A Summoning: Part XII

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XII 
~Fool, Part 1~

After the events of the weekend, it felt extremely strange to come straight back to the routine of classes on Monday morning. There were some predictably odd looks in store from those who should otherwise have recognized those visibly transformed; Anika and Riana alone would escape scrutiny, and even then the latter was closely associated with someone now sporting some unusual traits for those capable of seeing them. Still, the professors at least had been forewarned and proceeded with class as usual, which went a long way toward encouraging everyone else to do the same.

Some confrontation, however, was inevitable. Zotha understood this much, and went to the usual cafeteria for lunch fully braced for what—rather who—she expected to encounter there. Jess had already more or less pulled her entire circle of friends and reasonably close acquaintances into the whole cult thing over the past almost-year or so, but Zotha still had friends not involved in this mess at all, who she had decided ought to be let into the loop—a few at a time, perhaps. They shared no classes that morning, but surely talk had spread everywhere by now of her altered appearance. The demoness went looking around for which table they had taken, and wandered up, drawing stares.

It was just two people; she'd been stared at by considerably more over the past couple of days or so. Nonetheless it was people who actually knew her, so she couldn't help expressing some nerves while tentatively placing a tray onto the table. “Ah..hello there. Mind if I join you?” she said.
“Um...sure,” Daisuke said; it wasn't difficult to follow his eyes. He was blond, white with Japanese ancestry on his mother's side, perpetually overweight and squishy-looking. He was pursuing a visual arts major, and tended to be the DM or whatever equivalent term applied at their semi-regular gaming sessions.

Thomas didn't say anything, just staring while she slowly moved into the seat on one empty side of the table. He was taking in her entire appearance—well, the human one the Veil gave him probably—rather than focusing on one particular detail. Zeke had known him since late high school; he was dark-haired, pale-skinned, tall and skinny and wore glasses—looking the part of a shut-in nerd. It surprised people sometimes just how physically active he was, especially after hearing his major was in computer science.

Zotha looked between the two of them. “Well—I'm not sure how to start this conversation,” she said.
“You're Zeke?” Thomas said, starting it for her, but this only confused Dai.

“Wait—what?” He looked between the two of them several times.

“Right. Well—I'm calling myself Zotha now,” she said. “How much have you heard?”
“Just that...something happened, and now like five or six different guys on campus got turned into chicks,” Thomas said.
“I only know of three, including myself...but I guess that's rumors for you.”

“So what happened?” Daisuke said.

“Wait, before that. Is it even really you?”

“It is, but, well...proof is a little hard to come by. I didn't exactly expect any of this weekend to happen to me,” Zotha said. “Anything you think only I would know?”

“Well, uh, only a few people would know what happened a few weekends ago,” Dai suggested. “Thirteenth of March?”

“Let's see...” she put a finger on her cheek half-unconsciously, thinking back. “We got sealed in by an earthquake trap. Mister prepared over here—” waving to Thomas “—pulled a bunch of shovels out of his sack of holding and told us to start digging because he was the weak elf mage girl and couldn't handle any physical work herself—just 'directing'. Then everyone else started arguing about how somebody should've prepped a teleport spell, until my dwarven gunner ended the discussions by improvising a bomb out of gunpowder and shell casings and blowing the door in front of us open with it. After that we fought some goblins and orcs and stuff, and one of them hit the elf with a cursed blade, but we all got out okay otherwise. Then we had to quit for the night before you could reveal with the curse actually did. About right?”
“..Yeeah,” Thomas said. “Every person who should know all that is male, and I've seen them all except for Zeke. So..I guess it is you, or he's part of a big elaborate prank and neither of us are privy to it.” Dai nodded agreement with this assessment.

“Okay, it's great you believe that much,” Zotha said, rubbing her hands. “We wouldn't have time to get to half of what happened otherwise.”
“There's more?” Daisuke said, incredulous.
“Yeah, I wouldn't even call this the beginning,” she said, waving to her appearance. “But some of this is secrets, both other people's and mine. I need to your promise me you won't tell everyone else about it for at least a little while.”
“Um..alright,” Thomas said, Dai nodding agreement again.

---

Steph crossed his arms, looking over the girl Andrew had brought in on their prank. “Ugh..you?”
“Yeah, me. Like, what, you got a problem with me?”

“Just that you couldn't hide the truth from somebody if it was stapled to the base of your tail,” he said. Then, a questioning look toward his roommate.

“She's one of Zotha's followers,” he explained, “wants help getting a second tail. I thought being a part of this would help. Plus her element could be really useful for what we want.”

“What is your element, then?” Steph asked, turning back to her.
“Oh, uh, like thunder and lightning and stuff? Plus you know, magnets.”
“Magnets,” he repeated.

“...How do you not have like three tails by now!?” he yelled while waving his arms, secure in knowing that the library study room was under a perfect silence/privacy charm courtesy of his four-tailed roommate.

“Well, like, it's kinda hard...?”

“It's so easy! Humans made all these—devices that use that stuff all the time,” he said, pulling out his phone and pointing emphatically at it. “You just need to have enough control not to short one out and you can convince any idiot their phone or tablet is haunted!”
“Yeeah...like, I have trouble with that part though. Plus I didn't wanna strike anyone with lightning or anything.”
“You learn control from practice, dummy! Did your parents not teach you any of this stuff?”
“Ummm...” She looked around nervously for a moment. “Sooo, like. I guess I'm what you'd call a muggle-born? My folks can't even see my ears or anything...”
Steph sighed. “I guess that explains a few things. Unless they're just pretending and hoping you'll figure it out at some point, but even then...okay, fine. For you to even be useful for this thing we at least need 'not striking people with lightning' control, so maybe, I'll give you some pointers.”

---

After giving her explanation, Zotha gently nudged her personal magic to reveal her non-human traits to the two boys she was sitting with. “So...this is what I really look like,” she said while both of them stared.

“Oh wow..you really do look like a demon,” Thomas said.

“Like some kinda succubus,” Dai helpfully added.

“So, but, you're not really? You're some kinda like—goddess or something?”

“More or less,” she shrugged.

“So, couldn't you just look like 'Zeke' then, instead of going halfway?”
“Hm. An illusion like that would be very easy for me, but it doesn't feel right. For one thing, word had already spread to my family and my professors here about what had happened to me before I began to realize just how powerful I am,” she said. “For another—well, there are a lot of people who know what I really look like at this point, and might be inclined to call me 'Zotha' and/or some obviously-female title, which would raise way more suspicion if I still looked male to everyone else.”

“Can you change how other people look?” Dai said, leaning slightly toward her.
“Sure,” she shrugged. “If anything, that seems like a primary aspect of my powers. What, you want me to magically poof you fit?”
“Yeah!”
She crossed her arms, fixing him with a disappointed look. “If you actually exercised you'd fix the problem for yourself. And nothing I can do will keep you fit if you don't change your habits.”

“I know that, but like..you know. I have no energy, or motivation, or anything,” Dai said. “If I already had a buff bod, I would totally work to keep it!” he said, pointing a thumb toward himself in confidence.
“Hmph. I guess we can test that theory. Not right now, though—” she added hastily, seeing her friend's starry-eyed expression. “Sometime after classes, and somewhere more private. Preferably in 'my domain'.”

“So, the cult's leader kidnapped you?” Thomas said, changing the subject.
“Mm-hm,” she nodded. “He's now one of the other girls you've heard about—and acting as my faithful, obedient 'high priestess'. Nothing to worry about from little Jess now~.”
“You're...scary,” Daisuke said, leaning back away from her again.
“Hmn? Oh, he wanted it, believe it or not!” she said, realizing how it probably sounded. “And she still does, too. I admit I've picked a real weirdo for the role, but it does seem like this turn of events has started to steer her in a bit of a better direction, morally speaking. Now, is there anything you want as badly as he does a different body type?” she asked, forcing the subject back on him.
“I uh...I dunno. Be rich or something? Have to get back to you on that one.”
“Well, we could all three meet at the place that's been serving as my followers' meeting ground tonight sometime,” she suggested. “I'll text you some directions if you're interested.”

“Sure..” Thomas said, nodding slowly. The reality of it all was still sinking in very slowly for both of them.

They were interrupted at this point by a certain follower of Zotha's walking up and moving to tap her on the shoulder; the demoness was able to notice her and turn to face her before she actually did. “Yes?”
“Um...L-Lady Zotha...” she said so quietly it couldn't be heard over the crowd without her audience's magically-focused hearing. “I um..uh..” This was the girl whose grandfather had been dying, and Zotha had been able to have her power wipe out the cancer and restore the injured organs to full functionality.

Silently using some magic to make their conversation totally private, Zotha said, “Is something wrong? Your grandfather's okay, isn't he?”
“Yes. Uh, he..they discharged him from the hospital yesterday afternoon. But um..”
“It's all right, you can tell me. No one else can hear us right now,” the deity said, putting a hand up to gently touch the girl's cheek.

“Um..so...my grandpa's really clever. He said, he 'felt it' when he got better, and he also said he had a 'feeling' that I had something to do with it.” She shuffled her hands nervously for a moment longer. “I..sort of...accidentally, let him make me tell him about you..n-not everything, but some things..”
“Hm. Well, if he's as clever as you say then I guess it couldn't be helped,” Zotha said, more than anything just wanting to keep her from crying right now. The poor girl had been through enough, surely.
“W-well, he...he said he wanted to t-talk to you himself..to thank you. But um, I don't think that's all, h-he wants.”
“I see. I have no problem meeting with him, then. Shall I give you my phone number so we can arrange it?” she asked.
“Um..o-okay.” After they exchanged numbers, the girl drifted off into the crowd again.

“What was that..?” Thomas said. “I could see you talking to her, but I couldn't hear a word. Like a silent movie or something.”
“Private conversation,” Zotha said. “Thanks to my powers, they really can be private, even in a place like this. Just like ours has been~.” She gave a toothy grin to both of them, and they nervously nodded back, understanding that she meant to remind them to keep it that way.

---

Onida found herself faced with the bizarre proposition of figuring out what a real werewolf eats. Logically, meat was probably a good choice, she thought? Probably this was the kind of advice she could solicit from those 'unusual incident' people after carting Damon off to tell them what happened and get help with a bunch of the other complications this event had caused. But she had a brother—sister, perhaps—to feed first. So: Sausages it was.

It was not long between her starting to cook and a bleary-eyed werewolf girl showing up in the kitchen with one of her brother's shirts looking gigantic draped over her, the hem hanging just past her thighs. That was quite a change, she thought; if for some reason she wanted to get him up in the morning it was usually necessary to yell upstairs at least five or six times first. “Morning,” she said, waving to the wild girl.

“G'morning,” Damon returned, followed by a long, voiced yawn. She looked around the kitchen briefly before shuffling, as if on a half-familiar habit, to her usual seat at the table, pulling the chair out and sitting down, the back to her left as she continued to face Onida. “Smells good,” she mumbled.

“Great. I um, wasn't sure whether your tastes changed or not after..all that, but you always used to love this for breakfast.”
“M-hm.” Come to think of it, scent was usually connected to memory, wasn't it? Having, presumably, a stronger nose than usual, Damon was probably inundated in familiar smells all over this house. So...her being here might be helping restore her memories just from that, her elder sister thought optimistically.

“Well, it's almost done,” she said aloud.

After bringing the food to the table, she got her own plate full while Damon watched intently, her tail wagging but her arms firmly set at her sides. Finally Onida realized she was waiting for permission for some reason and said, “Um..go ahead?” while waving at the food.
“'Kay!” Instantly the werewolf girl grabbed a hot piece of meat and stuffed it halfway into her mouth, tearing it in half with her teeth before finally noticing the temperature and dropping the half still in her hand onto the plate more by lucky accident than intent. Her eyes welled up slightly with tears and she made some panicked “Mmh!” noises but swallowed what was in her mouth rather than dropping it again.
“A-are you okay? Those are still hot!” Onida said.

“Um, 'mokay,” Damon reported with an embarrassed blush. “Sorry. Um..weird...dog instincts.”

“Just put it on your plate and blow on it, silly.”
“Mn-hm.” She did just that, using the unburned hand and quickly transferring three or four pieces of meat onto her plate. She also carefully picked a piece of ice out of her glass and stuck out her tongue (which was visibly longer than Onida thought a human's should be), dropping the ice on top before rolling it back into her mouth and swishing it around to take the edge off of some minor internal burns.

“You seem pretty tired,” Onida commented a little later, after watching her blow on and scarf down a couple more large bites of meat. “Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Mnh..I felt wide awake 'till just a couple hours ago,” she said, shaking her head. “Went up to my room to look around, an' played a video game thingy so I wouldn't be bored.”

“Staring at a screen all night probably didn't do much for your ability to go to sleep,” her elder sister half-scolded. “..But I suppose you might actually be nocturnal or something, now. Anyway, it's not too different from your usual habits to be up half the night.”

“Streaming, right?” Damon said, to which she nodded. “Um. I tried making my computer work last night. But the password...I couldn't remember,” she said a little slower, sadly looking down.

“I don't know it either, sorry. But I'm sure it'll come to you in time. Did the uh..the hint thing help any?” Onida asked.

“Hint?” The werewolf girl adorably headtilted, her ears physically perking up with interest.

“Umh—you know, like if you enter a wrong password it says 'that's not right' and displays a little hint below the entry box? I guess that's, only if you gave it a hint to tell you though,” Onida said.
“I'll try it!” Damon said enthusiastically, before stuffing another sausage into her mouth—the whole thing at once this time.

---

Prama was having a difficult day. Of course, she'd expected to have difficulty being out in public, in a classroom with a bunch of people, and had always planned on just keeping her head down and staying quiet. However, she felt sure in every single one of her classes that people were staring at her—and, logically, why wouldn't they be? She was, after all, one of the subjects of a rumor about something strange happening to a few of the college's students, and while the teachers made no particular comment one way or another, the students were free to find this utterly bizarre all they liked. Mainly, when she wasn't busy being terrified of all the eyes on her and furiously burying her face as a result, Prama repeatedly asked herself why she hadn't anticipated this.

She took to finding places to hide. It only took a moment's research on her phone, when it was quiet, to identify probable relatively-deserted places, and whenever possible she retreated there between classes. Nobody, thankfully, seemed to be both curious and bold enough to actually follow her anywhere, and when she got to be alone she was able to take some deep breaths and feel confident—more or less, like herself—again. Maybe, she reasoned, this was just the aftershocks of a sudden personality shift. Eventually, like all things, she would get used to it and not have such a terrible reaction. If it didn't happen all on its own, she resolved she would make it happen, whether through magical help or sheer exposure therapy—whatever was necessary.

One of those times when she was hiding herself away, Prama heard someone coming and quickly went around a corner to keep out of their sight. A couple of guys walked into the alley between the class buildings, obviously not looking for her but simply for a private place to hold a conversation. “Dude, magic is real,” one of them was saying. “So maybe something happened to that guy like—”
“Come on. We can't just make assumptions, Dai. So one weird stream goes out.” Prama leaned against the wall, catching her breath from the brief panic generated by people coming. She was already becoming interested in this conversation, and anyway they weren't likely to look her way. It was a good time to eavesdrop, she decided.
“It's not just a weird stream! It's like—look, lemme show you the highlight.” 'Dai' evidently pulled up the video on his phone. “There, see. The stream starts with no mic noise, no sound or anything. Camera's looking at a—well, you tell me what this room looks like.”
“A mess. Like that's anything new for...”
“Not that much of a mess. I mean—look at the poster on the opposite wall! Like a bear mauled it. Anyway, this is a pro streamer we're talking about here. It's just supposed to be a facecam, so what's it doing looking at his room anyway? He'd never just leave it like that for everyone to see it.”

“Okay, so I guess I didn't hear that part,” said the other guy. “I know what comes next, though.”

“Yeah. see? Head coming down in frame. Some girl with one of those..cat-ear-band things?”
“Sure. But I mean, if he's making enough money he could hire someone to drop into frame for like two seconds for a weird stream.”
“Sure, but—look at her expression. Like she has no idea what she's even looking at. She shrugs and leaves right away, too. Then the game feed starts up and someone's playing Street Fighter,” Dai said. By this point Prama had muted her own phone and began searching the relevant terms to find this video for herself, being increasingly interested in the subject matter. “And no response to all the people in chat asking if he's okay, where he's been, who that was...nothing!”

“Okay. So, he hired someone to hijack his stream then.”
“Why would he do that? And—like, that's not even the weird part,” Dai said—his voice starting to get fainter as the two of them walked away. “Some of the people who watch him all the time say that's his favorite character to play and whoever's playing plays just like him too...”

Prama watched someone's highlight of the first thirty seconds of the stream, and immediately identified two unusual traits in the girl: First, she was not apparently wearing any kind of headband but rather seemed to have actual, fluffy ears; second, her eyes were a bright pink shade. It occurred to her that those two, or anyone else watching the video, should've probably been able to tell the difference in the former and certainly notice the latter, perhaps rationalizing it as some color contacts, but...it seemed that they hadn't. Curious, as though the video was different for her eyes from how it looked to theirs. And they had evidently just learned magic was real, judging by the tone of voice that was mentioned in, plus their decision to discuss this in relative private.

Torn poster, messy room. Results of a sudden, unexpected werewolf transformation, perhaps? Maybe: One who had later been transformed into a girl, lost her memory and then needed a little help finding her way home? A “pro streamer” was far from a proper celebrity, but this video was being shared and commented on by a decent number of people. Well, she'd been meaning to contact Jess at some point today anyway, Prama thought with a slight sigh. She sent some texts:

I have something I need your help finding. Or more specifically the help of one or two of our followers.

Also, there's this: (followed by a link to that video).

Is this Our Problem?

Eventually some replies came: We can talk when both our classes are through, my dorm room.

And, after just long enough to see the girl pop into view in the video: Looks like it could be. Veil appears to be helping however.

Veil?

---

I know, it's sort of weird splitting a titled part into parts, but the events I wanted to label under this title wound up taking up way too much space to be just one part (in my opinion). Anyway, Volt semi-called that last part.