"Yeah, but what do we pick?" Zoe asked again.
That question hung over the Chapmans as they collected themselves on the sidewalk not too far away from where the church they normally attended was. They had been trying to get there in the hope that Reverend Jack might be there, and unfortunately, he'd seemed to leave just as they got into the area. It completed a long line of failed attempts to get information needed to deal with Edward Cupple and the sorcery he'd used that ultimately lead to them becoming Slug People. They'd been hoping for contacts that might know of some way to counter Cupple's magic or at least protect themselves from it, or why some family friends hadn't been "affected" by Cupple's attempts to buy their farm. But so far, they'd had no real luck in that people either weren't there or didn't have anything to help. Reverend Jack was the last they were trying to meet with, and he'd just driven away.
That left them with three options. One would be to try and return home and defend it directly against Megan and Jenny, Cupple's agents in their neighborhood. One would be to go on to the Slug Person colony, who they did want to contact to see if they had any way of defending themselves against Cupple's magic. The third would be to go to Reverend Jack's home and simply wait for him to return home and hope that the reverend would know the information off the top of his head, if he did. And now they had to settle on what to do, which was the point of Zoe's question.
"I'd think we can cross going back to the house off the list for now," Lucy commented, "Megan and Jenny are likely still there, moving between our house and theirs. Our going back would only see them try to have sex with Jeff and try to corrupt us through him."
"They might want to have sex with you too," Jeff warned, "and about the only reason they didn't have sex with mom after her transformation was the idea that we'd come out of the bedroom for mom and not them."
Lucy nodded at that and noted that Zoe soon nodded as well. The one who didn't respond the same way was Whiteny, who only looked down to the ground and held her own hands for a moment. It gave Lucy the sense that Whitney was feeling guilty over the fact that she'd been the first of the Chapmans to turn into a Slug Person. Lucy then reached over to rub Whitney's shoulder, as if to say that her mother had been forgiven.
"So, it'd be down to just waiting at Reverend Jack's home or going to the Slug Person colony?" Zoe asked.
"I think so," Lucy nodded while still assuring Whitney, "they are the only realistic options, unless we're just to flee town and let Cupple do to others what he did to us."
"We can't do that," Jeff spoke, "a lot of this has been weird and a surprise... but we can't just run because of that."
"So... where do you lean, Jeff?" Zoe asked.
Jeff looked to Lucy comforting Whitney and then to Zoe and Grace looking to him from more opposing sides. He eventually moved one focusing on one side and them moving them to where they both looked to Lucy and Whitney before answering.
"It may be best to go to the Slug Person colony," Jeff said slowly.
"What?!" Lucy protested, "but we're needing help to counter Cupple's magic!"
"And the Slug People may have knowledge on that," Jeff answered, "for our hive mind has prevented Cupple from just enslaving us. Which means there are some defenses that we have now. The colony may have more... or at least more exact knowledge on how to use their abilities."
"But that wouldn't take down Cupple," Lucy pointed out, "it might defend us from enslavement... but it won't prevent us from defeating Cupple."
"Perhaps," Jeff admitted, "but... it's also getting later into the day, and everyone is getting hungry. We've likely missed lunch and if we're not going to return home, we're going to need a place to spend the night. And while Reverend Jack might be able to help us with some factual information... IF he has some... we'd likely still need to go to the Slug Person colony anyway. And at this point, it might be better to NOT show up late in the evening when they're getting ready for bed or a romantic evening with their romantic partners."
"So, we just give up on Reverend Jack?" Grace wondered, "I mean his home isn't that far from here."
"But he didn't head in the direction of his home, and we don't know where he was headed," Jeff pointed out, "and we don't know how long he will be out. Thus, if we wait for him... we might get some information, but we'd also then arrive too late to get proper lodging or explain ourselves to the Slug People's leaders. We don't want to offend them... and to a degree, we can try with getting in touch with Reverend Jack tomorrow as well. By that point... we might even have lodging at the colony we can use until Cupple is defeated."
"So... we'd still ultimately look to try and get the facts needed to defeat Cupple?" Lucy asked pointedly.
"Of course," Jeff said to his twin and recognizing the firmness of her point, "but just that with the way things have gone today... staying out late to try and get everything may not work. Especially with everyone needing to eat something... and likely make whatever calls would be needed with the Catholic priest we talked to earlier in the day if the Slug People's colony won't accept us. In this... today has just been an unlucky day and there is a lot still to do."
"It has been an unlucky day," Whitney said slowly.
"But Reverend Jack's home isn't that far away... and it is doubtful he's going be away all night," Lucy pointed out, "Wouldn't that count for something?"
"It wouldn't be all night... but we still don't know how long," Jeff countered, "and that might make his neighbors nervous we're just mulling about his front lawn waiting for him. The last thing we need right now is to get picked up by the police for loitering."
Lucy ultimately did concede that and nodded, "just so long as we agree that we will try to make contact with Reverend Jack..."
"And the other churches where we couldn't make contact with the minister," Grace added.
"Of course," Jeff agreed, "that part was never in doubt."
"Good," Lucy said firmly.
"So... it's the Slug Person colony, next?" Zoe asked.
"Yes," Jeff nodded, "to see what they might know at countering Cupple's magic and looking into living arrangements until Cupple is defeated."
"Assuming they oppose him," Lucy warned, "in this, we're still essentially scouting."
"They probably do," Grace commented, "the stories say that while witches and warlocks were the ones that created the Slug Person race... they didn't necessarily win the loyalty of them, which is in part what helped Slug People avoid being killed off when the witch or warlock that was "protecting" them got killed. That would have to meant that they were doing things to those Slug People."
"Maybe as a general point," Lucy commented, "but we don't know how much or how far Cupple's influence goes. For all we know... Cupple managed to convince the colony through some other means. We really don't know what the colony's opinion is for sure right now."
"Then now's the time to learn," Zoe commented, "if they support Cupple, we'll fight our way out and if they oppose Cupple, they might be able share some things with us."
"Which is the mission we have right now," Jeff finished, and noted the nods of agreement at that.