Curt smiled and clapped as Simone finished up her violin piece, and took a bow. The little dragoness beamed with pride as she flew back stage to let one of the teachers close out the talent show. After she had thanked everyone for coming, the high-schoolers began to file out from backstage to meet up with their families, as the crowd gradually dispersed. Among the students, eight dragoness toddlers flew out over their peers, and landed in front of Curt, looking up at him with eager eyes.
“What’d you think of my Magic tricks, Master?” one asked.
“My piano playing was the best, wasn’t it Master?” Said another.
“We all already know my performance was your favorite, wasn’t it, Master?” Simone said.
Curt chuckled at the adorable sight before him, “Yes, girls, you all did wonderfully up there. And I never imagined you’d be so good with the violin, Simone.”
“You mean to say you think there are things I wouldn’t be good at?” Simone said with a sad look. Curt wasn’t sure what to say to that, though Simone soon dropped the act with a giggle. “Just joking Master! We both know a princess always does perfect.”
Curt smiled and shook his head. As he looked over the little dragonesses, he realized something. “Hey, weren’t nine of you in the show?”
“Oh, yeah,” a gold and silver dragon said, “Terra’s meeting with someone special.” She gestured to the side of the room, where the white and pink dragoness was sitting close to the well-dressed penguin boy Curt had seen earlier.
“Aw, puppy-love like that’s always cute to watch, isn’t it Master?” Danielle said, putting an arm around Curt.
Curt nodded, trying not to let his anxiousness show. He had almost forgotten about Danielle during the talent show, but he knew he couldn’t put this off much longer.
“It was great to see all of you again,” Curt said, turning toward the little dragons, “But I’m sure your parents and friends want to congratulate you as well. Why don’t you go see them?”
Simone, eager to take charge of her 'court,' and to please her Master, flew above her friends. “You heard Master! Let’s go!” The other dragonesses nodded, and dispersed to meet with their families. Simone turned back to Curt. “Your princess is happy to help.”
Curt suppressed a chuckle. “Thank you, Simone. You should probably be going too.”
“Alright, Master,” Simone nodded, flying off to her waiting family.
“She really likes to be in charge, doesn’t she?” Danielle said. “I’m almost surprised she listens to you.”
“Heh, I guess it’s just what happens when you’ve got a girl who wants to be a princess and a maid at the same time.”
“Or she just really wants to impress you. I certainly can’t blame her. You’re the kind of sweet, caring guy anyone would want to serve.” The donkey woman leaned on him, gazing happily at him.
Her compliments just made Curt’s guilt sting more. He knew he could have avoided this, if he didn’t let his emotions get the better of him, and just thought a little more before saying “yes.” But, he was here now. He’d have to try and make this as easy for her as possible.
“Danielle, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about, alone.”
“Of course, Master.” She held his hand in hers. “Wherever you want to go.”
As Curt and Danielle left the building, the young pony and koala girls had finally gotten a chance to meet again in the hall just outside the school’s auditorium, while their parents were busy talking to other grown-ups about a bunch of boring stuff.
“Hi Patricia!” The Koala said excitedly. She looked at the pony girl in the brighter light. “Your ribbons and saddle are really pretty!”
“Thank you, mom got them for me,” Patricia said. “Your name is Kelly, right? And you said you see people changing too?”
“Uh-huh,” Kelly nodded, “I first saw it happen the day before yesterday, when I went to the beach with my mom and dad. While we were riding the bus, I saw a flash of lightning, and me, mom and a bunch of other people on the bus turned into animals! Some of the boys became girls too, but dad stayed the same. It was a really fun birthday present from Master.”
“Mom and I were changed the day before yesterday too! We were at the store… And I think I remember seeing some lightning too. I had wanted a pony, but Master made ME a pony instead. Then I just knew I’d have to be a good maid and help him with whatever he wanted. It’s the best way to say ‘thank you,’ for it, after all.”
“Master changed you himself?”
“No, I didn’t actually see him there. I just knew he was the one that made me a pony. Did you see him when he changed you?”
“No. I think the first time I saw him was today, while he was watching the talent show.”
“That’s the first time I saw him too,” Patricia said.
The koloa girl paused. “Wait, how do you know he did it if you haven’t seen him before?”
“Because he’s Master!” the pony girl said, as if it was obvious.
“Yeah, I guess Master can do that,” Kelly paused again. “How do you think he does it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we can go to Master’s house after school, and help clean up together. And when we’re done, we can ask Master how he changes people into animals. And then when we’re done doing that, we can play together for a while.”
“That sounds fun! I’m sure mom won’t mind.”
“I’ll go ask my mom right now!” Patricia smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kelly!”
As the two new friends parted ways, a cat maid with a split tail chuckled to herself a short distance away. It was nice to see children trying to sate their curiosity. And now their questions were giving her more questions to think about, as well. Were these two Jr. maids playing pretend? They talked about being changed, and seeing others changed, but she couldn’t make out a trace of magic on them.
But then there was the fact that both of them seemed to know that Master was responsible for their changes, even without seeing him. Much the same way that last Saturday, Master had blamed himself for Head Maid Skyla outliving humans, having magical abilities, for her being a kitsune in general, despite the fact that she had been one for over sixteen times his age. The same Saturday the two Jr. Maids claimed they had been changed, and seen others change.
Sophie’s cat-like curiosity was growing.
+++
Back at the shrine, Skyla was still taking in the wonder of what she was seeing before her. Sure, she had fantasized about a living in a world of anthros before. Sure, she had dreamed of being a centuries-old kitsune with incredible magical abilities, but she had never really taken the time to think about how her own family might look in such a world where both her fantasies were reality.
It was a little surreal, seeing the women (and one of the men) that had raised her sporting their own sets of lovely, bushy fox tails. She imagined that just an hour ago, most, if not all of them, would have balked at the thought of furries in any context, yet here they all were now, a family of ancient magical foxes (and a few humans), all acting as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
“More tea, sweetie?” Skyla heard her grandmother ask, bringing her out of her thoughts.
“No thank you, Gramma,” Skyla said, as she watched a teapot float over to her, held aloft by a green flame. Her grandma, meanwhile, showed no sign of exerting even the slightest effort as she levitated various dishes around to family members that asked they be passed to them, on top of keeping all the instruments she had seemingly made from nothing magically playing in the background. It was unlike anything Skyla had seen before. She had to wonder, just how much of this stuff SHE could do now.
“Hey Skyla,” a male voice interrupted Skyla’s thoughts this time. “Curt’s been keeping you busy this week, huh? We haven’t had a chance to talk at all.”
And here was one of the biggest surprises of the evening: Vincent, a brother she’d never known about. If she could only reset to before her family had been changed, and ask her mother about any siblings. But there was no way to solve this mystery now. She turned to her younger brother. “Yeah, it’s definitely been a bit of a weird one. How have you been doing?”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Helped the boss finish up a couple landscaping contracts, studied magic in the evenings, then went to some parties over the weekend.” He chuckled to himself. “One nice thing about this part of town is it’s never too hard to find foxy ladies, huh?” He bumped her with his elbow.
“Heh, you’ve got that right,” Skyla said, trying to sound natural.
“And speaking of maids,” He got a big grin, held up his plate, and said in a slightly higher, nerdier-sounding voice, “Would you make me a sandwich?”
Skyla cocked an eyebrow. “I… guess I can.” She reached for the plate, but he pulled it back.
“Have you been in that maid academy or something? Come on, you know how it goes.”
“I do?” Skyla inadvertently said.
“Woah, maybe Curt really has been working you too hard,” Vincent said. “You’re supposed to say,” he spoke the next word in a somewhat snooty, airy-sounding voice, “Nooo.”
Skyla guessed this must have been some sort of in-joke between them. She could see how Curt must have felt any time a new maid acted as if they’d known him for years.
“Oh, right…” Skyla shook her head. “Yeah, I have been way too busy, I’m getting forgetful. Sorry about that. So, magic studies? How are those going?”
He sighed, “Yeah, yeah, I know I can’t do anything big for another 77 years.” He leaned back in his chair. “But it’s hard to wait when I see what sort of crazy stuff you and mom can do any time I drop by. Figure I might as well try to understand the the basics while I wait, even if I can’t actually do any of ‘em for a while.” He ildy held up a finger, a small fireball forming on top of it and spinning for a moment, before flickering out again. “Heh, since I was a kit, I looked at you, doing complicated stuff like weaving with just your levitation, moving heavy furniture around with a flick of your tail, messing with bullies’ heads in Curt’s high school with your mind magic, turning criminals into statues… But man, Grandma makes all that look like nothing!”
“Yeah,” Skyla said quietly, thinking back to the message from the gun. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like she can create stuff out of thin air. And then she keeps all the lights and music going.” She picked up a roll from a basket in front of her. A spark of green flame appeared, and another roll materialized from it as soon as she had taken the first one out. “She’s even keeping the food stocked. All while carrying on conversation.”
“Just imagine, in four hundred years, you’ll be able to do that too,” Vincent smiled.
The implications of that hit Skyla like a ton of bricks. If grandma was considered a minor goddess when she had reached nine tails, there was no reason the same wouldn’t apply to the other kitsunes her family.
The thought was appealing to her. After all, she hadn’t made her fursona a kitsune just for the extra fluffy appendages (though they were a big plus). She’d picked it because the powerful magic led to all kinds of fun possibilities in stories or role-plays. Being a minor goddess could be all that, and more! With that kind of power at her fingertips, she could make heaven on Earth for her Master! She could bring their fantasies to life, no matter how mundane or impossible. And as the years went on she could…
She winced. That would be four hundred years from now. Curt would be long gone by then, unless there was some sort of immortality spell out there. Though even if the legends about unicorn horns were true, she wouldn’t dream of harming Emma, and she knew Master would never accept it, either.
“So, Skyla,” Vinny’s voice came from across the table, “how’s leading the maid army been going?”
“It’s been… an experience.” She shook her head, and straightened her posture. “But a true maid will do whatever it takes to bring order and cleanliness to her Master’s house.” All of the kitsune women sitting around the table nodded before Skyla continued. “We’ve made a number of new hires, and reorganized the management which has made things a lot more… well, manageable, for me, and the rest of the staff. We’ve been keeping the estate, and the Maid District spotless, all while keeping polite and professional. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s all worth it.”
Vinnie blew a little puff of smoke out of his pipe. “As dedicated as ever, huh? I knew you’d go places, Skyla. Does the estate have those fancy heated floors I’ve heard about in some mansions?”
Not knowing if that had changed with all the extra reality changes from the fallout, Skyla simply said “We’ve done everything in our power to make sure our Master has everything he could want or need.”
“Speaking of Master, what finally got you two together?” Her mother said. “It’s been seven years since he came of age, and it took this long for you to start dating?”
“Well, you know how Master is,” Skyla said. “He tries to follow his traditions as best as he can, plus he’s got a lot on his plate.”
“Another reason you needed to act quickly,” Victoria says, “With all the ladies that are so fond of him in one way or another, there were bound to be dozens that loved him romantically!”
“That’s not quite what I meant by having a lot on his plate…” Skyla shook her head. “Anyway, this weekend there had been a big disaster. Long story short, one of the Jr. Maids took something of Master’s and when we finally found it, there had been a big magical mess that we had to deal with. I… did not handle it as a proper maid should have, and made things more difficult on Curt. But when he finally caught up to me, he confessed some of his own regrets and secrets… Including how he felt about me.”
Her cousin Tayla smiled, her three tails swishing. “Sounds romantic.”
“It’s wonderful to hear that you and Master Curtie managed to make the best of a bad situation,” her grandmother said. She leaned back in her chair, looking wistfully up at the starry sky. “Ah, reminds me of my courtship of my second husband. Poor old Winston Butler had such a bad habit of falling off of things, but I only had to catch him twice to make him fall for me.”
“If only I’d known it’d take a catastrophe to get your two together,” Victoria joked, “I’d have tried that years ago.”
The conversations carried on for a time, when Granny’s tails suddenly twitched. “Oh, I think we have a couple of unexpected guests.” Two green flames flew from above her toward the edge of the clearing, guiding the eyes of the family to two college-aged humans, a woman, and a man with a camera.
“Oh, sorry!” The man said, “Lana and I were just out here trying to film some creepypasta material, and when we saw the lights all the way out here, we wondered what was going on.”
“We didn’t mean to interrupt your party,” the woman said. “But the floating instruments and stuff ARE pretty cool. How’d you set them up?”
“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, dears,” Grandma said with a mischievous grin on her snout. “Would you two care to join us? We always have room for more.”
“I guess,” The man said.
“If you’re inviting,” the woman said.
“Ah, good, good,” Grandma said, steepling her fingers, “May I ask for a small favor from each of you in return?”
Skyla saw Vinnie leaning on the table, and his wife Theresa’s attention was instantly fixed on the new humans, both clearly interested in where this was going. Her mother had a hint of frustration on her face, like she was holding back a deep sigh. Kayla wore an anxious glance, while Vincent seemed just as unsure as Skyla about what everyone else was expecting.
“Sounds fair,” the woman said.
“Yeah, it’s fine," the man said. “What do you want from us.”
“Well, young man, I’d like you to help with the music,” Grandma said. “And Ms., I want you to serve punch. But I promise you can taste as much of it as you like.”
Grandma flicked her tails, seemingly more for show than effort, and suddenly, all of Skyla’s still-human relatives seemed to go into a trance, as did the uninvited guests.
Skyla’s mother rubbed her temples. “Mom… did you really need to stun Michel for this, too?” She pointed at her husband.
“I just want to make sure the human side of our family isn’t worried about a little harmless fun,” Grandma said. She looked over to the ‘guests,’ and raised the woman into the air with a flick of her tail. “Now, let’s pretty you up some.”
The girl suddenly grew cyan fur all over her body, and her clothes were removed. Her hands and feet both curled into cute little paws, and her face was stretched into a cute fox’s muzzle, while her ears were stretched into triangles.
It was all Skyla could do to keep her jaw from dropping. Kitsune magic could make anthros too? The implications of this for her fantasy of a world of anthros were incredible. Fathers could be changed… No, male anthros in general could be added to their perfect little community! Maybe she could even give-
Skyla’s train of thought was interrupted when, after growing a bushy fox tail, and having a pair of tiny angel wings added to her shoulders, the woman was suddenly shrunk down to a little under two feet tall, and put into a pose with one leg raised behind her, arms spread out while her head was pointed upward. Her body then began to stiffen and crystalize, turning her into a translucent sculpture. A base grew from her feet, growing downward before pushing out into a bowl shape. The sculpture was set gently in the center of the table. A pink liquid began to flow out of the statue’s mouth like a fountain, seemingly without any source, and filled the bowl with punch, but never overflowing.
Skyla was taken aback, and Vincent and Kayla didn’t look that pleased either. Vinnie casually slipped a cup under the fountain without any apparent regard for the human it had been moments ago.
But naturally, her grandmother wasn’t done yet. Turning toward the man, his clothes and belongings were similarly removed as he was also given the body of a vixen, with bright yellow fur and long hair flowing behind her. Like the woman he had come here with, the man-turned vixen was brought into a pose, standing upright, arms behind her back, with a dignified face looking like she was singing. Her body then stiffened, her fur and skin becoming solid gold, as a base formed around her feet. Her long blond hair flowed straight back, while her tail went straight to the ground, before arching back up to meet the tip of her hair. Dozens of strings went straight down between her tail and hair, forming a harp with a human-like vixen figure at the front.
“There we go, the two of you look much better now,” Grandma said, a contented look on her face. “You still remember how to play the harp, right Vinnie? No reason I should have all the fun here.”
“Naturally, Mom.” Vinnie puffed into his pipe a few times, and the resulting cloud of smoke drifted lazily over toward the harp, before taking the shape of wispy fingers that tugged on the strings, sending out a lovely melody. The task clearly took a bit more concentration for him than it might have for Grandma, but he still looked as relaxed as ever.
“G-grandma?” Skyla stammered. “Why’d you do that?”
“Yeah,” Vincent said, “They didn’t do anything to us.”
Kayla looked like she wanted to speak up too, but the “young” kitsune maid held her tongue.
Her grandmother looked genuinely surprised at that response. “I’m just having a little fun with them dears. They said they were willing to do us all a favor, and I took them at their word.”
“But turning them into statues? How is that any fun for them?” Vincent asked.
“You say that like it’s hurting them,” Grandma said. “Trust me dears, I always make sure to my works of art are happy. If you don’t believe me, you can ask them yourselves.”
Skyla and Vincent could suddenly hear the thoughts of the two humans-turned-vixen-objects.
“Yes, please, keep going…” A sing-song feminine voice came from the harp’s thoughts. “This simple harp’s beauty and melodious potential can only truly be found under the lead of a skilled hand. To make music is my only joy and purpose. All else is vanity.”
“Oh, this punch tastes wonderful!” Came the thoughts of the punch fountain statue. “It just never stops! Please, take as much as you like! Seeing others making merry by serving them, and letting them observe my lovely form is my only joy and purpose. All else is vanity.”
It was a level of unnerving sincerity and single-mindedness that Skyla found uncomfortably familiar.
“See?” Grandma said, as she stopped her thought-broadcasting spell on their “guests.” “They’re perfectly fine as they are. Even better, I’d say. They’re far prettier and more useful like this” She laughed. “The little punch fountain is so precious, I just might have to take her home with me, and let her be a fixture at our parties for years to come. The harp can be finders-keepers, if none of you would like her.”
Skyla’s mother sighed. “You really can’t do that, Mom.”
“Why not, Victoria?”
“Because it’s not what they would have wanted,” Vincent said quietly.
“Yes, there’s that,” Victoria said off-handedly, “But more importantly, with all the legal paperwork tied to every person these days, it’s much harder to make someone just disappear without attracting a lot of attention. People have found out about our family starting ‘new lives’ each generation with a little research, all on their own, out of simple curiosity. Imagine what they could turn up, when they’re motivated by the urge to find someone they’re close to. Or imagine what dozens of people whose job is to locate missing persons might find. And if those people start disappearing too, it will only get worse.”
“She does have a point,” Theresa said, a hint of disappointment on her face. “It’s not like in the old days where you’d only find one human too clever for their own good breaking your spells every five decades or so. There’s enough of them in constant communication with each other that someone will figure things out eventually. Especially now that legends of us have been spreading for centuries.”
Grandma shook her head. “All these modern devices and paper trails just ruin the fun.”
Vinnie said, let another puff of smoke loose from his pipe, which lazily drifted over, and resumed playing the harp. “Now now Theresa, it’s my Mother’s big day. Let’s let her have a little fun tonight, and not rain on her parade, shall we? The guests certainly won’t mind.”
Skyla could see Kayla and Vincent looked like they still wanted to protest, but seemed to realize that they probably wouldn’t get through to family members with centuries of seniority.
Skyla herself was still in shock, even as her grandmother snapped her fingers once again, and restored the consciousness of her human family at the table, with no memory of the two guests, or any question as to where the harp or the punch fountain had come from. In all their conversations since the party had started, her grandma seemed to be just as doting and sweet as Skyla could remember. Where had all of that come from?
She went back to her meal, trying not to think about the harp or the fountain for now. They’d get changed back later, right?
+++
Curt sat on a bench outside the school, out of the way of the slowly dissipating crowd, Danielle by his side.
“So,” the busty jenny spoke, “what do you want to tell me?”
“Well… It just… I’ve been… Er… I guess I should just say it outright. I… started dating Skyla, as of last Saturday.” Curt braced himself for the worst.
“Oh? Is that all you wanted to tell me?” She sounded surprised, but not angry.
“You… don’t mind?” Curt blinked.
“No, not at all… Well, maybe a little... “ She looked down. “I meant it when I said that I don’t mind ‘sharing,’ but a part of me had hoped I might be your one and only. But more than anything I want you to be happy. We all do, really.”
Curt felt a little guilty about crushing that hope, but was glad she was taking it well, at least. He knew that had the ray gun not been involved, he would likely be taking an incredibly well-deserved slapping right now, at the very least. “Are you really sure you’re okay with this? I mean, I’d completely understand if you want to get mad at me… You’re allowed to say how you really feel.”
“How I really feel?” Danielle smiled, and suddenly hugged him close, giving him a loving kiss on the lips. “Honestly, I was surprised and honored you even considered me, Master. Even way back in college, I could see how popular you were with the ladies. Not always romantically, sure, but so many of them were ready and willing to drop anything they were doing if you said the word, I had no idea how I could stand out once I started to realize that I liked you as more than just my friend and Master.
“I thought you were taken when I saw the way Vicky always kissed you on the cheek whenever you met. When I found out you guys were just really close friends, it kinda surprised me. Then I saw the fire in Skyla’s eyes when she talked about you, and with all her magic, and how you’d known each other since high school, I thought for sure she’d be your first pick. And then there were all the others… The amazonian Cassidy, the straight-A student Diana, or even Cherry, with all the, ah… possibilities... her species opens up…
“Sure, they didn’t really show any signs of loving you that way at the time, but how was a humble Jenny like me gonna stand out? But then one day, after we’d been friends for months you came to me and told me you might have felt something more for me too! I was the happiest Jenny on the planet that day. And when I found out I was your first ever girlfriend, too? I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.” She nuzzled him on the nose. “I’m glad I get to be a part of your life. Does that answer your question?”
Curt smiled slightly. “Yes, it does. And didn’t I tell you not to sell yourself short when you moved back into town. You’ve always been a passionate, loving, diligent, not to mention gorgeous. You’ve got a lot to help you stand out.” He leaned forward, and gave her another kiss.
When their lips parted, he stood up, still holding her hand. “We should probably get going before they turn out the lights here.” The two walked to the parking lot, holding each other’s hands for a moment longer before they said their goodnights and goodbyes.
+++
At the shrine, the music had slowed down, and the bowls of food were no longer replenishing, the family of kitsune and humans having eaten their fill. Uncle Vinnie stretched and let out a yawn.
“Thanks for the party, Mom,” Vinnie said, standing up from the table, “but Theresa and I should get going. I could use a little shut eye before the night’s over. Plus, I’ll need to drive the human side of our family back to their cars at the hospital.”
“That’s fine, Vinnie dear,” Grandma said getting up to give her son a hug goodbye. “It’s been great having you. Come visit whenever you like.”
“Will do, Mom.” Vinnie turned around leading Theresa and the human members of the family to his car, who each said their own goodbyes in turn.
“You coming, Victoria?” Skyla’s father asked.
“No, there’s a little something I’ll probably need to take care of here, first,” Victoria responded. “I’ll catch up soon.”
Michel waved goodbye to his wife before following Vinnie out of the clearing. Grandma touched the table with one of her tails, and it, and the food and tableware on it, vanished as a green flame spread over it. Only the punch fountain remained, being lifted into the air in an aura of green flame, then gently dropped on the ground beside Grandma’s feet. The carpet, seats, decorations, banners, and instruments she had made (save the sculpted harp) followed soon after, though the candles and paper lanterns she had created around the shrine remained, as did the shrine’s restored paint job.
“A proper maid always leaves a room cleaner than it was when she entered it,” Grandma said with a smile. “Isn’t that right, dears?”
Skyla and Kayla both nodded.
“Skyla, I remember you telling me that Master Curtie has a lot of guest rooms and houses, right? And that he’s usually hires any proper maid that applies?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I think I might just move in, and work alongside you and Kayla. Feigning sickness for five years felt like an eternity, and it’s been far too long since I’ve attended to any real maid duties. And now that I’m got my ninth tail, I could probably keep his entire estate clean by myself.” She laughed. “But I wouldn’t want to deprive you two the pleasure of service.”
“Thank you, Grandma,” Kayla said.
“Hey Skyla, mind if I come back too?” Vincent asked. “It’s been a little more than a week since I’ve seen Curt.”
“Uh, sure, I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Skyla said, suddenly realizing the awkwardness of having to introduce her new brother that even she didn’t remember to Curt.
“Well, then,” Grandma said, undoing the sash of her kimono and tossing it aside dramatically once again, “Let’s not keep Master Curtie waiting, shall we?” Green flames surrounded her body as she once again became a four-legged, house-sized feral kitsune.
“HEY!” Vincent shouted up at her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He pointed at the two humans-turned-inanimate-objects.
Victoria smiled. “Good, I was worried I’d have to be the one to remind her.”
“It really is that much of a fuss these days?” Grandma sighed. “They might as well outlaw fun at this point.”
Green flames swept around the fountain and harp, their bowl and strings retreating into their bodies as they became flesh and blood, though both remained vixens, and the former fountain retained her tiny, feathery wings and reduced size. The two were gently laid on their backs, still in a trance.
“There we go,” Grandma said. “Now they can go home, tell people what they used to be, and how they’re happier this way, and there won’t be any missing person's report.”
“You should change them back all the way,” Kayla said quietly, “and undo the brainwashing. They didn’t want this before you made them want it. And I don’t think their families will want this either.”
“But they’re mortals, dear. They never know what they want.”
“More importantly,” Victoria said, trying to appeal to the pragmatic argument when the moral one wasn’t reaching, “I don’t think the police will buy that. And even at nine tails, do you want to keep a perception filter on them forever?”
“It only needs to last long enough for them to tell the police there’s nothing to worry about.”
"You can't brainwash every mortal they meet."
"Not with that attitude."
Victoria looked at her mother, unamused.
Grandma sighed. “If it’s really that much of a worry to you, Victoria, then just this once.” She shrank down to her anthro from again, not bothering to place her Kimono back on. With a wave of her tails, the tranced vixens were surrounded by green flames, which soon lifted to reveal their original forms, their clothes and belongings back on them. She walked over to the sleeping figures, and picked up the man’s camera. “The trance should end once we’ve gotten far enough away from them, and they'll only remember what happened since they saw us as a happy dream they had. I refuse to erase my work completely. In the meantime, I suppose we should get rid of their recording, just in case.” She examined the device for a minute, an expression of confusion growing on her face. “Where do they keep the tapes in these things nowadays?”
Vincent laughed. “I’ll take care of it, Grandma.” He took the digital camera and began to sort through its options.
“While you guys do that,” Skyla said, “I’m gonna text Curt and make sure he’s actually home to meet us. Before I came out here, he was going out to watch a school talent show.”
“That’s fine, dear,” Grandma said.
Skyla started typing on her phone.
'Hi Master. How was Simone’s show? Did you get back safely?'
'It was fine. And yes. More importantly, did your life and death situation turn out okay? What happened?'
'Well, my grandma was dying. I tried to save her. It kinda worked.'
'Kinda? She didn’t become a Blank Maid, did she?'
'No, no she’d mostly how I remember her, but… If she asks you for a favor, DON’T TAKE IT!'
'...Did she become part fairy or something?'
'No, she’s a Kitsune. She’s still herself, but she did do something with her new power I never thought she would. By the way, she said she’s coming over to start working for you. And, since I tried the Splash Effect setting on her, it looks like my cousin Kayla works at the mansion too. I can tell you how the rest of my family changed later. Right now, the only other thing I need to tell you before we go is that I somehow have a brother now, his name’s Vincent, and he apparently knows you, and wants to pop by for a visit with us when we get back, so be ready for that.'
'What?'
'My thoughts exactly. See you soon, Master.'
Skyla pocketed her phone, and the five Kitsune took their four-legged forms, and dashed out of the forest, Victoria to her husband, and the rest toward the Evenson Estate.
The two humans would wake up later, confused, one with a taste of punch in her mouth that wouldn’t leave for weeks (though, she would note, it was at least pretty good punch), the other with a mysterious knowledge of how to play the harp, without having even touched one before.
+++
Curt was waiting in the foyar, ready to meet the latest additions to his staff, though his mind was wandering again. Hearing that Skyla had used the ray gun to stop her grandmother from dying reminded Curt of his own mother’s situation. After all, the whole reason Anna had been living with him before she became the ray gun’s first intentional target was because their mother had become nearly bed-ridden from a painful, persistent neuropathy, and their father hadn’t been able to care for both their mother and Anna on his own.
Curt couldn’t believe he hadn’t already tried to use the gun to fix that. Well, granted, after they had undone the robbery, the week had been a rollercoaster ride. Healing his mother wasn’t quite as urgent as stopping the Banks kids from turning the whole town into his servants. Her condition may have been painful, but it wasn’t lethal. But frankly, taking care of her was something he should have done before even thinking of changing his friends. He would rectify that tomorrow.
Shifting gears back to Skyla, there was the issue of his best friend-turned-girlfriend’s brother, who had seemingly popped up out of nowhere. He had visited Scott’s house all the time during high school, but he had never seen or heard anything to indicate he had a brother. So where did this new relative come from? Did he even exist in the previous timelines? Curt almost wished he could shift some of these changes back, temporarily, just to see what might have caused the difference. But there was no going back with these things. Nonetheless, he had appreciated Skyla’s early warning.
There was a knock, and Curt promptly opened the double doors.
On the other side, a giant, vulpine face, wider than the double doors, bore its teeth and growled.
The doors were immediately slammed shut and locked by a wide-eyed and hyperventilating Curt, who glanced wildly around the room for something to use as a barricade. Then he heard the sound of a woman’s laughter from just outside the door, as well as Skyla’s muffled voice groaning, “Grandma!”
Turning around and opening the doors again, he saw a cream-colored fox woman bent over in laughter, nine tails swaying behind her, and a necklace with 108 red beads around her neck. “Oh ho ho ho… S-sorry Master Curtie, he he… When Skyla told me that you knew our secrets, hoo…” She took a deep breath, her laughter stopping, but a wide fanged grin remaining. She patted him gently on the head. “I had assumed you would be used to such things. I didn’t mean to frighten you that badly.”
Skyla walked up to the nine-tailed fox’s side. “Master, this is my grandmother, Myra.”
“Why are you-? Oh, yes, I suppose I DO look a little different from the last time Master Curtie saw me.” She was suddenly wrapped in green flame, which cleared just as quickly, revealing a wrinkled and hunched, but sweet-looking old lady in a very old-fashioned black dress and white apron. “Perhaps I look more familiar now?”
Curt had never met Scott’s grandma in the original timeline, but he tried to act natural. ”Nice to see you again, Mrs. Winters. I have to say, your true form looks beautiful. If it weren’t for the tails, I’d say you don’t look a day over six hundred.”
“A charmer as well,” Grandma said, switching back to her anthro from. “But please, Master Curtie, you can call me Myra, or even Grandma or Granny if you like, since you’ll be my grandson-in-law soon enough.”
Curt wanted to point out that they’d only just started dating two days ago, but knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. “Sorry, I just realized, I’ve been standing in the doorway this whole time. Please, come in.”
He stepped back into the foyer, Skyla and her grandma following suit. Behind them, two more kitsune Curt hadn’t noticed at first entered, closing the door behind them.
“Good evening, Master,” the yellow-furred, three-tailed maid said with a smile and a curtsy. Curt guessed she must have been Kayla.
“Hey Curt, what’s up?” The final fox asked.
“Been a bit of a hectic week, but I’m doing fine,” Curt said, doing his best to hide his surprise. Not only were male anthros still something he was getting used to seeing, but this had been the first one he’d seen that wasn’t nude (the penguin at the school aside). His choice of clothes only made him stand out more. Shoes, gloves, shorts, and a bright red scarf, but no shirt? It made him look like he’d just got through an audition to be a late nineties or early two-thousands video game mascot. And then there was the dark brown fur, with silver tail-tips, making him look like a male version of Skyla, even if the silver was much less prominent on him.
Which, naturally, figured into the strangest part of all: he was apparently Skyla’s brother.
“So… Vincent,” Curt continued, “how’s your day been?”
“Eh, you know, typical Monday. At least, until it was time for grandma to fake her death. I missed the big moment, but we had a great party afterward. Grandma’s magic is really something else.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but thought better of it. “Makes me kinda jealous, with my second tail being so far away.”
“I felt the same way when I was younger,” Grandma said. “The first hundred years seemed so slow, I thought they’d last forever. Heh, but after the second tail grew in, the years just seemed to fly by!”
“So you’re saying he should appreciate the simple times while he still has them?” Curt asked.
“Hardly!” Grandma laughed. “A Kitsune’s life doesn’t truly begin until they reach one hundred! I’m just telling my grandson it’s worth the wait.”
“I see,” Curt said flatly. “Anyway, Myra, Skyla told me you’d like to work here?”
“Of course, Master Curtie! What maid’s life is complete without someone to serve? And my future grandson-in-law seems like the perfect candidate.”
“Well, I don’t see why not. Tomorrow we can talk about pay and-” Curt was interrupted by Grandma placing her hand on her mouth.
“Now now, Master dearie, there’s no need to pay me.” Curt raised an eyebrow, her paw still over his mouth. “Skyla’s told me about how you’ve tried to talk some of your employees into accepting higher wages. I appreciate your ideals, but I can assure you it won’t be necessary this time. You see Master, at my age…”
Curt suddenly felt a heavy, circular weight on his head, with a cool, metallic feel. He reached up to grab the object as Grandma removed her hand from his mouth. Bringing it down to eye level, he saw it was a crown that looked like it was made of solid gold, and studded with emeralds.
“...Money is no object. If you wish to show me generosity regardless, a room to myself is all I would request.”
“Uh, sure thing,” Curt said, still processing that Skyla’s grandma had apparently made gold and jewels out of thin air. “Skyla, do you know if we have any vacant staff bedrooms?”
She looked at her cell phone. “I think we’ve got a few open on the 2nd floor, east side.”
“Okay then. Would you like to see it now, Myra?”
“Of course, Master Curtie,”
“Kayla, would you mind showing Myra the way?” Curt asked.
“I’d be happy to, Master.”
“Aw, Master Curtie, I was hoping you might like to chat for a little bit. I hope my little scare didn’t startle you so much you’re trying to get away from me.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that, Myra, I just had been waiting for a while to see Skyla, and there was stuff I wanted to talk with her about, in private.”
“I see!” Grandma side with a wide grin. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to ruin an intimate moment between the two of you! By all means, Kayla, lead the way.”
She turned to follow her yellow-furred granddaughter, when Skyla spoke up. “Before you go, grandma, there was something I’d wanted to ask you. I feel like I’ve been getting a little rusty with some of my spells lately… Do you think, after we go over your duties and schedule tomorrow, you could give me a refresher course?”
“Oh, could I watch?” Vincent perked up. “I love seeing Skyla show off her skills. And I’ve wanted to see what you could do when you weren’t hiding in a human disguise for years!”
“Of course, sweethearts! Anything for my grandchildren.” She gave both of them a hug.
“Great!” Vincent smiled. “My shift ends at four tomorrow. Don’t start without me!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, dear,” Grandma said. “Now, I’ve already taken enough time from Master and Skyla! Goodnight, everyone!” She gave a wave, and followed Kayla upstairs.
“I’d better get going too,” Vincent said. “See you guys tomorrow. Oh, and congrats to you two for finally getting together!”
With Skyla’s family having gone their separate ways, the Head Maid and her Master took a new elevator up to the fourth floor. The two stepped into Curt’s office, (Skyla was disappointed it wasn’t either of their bedrooms, but knew it wouldn’t be Curt if he wanted to rush right to the good stuff,) shared a hug and a kiss, and sat down together on a sofa that had been placed opposite of his desk.
“So, how was the talent show?” Skyla asked.
“I never would have taken the new, or old her to be into the violin, but Simone did pretty well. Plus, it looks like a bunch of her classmates got turned into dragonesses in the kid’s rampage, or the fallout. Either way, it was a fun to watch. I’d never dreamed I’d get to watch a little dragon girl tap dance.” Curt chuckled. “I also broke the news to Danielle, and she still wants to keep dating, even if I’m dating you too.”
“Congratulations Master!” Skyla said with a grin. “That gun’s a little miracle worker, huh? Most guys could only dream of getting two girlfriends at once.”
“I guess… I’m glad it worked out, if nothing else. So...What about your little family reunion?”
“Oh yeah, that. Well…” Skyla told him about her grandmother’s illness, her use of the splash effect option, and how that had changed most of her grandmother’s side of the family into Kitsune maids. Then how her grandmother had faked her human death, and thrown a party out in the middle of the woods, making all the decorations and food in an instant… And how she’d turned a couple of strangers into another decoration, and a harp.
“What? Why?”
“For fun, as far as I can tell. She was so casual about it...”
“She turned them back later, right?”
“Yeah, though she took a little convincing. Hopefully, she’ll take what my mom and Vincent said to heart and won’t want to try it again. If not, well, you should be able to convince her, Master, since she still sees herself as a maid, and you as her Master, despite being a class E goddess.”
Curt’s eyes widened. “Hold up… A class E goddess?”
“Maybe you should see for yourself.” She pulled the gun out of her apron pocket and opened up the message tab on the UI. “It’s the second read message from the top.”
Curt read it over a couple times. “What have we gotten ourselves into? I guess the fact that she’s a ‘pseudo-deity’ means she isn’t quite a goddess? But the way they talk about making a pantheon, it sounds like it might count.” Curt rubbed his forehead as he considered the implications for his own religion. Did literally making your own goddesses count as some kind of idolatry or blasphemy? “Skyla, was there anything specific you might have done to cause this? I’m not blaming you, there was no way for you to know, but I just want to be sure I don’t accidentally making more of these and end up upsetting any powers that be.”
“I had specifically thought of making her a nine-tailed kitsune, the same way you had for making me a five-tailed one. I… I think any Kitsune that lives that long might eventually end up at that level.”
“And now you’ve got an entire family of them…” Curt buried his head in his hands. “Things are gonna get ‘interesting’ in another three or four hundred years. And who knows how long after… Don’t Kitsune usually become immortal after reaching nine tails?”
“Most stories don’t really go into that,” Skyla pointed out. “It could be we eventually die of old age like everything else. Except maybe unicorns.”
Curt sighed, and flipped through to the next already read message, this time the one addressed to Skyla. Needless to say, knowing that in this new timeline, Myra may have been married at least four times over her at minimum eight hundred year life wasn’t encouraging. Even if that was only only child per marriage, there was plenty of time for them to have kits of their own, and those kits to have kits, and so on. Which would still leave a lot of unaccounted-for Kitsune, potentially anywhere in the world, seeing how some of Skyla’s relatives were now older than the United States.
“No wonder they aren’t allowing any more changes to your family…”
“Sorry Master…” Skyla hung her head.
“You didn’t know, there’s no need to be sorry.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “And, honestly, if there was any good reason to use the gun, this was it. Besides, maybe all the extra magic in the world might be making some positive differences, too. After all, even in the kids’ shooting spree, there were at least a couple of people that definitely changed for the better.”
Skyla smiled weakly. “Thanks.”
Curt flipped to the next message, a new one mentioning a “Free!!! Upgrade.”
“By popular request, we have added a new feature to our Furry Transformation Ray Gun, in all universes it has been released in! This free upgrade adds a Maid Profile, allowing the user to view information on any maid they have changed so far, including the settings used to change them, their age, occupation (only if they are more specialized, or are not full time maids), and other potentially useful information. To access, simply tap the profile icon, next to the “Progress to next Upgrade Bar.” This will bring up the Profile Menu.
“On the profile Menu, you can scroll through and select from your list of profiles. This list can be filtered by species, age range, Busty/Adorable and Nude/Maid toggle settings, and occupation. You may also type in a name to filter results. Finally, by clicking the the Target icon, the gun will automatically bring up the profile of any maid it is pointed at.
“We hope you find this feature useful. Have a nice day!”
Churt chuckled. “Well, that might have been useful about…” He glanced at the upgrade bar. “Four hundred and eleven maids ago.” He shook his head. “That many maids in general is ridiculous.”
Skyla wanted to disagree about what number of maids could be considered ridiculous, but didn’t want to talk back. “Well, Master, do you want to give it a try?”
“Yeah, might as well see how it works.” He set the gun to “Target Profile Mode,” and pointed it at Skyla. Her picture and profile appeared near-instantly on the hologram.
#00002
Name: Skyla H. Winters
Species: Kitsune
Busty/Adorable Toggle: Busty
Nude/Maid Uniform Toggle: Maid Uniform
Age: 462 years
Occupation: Head Maid
Other notes:
-Changes to members of this maid’s immediate family and her bloodline have been disabled.
-Potential to become a Class E Divine Entity “Pseudo-Deity,” at eight hundred years old.
-Age raised to meet the image desired by user; “5-tailed kitsune.”
“Not as much info as I might have hoped for,” Curt said, showing Skyla her own profile, “but at least we’ve got another source of information if any other maids aren’t in your contacts list for one reason or another.”
“Well, it did give us a little info that we wouldn’t have known back when we first fired it, like my new age,” Skyla noted. “Wonder if there might be a little more we don’t know yet? May I see it, Master?”
Curt handed her the gun, and she went through the earliest profiles, quickly finding what she was looking for.
#00006
Name: Eva J. Lee
Species: rabbit
Busty/Adorable Toggle: Adorable
Nude/Maid Uniform Toggle: Maid Uniform
Age: 10
Occupation: College student. (Part time waitress.)
Other Notes:
-Age automatically reduced as a precaution due to a near-death situation.
“I was wondering why a few of the people we changed became younger,” Skyla said. “Looks like I made a good guess.”
“That explains the dove girl I talked to yesterday, too. May I see it again?” Curt leaned back on the couch, and checked another profile, suddenly remembering one of the earlier messages.
#00020
Name: Simone L. Reed
Species: European Dragon
Busty/Adorable Toggle: Busty
Nude/Maid Uniform Toggle: Nude
Age: 14
Occupation: High school student.
Other Notes:
-”Busty” setting will take effect upon reaching puberty. (Approx. 57 years old.)
-Target’s desired species was “ancient dragon god.” As this was beyond the scope for the creation of new deities without existing divine consent, target was given greater than normal magical potential for her species as a compromise.
-Potential to become a Class D Divine Entity “Demigod/Divine Messenger,” upon reaching the age of 101, followed by proper training.
“Oh boy…” Curt mumbled. “Hopefully, she’ll mature in that time. If not… I’m not be around to reign her in. Guess it’ll be important to raise her right.” He paused, wanting to get off the subject. “Too bad we can’t get any info on your new brother from this. Do you have any idea what might have caused him to pop into existence?”
“I have no idea, Master. As far as I know I’d always been an only child. He said he was 23, so he was about two years younger than me. The only way I can explain it, is maybe mom and dad had a baby after me, but died before I was old enough to know him. And somehow, Mom being a kitsune made whatever happened then not happen now.” She sighed. “I’m starting to see how you feel when all the maids you meet act like they’ve known you for all their lives. Vincent just seemed so happy to see me, and talked about all kinds of things we both should have known at the party. How am I supposed to tell him I don’t remember him at all?”
Curt gave her a hug. “Well think of something. One way or another…” He looked down at the ray gun.