Jeff had sat there on his tail digesting many of the revelations that had come out of the entire adventure so far. The discovery that magic was real in the connection to his and his family's transformation into Slug People and that the man ultimately responsible for that was a dark wizard, who by his own admission had killed John Chapman. Cupple's work in real estate was nothing more than a front, which Jeff suspected was likely a source for his plans for creating a Slug Person colony he could control. That likely included Jenny, who had apparently been part of the main Slug Person colony and got grabbed by Cupple when she got beyond the range of the colony's "hive mind." Of course, all the Chapmans had for this was their word against Cupple's and had no other evidence, which had been part of the challenges they'd been wrestling with in looking for help against Cupple.
The revelation that the pastor of the church that the Chapman's attended, Reverand Jack, was the Slug Person colony's close ally was a surprise and one that offered a ray of hope against Cupple. Though, things soon went beyond that where Reverand Jack essentially admitted that he and his church was far more active in things beyond just "conversion" and "salvation" than other churches. Some of it likely reflected on the revelations that magic real and thus the church, which dealt more closely with these sorts of things, at least so far as "philosophy" went would be better placed to deal with them. But things went even further when Reverand Jack also admitted that John Chapman had joined a kind of "secret society" that followed the church's rules and which then meant that his death, likely at Cupple's hands, was one of a sort of secret mission, and might well have been what made the Chapmans a target for Cupple's schemes. All of this was a lot to digest, and Reverand Jack's visible guilt on things added to it.
"But at the time you didn't think Cupple would actually go that far..." Jeff surmised the confession that Reverand Jack made.
"And Cupple did go that far," Reverend Jack said slowly, "he had to have done something that John wasn't prepared for and that I hadn't anticipated... and... I... I'm sorry."
Jeff had the sense that Reverand Jack was truly sorry. The man was barely holding back tears and was looking down toward his own feet. To Jeff, that wasn't the sign of someone that was not remorseful over how things happened. He didn't fully understand why Reverand Jack couldn't allow John to explain his involvement as a "knight" for their church, but from the memory of Cupple shocking him after the Chapmans had escaped their home and knowing they wouldn't be trapped in it, he had the sense that worrying about "forgiveness" may not be the main thing they had to worry about the present time. Even if things were morally wrong between Reverand Jack and the Chapmans, Cupple had done far worse to both the Slug Person Colony and to them. There was also the sense that Cupple might go further. If he was truly a dark ward that had the raw power to enslave a Slug Person not protected by their species "hive mind" or transform an unwilling Human into a Slug Person and did so at least once before getting to the Chapmans, he would surely go farther. That sort of thing would make sense.
"So... what do we do now?" Grace asked as she looked between Lucy's and Melody's swollen wombs and then to Whtiney.
"A lot of this is all... heavy," Zoe said slowly, to which Jeff noted Reverand Jack's downward glance remained unchanged.
"I think we're at a point where how "heavy" this is no longer matters," Jeff commented, "Cupple has to have some scheme... even if it's to use Slug People as living magical batteries. He likely tried to start things in that direction with the colony itself and found that the hive mind was too strong within the colony to affect them... and from what we've learned from Simon, it'd be fair to guess that Simon rejected Cupple's offer. That is what turned Cupple toward those that might leave the colony to work or interact with people outside it and use them as a means to get his batteries through other means... And that lead to us being transformed. The fact that we didn't absentmindedly transform and thus fall under the sway that Megan and Jenny were under may have delayed his plans, but it's probable that he hasn't stopped his plans or changed his mind."
"He did come across as rather... firm when he first visited," Simon said slowly, "I could feel something like a dull pressure on the back of my mind... like agreeing was the only option, but because that meeting was here in the colony, it felt only like a minor suggestion and that didn't sit right with me."
Jeff nodded to that, "and the rest is unchanged. He may not have us... but he does have Megan and Jenny, which means he'll have the means to create his own colony that will be controllable... either through direct sorcery or with Megan and Jenny under his sway and giving them better training with the sort of hypnotic trance that we were in before mom transformed fully."
"Even with that... what do we do?" Zoe then wondered, "none of us even know how to control many of the low level magics that Slug People can use..."
"Much of that is going to be more instinctive and subconscious," Simon offered, "the only thing that would take more conscious effort would be if you took a mate that would want to become another Slug Person."
"Even with that... that isn't something we'll be messing with now," Zoe commented, though a part of her mind found itself rapidly drifting to Maize. They may have only been friends in high school, and as a straight human woman, she hadn't been into Maize, though she knew Maize was into her. However, with her transformation into a Slug Woman and the fact that most Slug People were females, and that all Slug Women were hermaphrodites, a part of her mind did drift into some fantasies of taking Maize in her arms and wrapping her tail around Maize's legs.
"What we have now is defeating Cupple and putting a stop to his schemes," Jeff spoke, "which is the sort of help we were looking for when we left the house yesterday. That's something that also needs to remain unchanged."
"Unchanged?" Grace asked nervously.
Reverand Jack raised his head at this. Though, his wide eyes semi-quivering lips seemed to indicate a bit of nervousness on the man's part. Jeff figured that was likely just part of his guilt in his role in what lead to John Chapman's death.
"As in find a way to stop him," Jeff spoke, "prevent him from doing do us... and to Megan and Jenny to others. By almost any means."
"Jeff," Reverand Jack spoke up, "please... there is the law to consider. I can understand your anger at what Cupple has done to you. A part of me expected you to be more made at me... but..."
"That's not the point right now," Jeff countered, "Cupple has already shown a disregard for the law... even if we can't prove it in court. And so long as people don't believe in magic as anything more than a parlor trick, he's liable to keep doing it until he's reached a point of power where it won't matter. He HAS to be STOPPED."
"And if that puts you in jail?" Reverand Jack asked nervously, "or breaks one of the commandments? None of you are knights, so the church wouldn't have that as a viable option... and even there, our mission has been more diplomatic and if any fight is to come, the techniques and equipment used is defensive in nature to show that a knight was not being blindly aggressive."
"It wouldn't have to be blindly aggressive," Jeff said after a moment, swaying the tip of his tail from side to side, "maybe something that would expose Cupple's actions... or his sorcery. Or maybe just finding a way to counter his sorcery. Either cut him off from his magic or something that."
"Most of those would require another sorcerer to cast and given the nature of these sorts of spells... the wizard would need to be MUCH more powerful than Cupple," Reverand Jack warned, "and even there... the law will still be an issue. And to a degree, if Cupple knows you're antagonistic to him, he'll try to make sure any confrontation is either public, where you could get in trouble or under terms in which he knows to be wary of what you'd want to do. After all, he knows you and knows of me. If we were to all appear before him, he'd know to at least be suspicious."
"There would have to be something that could be done," Lucy spoke up, "Jeff is right that we can't do nothing and that Cupple will likely do more than what he's already done."
"And the Catholic Church supposedly had ways of dealing with witches and warlocks," Jeff agreed.
"There are two things there," Reverand Jack spoke and raised a fist and then extended his pointer finger, "first is that the Catholic Church, particularly in Medieval Europe, wielded BOTH political and religious authority. And for a time, the "Papal States" controlled a good portion of central Italy. And even in areas they didn't control directly, the countries still essentially listened to the will of the Catholic Church when it came to these issues. Thus, they could better play the "he a sorcerer" card better than we can." Reverand Jack then paused and raised his next finger on that hand, "the second thing... is that many of the witches and warlocks that were arrested for being witches and warlocks were just normal people. The number of ACTUAL witches caught in these sorts of hunts was only like one percent of those persecuted. So, they went into some hysteria and killed innocents."
"But Cupple would present a case where we know he is a sorcerer, and not a good one," Jeff commented, "there'd have to be some way of proving it... at least beyond the defensive magics that Slug People have that protect them from the worst that could happen..."
"And that is true... but it would still run into the law," Reverend Jack spoke, "and while our church does believe that spiritual matters have a greater role in the world than the secularists believe... that doesn't mean we're pushing for a theocratic government or anything like that. And is again why knights are taught more on self-defense and have things that would defend against direct attacks on them."
Jeff paused for a moment and raised one hand up to his chin. He kept one eye on Reverend Jack, who looked a lot more like the confident reverend the Chapmans knew, while the other eye looked over his family and Simon and Melody. Melody was still resting close to Lucy and the tips of their tails nuzzled the other, which was a sign for hope for Lucy's future being happy... at least happy with Melody. But there was also some nervousness there, and particularly with Grace, the youngest of his siblings. Even Whitney looked a bit nervous with some things. Of course, that was probably parental fear, but Jeff was pretty sure they didn't have much of a choice.
"What about something that would provoke a response?" Jeff offered, "nothing outlandish... maybe challenge him when he's trying to do stuff that would expand his business in real estate. Protest... draw attention that something he's done may be shady or immoral... something. Get him to do something that would make him blow his cool and lose control... Have enough of the colony there for protection against any sort of mind control and have enough wards in the area that limit what he could do... but still essentially force himself to expose his powers."
"That... that sounds like it could work and would make your case that he was behind your forced transformations easier," Reverend Jack commented and then frowned, "but it still could put people at risk."
Jeff had to concede that, "perhaps... but we may be PAST point where a lot of that is going to be a major concern. The only other option would be to buy time and hope that someone gets legal proof faster or more easily than we have. And by that time... it could be too late."