"I don't like this," Yaun spoke as he walked alongside the mare that lead the carriage, his own hoofs making solid impact upon the path as the group moved forward in the direction of Regina and Oscar's home. "You friend Miggs has magical powers she does not understand how to control," he frowned, "And she is a succubus. No good can come of this," he said, looking over at Eodor who was about at his height riding in the driver's seat, holding the reigns of the horse at the front.
"She did not mean any harm to you, Yuan. Surely you must realize that," Eodor moved her hand up and tossed her wavy red hair out of her eyes yet again. "I wonder if Igna had a spell that let her see beyond her own face… this hair is infuriating," she smirked, looking behind her to make sure no one was coming up the path behind them. As she looked back, her eyes lingered on Miggs who was walking along behind the cart a bit of a distance, looking unsteady on her hoofs. "I am concerned that she believes herself to be a monster."
"She is a monster," Yaun said, looking back to the path ahead. "Indeed, the only one of use five who is not is yourself, prince," he sigh, switching which shoulder he had his axe over with a movement of his hands. "Not long ago, I dreamed of dresses and fancy balls and playing hide and seek with my friends," he said. "I had hoped my bosom would increase a few sizes before I was to be wed… now, though my… breasts… are larger, but they are built entirely of muscle not unlike the man who stands guard over the door to my father's chamber," he sighed a huff of air out his nostrils.
"Now I am minotaur," Yaun continued. "I crave battle and glory… I think of my axe and imagine how many different ways I can spill the innards of my enemies, hoping beyond hope that I will have a name so feared that only the most powerful will dare to challenge me," he nodded, glancing to Eodor, then back. "I have slain so many creatures, though I fear that if I do not exert my energies in combat that this male mind will do me in," he said, looking over to Eodor. "What would you say if I told you that, were we alone, I would give serious contemplation on the idea of raping you?"
Eodor was taking aback, "Surely not," the former man blinked, startled. "I do not believe that such a craving would be inside of you," she shook her head, looking back to the horse and the path ahead. "I will admit… I have had the idle lustful thought in your direction, Yaun… but we still have our human minds. We are not monsters or filled with evil… we have merely be cursed with evil's form," she did her best to reassure him, ignoring the images that him overpowering her brought to her mind's eye. We were each royalty, in truth, she considered. It would be an odd coupling, but it could bring two kingdom's together. Biting her lip, she did frowned deeply as she pushed that logic as far from her mind as she might be able to.
Yaun noted the look over Eodor's face and thought it best to forgot asking what her reaction was all about. "I may have a human mind right now… that of a frightened little girl. But that girl, this monster, is convinced that if a patrol comes upon us on horseback right now to attack us… that she would lose who she was once more and have this warrior's axe drink in the blood of any who try to stop her," he snorted his distaste at that. "I almost killed that woman we were trying to protect. You saw that. I was in the midst of combat and all I knew was instinct… red colored vision and how best to lay waste to my foes," he said, looking to her. "Even now, I trip over my own hoofs with some steps… but in combat, the minotaur knows how to move… how to kill."
"How is Regina?" Eodor asked, trying to change the conversation to something completely else.
"Her husband is still trying to wake her… though her hair is nipping at him," came Miggs voice as she walked up on the other side of the cart from Yaun. Eodor looked to her, a bit startled at her quite arrival at the front, confused over her answer. "Her hair is no more… a lovely pile of red, yellow, and black colored snakes. Each one sleeps until he gives her a prod, then a few rouse and lurch towards him their short distance."
"She is a medusa?" Yaun asked, looking down at Miggs from over the top of the cart, tall as he was.
"One would hope not, though we could not say yet. A gorgon's hair does not normally invoke a curse of stone. We would have to wait until she awakes," Miggs sighed, thinking over what she had done yet again, looking downward passed her breasts to the ground as she thought.
"Then her husband, the rat-dog, will be the first to find out," Yaun said, with little care for the tiny man. There was something he just didn't trust about the former male turned kobald, but he couldn't be sure what it was.
"Well, if her gaze does turn others to stone," Eodor began, glancing to Yaun as she spoke, "Then it may not turn other monsters to stone. In that case, I am in the most danger," she offered with a slight shrug.
"I will do my best to prevent that, my prince," Miggs nodded softly, then looked away and off towards the hills just ahead. "I don't know what I have done to poor Regina, but there earth was all covered with demon creatures in the shape of snakes before I lost control of&151;" she trailed off. My magic? she wondered, thinking that was how she was going to end her sentence. I have magic. I am such a danger… I am no mage… and magic the power of which I commanded is dangerous in the hands of the untrained, she sighed. I am most certainly untrained, she nodded softly to herself. "All over the earth, there were deadly snakes of a sort… they covered and bit into me and I was without question an instant from meeting Death just that quickly," she explained. "I reached out, as if I knew how to heal myself… And now all those creatures have been fused into her very being. I have no idea what she will look like when she is done changing," she sighed, looking back up the trail, a hand going to her head.
"She changes still?" Eodor asked, looking down at Miggs from up on the carriage. "What changes?"
"Her mass increases still, her snake body longer and stronger than any naga I have ever heard a tale of. Her upper self still retains a anthropomorphic shape, but her chest and stomach are wide, and her shoulders and four arms have become thick and sleek with lean muscle…" Miggs said, thinking over the form she had seen. "Ridges in design over her body that incorporate rough bones like stone as an extra layer of armor. The coloring of her scales—red, yellow, black, yellow, repeat…—indicate that she may quite likely be poisonous just as the original snakes were."
"The Devine Spirit tests each of us, Miggs, you know that," Eodor offered as a positive though, but it did nothing for Miggs. The succubus merely sighed deeply a response, her Faith seeming so much further from her now than it had been just a day before. "What is it, my friend? You seem quite troubled… but as I spoke to Yaun, you must remember that being a monster is not just body but also mind, and so long as you retain your human spirit, you will never be just another creature," the young woman said, looking back to the road. "We will settle this all… find my impostor, get my body back, kill Igna, and return each of you back to your original forms," she said. "You must believe in that."
"Begging your pardon, my prince, but it is far too easy for you to say what does or does not make one of us an monster when you yourself are the only one who retains a human form," Miggs said simply, looking up to Eodor. "Simply said, my prince. I meant no insult," she bowed to the smaller woman as she walked.
"Here, Here," Yaun said, lifting his axe into the air a bit, then resting it on his other shoulder. "The one person still in a human form has little place to lecture even her bodyguard and messenger on what it is to be or not be a monster," Yaun said, looking up to Eodor. The small woman frowned a bit at her. "You have your kingdom, and I have mine. I am far too young to answer to the likes of you, prince, so don't bother with your glare. You are no better than I am, just perhaps more sane," Yaun nodded his head with a bit of a smile, looking forward.
The group walked along in quite for a few more moments, surely nearing their destination. Eodo eyes fluttered shut then open as her tired state remained from all the hours earlier. Even Yaun yawned a few times as he had been awakened from sleep before they entered combat just a while back down the road. Miggs, for her part just seemed sickly overall, he stride somewhat weakened after the bout of poison earlier.
"My prince, I fear I must warn you of my condition," Miggs said, her wings wrapping over her shoulders finally like a cloak as she began to feel safer now as they neared their turn on the road ahead.
"What is it, my friend?" Eodor wondered, looking to her as the carriage moved off to the right to travel up between to long fields on the way to a farm house in the distance. It was wooden and painted red with white edges. Over to one side, it had a matching barn with two stone towers off beside it to hold grain. The house itself was two stories, as was the barn that was all closed off. There were cows out in the far field, going about their early morning grazing.
"I have a fever and feel dizzy…" Miggs began as they continued towards the house ahead. "I sense that the magics I have touched are only the beginning. If I am to enter the Time of Enchantment as had been mentioned before… I am not certain my mind will be free to consider your best interest," Miggs sighed, walking along silently with the group. "It is not possible that I will become violent towards you and the others?" she wondered aloud.
Yaun looked over at Miggs as the walked up the dirt path, then up at Eodor. He frowned deeply and said: "I have no idea what she's talking about… but it sounds bad. I've had quite enough surprises for the passed few days," he said simply, the bass of his voice rumbling a bit as he spoke. "What is the Time of Enchantment?"
Eodor explained the basics as she had spoke to Miggs earlier. Turning her head towards her friend, the dainty, pale-skinned woman began to enquire further on her situation. "Miggs, tell me… the magic energies that you channeled earlier… did they come from within like a mage? Outside, like a mystic would draw from the land," she wondered, "Or did you pull the energies from… well, somewhere like a succubus might?" Eodor said, without being specific.
A long moment of silence went by, and Miggs glanced over to Yaun for a moment. The minotaur, for his part, looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment before simply stating: "Combat makes me hard." Eodor blinked, looking back to Yaun, her face revealing that she believed she had misheard him. "I had an erection… I was getting worked up," he said, with a shrug. Eodor blushed a bit and looked back towards the front of the horse. "It has happened before—Uh—with this body," Yaun specified. "I felt her suck—Um—draw the energy out of me while I fought. At the time, I thought it was one of the enemies trying to steal my life force and I charged the rest of the battlefield looking for the source until I came across Regina and Miggs… After I came to my senses, I realized it must have been the succubus," Yaun shrugged. "Like I said, we are monsters. Its to be expected." he looked up at Eodor again, "And she did all that without already going through this 'Time of Enchantment'?"
Eodor nodded softly, taking in Yaun's story and what it meant. "Yes… the magics would be the second to last step of transformation, though it would usually happen over a longer period of time than this," she said, looking from Yaun, to the road, and then to Miggs. "It began when you put on the mystical armor of the solider succubi, followed by the change in mannerisms to graceful, sexual, and silent," she continued, "Gaining control of your wings and the rest of your combat stature until you finally reached out and pulled the sexual energies and life force from a male nearby to power your first spells," Eodor sighed, looking up at the ranch house as they pulled up to the barn outside.
"I have sexual mannerisms?" she wondered as they came to a stop. Miggs put a hand on her hip, tilted her head, and slid a hand up to cup her chin, a finger going just inside of her mouth as she considered what Eodor had said. The red-head blinked at her, and the minotaur just smiled. "What?" she asked, putting both hands on her hips, pouting as she dropped her wings behind her and flicked her tail back and forth with a bit of aggitation.
"Yes," Yaun said, watching her, his arousal very slight but palatable to the succubus at this close a distance. "You do."
"Indeed," Eodor noted as she stepped over to the other side of the carriage. Yaun smiled at her and reached out his strong arms to help her down. She allowed him this moment, and both shared a look that said 'I wish I wasn't thinking this thought right now'. As she touched the earth, she walked around the mare and to in front of Miggs. "But as I said, it would be the second to last stage… the sickness you are feeling is your body wishing it had more energies to transform," she explained. "Just before, during, or just after your transformation, you will require… 'sustenance'."
"I see," Miggs nodded, not thinking that was going to be too much of a problem. "I suppose only the males can help me there," she asked, glancing to Yaun. He grinned and bowed his head to her.
"I wouldn't volunteer so quickly," Eodor said, noticing Yaun's reaction. "She will have to consume all or most all of a soul if she expects to live," she explained. Yaun's head jerked back a moment, taking in that thought. Eodor looked back at her, "Most likely all if you are feeling sickly already. Deny yourself that, and you will become much like a vampire requiring its first meal… you will be consumed by this craving until it is satiated," she explained. "Delayed too long, you will become nothing but a lusting beast."
"Oh," Miggs thought aloud, rubbing her chin. She considered this whole thing should bother her more than it did. The truth was, being a succubus wasn't that big a deal so long as she didn't deny what she was. Nothing about anything she had done as one so far had disturbed her like transforming the couple. That had been unintentional and horrific for her. Sucking out a man's life force, A-OK… transforming a married couple into a couple of creatures… frightening, she thought with a sigh, looking towards the barn, then back to Eodor. "I will try to find a criminal," she said with a shrug.
"You are taking this quite well," Eodor noted. "I thought you were afraid of being a monster," she asked.
"No, my prince," she bowed to Eodor. "I am a succubus now. I might be one for the rest of my life. I hope to be human, yes, but the World of Chaos often changes people forever… so while I wish to be human, I will not depend on that being so. As it is, my form and abilities have been altered, but my mind has not. If it stays that way, then I fear not being a monster," she said. "However, if I preform actions that hurt the innocent, like turning Regina and Oscar into monsters, then I will feel that pain in my soul," Miggs explained. "If I hurt you, my prince… I will take my own life, or ask Yaun to do it for me," she said simply.
"I don't think it will come to that," Eodor said, putting a hand of Miggs' shoulder. "We would turn around right now and find ourselves a cure," she said to her, "but we must hurry home and save our kingdom from Igna." Looking over at the sun as it rose up over the mountains in the distance, Eodor smiled lightly. "We will rest, and in the evening we will speak with Regina and Oscar about where in the Earth Realm we are so that we might plot a trek back to Quell.
"I will sleep in the barn," Miggs bowed to Eodor. "If my wings are going to grow any larger, I don't want to break anything in the happy couple's home. I will be in shouting distance, but I doubt anything will happen here during the day," she said, watching as Yaun moved towards the carriage.
The minotaur began to gather up into his arms most of Regina as her little husband got out of the opposite side of the carriage. He watched as Miggs pulled open the bard door and jumped up inside to the second story. Shrugging to Eodor, Regina wrapped around his shoulders, the four of them made their way into the house. It took a moment for Yaun to find a way to duck through the doorway, but eventually he moved forward, the end of Regina's tail dragging behind him.
Off in the barn, Miggs tried some of the meditations she had been taught as a young boy before picking up her first spear. The preparation and clearing of her mind helped her little as her body suddenly lit up with spiritual fire, her body shifting and changing into something entirely else. Though Eodor had said that succubus who went through the Time of Enlightenment retained much of who they were, the fear that her prince had just tried to console her permeated her thoughts as the change overtook her.
Regardless of the warning, it was quite an experience… her form altered, per personality shifted to the side… Miggs soon learned how it was that she had become Enlightened… having a full understanding of her most basic abilities, and the revelation that she would now have to feed or die… Her emotions were confused for a few short moments before she knew what to do with all this knowledge… Miggs had changed, it was true, but how…?