The journey was relatively slow and quiet, and thankfully they didn't have another run in with Cupple. His ability to just appear at times had been trying and even frightening, given what the Chapman family had learned of his magic and been exposed to. Now, with it starting to get late in the day and having gotten limited information on ways to counter Cupple's magic, the only real option was the Slug Person colony and the hope that they would provide some protection from any sort of retaliation or continued tricks. Lucy felt very uneasy about this, as the start of their entire adventure had been the arrival of two Slug Women, Megan and Jenny, who came to visit and covered them in enough slime and the transformative magic that all of them became Slug People as well. First their mother, Whitney, then the youngest Grace, then herself and Zoe, and then finally her twin brother, Jeff.
Lucy was all for civil rights and equal treatment, and a good part of her didn't truly feel that the Slug People in the colony were truly at fault for what happened to the Chapman family. That blame she placed on Cupple, but there was so much that they didn't know that she was afraid that Cupple had done something to the colony as well, as he'd had to have done something to Megan and Jenny. But the family had voted, and Lucy was outvoted and so they were on their way to the colony. The quietness of the journey was a bit of a relief, and soon the white picket fence that surrounded the Slug Person colony started to come into view.
The system for the colonies was something that was often designed and intended to provide for Slug People some safety and independence, which Lucy had often protested limited what freedoms Slug People had in dealing with the resto of humanity who didn't want to have to deal with the slime that all Slug People generated. The real positive was that it also helped prevent outright murder of those who'd committed no crime. As they came up on the white painted fence that surrounded the colony, they soon found that the colony also looked a lot like what they'd travelled through for much of the day. There were houses that didn't look too different from the Chapman family home and they could see a fair number of Slug People going about some daily chores, though the setting sun meant that a lot of the work was more to wind things down.
"It looks almost like our home neighborhood," Jeff said with some degree of awe in his voice.
"What did you expect?" Grace asked to Jeff as they paused just inside the gate.
"I don't know... like something like the Shire in the Lord of the Rings movies," Jeff managed, "still a town, but built into the hills... or having made the hills and then carved homes out of them."
"That sounds nice," Grace admitted, "but it also forgets that Slug People were created by witches and warlocks and once free of them began learn from people."
Jeff shrugged and looked down for a moment. Lucy didn't pay too much attention to that but continued to note that the Slug People that were out and about around their homes weren't doing all that much about the group that had just come in through the gates, and she wasn't the only one.
"Shouldn't there be more here to greet us... or at least be curious?" Zoe wondered, "I mean... wouldn't they have felt us become Slug People?"
"That assumes that the hive mind is like perfect telepathy and long range," Grace spoke, rolling her eye stalks for a moment, "something you should know by now isn't the case. We can sense base feelings and things like that... but that's not enough to know what even each of us are thinking right now. And at the same time, we don't know on how strong or how long ranged the hive mind is. For all the colony here knows... nothing happened last night worth noting."
"But that's more our ignorance on the details of what we've become," Whitney spoke, "and why we're here."
"Yeah," Zoe admitted, looking down, "I was just expecting more of a reception... as we are new."
"They could only respond to that if they know we're new," Lucy commented, "and if they don't know... they can't rush to say hello. The best thing to do now would be to make contact and see who we would talk to regarding Cupple and what he's done."
She then moved to take the lead and noted a lone Slug Woman that was sliding along the sidewalk on her tail. Her body was largely a light orange-brown color with a sort of pinkish shad around her head and shoulders and there were lines of spots that ran down her tail. The spots were sort of like Grace's, but Lucy wasn't entirely sure. As Lucy slid forward to make contact with this Slug Woman, she hoped things remained friendly.
"Excuse me, miss," Lucy called to this Slug Woman as she approached, "can you help my family and I?"
The Slug Woman paused and looked up as the rest of the Chapmans caught up with Lucy and blinked noting that they were all Slug People, though also feeling an odd sense of worry and confusion from the group.
"Maybe..." the Slug Woman said slowly and trying to mask some of her own confusion, "and you are?"
"My name is Lucy Chapman," Lucy spoke and missing a surprised blink from the Slug Woman, "these are my sisters Zoe and Grace, by twin brother Jeff, and our mother Whitney. We had a run in with a warlock... who used a pair of Slug Women to turn us into Slug People... for reasons we don't know... and well... we're looking to find some way to get help to stop him."
"You were human," the Slug Woman said slowly.
"Yes," Whitney nodded, "and we don't mean to interrupt anything important..."
"It's no problem," the Slug Woman held up a hand and waved it to assure them that there was no problem, "may I ask who transformed you? Or for what reason?"
"The Slug Women that did were named Megan and Jenny," Lucy answered, "and beyond getting a new hive, they didn't say anything about the reason. They just showed up at our house, coated all of us in slime and by the time we could realize what was going on... mom had started transforming and seemed to lose control over her own lusts... raising panic..."
"Did they tell you about the transformative magic?" the Slug Woman asked, "ask you if you wanted to become Slug People?"
"No," Jeff answered which he noticed lead to a sigh, though one of the Slug Woman's eyes looked to Lucy in a way that looked almost like a fan looking on their idol.
"And that will probably be the cause of panic," the Slug Woman sighed, "people do join us from time to time... usually after finding someone they love... but the transformation does carry a lot of lust in it and can be heavily influenced by the transforming Slug Person. People not expecting it can easily be overwhelmed by it and may "latch onto" the Slug Person that transformed them."
Whitney frowned a bit as that seemed to be what had happened with her. The transformative magic hit her, drove her lusts up and she latched onto Megan and Jenny, at first, because they were the only other Slug People there. She didn't think that Grace went through that when she transformed, but Whitney also figured that having gotten away from the initial attempt, Grace and her siblings managed to break that sort of hold.
"Yes," Whitney admitted weakly, "it was something that was overpowering when it happened... and it took a lot of effort from my children to free me of their influence..."
"I'm sure," the Slug Woman nodded, "it's why we have a lot of cultural norms and rules that demand that human to Slug Person transformations be voluntary. Where this Megan and Jenny of the colony?"
"We don't know," Lucy answered, "they seemed to be serving a warlock... Edward Cupple... who wanted us... and them... for something."
This brought about narrowed eyes from the Slug Woman and lead to a response that Lucy found herself being relieved by, as it did indicate that this Slug Woman wasn't in league with Cupple. When Zoe and Grace caught on to this, this also raised some hope in getting some information that they'd been looking for all day.
"Cupple," the Slug Woman growled with narrowed eyes, "that rat came here with the propositions that witches and warlocks have always had... and now it appears he's gone even further."
"Can you help?" Lucy asked.
"A bit," the Slug Woman answered, "my name is Melody. I can give you space to sleep, as I doubt you have a home in the colony. As for all the information you may want or need... our mayor may be of more help and I can help you get you to meet him. I'll even take you to him."