"Jess, you don't know that. Were you paying attention at all to the book we've been reading in class, or were you just gawking at Mr. Thomas's arms? Even if she is a little weird it doesn't mean she can't be nice. That was the whole point of the story. You can't judge someone till you really know them. I mean she just moved to the neighborhood and, if your dad's right, something's wrong with her mom. She has to be scared and lonely, especially if she's your brother's age. I know you would be too, if you were in her shoes. We should try to find out more about her. What if she needs help? I mean that's why we got powers in the first place, to help people." She looks down at her bicycle's basket "Isn't that right..."

"Octavian?"

The soft mention of your name jolts you back to consciousness from your memories. It's Alice. Rolling from Jeanette's loose grasp, you go to check on her. Although she is stirring somewhat, it's clear she's still asleep. She was talking in her sleep-- must be having a dream with you in it. You hope it's a happy one. You decide to place your paw on her forehead and brush the tangle of blond hair away from her eyes. Spurred on by your new found guilt, you had spent far too time last night replaying decades of personal history in your head. How do humans live like this? You think you have a new found understanding of how Jeanette wound up like you found her. Gazing over the sleeping form of your contractee, you can't help but wonder what would have happened if you didn't get involved with those girls. What would they be doing now? What about Titania? Would there be a much younger girl or boy in Alice's place? Would they be living a more normal life with mother and father? Would they be happy? Did you ruin Alice's life before it ever began? You can see her eyelashes fluttering. She's starting to wake up.

She yawns "Moring' Octavian. That tickles a little bit." She gazes into your eyes. "You look tired."

"Good morning, dear. I didn't get much rest last night. It's nothing to worry about." You say trying to downplay her concerns before she ever voices them. "Were you having pleasant dreams? You said my name in your sleep. That's unusual for you."

"Oh, I was. We were back on the farm. Jenny was there too, and we were picking wildflowers in the pasture."

You give her forehead a pat. "That's nice, dear. I know Jenny is your elder and you must respect her, but it's going to take her a little longer to wake up. How about you head to the bathroom and get ready. That way we won't waste time and we can all work on breakfast together. I promise she won't mind."

"If you say so, Octavian." You get off of her chest and she kicks her way out from underneath the covers. "I hope Jenny likes my cooking. I worked really hard to learn from Sister Shirley." She adds as she reaches the doorway. You can make out a hint of sadness as she says: "Sometimes she said it wasn't good enough for Brother Joseph, so I shouldn't bother trying."

"I know you'll do fine. Jenny will love your cooking." Alice turns and smiles at you, before practically skipping off to the bathroom. Once you hear the sound of running water, you slowly pull the blanket off of the sleeping Jeanette. You lightly tickle the exposed skin on her arm. She almost bolts awake. She's a much lighter sleeper than Alice. She looks around at the unfamiliar room groggily before settling back on you. "Octavian? It must be morning, huh?"

"It is. Alice is in the bathroom right now. You can clean up afterwards. She's going to make breakfast afterwards." You give her your best authoritative look. "I'm expecting you will join us...And you will eat. I won't take no for an answer."

She give you an amused look. "Christ!" She starts giggling. "You're really not suited for that face, Octavian. Please leave the 'hard-ass disappointed teacher, who knows better than you' look to me. I've had some real world practice at it." You keep glaring. "Okay, relax Octavian. I will." She rustles your ears. "I'll even let you follow me around, Happy?" She stops laughing and brings her face closer to your ears and whispers: "I have a question related to last night. It's sort of an awkward one. Have you killed people before, Octavian? Near the end there it almost sounded like you were implying just that."

"By my own hand, no. I've heard the term 'negligent homicide'. I think you would classify it as that. It was always a death by misadventure, of one kind or another. Sometimes, they were overconfident and rushed into a grizzly end. Other times, it was because I didn't volunteer an important piece of information, because they didn't think to ask me. I almost did that to you, Jeanette. There's one case where I really did try to help, but I didn't understand humans well enough. I think I only made the problem worse. It goes without saying, I could have prevented many of these deaths, but I chose not to. In an odd way I was incentivized not to. You see, my life is extended the very moment I forge the contract with a person. The magical energy I need to live is released as a byproduct. Remember all that light when you contracted, that’s part of the process. I absorb what I can and it allows me to keep going. My body is quite efficient, assuming I don’t go crazy with my own magic. I can live for a great number of years on a single contract with a magically potent person. There’s a catch. I graft a fragment of my soul into yours to allow you to use magic. I can only do this so many times before I damage my own soul. However, when the contractee dies I get that piece of myself back without expending any energy…See where I’m going with this?”

The woman’s gone quiet “Yes, yes. I know I’m a monster. We don’t have your emotions, so we don’t form sentimental attachments. Well, normally. Something happened to me and now I’m like this. Now, I care about Alice. I hope you can see past my nature and forgive my shortcomings, Jeanette. I didn’t choose to be whatever the hell I am. I just suddenly existed one day and by instinct I did what I had to do to keep existing. I find your company pleasant and we have much in common. I believe this is the basis for friendship, yes? If you do not find me too detestable, I would like that. Furthermore, I believe it’s clearer as to why I need your help in raising Alice.”

She sighs before putting her hand gently back on your head. “I guess it’s better than you being a murder, Octavian. I mean, I really can’t judge you. I’ve done things I didn’t like to keep feeding my habit. If I didn’t have my emotions to hold me back, who knows what I could have done? But it’s still not the most comforting answer.” She starts running a slender finger up the length of one of your ears. “You still helped save my life, even if you just inadvertently led Alice to me. You’re not all bad, Octavian. I can tell you’re trying to do what you think is right…And, Yes. I wouldn’t mind being your friend.” She brings the finger back down and starts scratching you behind the ear. Dang that feels good.

You spend a bit of time like this. Eventually, Jeanette decides your mood has improved enough and she gets out from under the blanket. She starts picking out her clothes for the day. She settles on a much more causal outfit than yesterday, a black top and jeans. It seems like she only packed the one pair of shoes, something of an oversight. You tell her to make sure to meet you in the kitchen or you will send Alice after her. She agrees. The sound of water stops and soon Alice comes bounding toward you in one of her new outfits. She’s wearing the royal blue top and her tan skort with her heart socks. She comments that it’s never taken her so long to pick out her clothes before. You smile and listen to her blabber on about how she reasoned it out. Jeanette heads off to the bathroom.

“Hey Alice, we should get started. What do you feel like making?” you watch your dear contractee put her finger on her lips before exclaiming “Pancakes!” She grabs you and gets ready to leave the room before you speak up. “Good I’m glad you’re excited, but don’t forget your shoes and remember there are people trying to sleep.”

“Oh, I forgot. Thank you, Octavian. What would I do without you?” She’s settled on a more reasonable volume. She puts on her shoes before picking you up more gently this time and heads off to the kitchen. You leave her to the task of finding the correct ingredients. You had watched her cook before, and many other humans before her, but you never cared to memorize any recipes. It was never of much concern to you. Opting to make yourself somewhat useful, you lean over the countertop and pull open the draws. You pull out any utensils you think she might need: a whisk, a large spoon, a ladle, and the cutlery for the meal. Thankfully, Jeanette’s finished her morning routine in a hurry, so you now have (human) adult supervision. She seems to find Alice’s recipe and cooking process acceptable. So other than handing Alice a large pan, Jeanette just let’s Alice do her own thing. The girls seem to be having fun, so you’re happy.

It doesn’t Alice very long to present Jeanette with a small stack of pancakes. “Here Jenny, the first ones are yours. Please eat without me. I put the syrup on the table. Would you like butter?”

Jeanette looks at them awkwardly before putting the plate on the table. “Uh, no thanks. It’s not healthy. Um…” She makes out your glare from the corner of her eye. Dejectedly, she fishes out a measuring teaspoon from an open drawer and walks to the closet, coming back with a bottle of honey. Well, it’s a compromise. Rome wasn’t built in a day. She speaks up again. “You didn’t make coffee, so can you pass me a glass of water?”

“Alice looks up from her batch. “Oh Jenny, I’m so sorry. I don’t drink coffee. I forgot. Please forgive me for spoiling your meal.”

You both look at Alice with concern. Jeanette speaks first. “Don’t worry dear. Nothing’s ruined. Focus on making yours. I’ll get it." Jeanette walks over and gets her own water. She sits down at the table and methodically measures out small amount of honey per pancake. You watch her spread it over the cakes with a look of determination. She eats slowly, taking meager bites. Alice on the other hand, walks over to the table and claims her cutlery and the syrup bottle. She’s going to eat her first set while making herself seconds. It’s a study in complete opposites. Deciding to lend your moral support to the struggling woman, you leap from the countertop and hop over and onto to the table. You give Jeanette a smile, which she tries to return. Maybe, she does get queasy out of habit. She barley manages to finish her plate. You settle into her lap and take to rubbing her general stomach area. You would try patting her back too, but she’s affixed her back firmly to her chair.

Alice puts her second batch on her plate and to the mixing bowl. Then, back to Jeanette. “Jenny, I still have a little more batter. Would you like more?”

She gives you a look of pain before plastering a fake smile on her face and looking back to Alice. “No, they’re really good, but I’m full. Make them for yourself.”

Alice offers a smile in return. She then starts making her ninth and tenth pancake while eating the four in front of her with her usual speed. Well, that’s your Alice.

Well you don’t eat, so what to do now?

>Get to training. Jeanette still hasn’t mastered transforming. Alice might have discovered new skills after her fight. (Triggers a second vote for what to focus on)

>Jeanette might have some ideas for teaching Alice but she doesn’t have any materials. Maybe it might be worth the long drive to the nearest bookstore. It will eat up a lot of your day though.

>Let the girls take a break for a bit. What would you like to do? Play a game, watch television or a movie, ect.

>Write in/Something else:

>>3748264
>Get to training. Jeanette still hasn’t mastered transforming. Alice might have discovered new skills after her fight. (Triggers a second vote for what to focus on)
Would like to have Jeannette get used to transforming by herself before we can find out what she can do. And not just transformation, but getting used to the appearance as well.

>>3748264
>>3748455
Support

>>3748455
>>3749621
I will call it here.

Regardless of outcome selected roll 2d20 BO3 Crits are off. I will add on any modifiers manually.

While you work with Jeanette on the basics, what should Alice focus on?

>(Alteration): If Alonso is a knight he should have a weapon befitting his new calling. There is also the matter of him still being sort of dead, but that will be harder to fix. (+1 on the roll.)

>(???): Maybe Alice can replicate the new magic she used on Jeanette yesterday. Alonso might be a good test subject. (???)

>(Summoning/Alteration): Practice makes perfect. Have Alice practice her coordination between moving her own body, attacking with the vines, and ordering the spider around. Alonso can be her sparring partner for this exercise.

>(Physical): Mobility is important during magical girl combat. Have Alice practice combining her magically enhanced strength with her flight ability.(+2 on the roll)

>(Research--Domain) The spider mentioned Alice has some sort of weird pocket dimension. Maybe Alice can summon her and figure out more.(-1 on the roll)

>(Reaserch): Have Alice try to develop new magical techniques on her own. (-2 on the roll)

>Have Alice help demonstrate basic magical techniques to Jeanette. Then a friendly spar between the women. (Physical) They could both get use to fighting against opponents that can move as fast as magical girl. (+X modifier on the first die equal to the second die's #/4, rounded down. The second die then counts for the spar)

>Write in/Something else/A combination of things (May add modifiers if it's a clever idea):

>>3749891
>(Physical): Mobility is important during magical girl combat. Have Alice practice combining her magically enhanced strength with her flight ability.(+2 on the roll)
Maybe while Alice is getting the hang of moving around with magic, we can have Jeannette start off small just like Alice did. That and encounters may demand more strenuous piloting if the foe is exceptional.

Rolled 4, 10 = 14 (2d20)

>>3749891
>>3750470
I can get behind that.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>3750470
don't know if I'm supposed to actually roll. Here's one, to be safe.

>>3751502
You were actually were supposed to roll two dice. I will count your first roll. (why let it go to waste)
>So just roll an additional 1d20. I'm writing down the rolls on paper anyway.

It's partially my fault the second line of text that mentions rolling dice was supposed to be in bold but I forgot to reformat the text when I edited the post because I forgot my trip.

I didn't make the update the clearest so the first die is for Jeanette, the second is for Alice. All the modifiers are for Alice's die except the last option where she helps you train Jeanette.
>If it effects your decision making feel free to re-vote if necessary.

>I could also use one more roll from someone (in addition to the .5).

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>3751717
Sorry. My mistake for not reading clearly enough.

Rolled 6, 5 = 11 (2d20)

>>3749891
>>3750470
This

>15, 20

Alice insists upon washing all of the dishes by hand, by herself. She doesn't even allow Jeanette to get up to bring over any dishes. It annoys you that Alice still acts like this, but she was only acting as she was taught by the cult. There was no way you could undo over a decades worth of programming in such a short time without resorting to worse methods yourself (and you wouldn't do that to your Alice). There was one upside, Jeanette was able to stay seated despite her protests. The older woman still looks green around the gills. Alice might have to find a mop and bucket if Jeanette tried to stand up quickly. You look up into the woman's eyes and try to keep your voice low enough so Alice might not hear it over the sink. "I want to start training you today. Think you're up to it? You're not exactly looking the best."

"Yeah, I'll certainly try." She takes a couple of deep breaths. "It'll pass with time. It's not the first time I've had to deal with this. Just keep me distracted for a little while."

"Alright, I'll start the lesson early. Here, give me your hand." You take her right hand and place it on her wrist. "Do you feel your own pulse?" She adjusts her fingers and nods. "Your magic flows through your body much like your blood does. Just like your pulse, the flow of your magic has its own sort of sensation. That's what Alice was trying to describe earlier. Close your eyes and focus inward. See if you can find it."

"So almost like meditating, Octavian. Can I try that?" She says softly. You nod. "I'll give it a shot, but I'm not very good at meditation. I tried it with one physical therapist and I just gave up. It didn't help my back pain at all."

"You can do it." You get an idea. "Jeanette remember dancing. What you're looking for is a rhythm. It's the rhythm of your own soul." Her eyes are closed but there is a look of realization on her face. "Let your mind fall in time with that beat." There's a quick flash of light and Jeanette is back in her magical girl costume. "Open your eyes. Look!"

"I did it?" She looks herself over. "It didn't feel like a squirming sensation to me. It was soft and gentle."

"Like waves of water. I noticed when you first transformed." You interject.

"Yeah. It was like that." She smiles and you return her look. "I feel different, it's like my body is lighter, and my mind feels clearer. I guess I feel better too."

"Good." You look over and see Alice is putting away the last of the dishes. "Alice, Jeanette, Let's get to practicing." You hop off of Jeanette's lap and walk with the girls outside. You direct Alice to practice using her enhanced strength combined with her limited flight ability, like she did inside the magic barrier yesterday. You suggest to try dodging attacks from Alonso after she gets warmed up. You watch her take a bounding leap away, before you start working with Jeanette.

It turns out a Teacher makes for a good student. Jeanette picks up the basics pretty well. You have her detransform and retransform, summon and unsummon her staff, enhance her strength while picking up logs. Periodically you think you can make out Alice's shape among the tree tops. Dang, if that's her she's moving pretty quick. Finally, you go over the basics of flight and with some effort she floats a couple of feet off the ground. It's not as impressive as Alice's first try, but it's not bad for a total beginner. Jeanette's a little bit winded.

Now, comes the harder part, figuring out the unique part of Jeanette's abilities. You can tell she's not going to be fighting up close and personal like Alice. The staff tells you she's a spell caster of some sort. However she seems to be having quite a bit of trouble figuring out how to cast any sort of spell you can think of. You turn to watch Alice sparring with Alonso. She dramatically dodges a lunge by doing a back flip off of the ground and then kicking off of a nearby tree. "Ouch!" She just barely scraped her knee on a branch. You and Jeanette come running. It's nothing serious, but you're both still concerned.

"It's going to be alright, dear." Jeanette says laying a hand on Alice's shoulder. You can make out a faint glow in center of the gem in Jeanette's staff. Alice looks surprised and notices that there's no cut beneath the little bit of blood. Oh, Jeanette's a support type girl. That answers that question.

>Jeanette is specialized in support. You've figured out she can heal minor wounds. She can probably do more than that.
>Alice is getting pretty quick. She can probably dodge an attack in combat. Her stamina has improved overall, but you don't know how long she could keep dodging like that in a real combat scenario.

Jeanette is somewhat tired from your training. Alice is a little less worn out.

>Take a short break. What would you do?, Play a game, Watch television or a movie, just talk with each other, take a walk of the property, ect.

>Call off training for now. Maybe you want to do something out of the house.

Or keep going with the training:

>Set up a quick spar between the girls.

>Have Jeanette help you work with Alice on some type of research:

Research Options:
>(Alteration): If Alonso is a knight he should have a weapon befitting his new calling. There is also the matter of him still being sort of dead, but that will be harder to fix. (+1 on the roll.)

>(???): Maybe Alice can replicate the new magic she used on Jeanette yesterday. Alonso might be a good test subject. (???)

Alice has some sort of weird pocket dimension. Maybe Alice can summon her and figure out more.

>(Reaserch): Have Alice try to develop new magical techniques.

-------------
>Write in/Something else/Some combination of options:

>>3752667
>Have Jeanette help you work with Alice on some type of research:
>(???): Maybe Alice can replicate the new magic she used on Jeanette yesterday. Alonso might be a good test subject. (???)

>>3752667
>Have Jeanette help you work with Alice on some type of research:
>(Alteration): If Alonso is a knight he should have a weapon befitting his new calling. There is also the matter of him still being sort of dead, but that will be harder to fix. (+1 on the roll.)
If there isn't any other votes, I'll be okay with supporting>>3752861

>>3752861
>>3752914
I can combine both of these into one update. It might be a bit longer and take me a little longer to write, as well.
>Roll 1d20+1 same stipulations as the previous one.

Hopefully the last update came out okay. I got swamped today so I wound up rushing it out. The good news is I that I might be free tomorrow to write and update the thread.[/spoilers]

Rolled 1 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3753761

Rolled 15 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3753815
Oh dear.

>>3753761

Rolled 16 + 1 (1d20 + 1)

>>3753761
Don't worry. Please, take your time and care.

>>3753815
Ah Ha, a One...
>>3753950
>>3754409
which doesn't count for much when crits are off
>17. Writing.

sort of a bit of an aside.
I don't use crits on training or very often if I need a dice roll for something mundane. Combat is a different story though. Hopefully, that's okay with you guys. Also, do you have any preferences on how I should run combat? I haven't totally figured out how I want to run it, nor found a way of using dice during combat that I'm entirely satisfied with. I do want something to simulate random chance/enemy competency, though. Why I'm bringing this up is because Alice got better at dodging last update. I think it's best expressed as some sort of reroll during combat. Maybe it's for her die, maybe it's on the opponent's, or maybe both? I just didn't bring it up in the update for obvious reasons.

This update is going to take me a little while to write. I know the outcome. I just need to find a good way of describing the process. I can explain further after the update.

You’re intrigued by the mystery of Jeanette's powers, but the woman is clearly still tired from her earlier exertion. She's panting every few breaths and she's leaning on her staff as if it were a cane. She notices your wandering eye and, in a display of self-conciseness, quickly straitens her posture and dispells her weapon. She gives you a nervous smile in return. You know you will have plenty of time to work with her later; there's no need to push her at an uncomfortable pace. You’re pleased with both your girls. Alice's is certainly shaping up as you would expect from her mother's daughter. You take a couple of hops and jump onto the rim of the fire pit to increase your height. "Ahmm..." You clear your voice. "You've both done some impressive work today. Excellent job!" Jeanette's posture softens with your praise. Alice gets an eager look on her face. She looks like she might want to keep practicing. "Jeanette, feel free to rest if you need to. Alice, let's keep at it. There's something I'm curious about."

Alice gives a happy "Alight!" in return. Jeanette looks between the both of you. "Do you mind if I stay and watch? I've never seen what Alice can do with her magic. It might help me figure out how to better use mine.”

You can’t really argue with that. “Go ahead. I want you to take it easy, though.” You rack your brain briefly over what to do with Alice. Her last outing left you even more puzzled over the true nature of her abilities. Looking around your gaze settles on Alonso. You get an idea. Yes, he might do nicely. You are quite interested in that little display Alice put on with Jeanette. There is no better way to study this phenomenon than to get the girl to replicate it. He at the very least looks dead. You shrug your shoulders. It’s worth a try. “Alice, let’s work with Alonso again, just like earlier.” The girl makes a face almost to complain, but doesn’t voice her concerns. It occurs to you that she thinks it might be too hard a task for her. “Okay, let’s start off slow…”Maybe she needs some encouragement. “Don’t worry about last time. It was my fault. I asked too much of you.” Now, she looks happier. “Well, he is your knight; he wants to protect and serve you. So, he needs a knightly weapon fit to the task.”

“Um, Okay.” Alice summons her hammer in her outstretched hand and closes her eyes. She knits her brow in concentration. You can see a brief flash of red, before a portal opens in mid-air and a medium length spear drops down, its butt clattering against the ground. The weapon falls onto Alonso’s shoulder. He raises a hand to the crook of his neck and seizes the spear, bringing it in front of his eyes to get a better look. He nods and snaps to attention, with the weapon held properly now. “Thank…you…my…liege.” He answers in his usual groan. The spear looks normal to you at first glance, but on closer inspection there’s something off in how the spear point seems to reflect light. It could be magic, but you can’t make anything out with Alice so close by.

The girl opens her eyes. She looks confused. “That wasn’t…” She shuts up. Once again, she doesn’t want to be seen complaining. Blast it! What was she going to say? You found a new reason to take umbrage with the cult’s teachings every day. (You can recall a memory of a younger Alice holding you in the air while reciting: “Be thankful to God and Father in all things. Do not question their judgment.”) You decide to speak up with your guess at what she was going to say. “You thought of something else right? A Sword?”

She looks back to you. “Yeah, Octavian. Well, a sword and shield. I guess a spear’s good too.” Interesting, it occurs to you that she might not have produced Alonso’s armor or spear with magic. What if she’s summoning them from somewhere? That tidbit the spider mentioned about Alice’s domain might be more relevant than you first thought.

“Hey Alice, can you try out whatever you did to Jenny on Alonso?” You ask casually. Jeanette perks up in interest at this.

Alice shakes her head. “I don’t remember what I did. I’m sorry.”

You can always try a different approach. “It’s perfectly alright. Now let’s try to work on his appearance. He’s a knight, Alice, not a corpse.” You get a similar result to earlier. Alice is clearly putting a lot of effort into trying, but she’s coming up empty. Not wanting her to get discouraged, you try to help her along. “You changed him with your magic. Rather than looking inside yourself, look for it in him.”

She opens her eyes and glances back to you. “It’s really complicated. I can sense my magic’s in there but there’s more magic around it. It’s like you’re asking me to change a single strand of yarn in a knit blanket.” Yeah, you know the feeling. That’s a lot like altering a soul. Wait, what if that’s just what you’ve been asking her to do? You’ve never been able to teach your particular magic to any contractee. There’s another distant possibility bugging you. “Alice, dear, you said there’s more magic at play, like more than one? Can you describe the different magics?”

“Umm…Well…I’ve just found mine. Then, there’s one that feels really yucky. I don’t like that one, not one bit. Then there’s one that’s sorta’ faint. I can’t really get a good grasp on it. I can feel something else but I don’t know what it is.”

You hop over to her and put a paw on her leg. “Alice, I think Alonso was a person…”
“Of course he is He’s my friend not a thing…” She cuts you off.

“No, no, no! I mean Alonso was a human at some point.”

Alice is shocked. “OH MY! What happened to him? How did he get like this?

You can only shake your head. “I don’t know. He was consumed by evil magic. I can’t really explain how, or why.”

The girl runs over and hugs her stoic knight. “Don’t worry Alonso, I’ll fix you.” Her face goes blank. I’ll…figure...ou…t…h…o…w…” Her knees buckle, her costume dematerializes, and she collapses to the ground. Alonso on his part, lets out a sickening shriek; dropping his weapon. He clutches at his helm as if in great pain and stumbles backwards before joining Alice in the dirt. You and Jeanette rush over. The woman re-summons her staff, its gem glowing a brilliant blue. She’s desperately trying to use her magic to little visible effect.
“What the fuck, Octavian? What did she just do?”

“I don’t know. Thank goodness! She has a pulse.” You move your paws from neck to around her torso and place a floppy ear to her chest. “She’s breathing normally. Her heart sounds fine…well, at least to me.” The woman shoots you a glare. “I’m not a trained physician, although, you should have some confidence in me. I’ve done this before… She does feel a little too warm….This is almost like what happened with you. Help me carry her over to one of the deck chairs.” Well, really she does all the work, before heading into the house for something. You get into Alice’s lap and wrap your arms around her. (Should you be worried? Is this all your fault?) Jeanette returns with a damp towel and lightly pats it against Alice’s face. You can feel the girl stir underneath you. Alice coughs before weakly asking “What happened? I can’t remember.”

You shush the girl. Jeanette offers a concerned smile and says “Don’t worry about that, sweetheart. Save your strength.” You notice Alonso, across the yard, struggling to get to his knees. He succeeds at that before tearing off his helmet. The first thing you notice is close cropped black hair. He’s still deathly pale, but he looks more man than monster. He has a full mustache and goatee. He looks over the scene before him with a pair of yellow eyes. As he opens his mouth to speak you can see a frighteningly sharp set of teeth, almost like those of a shark, rather than the thin, needle like ones from your first encounter. “Mierda, My head.” He sinks down, catching himself with an unsteady hand, before losing conciseness again.

Alice tries to stand, but you do your best to hold her in place. Resigning herself to staying seated, she begs Jeanette to carry Alonso to the other chair. The woman reluctantly complies. You hop out of Alice’s lap and look over the man. You can’t make out much with all the armor in the way, but a paw to the neck tells you he has a pulse now. He’s out like a light. Alice however, recovers quickly. Her minor fever breaks, leaving her thankful for the towel. Her energy returns to her shortly after that.

Well, that was eventful. Now what do you do?

>Remain outside and wait for Alonso to regain conciseness. It might be awhile, so you can work with Jeanette’s magic in the meantime.

>The girls need a break. Head inside and do something. What? Watch television, a movie, find a game to play. Something else?

>Alonso’s not going anywhere; you could take Jeanette’s car into town. What would you want to do there? Get lunch, look for books for Alice, or both. Something else?

>Write in/Something else/Some combination of responses:

>>3756235
>The girls need a break. Head inside and do something. What? Watch television, a movie, find a game to play. Something else?
A game or another movie. I want Alice to be more acquainted to these type of technologies.

>>3756235
This >>3756277

>>3756235
Supporting >>3756277

>>3756277
>>3756296
>>3756461
I think it’s safe to close the vote here.
>Writing. I’ll probably get the next update out tomorrow, but let’s see how much I can get done tonight.

Just a minor update on the update.
I've had family over for most of the day, so I haven't been able to finish things up. I should be able to get back to writing in an hour or two.

My apologies for the delay.

>>3760807
No worries

>Sorry for more delay. I rewrote portions of this a couple of times.

“Jenny, Octavian, I feel fine. I really do. Please, don’t worry about me.” Alice says with a pout as she tentatively rises to her feet. While she looks fine, the normal color has returned to her cheeks and she’s stopped sweating profusely, you don’t want to take any chances. You can recall many girls feeding you or a compatriot the same line; most of the time it was a lie. You recall hearing a variant of the same sentiment from your very first contractee as her entire left side was slick with blood. You can remember it all too vividly: The wet feeling against your fur, the overwhelming metallic and charred smells replacing that of magic, the soft shivers of the girl against your back, and the occasional hacking cough or sputter as the girl prattled on to you, and later to the deceased, as she struggled in vain to stumble back to ruins she sheltered in. It was your first experience with human fluids. Even without your emotions, you were disgusted when she retched up some mixture of bile and gore on your ears. The stench was unbearable. It took you hours to wash the red, dark yellow, and brown out of your white hair. She had good reason to hate you, and that she did. But in her final moments, she appreciated what little company you could provide. Back then you just chalked her shift in mood to her delirious state and the death of her magic. Now, you think you understood her motivations better (If your end was drawing near, you would like to spend what little time you had left with Alice).

“I swear I’m okay, Octavian. Why are you making that face?” Shoot! Were you visibly letting your emotions get to you?

“I know you feel better, dear. Nothing’s the matter. I just remembered…something.” Your voice wavered with the last few words. You decide to quickly change the subject. “You’ve both performed so phenomenally well today. I think we should do something fun as a reward. How about we watch another film?”

Alice’s excitement is palpable. “I’d really like that.” She stops for a moment. Her face turns to concern. “Is Alonso really okay? He looks better, but I didn’t hurt him, right?”

You shake your head. “He’s fine. I checked over him. A nice nap in the morning sunshine and he’ll be good as new…Actually, better than new thanks to you.” Her warm smile melts your heart a bit. “Let’s head inside.” Alice opens the door and rushes in with an unneeded haste. You begin to follow her when Jeanette stoops down and seizes you in her arms.”What was that about?”

You don’t like the amount of pressure in her grip. She’s still transformed. “I wasn’t lying. I did remember something…Like last night.” She lets out a soft “Oh.” Her grasp suddenly becomes very gentle.

“I’m sorry, Octavian. I thought…” She sighs and hugs you close to her bosom. You can feel the lace trim of her costume disappear with a faint whiff magic in the air as she reverts back to normal. “I know all about feeling like that. If you want to talk about it, we can commiserate together.”

“I’d like that, but later. Alice is waiting for us.”
“Mmm. Yeah. Octavian, I need your help with something. I know I can’t tell my father about any of this, but I have to tell him something. I mean, I’m flat broke. I have bills coming due soon. Now, I have to take Alice’s needs into that equation. I need his help, but what do I say?”

You put a paw on the woman’s shoulder. “I’ll try my best. It’s not a situation I’ve ever dealt with before.”

She whispers a “thank you” into your ear and carries you inside to the living room where Alice is waiting, trying her best, but failing to hide her impatience. You crane your neck up to look at the woman holding you. "May I remind you, that you picked the film last time. I would like a turn. Hold me level with that shelf."

Jeanette smiles wryly. "I don't know, Octavian. You've given me good reason to question your taste." You give her a mock blow to her chin with your paw and a playful "Sod off!" in response. You immediately clasp your free paw over your mouth. (You don't want your Alice learning such coarse language.) Alice looked a little worried that you were really fighting until Jeanette starts rolling with laughter. Then, she starts giggling herself. They're having too much fun with you getting flustered. Jeanette carries you over to the shelf before whispering in your ear. "That sounded really natural in your voice. I thought you had a very faint accent, but I couldn't place where from. That certainly narrowed it down. I've been there before, a long time ago."

You hush your voice. "We can talk about it later. Not around Alice." She nods understandingly. You let your paw wander over the spines of the cases before letting it come to a stop on one in particular. Heh, that would be cheeky. Although...Your mind flashes to all too familiar face and voice; a memory you wish you could lose. "Ha. Ha AAAHa...Hey Alice...Welcome to Wonderland...HA HA HAAAAHuhh. God damnit why does it still hurt so much? UHHHWoo HA! FUCK! I SAID I DON'T CARE! OCTAVIAN! I TOLD YOU TO SHUT IT UP!" You've been staring at the shelf for too long. Jeanette's noticed. You retract your paw and rub at your eyes.

File: Spoiler Image (30 KB, 256x389)

30 KB JPG

Jeanette puts a hand to your head and strokes you fur. She removes it and then slides the case from the shelf. "Oh, this one." She exclaims.
"She shouldn't remember, but I do. It'll be fine." You whisper back. "I found one." You state out loud. Jeanette puts you on the couch with Alice to fiddle with the machines.

"What did you find, Octavian?" Alice asks quizzically. "A film." You reply.

"Well which one?"
You smile. "Not telling! It's a surprise."

Jeanette flips the lights off and it's at that point Alice looks from you to the television screen. "Hey that's my name."

You take the girl's hand in your paws. "It is, dear." She almost bounces up and down in her seat. "Wow." She exclaims.

Jeanette presses play. It's not long before Alice's shouts interrupt things again. "Look, Octavian. He's a lot like you. Hmm, I know. I should make a vest like that for you, when I have some free time. It would look really good on you...Oh, she follows him on an adventure...OH, that's God made you look like a rabbit. He really does have a sense of humor. That's funny." She starts giggling again.
-------------------------------------------------------

"Um, Octavian. I really liked it. I did, but that was sort of confusing. My dreams aren't that weird."

"If you think that's weird you should read the books. They came first." Jeanette says patting the girl on the head.

"Umm. I'm good." Alice responds. "Octavian, how do I use my magic to get big and small like that?"

"I dun'no." At this rate, your giving yourself a headache without using magic. Well that killed an hour. What to do now?

>Both the girls seem to be feeling much better. Get back to practicing. You would like to run though some mock combat scenarios, before they both have to deal with the real thing.

>Maybe you can wake Alonso up. You're curious what he might say.

>You could take Jeanette's car into town. It'll be lunch by the time you get there. Jeanette will have a much easier time eating if you can find something she deems "Healthy". You could look for some books for Alice while you're there.

>Look through the selection of board games. You all could play in the tent outside. You remember your old group of contractees did all sorts of things like that in their clubhouse.

>Have Jeanette distract Alice. You think you can hear the Durands waking up. Who would you like to talk to? What about?--The ritual, themselves, or something else?

>Write in/Something else/Some combination of things:

>>3762236
>Maybe you can wake Alonso up. You're curious what he might say.
First a monster now a man. The people offering their roof to us would like an explanation soon enough but let's make the knight's condition clear.

>>3762560
It just occurred to me, that you mentioned something I could take as a write in/hidden option.

>Would you like to have the Durands present when you try to wake Alonso:

>Yes, their eyes could be useful.
>No, I want to find out what's going on first.
>Yes, but only one of them. Which one?

The vote is still open btw. I just thought I should give the option.

>Also I might want to save this for an update.
"First a monster now a man."--I'm not sure I would go that far yet. But, he's closer than before.

>>3762236
This >>3762560
and
>>3762702
>No, I want to find out what's going on first.

>>3762702
>No, I want to find out what's going on first.

>>3762702
Supporting >>3762817

>>3762560
>>3762817
>>3762974
>>3763109

>Closing the vote here and writing. right after I make dinner

My apologies for the lack of an update yesterday evening. I'm still working on it. Writer's block is a bitch and a half.

Underneath the din of household sounds and the women’s voices, you think you can make out the faint sound of a thud or two coming from the direction of the porch. It sounds like something of Alonso’s size is moving around. Hopefully, it’s him. You’ve found yourself curious about his situation and how Alice has further complicated it. Your gut seems to tell you that he could shed some light on how her power really works, something you find intriguing. Most magical girls have a narrow specialized set of abilities influenced by their wish. Alice’s, on the other hand, seem to be disjointed and unrelated. Sure, her wish had something of a grand scope. That could be interacting with her vast potential giving rise to a much broader set of powers to accomplish the task, but even her mother had something of a focus. Although there was quite a difference in wishes between mother and daughter.

Without anything to preoccupy her mind, you can see worry creeping back into Alice's features. You can reminisce later. You hop into her lap and give her arm a little prod. “What’s with the long face, dear? If this is about Alonso, I think I can hear him moving around right now. Do you want to visit him?” With that you can make out some apprehension on Jeanette’s face. She transforms immediately, with her staff tightly gripped in her hands.

“Of course I do, Octavian.” She looks over to Jeanette, in the corner of the room, before pulling you into a hug and whispering in your ear. “It’s just…I’m scared, Octavian. The first time I used my powers on him, I wound up brainwashing him into serving me. I mean, sure, he was trying to kill me and what you said earlier made some sense. But there’s no telling what I’ve done now.” She glances back to the older women again. “You said I used my magic on Jenny too. What if she doesn’t like me because she’s nice? What if I made her do it? What if I’m making everyone be nice to me and I don’t know it? Am I abusing my gift; would that make God hate me? I mean I’m not…”

You can almost feel a twinge of…something in the back of your mind but you ignore it (You need to ease your little one’s fears and doubts). “Shhh…Shhh. Alice, I told you I don’t want to hear any of that out of you. You haven’t done anything wrong. People have plenty of reasons to like you. Trust me, Jenny likes you a lot for reasons all her own. Someday she might tell you about them when she’s ready. I don’t want to say anymore about that. It’s something I overheard between her and God.” You get a faint “okay” in response from Alice. She stands up with you still tightly in her embrace and starts walking towards the back porch. Jeanette’s following behind you, holding her staff like a club.

You use your magic to bridge the separation between you and the woman’s mind. “Jeanette, Alice really does have Alonso under her control. I think your fears are misplaced.”

“I’m just being careful, Octavian. I don’t want her getting hurt if something goes wrong. What were you two just doing?”

“Just talking. I was dealing with a minor crisis of self confidence on Alice’s part. I got things sorted out.”

“Yeah, you could have asked for my help. I was a teenage girl once. I know all about that…Hell, I still get like that sometimes.” There’s a slight feeling of embarrassment running through Jeanette’s mind.

“It’s fine. There’s no need to be ashamed of yourself. I’m still coming to grips with this whole emotion business myself…Anyway, do you have any questions for Alonso?”

“No, but if I come up with something I’ll speak up.” With your conversation at an end, you sever the link.

As Alice comes into the kitchen you can hear a knock on the back door. It’s Alonso. Jeanette hurries over to the girl’s side, as Alice rushes over and opens the door.

The monster turned knight is visibly confused by his surroundings. He looks back and forth between the women. “Water, water please.” He begs in a voice not befitting his appearance. Alice takes his hand with her free one and leads him to the sink. She opens the tap. Alonso doesn’t wait for her to find a glass, he puts his head directly under the stream of water before drinking what he can with his hands. After removing his head from the sink, he looks back at Alice and seems to realize something. He kneels before her. “Oh, your majesty, forgive my lack of manners.”

Alice puts a hand on his shoulder “It’s alright, Alonso…”

“Is that my name? I can’t remember…Thank you my queen.”

“I said it’s okay. Alonso, what’s wrong? What can you remember?” Alice took the words right out of your mouth.

“May I speak freely?” Alice nods in consent. “I know that despite your odd dress that you are my queen and I am your servant. Other than that…I remember the sea, then feeling ill. I had a fever. There were trees and….blood? It’s all very patchy. That’s it. Where are we? This place is strange.”

Alice looks to you for an answer. “We’re in Wisconsin.” You add.

He looks to you even more confused. “Talking rabbit…Oh yes, the steward. It seems like madness, but I think I can recall that. Tell me where this Wisconsin is and why is a royal out here? It doesn’t look like we’re on the continent proper. Are we in the Holy Land, or is this some far off kingdom of the east?”

“Neither, North America.” He looks back to you puzzled. “It’s across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, the continent I assume you're referring too.”

“The New World? Of course, think I was going there. But still, what’s a lady of any standing doing in the new world? Touring her colonial holdings? No, it’s a dangerous place. Where are the other guards? Her husband? The situation must be a dire one.”

You give the knight a sympathetic look. “Friend, I think much time has passed since your day and age. The New World is not so new anymore. It’s been civilized. It’s now comprised of independent nations completely separate from the powers in Europe.”

“Impossible. How did this happen?”

“Hundreds of years of history: settlement, migration, many wars, the gradual weakening of the kingdoms of Europe. As for your particular case, magic.” You’ve seen how humans can take bad news. You don’t have the heart to tell the man that he’s spent hundreds of years as an undead monster. “I can expound on that, but I think I should wait till you’ve had some time to digest the reality of what I’ve already told you.”

Alonso looks back into Alice’s eyes. “My lady, you must excuse me. Your steward makes a good point, even if he looks like a rabbit to me, not to mention the bizarre outfit of whom I think is your lady-in-waiting. I think I should take some rest. I’m not sure if any of this is real or I’ve caught my death of fever and this is all some strange dream. Allow me to take my leave.”

“Take all the time you need, Alonso.” Alice says as she tries to help the man to his feet. He walks back outside and sits down in one of the chairs, placing his head in his hands.

Jeanette closes the door. “He’s a living relic, some long dead conquistador. God only knows how he wound up here. I don’t know how we’re going to deal with his culture shock.”

You nod your head. “Neither do I. What a mess!”

You should give the poor knight some time to himself. What to do now?

>Actually, you have more questions for him: Write in.

> Get back to practicing. You would like to run though some mock combat scenarios, before they both have to deal with the real thing.

>You could take Jeanette's car into town. It'll be a late lunch by the time you get there. Jeanette will have a much easier time eating if you can find something she deems "Healthy". You could look for some books for Alice while you're there.

>It’s getting close to lunch. Have Alice raid the fridge and see what you can make here. What else will you do?

>Look through the selection of board games. You all could play in the tent outside. You remember your old group of contractees did all sorts of things like that in their clubhouse.

>Have Jeanette distract Alice. You think you can hear the Durands talking in the living room. Who would you like to talk to? What about?--The ritual, Alonso, Alice, themselves, or something else?

>Write in/Something else/Some combination of things:

>>3767050
>It’s getting close to lunch. Have Alice raid the fridge and see what you can make here. Jen can help her and keep her distracted.
> Talk to the Durands while she's distracted about the Alonso situation

>>3767050
Interesting. Guessing that 1.) Alonso was a conquistador turned monster, however it might've happened, 2.) Alice can copy and paste memories into Alonso when he changed. Though, speculating.
>It’s getting close to lunch. Have Alice raid the fridge and see what you can make here. What else will you do?
Would like to get experimental with Alice's cooking. Broaden her culinary horizons... or somehow fuck it up.

>>3767050
>>3767516 supporting

>>3767289
I'm taking that to mean tell them that the undead thing (Wendigo) in their backyard doesn't look quite as undead. So they aren't surprised when they go out there.
>Or do you want to tell them everything, including what you suspect his origins might be?

>>3767516
Feel free to speculate. I actively encourage it. [spoilers]I've been trying to add in little bits of information through out the story to start speculation.[/spoiler]

>>3767289
>>3767516
>>3767786
>I will be having some company over for dinner, but I still should have some time to write in the evening. Hopefully I can get an update out.

>>3768234
Tell them everything

>>3768251
got it.

>>3768251
Yeyeye!

Rolled 16 (1d20)

After thinking a bit and getting started writing, I realized maybe I should have had you roll.

>Roll 1d20. BO4 as I'm giving you a free one and turning off critfails as a mea culpa.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3769483

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>3769483

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>3769483

>>3769503
>>3769509
>>3769594
>I was going to post I was going with the 19 but 4chan seemed to crash for a bit. Anyway my tea break is over. Back to writing.

>19

Alice takes idly to stroking your fur with her right hand as she holds you in the crook of her left arm. "Octavian, do you think Alonso misses his home too?" There's a subtle of hint sadness in her voice. Even your old emotionless self could catch the implication in her question. You climb up her arm, place your head on her shoulder, and wrap your paws loosely around her neck. From this position you can see Jeanette’s heartbroken face. She clearly wants to help, but seems conflicted. She clearly doesn’t want to cross a line by saying or doing the wrong thing.

That leaves you. You pat Alice on the back, leaving you dangling somewhat precariously from her neck. “I’m sure he does, sweetheart, but he’s not alone. He has you…And you’re not alone either. You have Jenny and I. We care deeply…I…I.” You want to say more (You want to say I love you), but now you find yourself in the same predicament as Jeanette. You don’t want to cross a line (How?). You’re once again reminded of a particular contractee, a girl sobbing into her red hair (It’s not going to be like that at all. It’s fine. It’s normal). Do you though? Do you really want to say that to a mere contractee? Your feelings win out in the argument. You press your cheek to Alice’s and in your quietest voice you whisper “I love you.” Alice clasps both her hands on your back. You can feel her cheek move upward with what you think is a smile. “Thanks, Octavian. I love you too. You really are my best friend.” She whispers back. It feels like a little piece of your heart melted in satisfaction.

You’ve found out that the best cure for nagging thoughts is to keep the mind preoccupied with some other task. You tell Alice that it’s getting close to lunch time, so she might want to start cooking. Like clockwork, the girl predictably perks up at the mention of food. You notice Jeanette doesn’t look nearly as enthusiastic as the older woman drops her transformation. Alice helps you down from her neck and onto the tile floor. It’s a small relief that she didn’t run over to the refrigerator with you hanging on to her for dear life. Instead she runs over to Jeanette and grabs the older woman’s hand. “Jenny, let’s cook together. You’re a girl too, so you I know you must know how to cook too.”

Jeanette’s a little taken aback by Alice’s statement. The lady decides to ruffle Alice’s hair while settle in a response. “Dear, not all ladies have to cook anymore. Some like me get really busy with their jobs outside of the house. I’m actually not the best at it either. I mostly eat…” There’s a pregnant pause. “Salads, yeah. Salads and cold things.”

“But Shirley said…” Alice seems stuck on the first part of Jeanette’s statement and hasn’t considered the woman’s awkward delivery in the second par. Alice frowns at her own unspoken realization. “I guess that can be true. So I’ll just have to help you get better at it.” She tugs a bit on Jeanette’s arm. “Come on Jenny, let’s get to work.”

Alice pulls Jeanette over to the refrigerator and both women start looking for any promising ingredients. From what you can tell they’re not exactly having the easiest time. Alice walks off to get the bread from a nearby countertop, leaving Jeanette free to continue scouring over the contents of the refrigerator. “Well there’s leftover stew, otherwise our options are frozen things, processed cheese, and one tomato. It’s like bachelors live here.”The older woman scoffs.

A male voice echoes down the hallway. “That’s because a pair of them do live here” He saunters into the room smirking. It’s Jonathan. “I presume you’re Ms. Martin. We spoke on the phone.”

“Oh, yes. I am. It’s a pleasure to really meet you.” Jeanette walks over and shakes the man’s hand apologetically.

“Don’t mind me.” He states bluntly. “I just came to get my laptop, my bag, and some notes from over there. We’ll be out of your hair shortly. I’m playing chauffeur for grandfather again today. He wants to set up another meeting with the other tribal elders, but a few of them are still very busy men. It’s getting to be a bit like herding cats.” He looks over to you. “Not to mention some of the supplies for Grandfather’s party are getting a bit exotic. It’s a struggle to find them on short notice.”

“Duly noted” you answer. “I take that means a shift in our timetable?”

Jonathan shrugs. “Possibly. I’ll see what I can do.”

Alice runs over holding a small stack of food items. “Hi Mister Jon! Am I invited to the party?” The man snorts out a laugh and an “Of course.” In response. “Oh that’s nice. Parties are fun. Well, look Jenny. We have butter and bread, I found a little bit of sliced ham in the freezer.” The girl points to the sink. “That shouldn’t take too long to thaw out in cold water. There was also this cheese. It’s not as nice as the stuff we have back at home, but it’ll do for grilled cheese. We can put slices of tomato in it too. Do you want one too, Jon.” He shakes his head no. Unperturbed, she starts handing Jeanette some of the items. “I want to watch you cook them. You know for practice like Octavian makes us do.” Alice starts pushing the woman towards the stove, where she has already set the griddle along with the needed utensils. Jonathan picks up his things from the nook and leaves the room.

With the girls distracted, you decide to follow him back to the living room, where Sam is waiting. The two men acknowledge your unexpected presence. You hop on the coffee table to augment your stature before you begin to speak. “We’ve had a breakthrough with Alice’s magic.” You lower your voice a bit. “After she revived Ms. Martin, I suspected she has some sort of healing ability. I think it only works on others, so your efforts are still needed in regards to that other problem…” Jonathan rolls his eyes. His grandfather, on the other hand, is listening patiently. You continue. “Out of curiosity, I had her attempt to use her ability on the wendigo. Surprisingly it worked somewhat. She’s managed to slightly roll back his condition to a more human state, but her brainwashing is still intact. He still believes her to be a queen of some kingdom, probably Aragorn or Castile, if I would hazard a guess from the one Spanish word I’ve heard out of him. He doesn’t really have much recollection of anything, even his own name. It appears “Alonso” was part of a company of conquistadors and somehow turned into a monster…”

Jonathan cuts you off. “Gee I wonder how a rapist and a murderer turned into a wendigo. Serves him right! I should have slit his throat earlier…”

“What are you getting all worked up about? Did you decide you speak for the Aztecs now?” Sam chides at his grandson. “Our people had no dealings with the Spanish crown. Do I have to educate you on your own history again?” It seems to you like this is a sore subject between the two. “We dealt with the French—which if you can’t tell by your own last name, held our family in some regard—and the English. Sure the European governments screwed us over and took our land later, but we fared much better than many other tribes. I don’t like you getting offended on their behalf. You’re an Ojibwe remember that.” Jonathan slums and loses all of his bluster. He tries to make out some sort of feeble protest, but his grandfather won’t have it. “Son, while you’re probably right about how that man turned into a wendigo, he was a soldier at war. You don’t know what that’s like; I do. And if that’s not enough, might I remind you that you almost attacked a little girl who was minding her own business…ON A HUNCH…And you don’t have the convent excuse of not speaking her language.”

This is awkward. “Well…Is there anything else I should know?” You add tentatively.

Sam responds. “I think Jon told you everything. Just keep an eye on Alonso. Let me know if he starts acting strange. Ms. Martin knows how to contact us. I was just waiting on my grandson, so you can get back to playing with your girl. She’s such a sweet little thing. Keep her safe.”

“I will.” You answer with a smile before hopping off to the kitchen. You came back in good time. Alice is smile after mentioning something to Jeanette. The older woman flips the sandwiches, before smiling back at Alice.

There’s not much for you to do in culinary matters. So what will you do instead?

>You could catch up to the Durands if you run and Alice is still distracted. Do you have any questions for them? Write in.

>Find a board game for the women to play while they enjoy their lunch. Do you join in?

>Suggest that they eat their lunch in the living room. You want to watch the afternoon news. It might help Alice learn more about the world around her.

>You think you can make out Jeanette saying that she has a game on her phone that she would like Alice to play. You suspect there’s some educational side to it by the tone in the woman’s voice.

*Just let the women eat their lunch in peace (time skip)* Then…

>Get back to practicing. You would like to run through some mock combat scenarios, before they both have to deal with the real thing.

>Take Jeanette’s car into town. What would you like to do? Get some books for Alice, Plan dinner and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?
----
>Write in/Something Else/Some combination of options

Author’s note: You actually dodged two bullets here. You had a challenge with a threshold of 13 to convince the pair of Native Americans that it’s totally cool to have a Spanish Conquistador hanging out in their backyard (It was bumped down slightly because the Durands trust you from earlier). Then you had a 16 threshold one to come back before the girls had finished their lunch. Otherwise Jeanette would have excused herself outside and purged up her lunch. (+2 on the challenge since she finds fried and processed foods unhealthy. And another +2 because you left her alone with Alice, who won’t question the actions of an elder that she holds in high regard, thanks to the cult's programing.)

>>3769937
>Find a board game for the women to play while they enjoy their lunch. Do you join in?
Yes

>>3770458
+1

>>3770458
Supporting

>>3770458
>>3770672
>>3771290
>Calling it here. Writing

>I have a couple of things in mind, but any suggestions for a game?
Options are kind of limited by it being things sitting around Sam's house, so stuff from the 70's/early 80's that might have belong to his daughter or from the 90's/early 00's that he had for his grandchildren. (i.e. You won't see any of the sort of board games you might see in a hobby shop today or that are starting to make their way into bigbox stores.)

>>3771373
1978 version of Candyland

Rolled 1, 54, 27 = 82 (3d100)

>>3771550
Not a bad idea. It wasn't one I was going to think of as I don't know if I still have my childhood copy. I was going to use a physical copy of the game I selected to figure out what happens, but since Candyland is just random chance we could just use dice. But I was going to go crawling around in my attic anyway. I'll pull it out if I find it.

>Sorry this is a little late. I had to stay late at work.

You’re glad to see your two human companions acting so light hearted. You can tell that the last few days have been trying for both of them. Alice still misses her “home”, despite all of the harm they’ve done to her, and she hasn’t taken to magical combat with her mother’s enthusiasm. Furthermore, there’s still the underlying issues of her warped, and sometimes nonsensical worldview, her poor education, lack of common knowledge due to her upbringing, and your many other concerns for her long-term well-being. You wish you could wave a paw and undo all of it, but that might be beyond your skills even if you tricked some gullible child using their wish on Alice’s behalf. To make matters worse despite her best efforts to hide it, Jeanette’s still not entirely emotionally stable. She’s internalized a very negative view of herself from childhood. While you’re still not the best at reading emotions, you can tell she struggles with loneliness from how quickly she clung to you and Alice. Both these factors drive her down into bouts of melancholy and self-harm. The added stress from your presence and the many needs of Alice, coupled with financial hardship won’t help ease that burden. No wonder you felt so eager to contract her. You knewshe would be easy to dispose of, like so many others before her, if you were still operating like your past self.

It feels overwhelming; so much of this is out of your paws in the short term. So you reason, the best thing you could do was to enhance their lives however you could. They’re enjoying themselves, so how could you enhance their enjoyment? You fall back on your observations of past contractees, especially, that tight knight group of friends that led you to Titania. Humor? You’re not too good with jokes unless you’ve found yourself as the unwitting punch line. Ah, games! Not the silly little pretend ones Alice would make up while you pretended to be nothing more than a toy, proper games with rules. You’re poorly suited to the physical ones, but you recall the girls playing ones with cards, or boards and pieces. You think you recall seeing a few of those gathering dust on a low shelf back in the living room.

You hop over to the laughing women. “Jeanette, can you hold down the fort for a short time. It’s nothing serious. I noticed some games earlier; I thought we could play one together. I need one of you to help me carry them.”

“Yay! I’d love that. Alice exclaims.

Jeanette turns to you after poking a sandwich with her spatula. “Not a bad idea, Octavian. Bring all of them. I’d like to see what they have. I’ll be fine here. I’m hopeless at cooking, but even I can’t screw these up. There almost done too.” You give a “sure thing” in reply before Alice scoops you up and runs off to the living room to retrieve them at her usual upbeat pace. She kneels at the shelf and puts you down to free her hands. She shuffles through the boxes and finds one she recognizes. “Candy Land. I had this at home. Brother and sister would play with me.” She looks over to you with puppy dog eyes. “Can we play this one first? Please?” There’s no way you could ever say no to her when she seems this happy. You nod and she put it on the top of the stack of boxes. You both return to the kitchen. Alice repeats the same routine with Jeanette, and she just as weak to Alice’s charms as you were. The older woman places lunch on the table as Alice sets up the game.
-----------------------------

Well, that was anticlimactic. You really seemed to have really rotten luck. You managed to spend a good portion of the time moving backwards whenever you seemed to really get going while managing to land on every licorice space you could in the process. Looking over to the boxes you would have preferred chess, but this wasn’t about your enjoyment anyway. (You doubt Alice would enjoy it too much. The very contractee that taught you the game said you got too good for her. She doubted her father could beat you either, and from her stories, he was very skilled at the game.) Furthermore, you had previously resolved to use your own abilities to rig the deck in Alice’s favor if you found yourself getting too far ahead. (And it would have been good practice too. You haven’t really had to use any of your magic beyond foraging contracts in a long time. You might need to help Alice some day.) Jeanette got off to a better start then you, but soon found herself in much the same situation. She seemed to be having fun just by watching Alice. That wasn’t the only benefit for Jeanette, the distraction seemed help her finish her meal with less difficulty than earlier. She still took dainty bites from her sandwich at slow intervals, but at some point she stopped paying attention to what she was doing. Eventually she reached down, and to her surprise, found her plate empty. You could only smile at her. Alice won by virtue of moving forward uninterrupted. She was exuberant the entire time.

The girls seem happier. It’s a small success; hopefully one of many more to come. Well, what to do now?

>You think you heard Jeanette saying something earlier about a game on her phone that she would like Alice to play.

>Jeanette would occasionally glance over to one of the boxes while you were playing. You think she wants to play this “Scrabble” game next. She seems really keen on playing it with Alice in particular. Do you join in?

>Maybe your group could help cheer Alonso up and you could find out more about him in the process. He seems to be a man of martial prowess, regardless of his true status as a knight, maybe he might like to demonstrate his skills for his Queen.

>Look for some cartoons on TV or a film Alice might like. Jeanette has a lot on her mind. So, you could go on a walk around the property with her and discuss things.

>Get back to practicing. You would like to run through some mock combat scenarios, before they both have to deal with the real thing.
>Maybe Alice could help cheer Alonso up while you help Jeanette work on her abilities. She only knows how to heal minor wounds. She has to be able to do more than that. You worry what might happen if she gets dragged into a fight.

>Take Jeanette’s car into town. What would you like to do? Get some books for Alice, Plan dinner and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?

>Write in/Something else?/Some combination of things.

>>3773266
>Maybe Alice could help cheer Alonso up while you help Jeanette work on her abilities. She only knows how to heal minor wounds. She has to be able to do more than that. You worry what might happen if she gets dragged into a fight.

>>3773482
+1. Good to start cultivating a source of healing.

>>3773266

>>3773482
>>3773500
+1

>>3773482
>>3773500
>>3773520
I'm still half asleep but everyone else seems to be up.
>Roll 1d20. BO3. No critfails during training.

>Do you have an overall strategy for training her or any techniques you would really see if she can replicate?

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>3773544
Watch this 1
>Do you have an overall strategy for training her or any techniques you would really see if she can replicate?
break something and let her try to mend it. Or prick lets ourself so she can mend it. We can't feel pain, right?

>>3773551
Can't english. Break an item so Jeanette can "fix" it. Or ourselves, however extreme, so she can practice on us.

Rolled 3 (1d20)

>>3773544

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>3773544

>>3773551
>>3773568
>>3773603
>19 writing.

"Yay! I won. I won." Alice jumps up from her seat in excitement.

"You certainly did." Jeanette says as she tenderly strokes Alice's upper arm.

Alice's smile turns into a cheeky grin. "That means I should have to clean up." You knew she was going to insist on that anyway. Jeanette still insists on offering a token resistance, but Alice picks up the plates anyway. She sets off to the task of scrubbing while humming the tune some sort hymn or devotional. Well, she did leave the game for the two of you to clean up. You pick up the pieces and shuffle the cards, leaving the game board for Jeanette to fold--it was a little too big for you. After putting the board back in the box, Jeanette looks over to Alice, then taps on her own forehead with her index finger. She wants to talk privately. You oblige her, bridging the distance between your minds with magic--it even seems to be getting a little easier to do so. You must be getting familiar with her thought patterns.

"Octavian, does Alice always act like this." You can feel the tinge of worry coursing through her conscience thoughts.

"Yeah, pretty much. Why?" Your mind mirrors her growing emotion.

"Well, She shouldn't quite act like this at her age. She could have been enjoying the company, but a normal teenager would have found that game terribly boring. I'm concerned she's somewhat stunted emotionally. How exactly did she interact with people in the cult, anyway?"

"I'm not exactly the best judge of what passes for normal in humans, but even I could tell everything was off kilter there. They didn't treat her with cruelty--well unless she stepped out of line, but she figured out what she could and shouldn't do pretty quick--I don't know the best way to express it. It was odd. They treated her with a sort of reverence; at the same time they were distant from her; sort of cold, but they didn't out right shun her. Actually, it was much the opposite, they usually welcomed her into their homes whenever she felt like visiting. They drilled a fanatical sort of devotion into her emphasizing lessons in having a blind trust of authority, docility, austerity, and severe sort of abnegation. After their lessons took root, they mostly let her do as she pleased, as all she really wanted to do was to play like any other child--usually by herself, sometimes with her caretakers, but they were often busy-- or she would try her best help the people around her..."Something in the back of accuses you of taking advantage of this to get an easy contract (You suppose you did that to your little girl. How could you?)

You push down the thoughts before Jeanette can pick up on them. Thankfully, it seems you did so in time. You continue. "The people she stayed with were a strange pair too--Joseph and Shirley. They alternated between treating Alice like their daughter, sometimes like a little sister, and on other occasions like a captive. I don't think their brother and sister titles were entirely just for show. They did bear a striking resemblance to each other. Sometimes, they acted sometimes like the sibling groups I observed. Other times though, they behaved quite a bit more...familiar with each other...like lovers. I suppose they could have been both. I believe that such unions are regarded as taboo, are they not?"

You can immediate revulsion on Jeanette's part. "EWWW! Yes, Octavian. Yes they are. Christ!" She goes silent for a second, but she's think of something. You're about to push your way deeper into her mind before she speaks up." Please tell me this is all from her conditioning. But Alice lacks certain personal boundaries, she's eager to please, and she's overly familiar with new people at least from the way she treated me. Please tell me no one's taken advantage of her..." Your mind races back to its earlier tumult. "...sexually." That wasn't what you were expecting. That's right, humans are fragile to that in their youth. It takes all your might to suppress that memory of your contractee crying inconsolably. You don't want Jeanette to see that or what happens next.

"Oh no. Never! I had almost constant access to the girl's bedroom. No one bothered her while sleeping, ever. She often bought me everywhere and I never witnessed any of the physical or emotional signs, after infrequent times we were separated. Believe me, if something happened she would have mentioned it to me. She liked to share all her secrets with me. I was her favorite source of comfort."

"Thank God! I know you said that she's normally guarded with outsiders and I'm an exception, but I saw too many red flags. I had to ask..." You share in her relief. "..Still I've got my work cut out for me. You know it's strange, Octavian. There's this sort of hunch, like a little voice in the back of my head. It's telling me if I give Alice all of my love and attention; treat her as if she was my own little girl...She will get better. Everything will just work itself out."

"Me too."

"Heh, I guess we're co-parents now. I never thought I would be raising a child, much less with someone like you, Octavian..." There's a shared sense of mirth developing between the two of you. If you were speaking out loud, you would both burst into laughter. "...I still think I should approach her slowly. It's a big change to spring on a girl out of the blue."

"I suppose it is." Something else occurs to you. "You know Jeanette that little voice could be part of your wish."

"What do you mean?"

"Like a sixth sense. You wished to help children and you mentioned Alice in there too. Sometimes the best way to help someone isn't obvious. So you gained an insight for figuring that out."

The woman's mind races back to her teaching days. "Man, I wish I met you two sooner. This would have come in handy so many times, assuming it works on more people than Alice. If have a sixth sense now can I do your telepathy trick too? That really would have helped out when I was proctoring tests."

"We can always try, but the first step is clearing your mind. You did say you were bad at meditation. So, I would tell you to work on that first. However, I do want to work on your other powers today. You are stronger now than a normal human, but I'm a little concerned you're not ready for a one on one supernatural fight.

"Yeah, I was never the fighting type of girl. Well, I slapped my ex a couple of times. I don't think that counts for much experience."

"Not at all, but I would remind you to be a bit careful with that if you felt the need to do so in the future. A magical girl's strength can lead to all sorts of unexpected surprises. Alice's mother punched clean through an mature oak on accident when she was getting started. She wound up toppling the thing over right next to her fellow contractees. They didn't appreciate that much. Then she moved it out the way. By the way, did I mention that she was eight years old at the time."

"That must have been something to see."

"It really was. Anyway, let's get back to reality, before Alice notices us staring daggers at each other."

You sever the connection. Alice didn't seem to notice the silence over her humming and the running water. She's still working away at the griddle, but otherwise she's finished up. Thank goodness for caked on cheese. The water soon cuts off and you hear a loud "All done." Alice comes skipping back to the table."Octavian, Jenny, what should I do next?"

Jeanette elects to answer first. "Whatever you want. Octavian and I would like to work on my magic some more. I've only really got a grasp of the very basics. I could put on another movie for you, if you'd like?"

Alice shakes her head. "That's okay. Octavian and you really helped cheer me up...So, I was thinking I should help by passing that along. Alonso seems really sad and lonesome. I should cheer him up too." She looks between the two of you. "Talking with you guys always makes me feel better." Jeanette looks back to you for an answer. You agree (She could be enjoying her leisure time with one of her hobbies like sewing; instead she wants to help someone else. You guess Alice's selflessness can be an endearing trait too. She really is a good girl.) Sewing, that gives you an idea. "Alice dear, do you mind if I borrow one of your needles? It's for magic purposes."

"Sure Octavian, especially if it helps Jenny with her mission." With that you leave the girls to make small talk while you head off to Alice's bedroom to retrieve your multitool and a single sewing needle. If Jeanette's magic is all about healing things and preventing harm, she needs a live patient to practice on. You're the best. You don't quite feel pain like humans do, nor do you bleed. Patching up your body is a very simple task for your magic if anything does go wrong--"Thanks Titania" you mutter out loud. Your only concern is bothering the woman's delicate mental stability.

By the time you get back, Alice is going on about wanting to try all the different types of candy she saw in the game and Jeanette is somewhat reluctantly discussing different types of candy from around the world. The older woman takes your arrival as like a blessed sign and is suddenly in a great hurry to try new magic. This doesn't bother Alice, she's intrigued by magic in her own way. She just hasn't taken to fighting.

Once outside you part ways. Alice heads over to Alonso. She's trying to break through his walls of formality with her infectious giddiness. You really wish you could stay and listen, but you want to take Jeanette quite a distance away so Alice won't see you hurting yourself. You bid Jeanette to stop once you're both well obscured by the tree line and drop the multitool. "Okay, Jeanette. I'm volunteering my body for the glorious cause of furthering magical medicine." She grouses at you. "Relax, I'll be fine." you gesture with your outstretched paw. "Now, transform..."You bring the needle directly down into your paw and pull it out just as fast. "...and make it better. Her staff's gem goes from its placid greenish blue to shining bright blue and the hole's gone.

You hold up your paw. "See all better. Now give me your hand. I want you to try it out on yourself." You almost try your hand at a joke about being scared of needles--you do feel a strange urge to get better at this comedy thing--, but you decide that might be in poor taste considering your audience. Instead you choose to reassure her. "Don't worry just a prick." She reluctantly offers up her hand. You bring the needle down in a jab...and the gem in her tiara lights up just like the one in her staff before you ever made contact with her fingertip. There's a hazy blue glow stopping you from breaking the skin with the point of the needle.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Octavian. I probably should have closed my eyes." Darn! She's managed to bend and completely blunt the tip of the needle. Oh well, Alice has more where that one came from. You could always buy the girl more. It's not like they're very costly anyway. Otherwise, it's a pleasant shock to find Jeanette's casting new spells reflexively.

"Jen, there's nothing to be sorry about. That was fantastic." You drop the ruined needle. "Now try it again on me." You jump back and swing your arm as hard as you can at the trunk of a nearby tree. Her staff's gem lights up this time. You can see the same haze and it cushions the blow. The impact felt light as a feather. "Very good, we're going to have to try something a bit more complex now. I just need my knife."

"Do you want me to bring it over to you? It's the least I could do to repay you for helping me learn all this." She states.

"No, I've got it. Watch this." You've already split the secret of your magic to Jeanette, so to show off, you decide to levitate the multitool in your direction. Before you can do that the gem in Jeanette's staff lights up once again...and nothing? You're making the multitool float in the air. Hang on, you don't feel the drain on your mental faculties or your magic. She either catalyzed the magical reaction, or...No, she didn't do that. It's not a negligible drain on your magic. It's zero drain at all. She's sharing her own magic with you. That's quite handy. "Jeanette you haven't ceased to amaze me yet. You can feel subtle drain in your own power right? You just helped me cast my own spell."

"I didn't even know I could do that." She's managed to amaze herself too.

"Well, you can." You pull out the tool out of its sheath, letting the empty contain drop to the ground. You flip open the serrated blade and float the tool in the air above your head. "Now for the real trick. Whatever you do, don't use your barrier magic this time. I want to see how skilled you are with healing." You stretch out your arm again. "Now if you can't reattach it, you're going to get a complementary rabbit's foot--or paw in this case. How lucky for you." You make the blade twirl menacingly in the air. Immediately both of the woman's gems start glowing. A fine mist springs into existence around her. Before you can bring down the knife, you find yourself engulfed in a thick fog-bank. You manage to pull your arm back before you voluntarily amputate it. You can't make out the knife in front of you. Looking down, you can hardly make out your own body"BLOODY HELL JEN! I said I could fix myself if something went wrong. Was that really necessary?"

You can make out Alice screaming out "Jenny, Octavian. What just happened? Are you alright? There's fog coming out of the woods."

From somewhere in front of you, you can hear Jeanette's voice. "I'm fine. I overdid things a little bit. Don't you worry one bit, dear."

You step back before you slowly drop the knife to the earth. You call out in your loudest voice: "I'm okay too. Other than, I can't see anything in all this fog. Jeanette, just cancel your transformation. Otherwise, this will take forever to burn off. You catch a whiff of her magic, then everything's back to normal. You can see the woman in her casual clothes in front of you, plain as day.

"I am really sorry about that. I just couldn't let you hurt yourself like that." I guess my feelings guided my magic."

You let yourself smile reassuringly. "I was being too dramatic with the whole act, but it was good for something. That certainly qualifies as a distraction if we need to make a hasty retreat. Still, I wouldn't call it offensive magic even if I found it offensive." She chuckled at your pun. You really are getting better at humor. "Did that spell give you an idea about what you can do?"

She ponders over things silently for a moment. "No, nothing new. I don't think I can attack people with my magic. I really tried. I even was getting mad when we were practicing earlier. If things get bad I do have that..." She immediately hushes up.

"Have what?" She won't respond. "Jeanette?"

"It's nothing. Ignore me."

You can tell it's not nothing and it's seems to be bothering her. What should you say?

>Come on Jen, we're friends right you can trust me. I said I won't judge you.

>It can't be that bad. It couldn't be worse than one of my secrets. I'll share one of mine, if you share whatever this is with me. I'll even go first, if you make me.

>Write in/Something else./some combination of responses.

>Nothing. Let the subject drop and move on.
>Nothing, but you've gotten use to her thought patterns. You can try to pry out of her memories. You just need to make sure she can not feel the intrusion into her mind. A simple task for a being like you.

>>3774051
>Come on Jen, we're friends right you can trust me. I said I won't judge you.

>>3774051
>Come on Jen, we're friends right you can trust me. I said I won't judge you.

>>3774092
>>3774103
>I should have mentioned I started writing awhile while ago.
I have a somewhat half finished shorter update. I was trying to push one more out before I had to leave to meet up with some colleagues and an old college buddy. Needless to say I didn't finish it up.
Since I'm going to have to look over it again, I might as well revise it. I feel parts of it are sloppy and I can do better.

I can give a greentext list of Jeanette's skills after this session. I really need to get around to making a pasebin and some character sheets. If you guys have any feedback or comments--Please let me know.

"Come on Jen. Tell me. We're friends right? You can trust me. I already said I won't judge you."

"I shouldn't. I've...Um..." She slums her shoulders. "I'll show you later. I guess." The woman doesn't want to meet your gaze. "You must think I'm crazier than I am."

You shake your head in consternation. "I don't know what to think right now. All I know is something’s really eating at you and you won't give me a clue." You wave your arms somewhat wildly over your head in frustration. "That's all I'm really asking for."

"Fine, Octavian." Jeanette's looking down at her feet. "I have a gun out in my car..."

"Seriously. That's it?" You can’t hide the incredulity in your statement.

"That's it, Octavian?--That's it!" The woman looks like she's getting ready to go on a tirade. "I hate guns. I don't want Alice around them or people with them, but I had one myself the entire time.” She words come pouring from her faster and faster “I mean my ex-husband bought the stupid thing for me, and he left it in a box with some of his other stuff when he moved out. I didn’t get rid of it when I found it. I only brought it with me as a backup if, you know. I almost hurt myself with it last night while I was alone. It's no good. I shouldn't have it..."

"Whoa! Jen slow down. Stop for a second." She seizes the opportunity to catch her breath. "Jeanette, you left me with way too much to unpack there." You walk over to one of the larger trees around you. "Do you mind getting your jeans dirty?" She's bewildered by your non sequitur. She shakes her head no. "Well, good." You brush the loose dirt off of the exposed roots, and then pat the ground underneath the tree. "Take a seat...Don't give me that look." She advances towards you with a shuffling gait, before plopping herself down in an uncharacteristically graceless way. "Now that’s better.” You climb into her lap.

“Octavian, I’m not in the mood for this.”

You wrap her torso in a hug. “No, I disagree. You in the perfect mood for this...”

“I’m not a child, Octavian. I haven’t been one for a very long time…” There’s a simmering hostility to her tone.

“I know. You had to deal with some pretty terrible things, so you grew up. The thing is…it’s only a matter of time before the same thing happens to Alice. She’s already no stranger to violence. I don’t know how much longer keep up my charade with her. I worry for her. I don’t want her to lose her innocence like her mother did, but I know I can’t make stay like she is forever. I feel trapped…You know I worry about you too? I’m concerned that you could start thinking about hurting yourself again and the next time you might just decide to go through with it. At the same time, I know the life of a magical girl is fraught with danger. I’ve got you caught in a real bind. Magic attracts magic, and some of that magic will be hostile to you, or worse yet, attack complete civilians. I already can tell if something goes wrong you don’t want Alice to put herself at risk for your sake. That’s why I think you were onto the right idea earlier. It’s trivially easy for me enchant your gun. I know you dislike it, but it’s your best bet right now if you need to protect yourself or Alice. Plenty of my contractees in the past have used magical guns, some completely indistinguishable from the real thing.”

“I still don’t like Alice growing up around guns.” She grumbles.

“Sadly, it’s a little too late for that. Remember I mentioned earlier the cult was pretty heavily armed. Pretty much everyone there, except Alice, had a gun, usually a lot more than just one. I know she watched Joseph and Shirley practice and maintain theirs. She thought the world of the two of them. So I can say with some confidence, Alice won’t think any less of you if she sees you with a gun, Jeanette. It’s a normal thing to her. She probably thinks all adults have guns. Now if you’re worried about Alice playing with your weapon, I can assure you she already knows better than to do that. The cult made sure of that.” You trail off leaving the woman shifting uncomfortably beneath you. You change the subject to something that was bothering you. “Violence is violence regardless of the vector. What’s the difference between shooting something and bashing it to death with a hammer? Alice has already gone through that twice. I wish that she won’t have to experience that again, but I know better than that.”

“I didn’t think of that. I keep trying to equate her to a normal girl in my class. She’s lived the furthest thing from a normal life. I know neither of us can change all that.”

“I don’t think normal was ever in the cards for Alice. I’ve only made that worse by giving her magic, but what choice did I have. She wouldn’t have left the cult willingly otherwise.”

“Speaking of Alice, she’s probably getting worried about us as we speak. We should head back to the house, Octavian.”

“You have a point there. Have you calmed down? I know we still need to talk about other things.”

“Yeah I have. I was really over thinking things. I hate when I get all bent out of shape like this.”

“I wouldn’t hold it against you. I think your heart is in the right place Jen. You know you really are too hard on yourself. Alice and I care about you. We need you around. Please take better care of yourself, if only for our sake.”

“I’ll really try to. It’s just hard sometimes.” She pets your ears. “I know you try to help me if I like it or not. Octavian…” you look up to meet her eyes with yours. “…Don’t go back to the way you were before. Keep trying to be more and more human.” She finally hugs you back.” I like the person you’re becoming. And don’t let your past drag you down. It’s a big mistake; I know from experience.”

You don’t know what you could possibly add. You both let go of each other and get back to your feet. You retrieve your forgotten tool and, against your better judgment, Alice’s broken needle. Jeanette lets you walk back at her side. Your thankful for the exercise. You’ve gotten too use to being carried as a pampered stuffed animal. When you get back, you find Alice, her spider, and Alonso sitting on a hammock made of giant strands of red silk. Hopefully you’re not going to have to be the thing to clean that up. The man still looks a bit bewildered, but you can tell he seems to be in better spirits.

What’s there to do now?

>Just check up with Alice and see if she wants anything before excusing yourselves. Head over to Jeanette’s car and enchant her firearm. You might as well get that out of the way while you can. Jeanette still has more on her mind too. You can discuss them while you’re both alone together.

>If Alonso still wants to be Alice’s knight, you really should get a better idea of what he’s capable of. Maybe you could help put his mind a little more at ease with the reality of his peculiar situation while you’re working together.

>Get back to practicing. You would like to run through some mock combat scenarios, before they both have to deal with the real thing.

>The spider mentioned Alice’s strange domain two days ago. Maybe you can talk more about it with everyone here. You’re curious if anything has changed inside of it.

>You think you heard Jeanette saying something earlier about a game on her phone that she would like Alice to play. You can get a chance to see how Alonso reacts to technology while you’re at it.

>Maybe you could play another game. Jeanette seems really keen on playing this “Scrabble” game with Alice in particular. Do you join in? (Y/N)

>Take Jeanette’s car into town. What would you like to do? Get some books for Alice, Plan dinner and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?

>Write in/Something else?/Some combination of things.

>>3777298
>Just check up with Alice and see if she wants anything before excusing yourselves. Head over to Jeanette’s car and enchant her firearm. You might as well get that out of the way while you can. Jeanette still has more on her mind too. You can discuss them while you’re both alone together.

>>3777298
>The spider mentioned Alice’s strange domain two days ago. Maybe you can talk more about it with everyone here. You’re curious if anything has changed inside of it.
Grill that arachnid.

>>3777298

>Can we combine >>3777720 and>>3777984 QM? I hate being the tie breaking vote. If not roll a die. I like both options.

>>3777298
Suppin'>>3778113

>>3777720
>>3777984
>>3778113
>>3778134
I suppose I can do that.

>Roll 1d20 Crits are off.

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>3778137
Neat, thanks QM!

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>3778137

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3778137

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>3778137
>>3778141
>>3778183
>20: can't argue with that.

>>3778256
Yooooo!!!

"Octavian, Jenny!" Alice perks up at the sight of the two of you. "How'd it go? Do you both know what Jenny's magic does now?"

"I guess. I still don't really have much control over it."Jeanette adds noncommittally with a shrug. She looks to you for a more specific answer "It went pretty good, all things considered. Jenny's magic helps keep people safe when they're in danger: She can make barriers to protect people, heal them if they get hurt, she can distract a bad guy with that fog you saw, and she can share her magic with you to help you cast your own techniques." You hold up the ruined sewing needle. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to ruin it. Her barriers are actually pretty strong..."

Alice immediately cuts you off. "It's fine, Octavian. I have more and I can't be mad because it's for a holy cause." Her mouth curls into a warm smile. "Jenny's magic is nice--just like she is. I told you she's a good person." The woman in question seems very happy to hear that. "I don't want you to think I'm not being thankful, but I wish my magic was a little more like Jenny's. I didn't know mine would be so scary when I made my wish."

You move forwards and brush reassuringly against her leg. "Alice, remember the last thing I said Jenny could do. Your magic actually works together with hers. Sure she keeps people safe, but what good is that if you didn't stop the bad guy and he just finds new people to hurt. That's where you come in, dear. You're going to have to learn to work together as a team with Jenny..." Your voice goes soft as your mind races back to a giggling group of girls in their clubhouse. "...And protect each other."

Alice seems excited about the prospect of working with Jenny. "That's what I was hoping for the moment you told me God had a mission for her too. I'm really glad." Alonso seems to become more and more uncomfortable with each mention of magic or religion. He removes a gauntlet and dabs at his forehead with a curled wrist. Alice notices and turns to him. "Is something wrong, Alonso? I told you can tell me anything."

The man is choosing his words carefully. "I must be mishearing things or my wits have been reduced to that of a fool by illness. Please forgive your servant."

Alice grabs a hold of him before he can prostrate himself before her feet. "You keep saying things like that but you really are seeing and hearing things that are real because I see them too. What did you mishear?"

"Your majesty I...I am just your servant, I mean no accusation nor would any Inquisitor believe my word against yours..." He takes a rather long pause clearly trying to remember something. "...It's just this all sounds too much like heresy and ,if the talking animals are real as you insist, some incitement-- a foul trick by dark powers--to practice witchcraft."

Alice ponders over the man's words "Heresy? Witchcraft? No, Alonso you're getting this all wrong. God gave me my magic. I don't exactly know how to explain what I did to Ms. Spider, but Octavian isn't really a stuffed rabbit. He's an angel in disguise. He was watching over me since I was a baby and told me that God had a special calling for me when I was ready for it. I'm supposed to make things right, so He gave me special powers."

He looks even more in awe of the girl. "So you can work signs and wonders. All of the rumors were wrong..." He takes another pause..."The situation is more dire than I thought. Does the Holy Father know? Maybe, he can fix this whole matter."

"No, I sorta' left without telling him anything. It sounded like God wanted me to hurry." She must think he's referring to Flounder. This is getting out of hand. Dealing with Alice's religious fervor is hard enough, but to deal with Alonso too. You've got your work cut out for you.

"Ah..." Alonso strokes at his beard. "So it's a holy quest, like in those French romances. I recall mentions of both holy and unholy magic in those. A little strange that He's called forth a woman to quest, but I do seem to recall tales of that French maid who battled the English. Who am I to judge the whims of the Almighty? Sending you forth into heathen lands! We better keep you from meeting the same fate as her when you return..."

This has gone on long enough. You decide to change the topic. "Alice, dear..." Alonso immediately grows quiet at the sound of your voice. He's not going to question an "angel" either. "I have some questions for the spider." You look between Alice and Alonso, it might help to give them both an explanation first. "The spider mentioned a place. Alice seems to be placing things into and drawing things forth by magic. I want to know more about this strange land."

"Of course." Alonso pipes up. "Finding it could have something to do with her calling. I'm curious about the whole matter myself. Sadly we don't have the forces to mount an expedition..." He scratches at the side of his head. "It's strange. I still can't recall the slightest thing about myself, but I feel like I have some expertise at such an enterprise. Disregard me; please continue."

On cue, the spider descends from the ceiling, having spun a larger web out of one of the hammock's anchor points, by a single strand of red web. "Always glad to help kween. Ask."
"You said it was almost like a void last time." You roll your paws in the air around each other as you speak. "Well, has anything changed?"
"Yesss, there's a gentle rain periodically soaking the grove and some structures like those when kween called me forth last. More space for my webs"

Interesting. So Alice did pick up some things from that dream world. That's something to evaluate with the girl in the future. "Have you seen that bird?"

"The one I kaught for kween? Such a tasty looking thing. Shame I had no time to savor it." The spider starts moving her fangs in a certain way. Judging by the look on Alice's face her arachnophobia is acting up again. "No. Nor would I want to. I needed the aid of kween to match it. It would knock down all my webs I would just have to go along the path to somewhere else..."

She didn't mention anything like that before. "Path? Are you talking about roads? Like the ones from the place where the structures came from."

"Not like those; much smaller. Not as smooth either. There's all sorts of rocks and cracks."

Either she's describing a cobblestone path or a very old road, possibly ancient, now in disrepair. "So it's not just an empty space in there. There's different areas? How far have you ventured?"

"Yes, different places belonging to kween." That doesn't make the most sense, but you let her continue. "Did not go far. The void is strange. I stay away from that. But there's less of it now."

The void is retreating, presumably revealing more of this strange world. It could be due to Alice becoming more familiar with her magic, or that corruption--whatever corruption Jonathan saw is starting to subside to a degree. That would be good news. Maybe you can find out even more after the Durand's exorcise what's left of it. "So if there's less void, have you seen anything else new. You know, not the buildings."

She taps a leg up and down on the ground a few times. "Big stone. There's something on it. I don't know how to read."

Ah, that might be an important clue. You have a hunch it could be some sort of demarcation of property or a border post of some sort. Alonso surprises you by speaking up. "Pardon my intrusion, but I think I might be of some help here. I think I have some sort of familiarity with cartography. I don't recall how or why I know such a thing or if I am skilled at it, but I might as well lend what assistance I can. Does anyone have parchment and some means to draw, a charcoal, anything?"

"I saw a couple of pads of paper on that table near the kitchen. I'm sure I can find some pens somewhere." Jeanette declares.

"Oh, drawing sounds like fun. If there are two pens can you bring me one too Jenny."

Alonso looks from Alice to Jeanette. "My lady, I must apologize for earlier. My majesty has informed me that you are not a servant and I should treat you as a fellow noblewoman with regard. I should..."

"It's no problem, Alonso. I'll be right back." With that the woman takes her leave.

You sense a bit of an opportunity here. "Alice, if you're going to doodle why not stay here and make sure the spider answers any questions Alonso has. Jenny and I have a few more things to deal with before she's ready to travel with us. I'm going to help her with that."

"That's a good idea Octavian." Before long Jeanette returns with two legal pads and a pair of common ball-point pens. Alonso's impressed with convenience of such a thing. "The ink's inside and the little metal ball at the tip spreads it. What will they think of next?"

You use your telepathy to connect your mind to Jeanette. "Octavian, what now?"

"They're going to be distracted for a little while. Now's a good time to enchant your firearm." You can sense some lingering discomfort at the mention of the thing. "You did also say you wanted to talk about your father and what you should tell him."

"Yeah, I can't come up with anything to tell him about this mess."

"Well two minds are better than one. Pick me up and let's get going." You sever the connection and Jeanette does just what you ask. She carries you around to the front of the house and to her parked car. She fumbles you around a bit, freeing a hand to reach into her pocket for her keys. She unlocks the car with the physical key, rather than using the fob. She gets inside and sets you down on the passenger's seat. "One second." She unlocks the glove compartment with the same key, before pulling out a small black nylon case. "This is it." She unzips the case and turns it around to show you a small, steel colored revolver and a single five round speed loader. She places it down on the center console. "Now do your thing. I don't like looking at it." You don't know much about firearms but you recognize the S&W mark as standing for Smith and Wesson and the .357 magnum as a type of round. You place your paws over the barrel and the cylinder and concentrate. A soft white light illuminates the interior of the car. You let your magic flow into the object, using your mind to twist the energy into the steel. It takes you a few minutes, and it didn't help that Jeanette was nothing but impatient though the whole process, but your work is finished. The weapon is now subtly enchanted. It looks hardly different from when you started, the satin finish being replaced by a more reflective one. But a sniff at the air around it confirms the presence of magic. Any round fired from it can harm the supernatural as much a blow from Alice's hammer, or any other magical weapon. It's much more efficient this way than enchanting every bullet Jeanette will ever use from now into the future. It only cost you a few seconds of life to make this happen, something you're not entirely happy with, but it's the least you can do for the woman after all the troubles you've already put her through. You state with some satisfaction. "You should find it's up to the task now. You might also want to experiment with using your own magic on it. The combination of our abilities might lead to something novel." You look up to see Jeanette making a horrified looking face. Your ears and nose for magic soon tell you why.

"Jenny, Octavian, I was looking for you. I wanted to show you guys my picture. Look it's you." It's Alice, rushing around the open car door with the pad of paper in her hands. Of course she sees you standing over the open nylon case with your paws still on the revolver. "OH! is that your gun, Jenny? It's shiny. Shirley's was all black. I think I like yours better."

"No, I don't have one. I just found it." It's a transparent lie on Jeanette's part.

Alice looks at her confused. "I thought all adults had guns? I mean, Octavian probably doesn't have one because he's an angel. So he probably has a flaming sword or a bow made of stars, or something else cool. You don't need to hide your gun from me. I know better than to touch it without asking."

You probe at the edges of Jeanette's mind. "Jen, It's alright. Alice is going to see you with it eventually, especially if you're going to use it to fight. You might as well rip off the bandage now."

The woman looks over to Alice with a look of shame. "Yeah, it's mine. I was fibbing. Guns are dangerous, so I never liked using it and I seldom did. But, I want to make sure you stay safe. I don't really have any great ways to fight back besides hitting things with my staff. Octavian suggested using it. If learning more about guns is the price I have to pay to keep you safe, I don't mind paying it."

"I know guns are dangerous, Jenny. My magic is dangerous too. You haven't seen my roses. They're really terrible. I could really hurt someone with them; I already used them on something. I didn't like it at all, but I was the only person that could help. And in the end, I saved you." She smiles. "Sometimes, good people have to do some things they don't like." Alice is paraphrasing something you said to her. "Like fibbing, or take things that don't belong to them...or hurting things. I wouldn't hold anything against you. I'm grateful that you're willing to go out of your way to keep me safe. I promise I'll do the same for you."

Jeanette gets out of the car and hugs Alice. You can feel the woman's mind project a though back into your conciseness. "Octavian, I want her. I don't care what I have to do. I want to adopt her."

You hop off of the case, zip it up, and carefully put it back in the glove box where Jeanette had it. "I've spent time with orphans before, but I don't know the first thing about the process, especially in this day and age. You do have your rough spots; we can work through those together, but from what you've shown me so far, I think you could be a good fit for Alice."

"Octavian, I feel like it might be too soon, but I want to let her know how I feel. Should I tell her? I don't want to go too far."

>Yes, Alice wants a family. She would be happy to know you're thinking of her in that way.(If you have any advice on what to say, write it in. Otherwise Jeanette will just say what comes to her mind)

>No, you had a point earlier. Let's go slow. It's a big change. Let Alice set the pace.

>Write in

There's no right or wrong answer here.

What do you want to do afterwards?

>Go back and get a look at Alonso's map. If he's finished with it, you could get him to practice so you have a better idea of what he’s capable of. Maybe you could help put his mind a little more at ease with the reality of his peculiar situation while you’re working together.

>Get back to practicing. You would like to run through some mock combat scenarios with the girls, before they both have to deal with the real thing.

>You think you heard Jeanette saying something earlier about a game on her phone that she would like Alice to play.

>Maybe you could play another game. Jeanette seems really keen on playing this “Scrabble” game with Alice in particular. Do you join in? (Y/N)

>Take Jeanette’s car into town. It's would be close to an early bird dinner by the time you would arrive if you left now. What would you like to do? Have dinner in town, Plan a late dinner at the Durand's and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get some books for Alice, Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?

>Write in/Something else?/Some combination of things.

>>3780083
>Yes, Alice wants a family. She would be happy to know you're thinking of her in that way.
>Say something about family not bound by blood but rather found.
>>3780085
>Go back and get a look at Alonso's map. If he's finished with it, you could get him to practice so you have a better idea of what he’s capable of. Maybe you could help put his mind a little more at ease with the reality of his peculiar situation while you’re working together.

>>3780083
>No, you had a point earlier. Let's go slow. It's a big change. Let Alice set the pace.

>>3780085
>Go back and get a look at Alonso's map. If he's finished with it, you could get him to practice so you have a better idea of what he’s capable of. Maybe you could help put his mind a little more at ease with the reality of his peculiar situation while you’re working together.

>>3780083
>Yes, Alice wants a family. She would be happy to know you're thinking of her in that way.(If you have any advice on what to say, write it in. Otherwise Jeanette will just say what comes to her mind)
Same as>>3780582
>>3780085
>Go back and get a look at Alonso's map. If he's finished with it, you could get him to practice so you have a better idea of what he’s capable of. Maybe you could help put his mind a little more at ease with the reality of his peculiar situation while you’re working together.

>>3780582
Supporting

>>3780582
>>3780808
>>3780822
>>3781221
Writing.

>Roll 1d20 to see how Alonso remembers about combat.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>3781308

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3781308

>>3778256
>>3781328
Hot damn Anon. Well that's your second 20 in a row. Wasn't expecting that.

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3781308

>>3781328
>>3781362
>LOL Wut.
>Got it dice gods, Alonso really remembers combat.

Uh, writing I guess. I feel like I need to do something extra for two twenties even though I don't use crits on training rolls.

>>3782267
Alice sort of is magical girl Christ-Chan except blond and without all of the Deus Vult and smiting the nonbelievers. I actually imagined that exact dress but in purple for the one that Alice got from the nice shopkeeper.

My apologies for how late this update is but I have some very pressing irl issues to deal with in the coming days. I'm going to keep updating whenever I can.

“Jen, it’s alright. Go ahead. I think Alice has wanted a real family for years. I already put the idea in her head. I told her that her real family is not bound by blood, but rather is forged through relationships: ones of unconditional love, trust, and friendship. That it’s not something conferred by mere biological reality and happenstance alone, instead it’s something you can seek out and find with the people who matter to you.” It must sound rich coming from a being like you, from a thing that’s destroyed many families for selfish gain. You can hear Alice’s voice as clear as day echoing in your mind. “Family through relationships... I can get behind that. A family's a family no matter what! That includes you, me…” Does it though? The girl might be better off without you, now that she’s found a real human mother. She can replace you. She might do that anyway…

“Octavian, I must be getting better at this, because I could feel all of that.” Jeanette really is a fast learner. “You’re already in her life. You saved Alice from those crazies. You got her here in one piece. You obviously care about her. So, you already are part of her family, Octavian. Your past doesn’t change any of that. Look, you don’t need to worry about being replaced. I promise I won’t take Alice from you. You have as much of a right to be in the girl’s life as I do; maybe more. After all, you were the one who invited me into her life. I really meant what I said earlier--about co-parenting. Alice needs a father, human or not. I can’t be that for her.” If you were speaking out loud, Jeanette would be wracked with laughter. She really enjoyed throwing your own words back at you.

Part of your mind feels a great relief (You really don’t want to lose Alice. Yes, your little daughter too.). “So Jeanette, partners?”

“You really can’t resist making deals, can you? Sure…Partners for Alice” She projects the memory of shaking your hand and becoming a magical girl. It’s strange seeing it play out from her perspective. You don’t like the face you were making. You should look friendlier for future contractees. They have recruited for you in the past.. Your mind’s probably right about that, but contracts and recruiting are the furthest things down on your list of priorities right now (Alice is what matters). “You know you really argue with yourself a lot…Alright Octavian, I’m going to start talking to her. Here goes nothing.” You choose to stay in the woman’s mind just in case she needs some last minute advice.

Jeanette rocks Alice a little in their embrace. “Alice” The girl perks up at the mention of her name. “I want to talk with you about something—something important. I know how boring we adults can get when we lecture, but please let me finish everything I want to say. I promise it’s worth it.”

“Okay Jenny.”

Jeanette gently runs her fingers through Alice’s hair. “Alice dear, I was in a really bad place when you first found me. Not just with the whole supernatural thing or being sick, I was really sad, scared, and lonely. I thought my life was over and there was nothing left for me. And then, in walks this lovely girl with a pretty smile and everything started feeling a little better. You’ve done so much for me in so little time, so I want to do something for you too. You see sweetheart, I’ve always wanted to be a mommy. I always wanted a little girl to call my own. For one reason or another, that looked like it would never happen for me. That made me really sad. But things changed when you entered my life. I’ve been talking a lot with Octavian, and he let me know that you mommy and daddy aren’t around. Sure you have your brothers and sisters back on the farm, but out here, it’s just you and him and I think that’s wrong…Alice, I know this is sudden, but I like you a lot. I love you, dear. I…” Jeanette kneels down to get on eye level with Alice. She cradles the girl’s head in her hands. “…Alice, would you like me to be your mommy? Because I would like that very much, I want to adopt you. I want you to be my daughter.”

Alice starts sobbing softly. You can make out the faint “…ank you God.”

“Alice, what’s wrong? Is it too soon? I’m sorry dear…” Jeanette tries to pull her hands away but Alice breaks the hug and lays her hand atop the one of the older woman’s.

“No, no I would like that too, Jenny, I’m just happy. I mean yes. I’ve just been praying about this for years. Every time I felt bad or got punished by Brother or Sister, I wondered where my Mother and Father were. I wanted for one of them to come and tell me how much they really loved me. And then, take me to their home. I prayed really hard for it, but it never happened. I just gave up hope. Then, Octavian revealed God’s plan for me and about the wish. I knew I could have wished for my parents to find me, but that would be selfish. There are so many people worse off than me.” Jeanette starts crying too. She and you both know the reality of Alice’s situation. “When I asked Octavian to talk to God about my family and I heard back about relationships with friends, I took it as a sign. I knew I would find my mother or father out there somewhere. I guess I did Jenny. I sorry, should I start calling you Mother or Mom. I’m sorry for the disrespect.”

Jeanette kisses Alice on the forehead. “No baby, it’s fine. Call me whatever you’d like. Jenny’s still fine. It’s a big change. I know it will take some getting used to. I know you’re not being disrespectful in the slightest. If anything, I should apologize ahead of time. You see Alice, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, so I don’t have very much. But what I do have is yours.”

“Jenny, as long as I have God, you, and Octavian, I’ll be okay. I don’t need much.”

“But you deserve a whole lot for how much you’ve given me. Before you really make your decision, here’s something else you deserve to know. Alice, I’ve got some adult problems. You shouldn’t worry too much because Octavian and I are working on them—He’s become my guardian angel now too. Apparently, my old one wasn’t doing the best job. He’s definitely going to be part of our family from now on, regardless of your decision.”

“Octavian’s a good angel and an even better friend.” Alice smiles to you. “Can I help you with your problems Jenny?”

“You already have, sweetheart. You made my body better…” Jeanette tries to clam up, but after some mental encouragement on your part, she decides to continue. “…I’m still a little bit sick, but it’s all inside my head. If I seem really, really sad, anxious, or mad, just let me know how much you care about me. It helps more than you’d ever know.”

“I will Jenny. That didn’t make me change my mind.” Remembering her reason for coming out here in the first place, she holds up the slightly rumpled pad of paper. “Look our family.” It’s a drawing of the three of you in a cartoony style. It’s clearly still an amateur effort, but not one without hard work or talent behind it. “I wanna’ stay with you two, but I need to see if Ms. Spider’s done with Alonso. She probably wants to go home to her web. She wouldn’t stop talking about it.” Alice shutters a little bit. Yeah, she’s still not over her fear of spiders, and that’s okay, you guess.

You decide to say a little more before closing the mental link with Jeanette. “So, Mommy.” You add teasingly. “I don’t want to intrude on your moment but Alice has a point. I want to get a look at that map and maybe have a word or two with our amnesiac knight. I still think he’s in denial in regards to where he is.”

“I’m curious too, Octavian. If something weird is going on I want to make sure our little girl stays safe.” Your mind let’s her know that you concur with her thought. “We can deal with my dad and finding out about paperwork later.” With that you sever the mental link and come hopping out of the car towards Alice. She explains all about how she drew her picture and what colors she would make anything if she had her crayons. Jeanette just smiles at the girl and takes the opportunity to lock everything up. Your little party heads back around the house to find the knight and the spider in a heated discussion over topography. You can see the man put a couple more lines on the paper.

The man looks to you. "Ah, the angel's back. Come to look at my work?" You nod. He slides the paper over to you. "I'm afraid it's not my best work, This creature is not the clearest with her narrative." He gestures with the cap of the pen toward the spider, who was dangling from a strand of web from the ceiling. "I presume you're quite familiar with that from your earlier exchange."

Your too engrossed with the man's work product to respond. It's a bit rough, but usable. There's quite a lot of new details too. At the south of the map is the rose grove where the spider makes her home. It's now ringed by what you first thought were mountains, but upon closer glance it's the man's attempt at rending modern skyscrapers. Some of the buildings are drawn almost like ruins, completely choked by rose vines. There's a pond or a lake at the center of the grove, being fed by a stream that runs down from the north. You have to stifle a giggle when you see that Alonso has labeled this region "La Florida". You're not going to bother to explain that the real place is much to the south and east of your current position. He probably decided on the name from some hazy memory of the colony turned state from his past life. You can see that the grove seems sit lower than the rest of the land. The land slopes upward the further north you go, be it a hill, mountainside, or plateau is unclear. Past the buildings, There's some rough sketches of forest. No doubt an indication of more regular foliage. Cutting down the center, near the stream is a path. It forms a crescent semi-circle around the grove to the south, (there a little drawing of a bridge across the stream at a narrow point.), and follows the stream north. A note on the in the margin indicates the forest becomes more sparse with the elevation change as you go north. The map tapers to a narrow point with the stone being marked as the most northern point. Curiously, the path and the stream seems to extend beyond that into the void. There's not much detail about the east or the west of this land. It's probably more void.

You look back to Alonso. "How certain are you about these new additions, the forest, the stream, or the slope of the land?"

"Very certain, but it took a lot of questioning to get it out of her. She just took natural things for insignificant details when it didn't strike her fancy." The spider gives a harrumph in reply.

You pass the map over to Jeanette. "Good work Alonso."

"So what do you ask of me now, messenger? Are we to gather some friendly natives and mount an expedition, to claim these heathen lands in the name of the crown?"

"Alonso, did you pay any attention to what I told you earlier, when you came looking for water?"

"I was looking for water? Did I find a spring?" Great, He's forgetting recent things too. His memory is even more of a mess than you thought."

"You thump your foot on the ground trying to come up with some new course of action. You might as well play into his delusions. "Let's say we do mount an expedition at some point in the future. You're probably the most qualified one to lead it." Not to mention the fact that he's the only person Alice can pull into that strange world, by virtue of killing him with her hammer. "It would reassure me to see a demonstration of your skills with a weapon. Your spear is over there."

The man walks over to the forgotten weapon, and inspects it carefully. "A bit older looking than I was expecting, but it looks like it's of good temper. It's the same with this armor. I can't complain. I can't recall ever hearing of full plate this light, ether." He takes a couple of small hops to emphasize his point. "It feels cold to the touch too, a blessing if I must march to battle. My complements to the smith in Toledo." Alonso settles into a stance and begins striking at imaginary opponents with an absolutely inhuman speed. You were worried if he could keep up with the girls, that's not going to be a problem. He moves even faster than when he was a monster. He's well practiced, but drill alone won't save you against the supernatural. You decide to make things a bit more complicated. "Alice dear, summon your roses. If you can leave off the thorns. I want to see Alonso dodge." Alice reluctantly complies. The twelve vines snake and circle around the man. The man grits his sharp teeth. At first, he continues with the graceful precise moments, but as he becomes more ensnared, something changes in the man. He goes from hold ground to putting on an impressive display of acrobatics, striking at the same imaginary enemies between the roses in a frenzy. He slips from the vines grasp, with a jump, pouncing down with his spear like a cat on some imaginary bird. He's passed your test.

"So that was the magic of my Queen." He says between exhausted breaths. "Vines thin and flexible as the finest sword in Toledo. I doubt I ever want to meet their thorns." Alice perks up at the mention of her magic. She walks over to the garden, seemingly looking for something. She finds what she was looking for, one of the few remaining weeds and converts it into a rose. Your curious what she could be doing. "Alice, why are you making more roses."

"What Alonso said gave me an idea. If I can make the roses into vines, or their thorns sharper, why don't I try to make them into something else entirely." She carefully wraps her hand around the flower avoiding any thorns and tries to uproot it from the dirt, resulting in a three foot long thin, narrow vine. She brings her hammer down in an arc close to its center. There's a flash of red light as she makes contact with the flower. Alice isn't holding a flower anymore. She's holding a sword, with a floral motif, upside down by the basket hilt, which resembles a giant flower. You and Jeanette both wince as she runs over with the sharp implement to Alonso. "Lookie. I made you a sword. Cool, Huh?"

The man puts down the spear and warily takes the blade from her. He puts a finger on the tip and bends the blade backwards at an extreme angle. He's downright surprised when it snaps right back into place. "Why thank you, your majesty. It's an honor to receive such a fine gift. Your angel mentioned water earlier. I know it's not my place to ask but would you mind sharing some with me?"

Alice smiles "Of course you're thirsty after all of that. I'll go get you a glass." She runs off into the house.

With the girl gone he looks back to you. "Angel, there's more to my abilities than you witnessed. I just did not want to share it with a girl so young and innocent. I seem to vaguely recall you mentioning that I was the victim of some sort of magic. I think some of that witchcraft remains. I could feel a hunger as drilled, one that could only be sated by the flesh of my enemies. I know if I gave in I could continue to fight well beyond the point where the strongest men would be exhausted, even if I was gravely injured. There's another instinct. I know I can cause great fear in people, just with my mere presence. I just need to let it out. These are terrible abilities, but I am willing to use them in holy service to my Queen."

"Thank you for telling me, Alonso. I'll keep them in mind if we need them, but those aren't easy things to practice with. Alice comes running back with an overly full glass of water, spilling a little on herself as she comes to a stop.

"Thank you very much my Liege. I think it would be prudent for me to take my leave. I feel the need for a nap after that display. Go off and play with your friends." He smiles and gives a brief bow before going back to the hammock.

Well now what to do with the rest of your afternoon.

>Alice has a family now, a celebration is in order. It's not like you planned for such an event today. What will you do? Play a bunch of games, watch movies, go out somewhere special, or write in: (Write ins are highly encouraged for this one. How would you make it special?)

>Have Jeanette call the Durands and see if they're on their way back. Maybe they could help you set up a nice dinner or a small party if you tell them about what transpired (Tell them about Alice and Jeanette Y/N)

>Get back to practicing. You would like to run through some mock combat scenarios with the girls, before they both have to deal with the real thing.

>You think you heard Jeanette saying something earlier about a game on her phone that she would like Alice to play.

>Maybe you could play another game. Jeanette seems really keen on playing this “Scrabble” game with Alice in particular. Do you join in? (Y/N)

>Take Jeanette’s car into town. It's would be close to dinner by the time you would arrive. What would you like to do? Have dinner in town, Plan a late dinner at the Durand's and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get some books for Alice, Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?

>Write in/Something else?/Some combination of things.

>>3783348
>Take Jeanette’s car into town. It's would be close to dinner by the time you would arrive. What would you like to do? Have dinner in town, Plan a late dinner at the Durand's and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get some books for Alice, Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?
A diner would be nice to celebrate Alice's new mother at!

>>3783348
>Take Jeanette’s car into town. It's would be close to dinner by the time you would arrive. What would you like to do? Have dinner in town, Plan a late dinner at the Durand's and get some groceries to make it (write in any dinner suggestions), Get some books for Alice, Get a casual outfit for Alonso—it would make him look less suspicious in public, All of these, or Something else?
Diner to celebrate new motherhood and casual clothes for Alonso.

>>3783348
Supporting >>3783577 >>3783591

>>3783348
>>3783577
>>3783591
>Closing the vote here.

The thread is now archived: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/3748238/

Just a slight update. I'm a Florida anon so I have been way too busy with huricane stuff to update.I might have some time to write in the evening, but it depends on how fast I get other things done.

Thank you for your patience

Alice decides to leave your little huddle and heads off to the hammock herself. She sits down next to Alonso and gives him a hug before exclaiming how awesome his skills were. The knight is taken aback by her less than queenly demeanor, but it’s clear he’s enjoying the praise. Jeanette smiles at her, and then looks over to you. “So now what, Octavian?” She points to your new map of Alice’s otherworldly domain. “Would you like for me hold on to this?”

“That’s not the worst idea. You should probably put it in your purse. As for our evening think we should go to town.” You point to Alice trying to get the dour Alonso to lighten up a bit. All the armor was useful when Alonso was a monster. Now we might need to find something a little less conspicuous for him. Alice is getting more attached to him, so I take it for a given that he will be with us in our travels. More importantly, after today’s events, I think a celebration is in order. After all, you’re a mother now.”

“Well it’s not that simple, but unofficially, yeah. I guess I am.” She can’t stop herself from grinning. “I never thought it would come that easily—no painful labor or messy toddler years. Not to say that there won’t be challenges. I already know Alice is going to have some educational difficulties and I would rule out a few social ones to boot. Those are problems for a different day, so you’re planning on dinner?”

“That was what I was thinking. Yes.” You turn your head to find Alice giggling—probably at her own childish joke—while the knight is trying his hardest to remain stone faced, before lowering your voice to a whisper. “Jen, there’s not going to be a problem with that.”

“No, I mean, I’ll try my best. If you let me pick I can find someplace with something halfway healthy. That put’s my mind somewhat at ease.”

“I don’t think that would bother Alice in the slightest. Although, remember what I said earlier about taking care of yourself. Jen I can feel your ribs when you were carrying me around. I know you don’t want to have this discussion now but you need to get better for Alice. We don’t need you getting sick or weak on the road.”

“I understand that.” She says in a defensive tone. She quickly drops the anger in her voice. “You’re right Octavian. I just don’t like being lectured about it, even when I was a kid. But I don’t think that’s what you were trying to do. I’m a mommy now, so I guess it’s just a belated version of eating for two.”

“Do whatever helps you. I don’t know much about these sorts of conditions. I just heard rumors about other girls behaving in that way from some of my contractees.” You place a paw on her leg. “I’m probably the least qualified creature to play psychiatrist…Well It’s going to be a long drive. We shouldn’t dawdle.” The two of you head over to Alice and share your plans with her. She’s a little disappointed that Alonso wants to say behind, but like usual she won’t complain. She decides she wants to change into her nice dress after she cleans up, so Jeanette tells her to get ready first. You’re probably not heading to any sort of a fancy establishment, but why rain on her parade? Alice briefly transforms to send the spider back to her strange world and departs from your group, giving her best curtsey to Alonso before doing so. You ask Jeanette to warm of the last of the stew for Alonso in an act of thoughtfulness on your part. Hopefully that should keep him sated enough to refrain from hungering for human flesh while you’re all away.

After, serving Alonso his meal, Jeanette and you head back to Alice’s room. You rummage through Alice’s backpack and find a small clump of rumpled bills. “Here Jeanette, I know it’s not much but it should help cover Alice’s meal.” She reluctantly accepts them. “I wish I could lie and say not to worry about it, but money is going to be an issue.” She decides not to dwell on the topic. “Octavian, I’m just going to change to save time. You at least sound like a guy, so can you turn around?” You shrug you shoulders and comply It’s not like you haven’t seen plenty of nudity as a stuffed animal, but if it makes her comfortable why make a stink? When she tells you turn around, you can see she opted for the same outfit she wore yesterday. She smiles “I hate to wear the same thing twice, but I didn’t plan for any of this…I can’t put into words how thankful I am for meeting the two of you.”

“There’s no need, I could say the same to you Jeanette.” Just after the words leave your mouth Alice barges into the room twirling her skirt. “It’s so pretty.” She says with a smile. Jeanette walks over and hugs her around the shoulders. “It really is pumpkin. You look like the princess you really are. She plants a little kiss on Alice’s cheek. So this is what being part of a happy family feels like. No wonder humans cling to this sensation. You’re not the one to end this little moment. Jeanette breaks the hug and orders everyone into her car. You sit in Alice’s lap in the passenger seat, while Jeanette phones the Durands before your head off. They’re not concerned about you leaving the house unlocked. You guess that’s one of the benefits of living out in the middle of nowhere. After she hangs up the phone, Jeanette does something and passes it over to Alice. “It’s a word game, dear.” You can see there is some sort of a puzzle game on the screen. “I want to see how good you are at playing it, so no cheating. That Includes asking Octavian for all the answers.”

“Awww I like playing with him. But I will do as you ask, Jenny.” You reassure Alice that you won’t feel left out. Jeanette pulls out of the driveway and sets off on the road. You watch Alice play. It’s some sort of educational game. Jeanette’s testing her. Alice struggles with spelling out words on her own or making her own sentences, but she does much better with the portions that require her to match words to a sentence. It makes sense. Despite having a limited selection of titles—mostly The Bible, Cookbooks, and instructional books on sewing and crafting—Alice did read, but you don’t recall ever watching her write something. You get engrossed in observing Alice. By the time you look up from the screen the car is pulling off the highway.

Jeanette opts for a sit down chain restaurant. Like you thought, it’s nothing fancy, but Alice wouldn’t know that. Alice get’s a couple looks from the wait staff. She’s not exactly dressed like your average traveler, but they know better than to pry. Your waitress is a girl almost as bubbly as Alice normally is, however your girl is reserved and polite in the presence of strangers. She lets Jeanette do all the talking. Jeanette opts for a house salad and proceeds to explain to the waitress to leave off any cheese, croutons, and to go light with the dressing. Alice puzzled over the menu for a while; she was originally going to get a hamburger of some sort, but instead decides to follow her new mother’s lead. She winds up getting the house salad too…

>Roll 1d20

Do you have any other priorities in town besides getting some Clothes for Alonso?

>Write them in:

Rolled 11 (1d20)

>>3786151
Get Jeanette some spare clothes while we get Alonso's.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>3786151
A kindergarten-grade workbook for Alice. She at least has to know how to write in the language she's speaking.
Alice doesn't have to be a prodigy. But the basics of grammar is better than no grammar at all. I'd like to stay away from math workbooks for a little more to keep her head from overheating.

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>3786151

>>3786552
Supporting this and some basic writing supplies.

>>3786300
>>3786552
>>3786745
>15 and that shopping list. Closing the vote here.

>>3789176
>>3789176
>>3789176
The new thread's here.