,” she said, patting the smaller girl's head. “You all know
her as Jerod, I'm sure. As a reward for doing the most to bring me
the great power I now have, I awarded her the position of high
priestess; I hope you all won't be too jealous.”
Parker
stifled a sarcastic noise at that suggestion. It was almost pointless
to be polite, except that she might “punish” the first person to
cross her with a particularly unpleasant alteration.
“Secondly,
I want to make something perfectly clear,” she said, putting her
hands on her hips. “Jess here was right about the power of
the ritual you conducted last night, but not about its exact purpose.
I dunno if you remember the names of every low-ranking member in your
group—it's awfully nice if you do, but—anyway I'm the same person
you brought here a couple of weeks ago for 'initiation'. It was Zeke
then, but you may call me Zotha now,” she said, making a slight
self-indicative gesture.
“Uh...wait,
so,” Cam said slowly. “You're—that guy still. I mean, but like,
a demon now?”
“Mm-hm!” She leaned in a little bit. “I understand I have you three to thank for kidnapping me. Don't worry, I'm not mad! In the end it means I was the one who got handed unimaginable power, after all.”
“Mm-hm!” She leaned in a little bit. “I understand I have you three to thank for kidnapping me. Don't worry, I'm not mad! In the end it means I was the one who got handed unimaginable power, after all.”
Her
assurances felt pretty hollow to Parker. He crossed his arms,
standing straight and trying to not to shake too much in terror of
whatever was coming next. Judging by their expressions, the others
were equally as unconvinced; Cameron looked ready to bolt, while
Andrew was practically frozen in place. Riana, not among the group
who'd committed the actual kidnapping, just gave her boyfriend a
disapproving glare, one of those “I told you not to go along
with that stupid idea” ones.
“To be
clear, if you want to leave now you can,” Jess said. “Our new
lord and master is gracious to a fault, and the goal of this meeting
is to reward you four, and hopefully ensure your continued
service by gratitude rather than fear.”
Parker,
wide-eyed, looked deep into her face. It was an innocent, cheerful
smile. Okay—she had definitely done something to Jerod's
mind. But could they really leave, or was this just a show?
“Now
then. The plan is to use the rooms behind us,” Zotha said, pointing
back with a thumb, “to interview each of you one at a time and
determine in private what reward would be best. We'll head back there
now, and you can decide amongst yourselves who wants to go first~.”
Jess nodded, confirming this, and then both of them turned around and
walked through a door behind them, shutting it afterward.
This
was...unexpected. “It's gotta be some kind of trick, right?”
Andrew said, turning around and going back to the front door. He
opened it, leaned outside; nothing happened to stop him. “...Right?”
“Well,
I ain't going in first!” Cameron said. “And Riana ain't
either. So I guess you two are up. You'd—uh, tell us if somethin'
weird happened, right?”
“I would have half a mind not to,” Parker said, “assuming I'm even able,” and then sighed. “Well, he—I mean she's my roommate, after all, so maybe I can at least figure out how mindscrewed Jerod is right now. I guess you guys can decide what else you wanna do while I'm in there.”
“I would have half a mind not to,” Parker said, “assuming I'm even able,” and then sighed. “Well, he—I mean she's my roommate, after all, so maybe I can at least figure out how mindscrewed Jerod is right now. I guess you guys can decide what else you wanna do while I'm in there.”
The
initiation room had undergone some changes too—it was bigger, of
course, with nicer walls, a computer chair behind a desk on the back
wall and a white loveseat facing that. Jess was sitting in the chair
(and managed to look short even with it up at its maximum height),
leaning forward with her elbows on the desk and her hands together,
grinning up at him as he came in and slowly shut the door. “I'm
glad you at least trust me a little,” she said. “It'll be
hard to get things off the ground if there aren't any happy customers
besides me.” She raised a hand to wave at the small couch in front
of her. “Have a seat?”
“Sure, I guess..”
After sitting down (and finding the loveseat distressingly soft and comfortable—where had they found the money for all this furniture, he thought), Parker looked his roommate—former roommate, probably—straight in the glowing eyes. “Alright. Is that really you in there, or am I talking to—to Zotha's puppet or something?” he said.
“Hmm. I guess it's a little of both?” she said, tilting her head slightly. “Her power is being channeled through me, and she has control over my form if she desires it—but I didn't ask for anything less.”
“Sure, I guess..”
After sitting down (and finding the loveseat distressingly soft and comfortable—where had they found the money for all this furniture, he thought), Parker looked his roommate—former roommate, probably—straight in the glowing eyes. “Alright. Is that really you in there, or am I talking to—to Zotha's puppet or something?” he said.
“Hmm. I guess it's a little of both?” she said, tilting her head slightly. “Her power is being channeled through me, and she has control over my form if she desires it—but I didn't ask for anything less.”
“You..asked
for this? To be—turned into a frilly girl and her, what?” Parker
said angrily. “Priestess or whatever?”
“Yeah. Umm, I guess that's a little hard to believe though.”
Jess visibly thought about it for a second or two. “Well, I could borrow a drop of power to make myself look like I did before, except for my eyes I think—but while that might make you more comfortable I don't think it'd convince you of anything. And if she had total control over my mind then there's no question you could ask that she couldn't answer. Hmn, this is a tough one.”
“Yeah. Umm, I guess that's a little hard to believe though.”
Jess visibly thought about it for a second or two. “Well, I could borrow a drop of power to make myself look like I did before, except for my eyes I think—but while that might make you more comfortable I don't think it'd convince you of anything. And if she had total control over my mind then there's no question you could ask that she couldn't answer. Hmn, this is a tough one.”
“Just—just
tell me why. Why would you want that?” Parker
demanded, already getting tired of this show.
“Well, uhm.” Jess's cheeks slowly reddened in a blush. “I've always sorta...wanted...um. T-to be, to have a certain kind of relationship with a powerful, beautiful demon girl,” she said slowly, more embarrassed to say it aloud with each word.
“You..” Parker started to respond, and then remembered a few things. “Okay. Yeah, I guess that checks out.”
“It does?” now she was confused.
“You've left your laptop open in our room a few times,” he said. “That's how I learned curiosity is bad. I mostly tried to block it out of my memory. But..yeah. Okay. I guess it really could be you, then.”
“Well, uhm.” Jess's cheeks slowly reddened in a blush. “I've always sorta...wanted...um. T-to be, to have a certain kind of relationship with a powerful, beautiful demon girl,” she said slowly, more embarrassed to say it aloud with each word.
“You..” Parker started to respond, and then remembered a few things. “Okay. Yeah, I guess that checks out.”
“It does?” now she was confused.
“You've left your laptop open in our room a few times,” he said. “That's how I learned curiosity is bad. I mostly tried to block it out of my memory. But..yeah. Okay. I guess it really could be you, then.”
“Oh.
Uh.” Her blush didn't improve, but she made an effort to smile
again. “Okay! Th-that's good. In that case, what do you want? I
have my Master's permission to use her power and try to fulfill your
wishes.”
Parker
crossed his arms. “Well, maybe you're happy being her..weird
slave or whatever, but I went along with this whole thing for one
reason only: I want power, money, fame. My name down in history, my
life in comfort and luxury, and everyone I care about well taken care
of. You know, things normal humans want. Can you give me
that?”
“Hmm.” Jess thought about it. “Let's see. I could give you some sort of performing talent, but that's no guarantee of success. Stealing money iiiis—apparently out of the question,” she said, tapping her index finger against her head a couple of times, “and even magically counterfeited bills would be caught after a bit, besides the fact that they would be a limited supply we'd have to make more of later. Zotha can make loads of things that we could sell to make money legitimately, but that's still a 'limited supply, make more' kinda thing. Not a bad idea for fundraising though,” she muttered, half to herself. “..Oh! Hey, you're studying engineering,” she said, seemingly having an idea.
“Yeah. And?”
“You said it wasn't going well lately, right? You're having trouble with the math courses. And before that you had trouble with biology and chemistry, when you wanted to be a scientist?”
“Right. What's your point?” Hopefully it wasn't a rehearsal of his failures.
“Hmm.” Jess thought about it. “Let's see. I could give you some sort of performing talent, but that's no guarantee of success. Stealing money iiiis—apparently out of the question,” she said, tapping her index finger against her head a couple of times, “and even magically counterfeited bills would be caught after a bit, besides the fact that they would be a limited supply we'd have to make more of later. Zotha can make loads of things that we could sell to make money legitimately, but that's still a 'limited supply, make more' kinda thing. Not a bad idea for fundraising though,” she muttered, half to herself. “..Oh! Hey, you're studying engineering,” she said, seemingly having an idea.
“Yeah. And?”
“You said it wasn't going well lately, right? You're having trouble with the math courses. And before that you had trouble with biology and chemistry, when you wanted to be a scientist?”
“Right. What's your point?” Hopefully it wasn't a rehearsal of his failures.
“We can just make you smarter!” she exclaimed, as though it was the solution to everything. Then she leaned forward a bit, to explain: “If we do something to make you intelligent, you'd be able to not just pass any class you want, but in the process you could prime yourself for any job you want. There's loads of demand for engineers, programmers, chemists, and so on..it'd be easy for you to pick whatever pays best, or go after fame too as some sorta bigshot researcher if you want! Or if it works well enough you could probably just play the stock market and win, honestly.”
“Yeah...” Parker imagined it, and nodded, “that sounds pretty good.”
“Um—to be clear, a spell to raise your intelligence would,” (she paused, tapping her head again; this was perhaps some kind of mental communication with their demon lord) “not actually make you know anything new. It would expand your ability to learn and understand. And...we don't want a temporary effect that would wear off and need constant renewing; the goal is that whatever reward you get sticks with you without upkeep whether you stay with us or not. That leeeaaaves..ah! The easiest option would be to trade off some of your other attributes in exchange for it. There's a spell that would sort of ask you subconsciously which of the advantages that you have now you don't care about, and then sort of dump those to add to your brainpower instead.”
“Is
that spell..accurate?” he said. “As far as deciding what I'm okay
with losing?”
“Pretty accurate,” she nodded. “If there's something specific you really want to keep that doesn't seem like, 'duh', then concentrating on it as the spell hits you would prevent it from messing with that. Oh, but—the complexity makes it a little hard to undo the effects accurately once it's done, since it involves carefully tuning a lot about you, physically and mentally. Visible or otherwise noticeable things can be undone with spells that just affect those specific things, but it's possible there would be subtle losses neither of us even notice that not even a total reversal effort would catch.”
“Pretty accurate,” she nodded. “If there's something specific you really want to keep that doesn't seem like, 'duh', then concentrating on it as the spell hits you would prevent it from messing with that. Oh, but—the complexity makes it a little hard to undo the effects accurately once it's done, since it involves carefully tuning a lot about you, physically and mentally. Visible or otherwise noticeable things can be undone with spells that just affect those specific things, but it's possible there would be subtle losses neither of us even notice that not even a total reversal effort would catch.”
“But...I
would be a genius,” Parker said. “I'd be able to understand
anything I put my mind to.”
“Yep!” Jess nodded. “You're not exactly dumb to begin with, so I don't even think the spell will need to trade off much to accomplish it.”
“Yep!” Jess nodded. “You're not exactly dumb to begin with, so I don't even think the spell will need to trade off much to accomplish it.”
“Heh,
yeah, imagine trying to do this for Cameron,” he said. “Maybe
there's enough good stuff in him to bring him up to my level, at
most.”
“Come on, that's not nice,” she said, pouting slightly.
“Come on, that's not nice,” she said, pouting slightly.
“I
still think your head's been messed with, man.” Parker said, and
then corrected himself: “Girl. The Jerod I know wouldn't care
what's nice. But...anyway, I'm willing to take the risk. It's
probably the best bet I have at becoming obscenely rich since—I
guess you two aren't really interested in taking over the
world.”
“Hmmn.” More finger-to-head tapping. “Zotha says that'd be more trouble than it's worth. There are way more powerful beings than her around, and we'd probably just all end up getting zapped before even ruling a small country's worth of people.”
“Might've guessed as much. Anyway, yeah. This sounds great.” Parker rubbed his hands together. “Make me a genius.”
“Will do~!” Jess said, with a small giggle. “Okay, brace yourself now.” He sat up straight, thinking hard about the few things he really wanted to keep, and listened as she chanted the same magic-language Jerod had taught them all to use for rituals. Only now it seemed visibly effective, making the glow in her eyes spread down and over to her hands. She reached them forth, gathering the power together into a steadily growing purple cloud. Eventually it floated in front of the desk, growing large enough to envelop Parker's body, and then she stopped chanting and waved her hands forward, sending the cloud toward him.
“Hmmn.” More finger-to-head tapping. “Zotha says that'd be more trouble than it's worth. There are way more powerful beings than her around, and we'd probably just all end up getting zapped before even ruling a small country's worth of people.”
“Might've guessed as much. Anyway, yeah. This sounds great.” Parker rubbed his hands together. “Make me a genius.”
“Will do~!” Jess said, with a small giggle. “Okay, brace yourself now.” He sat up straight, thinking hard about the few things he really wanted to keep, and listened as she chanted the same magic-language Jerod had taught them all to use for rituals. Only now it seemed visibly effective, making the glow in her eyes spread down and over to her hands. She reached them forth, gathering the power together into a steadily growing purple cloud. Eventually it floated in front of the desk, growing large enough to envelop Parker's body, and then she stopped chanting and waved her hands forward, sending the cloud toward him.
At the
moment it arrived, he happened to breathe in, and tasted something
sugary-sweet in his mouth as the cloud turned out to have enough
physical presence to be felt going down his windpipe. It felt like
inhaling water vapor that condensed halfway down his throat, and set
him on a long coughing fit as the rest of the cloud absorbed itself
into him through his skin. As he doubled over hacking, he heard the
sound of his voice steadily changing, cough by cough—rising higher
and higher in pitch until he finally began catching his breath with a
sort of voiced gasp that sounded...not at all right to him. A few
breaths later, sitting upright, he said, “Gaah, did—” and
immediately stopped, hearing an even squeakier voice than Jess's come
out. A hand snapped up to his throat. “Wha—m-my voice?!”
he said, listening to something that sounded like it belonged to a
ditzy sorority girl come out. But then his attention was swiftly
drawn elsewhere, as the spell took hold of the rest of him.
“Wah—aaah!”
He fidgeted back and forth in his seat at a moderately uncomfortable
squeezing sensation all over, like his body was made of clay and some
big machine was squishing a mold together around it. The room flew
upward around him as he shrank downward and inward in response to the
pressure, his clothes from top to bottom growing comically large on
his diminishing form. He felt something like air rushing across his
skin, and saw a cloud of body hair appear briefly around him—expelled
violently outward from his skin somehow—before blowing away to
either side on an invisible wind.
He looked down, raising his arms and seeing down the neckline mostly exposed by his increasingly oversized shirt; his skin looked soft and smooth, and the tiny bit of muscle he'd had was all gone. Then he looked up again, and regretted it, feeling a sudden rush of nervousness, almost terror from what he discovered. “Aa—aah~, everything's, s-so big,” he squeaked quietly, feeling a lot less bold all of a sudden. Then he saw his hair flooding its way down his shoulders like so much water, and felt bangs fluttering down his forehead, soft locks tickling his cheeks. He was so tiny, so weak and soft, and he felt meeker by the second. Slowly, unwillingly recognizing the nature of all of these changes, he turned his head upward again to see that even the glowy-eyed girl had her head tilted down a bit to watch him. “J, Jess?” he stammered softly, as the shrinking finally stopped and the pressure slowly released itself from his body; it was a physical relief, but he couldn't take much pleasure in it through the rising panic of suspicion as to the transformation's ultimate purpose.
He looked down, raising his arms and seeing down the neckline mostly exposed by his increasingly oversized shirt; his skin looked soft and smooth, and the tiny bit of muscle he'd had was all gone. Then he looked up again, and regretted it, feeling a sudden rush of nervousness, almost terror from what he discovered. “Aa—aah~, everything's, s-so big,” he squeaked quietly, feeling a lot less bold all of a sudden. Then he saw his hair flooding its way down his shoulders like so much water, and felt bangs fluttering down his forehead, soft locks tickling his cheeks. He was so tiny, so weak and soft, and he felt meeker by the second. Slowly, unwillingly recognizing the nature of all of these changes, he turned his head upward again to see that even the glowy-eyed girl had her head tilted down a bit to watch him. “J, Jess?” he stammered softly, as the shrinking finally stopped and the pressure slowly released itself from his body; it was a physical relief, but he couldn't take much pleasure in it through the rising panic of suspicion as to the transformation's ultimate purpose.
“Hmmn,”
the girl across the desk said, watching with interest. “Oh—it'll
be over soon, don't worry,” she said.
“O-over? B-but I...” Parker squirmed slightly, feeling an uncomfortable slipping sensation down between his legs. His hair was so long now that it lay across his lap, some of it pooling on the couch to either side of him. “I...” he said more softly, squirming a little more and feeling the beginnings of a blush across his cheek. This felt...good? Why, why was turning into a girl feeling so good, his mind demanded. But there was no answer, only the increasingly pleasant feeling of his manhood steadily receding away along with the last of his very sense of being male.
“O-over? B-but I...” Parker squirmed slightly, feeling an uncomfortable slipping sensation down between his legs. His hair was so long now that it lay across his lap, some of it pooling on the couch to either side of him. “I...” he said more softly, squirming a little more and feeling the beginnings of a blush across his cheek. This felt...good? Why, why was turning into a girl feeling so good, his mind demanded. But there was no answer, only the increasingly pleasant feeling of his manhood steadily receding away along with the last of his very sense of being male.
“Aah..”
The high, breathy voice from his lips sounded so cute. “Aa~aah....”
Everything looked so much better from down here; his small, soft body
felt so nice. His hair looked so pretty, too.
“Aa~AAaaa~aahh..!” As he felt his manhood truly begin melting
away into the other sex, Parker found himself wanting it...wanting
more than anything else in the world during that brief moment. He let
out a soft, shy “Oh, ooo~ooh” as his sex changed, squirming all
the more across the couch as she experienced her first little burst
of the pleasant, fuzzy sensation down there that she would be capable
of for the rest of her life as a girl.
“Mnnh...”
She looked down, blushing brilliantly as she patted the flat spot
that had once housed her manhood, feeling the slightest wisp of
regret; even that disappeared from her mind now. And then...
“W-waah..!” She squirmed some more in her seat, feeling a
pressure build up in her chest. Her hair floated up into the air in
front of her. “H-huh?” She reached out and felt some of it; it
was nice and soft, and just the perfect length, she thought. It began
to twist and curl around itself, steadily forming a pair of gigantic
braids. But then Parker had other considerations.
“Aah...aah,
aaaa~aah!” Her chest began to push itself forward, two little bumps
raising up. It felt so good...! And she wanted to have a nice
figure, she thought. “Mngh, mnnaah~!” Her attempts to restrain
her voice were in vain, as she felt her hips and bottom plump out
ever so slightly beneath her, followed by a bit of a stronger push
from her tiny new breasts, growing them about twice as much as
before. Her hair finished styling itself, a large floral ornament
appearing at the end of each long braid in a shower of purple
sparkles before the whole mass succumbed to gravity once again.
Pretty braids, her mind reported, just like she liked them.
“AaaAAahh~hnn...!”
This thought was interrupted by a third push, as her breasts
blossomed out to a moderate size—smaller than the demoness or for
sure Jess's enormous pair, but still quite sizable, and a
wonderful fit for her newly petite figure. This change came with a
deep, intense burst of pleasure in her new womanhood, forcing her
eyes shut and seemingly turning off her brain for just a second.
Slowly,
Parker opened her eyes again, blinking them a couple of times.
Everything...was blurry. “Whaa...I-I can't see,” she said, but
then another shower of purple sparkles heralded the appearance of a
pair of prescription glasses an inch or so in front of her, which
then floated up and gently placed themselves on her nose and ears.
“Oh, I, I'm..nearsighted,” she said quietly, observing that her
sight through the glasses seemed perfect, at least. As her mind
slowly recovered from that system shutdown a second ago, she found
herself remembering the whole experience perfectly—photographically,
even. She quickly understood what the biggest trade-offs for
intellect had been: Masculinity, height/size, strength, sight. Also,
Parker had been thinking hard about remaining able to communicate
effectively, but that had done nothing to prevent her from taking a
hit to social confidence and turning somewhat shy, especially around
strangers...
“Wah!”
There was the sensation of cloth rapidly shuffling around on her
body, and she looked down to find her clothes rapidly reorganizing
themselves. Somehow or other her pants were just gone, disappeared at
some point during the change in fact, and her boxer shorts fluttered
out into an ultra-short plaid skirt still just as haphazardly across
her hips as the bit of underwear had been. Her shirt split apart into
a tight white button-down blouse with a red ribbon tied around the
collar with a neat little bow, a bra fit to her new bust beneath
that, and a pink, long-sleeved sweater wrapping itself around her
arms.
“Uh,
hey..Parker? I think the spell's done now. How do you feel?”
She
smiled down at the ensemble as it finished changing, and then slowly
up toward Jess, reaching a hand up to adjust her glasses. There was
still quite a blush on her cheeks, her memory of the change not the
least bit faded. “Jess,” she said quietly. “I-I feel, good...?
Heheh, I feel like there's nothing I can't figure out,” she
said, with a little more confidence. She remembered some problems
from the homework she'd been struggling through that morning, and did
two or three of them in her head that very instant, as a test run.
“Yess...it's perfect!” she said, pumping an arm.
“So,
you don't mind the uh..I really wasn't expecting it to take away
'masculinity' since that doesn't really make any sense, I mean that's
really just giving femininity.”
“You could just as well argue that it gave me shortness by taking away height,” Parker pointed out, holding an index finger up. “Plus it was a thing I saw as an advantage. And it is one, after all; we do still live in a mildly sexist society. But I doubt I'll have much trouble standing out from the crowd now.”
“So you're okay with uh..that happening?” Jess said, watching her bend over and pull the skirt up a bit and put it together. “I feel like if I'd asked you a minute ago you'd say 'definitely not'.”
“But clearly I was okay with it on some level since the spell let it happen. Based on your description, if I really cared so much about being a boy, or tall, or strong, it wouldn't have messed with that. I don't need any of those silly things, though. I've got my brains, and now I'm attractive to boot,” she said, standing up.
“You could just as well argue that it gave me shortness by taking away height,” Parker pointed out, holding an index finger up. “Plus it was a thing I saw as an advantage. And it is one, after all; we do still live in a mildly sexist society. But I doubt I'll have much trouble standing out from the crowd now.”
“So you're okay with uh..that happening?” Jess said, watching her bend over and pull the skirt up a bit and put it together. “I feel like if I'd asked you a minute ago you'd say 'definitely not'.”
“But clearly I was okay with it on some level since the spell let it happen. Based on your description, if I really cared so much about being a boy, or tall, or strong, it wouldn't have messed with that. I don't need any of those silly things, though. I've got my brains, and now I'm attractive to boot,” she said, standing up.
“..I
would appreciate some underwear, though. Is 'wearing pants' an
advantage I lost too? Because that just sounds ridiculous.”
“Uhh..let
me just...” Jess put out a hand, and a pair of panties poofed into
existence slightly in front of and above the new girl. Parker tried
to catch it as gravity took hold, but missed, and she knelt carefully
to pick it up off the floor.
“Iiii'm just gonna turn around now~,” the priestess said, rotating the chair until she was facing the back wall. “Pretty sure it should fit though.”
“Iiii'm just gonna turn around now~,” the priestess said, rotating the chair until she was facing the back wall. “Pretty sure it should fit though.”
While
busy with that, Parker said, “I suppose seeing me transformed into
a tiny female won't inspire much confidence in Cameron, though. Don't
you have access to some sort of illusion spell that could make me
look and sound the same to them when I walk out?”
“I think I can do something like that. Mm, seems like Zotha had the same idea on her end, too. We'll make sure Andrew can see the real you, though.”
“Andrew? I'm surprised he had the guts to go face the demon first,” the bespectacled girl said. “You can look again, it's on. Then again, Cameron sure wasn't about to go first, and he wouldn't push his girlfriend in either, so in need of a volunteer I'm sure that's just who he'd shove in first given the opportunity.”
“I think I can do something like that. Mm, seems like Zotha had the same idea on her end, too. We'll make sure Andrew can see the real you, though.”
“Andrew? I'm surprised he had the guts to go face the demon first,” the bespectacled girl said. “You can look again, it's on. Then again, Cameron sure wasn't about to go first, and he wouldn't push his girlfriend in either, so in need of a volunteer I'm sure that's just who he'd shove in first given the opportunity.”
“Andrew
seems happy, at least,” Jess reported, turning around to face her
former roommate again.
“Ah,
yes.” She adjusted her glasses. “I'd appreciate it if you'd start
calling me Prama from now on. I've considered about twenty other
names and that's the first one that feels right.”
“I guess the first one you considered was your original name?” Jess said. “There's no obligation to change it if you don't want to, you know.”
“Oh, I know. But it's a boy name, therefore I don't like it anymore,” she shrugged. “You call me Prama, and I'll try to get used to Jess, alright?”
“Yeah, sure.” The preistess stood up, and waved her hands vaguely toward the other girl. “Okay, the illusion's up. Now maybe you can help convince the others to come in.”
“I'll send you Cameron,” Prama said with a slightly vicious grin. “He's pretty easy to manipulate. After that, Riana will probably just go in the other door since everyone else already gave up.”
“I guess the first one you considered was your original name?” Jess said. “There's no obligation to change it if you don't want to, you know.”
“Oh, I know. But it's a boy name, therefore I don't like it anymore,” she shrugged. “You call me Prama, and I'll try to get used to Jess, alright?”
“Yeah, sure.” The preistess stood up, and waved her hands vaguely toward the other girl. “Okay, the illusion's up. Now maybe you can help convince the others to come in.”
“I'll send you Cameron,” Prama said with a slightly vicious grin. “He's pretty easy to manipulate. After that, Riana will probably just go in the other door since everyone else already gave up.”
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