Lisa sighed heavily as she sank into her chair. Gloria had gone to join her sister upstairs meaning she was now left to do damage control. As she gazed at the four adult women she groaned. “Well, looks like I owe the five of you an explanation.”
Lisa now explained to all of them Lynne’s origins, the Ring of Age and everything magically related she had dealt with for the last four years. For Ann and Jackie it was a refresher course however for Stephanie and Marilyn it was a bit of a shock.
“This,” Stephanie whispered. “This is incredible. Ann your nieces are literally sitting on a billion dollar product do you have any idea of much money could be made from this. Cosmetic surgery, biotech research, medical treatments. The possibilities are endless.”
“Whoa hold on,” Lisa said sternly. “I didn’t tell you this just so you and my sister could make a buck. These girls trust us with their secret. It’s something that doesn’t leave the house.”
“She’s right Steph,” Ann sighed. “This is my family after all. It’s not something that can be sold to the highest bidder. The girls need us to keep this secret.”
“Cmon Ann,” Stephanie groaned. “Certainly you’ve seen the kind of money this could make. If McIntyre knew about this he would most certainly make you number two in the company. You would make enough money to last ten lifetimes.”
“I have Stephanie,” Ann conceded. “But, after being estranged from my sister for so many years the fact she would trust me with this means more than any amount of money in the world. Please, as a friend, I’m trusting you to keep this secret.”
Stephanie paused, a month ago she would of refused such a request. She was more concerned with climbing the corporate ladder. Now, having finally found a friend for the first time in her life, she was conflicted. Part of her wanted to cash in on a billion dollar item, in doing so though she would lose the only friend she had in the world. Shuddering at the idea of being lonely again she sighed. “Okay,” she said quietly, her shoulders slumping. “I’ll keep it quiet. But I still want to know what that girl had in that bag.”
The five women now stared at the ominous bag that lay on the kitchen table. Lynne was going to use it however none of them knew exactly what it was. “Lisa do you know what that could be,” Marilyn asked.
“No clue,” she shrugged. “Probably something we shouldn’t mess around with though.”
Marilyn frowned as she gazed at the bag. “Lisa,” she stated. “Whatever it is I’m sure it wouldn’t cause any harm by just looking. Personally I’m curious what my granddaughter had in mine.”
“Mom,” Lisa exclaimed. “How can you think so recklessly. This isn’t like the ring. Who knows what’s in that bag. For all I know it could do some serious damage to everybody in the house.”
“Why would your daughter want to harm any of us,” Marilyn exclaimed. “If the girl intended on useing this I think it’s best if we find out what it is. This way you can determine how severely to punish her.”
As Marilyn reached for the pouch Ann, Jackie and Lisa grimaced. “Um mom,” Ann whispered, “I’ll admit I’m no expert on this but I think Lisa is right about this one. It’s probably best to be left alone.”
“I’m just going to slowly open the bag and peak inside girls,”Marilyn grumbled. “Your daughter looked like she needed to throw it for it to be effective. Just opening the bag won’t cause any serious damage.”
Ann, Lisa and Jackie closed their eyes tightly as Marilyn slowly opened the bag. After a few moments th group could see clearly into it. “It lokslike some sort of powder,” she said.
“Ann,” Stephanie said excitedly. “It’s not magical, it’s chemical. We could still bring it to the guys in R and D without alerting anyone about it’s true nature. It’s a win win.” Jackie now glared at the younger woman, finding her business first attitude to be quite annoying. “You know when everyone said keep it a secret they meant keep it a secret.”
“I didn’t say I would reveal the girls magic,” Stephanie said defensively. “But this is an opportunity that is too good to pass up. That’s not magic it looks like some sort of chemical. We could use it to revolutionize medicine and make billions.” Jackie frowned as she now turned to Ann. “I didn’t realize money was so important to you Ann,” she frowned.
“Hey that’s not fair,” Ann cried. “You know money isn’t that important to me.” Stephanie now stepped towards Jackie a sour look carved in her face. “Listen Jackie,” Stephanie growled. “You May have been friends with Ann going back to grade school but I won’t let you insult her like that in my presence. Ann is one of the best people I know. She’s smart, kind and has a keen mind for business. So you’ll have to excuse me if we don’t want to end up working as a high school secretary without looking at all the options to a billion dollar product.”
Jackie turned red with anger as she angrily pushed Stephanie back. “Girls,” Marilyn yelled. “Stop this now. Theirs no need for this to escalate.” Jackie and Stephanie didn’t appear to listen as they began angrily pushing one another. “Careful,” Lisa cried. “Your going to bump the table.”
Lisa watched fearfully as the two adult women knocked in the table. Fearfully she watched as their actions knocked the bag over, causing the powder to burst into the air. Lisa was helpless as a cloud now began to settle over the group. “Damn it,” Lisa coughed as she tried to brush the powder of herself. The others now began coughing as well as they attempted to brush the odd powder off of their bodies.
“Is everyone alright,” Marilyn coughed. The others were still brushing the powder off of their bodies as they continued to cough. “I think so,” Ann replied hoarsely. “What was that?”
Lisa shrugged as she anxiously glanced at everyone, thankfully no one appeared to be getting an younger or older yet. Hopefully the group had dodged a bullet. “I have no idea,” Lisa sighed. “Let me go get Lynne. Maybe she can tell me what that was.” As Lisa looked at the others she could see them gazing at her anxiously. “What,” She’s said quickly as she began examining herself.
“Lisa,” Ann stammered. “You...You sound younger.”
Lisa eyes went wide as she listened to Ann. Ann’s voice wasn’t that of an adult anymore, she now sounded like a young teen. “Ann you sound younger too!”
“What’s going on,” Marilyn exclaimed, her voice quickly going from a mature woman to a teenage whine.
“No idea,” Lisa shrugged, wincing as she finally noticed her voice. In only moments it had gone from a teenage whine to that of a prebuscent child. “But we need to go get Lynne now before we change anymore.” Quickly the group now left the kitchen. While they only sounded like children for now, Lisa anticipated the physical part of the regression was coming soon. Hopefully Lynne and Gloria’s could fix this before that happened.