Selicia had just finished the final magical warding for the evening, she'd been refreshing them every other day now. That nagging sense of impending trouble was driving her insane, multiple times had she considered taking the fight to Abernathy. No... No... That'd be a terrible idea, remember how she handled Helena and with you as a pawn... She would have to bring the fight here to her front door... With that thought in mind she'd ordered several of her important staff to take vacations as of yesterday. They'd be easy to call back if need be or if she could... No... No... Banish that thought, that's why she got th...
The sound of glass shattering brought Selicia's attention to the foyer again as figures jumped through the front windows. What in the nine hells? They each tumbled until they came to a stop and started to stand.
"I don't know who the hell you think you are but, if you..." Trailing off, Selicia took note of the crests on the women's chests. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Why now?!" She grit her teeth in frustration, those were House Dogs... They found her already? AND they were besieging her home? AND NOW OF ALL TIMES?! Oh, this wasn't going to stand at all. Flaring up both in magic and fury, Selicia turned and pointed a finger at one directly. "You... You're going to replace that glass you just broke..."
The line of magic shot like an arrow toward the woman still getting up. Straight and true, it flew directly for that offending crest on her chest... That was until it dissipated moments before contact with the woman. There was something wrong here... Did they get an Archmagus of her caliber here so suddenly? No... That look in their eyes... The woman turned her head and gave Selicia a riotous smile and burst with laughter. Abernathy...
So the Houses may not have found her but, Abernathy had... That was actually worse... Selicia could handle the Houses long enough to get maneuvered somewhere else but... Abernathy... One wrong move could prove a fatal and permanent error... Yes, the order she thought that did matter but, not important to explain much less to herself right now. She sent three more bolts in varying levels of strength toward the woman. Each one was dispelled but, the second had taken the longest being the strongest of the three. So mustering up more than that yet, Selicia shot another as the four women had begun to rush her. It hit and penetrated deep into the woman, in the need for speed rather than art, the woman practically disappeared leaving behind a stylized stained glass pane of herself lying on the floor.
Selicia shoved herself to the side as the other three made to grab her. One thing she'd never studied was combat, never thought of herself as that type of mage after all. Fuck if she didn't wish she'd done even a little now... As the three leftover women followed her motion visually after the three of them ran together. Before Selicia could catch all three of them in the next bolt of magic, two of them pushed off the third leaving them to take the spell alone. A second stylized stained glass pane depicted the woman was left laying on the floor where she had stood.
That replaces my broken windows now, however that still leaves two more of them to deal with yet... Selicia thought as she moved around her foyer keeping an eye on the windows and doors around her best she could. Abernathy was more than likely biding her time for Selicia to wear herself down before she'd make a move. Why though? With as many people as she'd likely taken in, she'd have to be more powerful than all that time ago... It bothered Selicia fiercely trying to maintain distance, deal with the intruders, and consider what Abernathy was planning.
Another of the women closed in on her being faster than the other, she reached to grab Selicia and was rewarded a grip on her arm. Taking advantage of the grab, Selicia directly forced the magic through the contact before whatever spell the woman might have was ushered through. After a brief contortion of the woman's body, looped around Selicia's was a pair of sheer blue silk panties. A waste in a manner of speaking but, time was of the essence the longer this had gone on. The last woman had already initiated the stored spell within her and made for the same grab as the previous. An unlucky maid opening a door to the foyer to see what was going on found herself grabbed by Selicia and thrown in the way. She cried out in surprise before taking the spell held by the intruder. An ice sculpture posed in a seductive crouch now stood between Selicia and her assailant.
Taking the gamble that the woman's resistance would've dropped with the expenditure, Selicia shot the last bolt of the fight over the head of the statue. The woman was struck head on and collapsed behind the statue out of view. Before she could ease her nerves two more doors shot open with loud crashes.
"They're coming for y-!" Debbie started to shout a warning to Selicia as she crashed through the front doors. She only had enough time to get partially through the warning as she saw the bolt barreling toward her.
Throwing a bolt of magic toward the intruder being 'kind' enough to use the front door, she focused on the other that had come from her consultation room... That was in excusable offense considering the valuables that she kept in that very room. Selicia threw three bolts in quick succession of the most successful level of power so far. All three were deflected to the sides while the woman smiled back at her. A stray bolt flew down the adjoining hallway and by the sound of the shout had found the cook. Damn, he had been a good one at that...
This woman had a heavy expenditure in her, it seemed that it was almost oozing from her pores as she approached Selicia slowly and purposefully. Not wanting to expend too much more of her own power, Selicia had started backing away still stung by the invasion's starting point. She watched the pursuer carefully but, minded staying in view of the front of the foyer for too long. By now a few more of her own staff had come to the front to see the source of the commotion. Idiots... Throwing more bolts to test the strength of that investiture could prove ultimately destructive to her... She set about trying to determine the nature of the investiture instead. As she eyed the mass of messy layers, she spotted the proverbial loose string in the net. Unraveling it would take too long... So Selicia took hold of the string with her power and rammed it through to overwhelm the host. A bright light, a scream, and then a wet flopping side as the leftover of the woman hit the floor.
Oh... If that had connected to Selicia and actually gotten through to her... Oh hells no... What was left of the woman was her torso leaking fluids from three places already causing a mess. The breasts and ass had obviously absorbed the missing mass as they'd equally expanded leaving the body with large g sized cups lactating heavily as fluids came rushing out from it's sex. Selicia couldn't suppress the shudder as she looked upon that messy plaything on the floor. Abernathy apparently had no sense of class left in her when creating that one. A maid was sweet enough to come to check on Selicia as the fight seemed to be over for the time being. A costly mistake as the expected bolt came hurtling through the window and struck the maid squarely in the side. She was preserved from shoulders up setting atop a large 6 tiered cake with her breasts hanging from the front and obvious stylized form of her gaping vagina seated on the lowest layer.
"Aww... I was hoping you'd have taken that one... It'd have been such a lovely way to celebrate your fall~" Abernathy leaned in the doorway of the front with a sneer. "Such a shame, oh well... We'll just have to come up with something else~ "With that the battle resumed but, in a far more dangerous fashion.
Selicia struggled to deflect spell after spell as the two performed their bout of dominance in the foyer. Occasionally Selicia noted Abernathy losing focus or turning her attention to their unfortunately curious audience. With a sudden sweep of her hand to the side, Abernathy had stuck THREE of Selicia's maids standing at the top banister. They screamed out in surprise and pleasure as they practically melted out of view. Now Abernathy was just toying with Selicia... Turning her attention quickly back to Selicia, the next bolt came with strength that belied it's appearance. The spell bit but, deflected before it really set in but, already Selicia could feel her skin become flaky with a wafting scent of pastries... Fuck... That wasn't good... Not good at all, so soon as it came to her back, Selicia turned and fled down the hallway...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Oh, poor thing~ Tired of fighting already? But, I only just got here~" Abernathy followed Selicia shortly after she left down the hallway. Lining up another spell, she got distracted by motion in the kitchen and jerked her arm into sending it in that way. The delightful cry of surprise was music to her ears. She reveled as she continued onward and this time the distractions wouldn't stop her. Lining up the next bolt, she sent it straight into Selicia's back and grinned madly seeing how long in clung before being shot away. Soon she'd take the apprentice of her long dealt with sister...
Abernathy watched as Selicia's run became a bit more jilted as the spell ruined the joints in her legs. After all, it was the mistress's job to move the legs, not the doll's~ As Selicia disappeared around another corner, Abernathy slowed her pace to a confident strut, it wouldn't be long now. Maybe she'd take over her little game here like she'd down with the territories a millennia before. Selicia never did prove enough to take them from her then had she?~ Coming around the corner, there was a door that bore the marks of a magical seal freshly broken. Did she really believe hiding from her was going to save her?~
Abernathy tittered with amusement at the mere possibility. She took a deep smell of the air about her to revel in the coming victory. While she came about the corner, she paid no mind to three actors in her own mind. Those three House soldiers she'd taken as a light pre-battle snack. They crept slowly up behind her consciousness as two budged the third upward barely holding back the tide below.
"Selicia, why don't you just surrender yourself to me? We could do such great things together don't you think?" Abernathy cackled coming to face Selicia in the room that would prove her cage. There she found Selicia knelt to the floor propping up a sapphire headed staff that felt vaguely familiar. "Oh dear, you found a toy haven't you?~ Is this your way of dropping a hint? Well, I do believe I could arrange that for you~" She constructed a grand mechanism of a spell before her, she didn't believe Selicia had it in her to break it before she finished and so Abernathy worked patiently.
As the magic drained into the spell, her grip of her functions waned but, not enough for majority of those within her to surface. Except for that one that had already done so... The twins fell away being drawn back by the tide and Abernathy felt herself shoved backward as this impetuous mind slammed forward. Her spell shattered harmlessly into the air unable to be properly directed. 'It's your turn to fall, witch...' echoed through Abernathy's mind as they saw the staff come to life.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Selicia wasn't quite sure of what to make of the situation except to rush the opening given. The voice that called for her end sounded nothing like Abernathy and the spell broke between them. Calling as much as she'd dared from the staff, she battered the power into Abernathy who screamed as a multitude rather than as herself. What was left behind was a large gothic themed mirror displayed in the oversized dark gray sex of Abernathy. The upper body of the witch was barely a quarter of its size with her arms reaching down as if to keep the mirror's lips open. Within a shifting set of colors was plainly visible occasionally taking vaguely human forms that melted back into the colors.
Abernathy appeared to come forward unbidden railing against the glass furiously before three sets of arms came forward and drew her back. Selicia for her part grit her teeth as she felt the changes eating away at her... Ordinarily it wouldn't been simpler to throw them off... She didn't have that kind of strength left in her. So, with a grim determination, she tapped everything she had... It was too soon to even attempt to borrow from Abernathy especially with the mess that she had made within herself... Taking a deep breath Selicia did what had to be done... Having expended every ounce of magic within herself she collapsed forward hoping that it had been enough. Everything turned black and silent... Had... it been... enough...?