A Scandal of a Magical Sort Ch. 06

When Mels opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of a beautiful, cloudless, evening sky. Blues, oranges, and purples swirled like paint. Mels was reminded of laying on his back on the fountain back in Kelna. And just as before, he felt he could lie there for all eternity.

But Christi needed help.

It was a strange feeling as he went to stand up. It felt as though he was pulling himself up by strings like a puppet. His limbs felt heavy, and he was conscious of every movement he made. It was incredibly dizzying, to say the least, and he fell forward into a squat. Mels did not know what to expect, entering someone's mind, but as he cradled his head in his hands, he attempted to focus his mind. To the best of his ability, he tried to manifest the strange, stoic magic from before. It took a few minutes - or hours perhaps, it was hard to tell - but eventually, he focused his thoughts. As a test, he wiggled his fingers against his head. It did not feel like each one was made of stone, so he brushed his hands through his hair. Again, they felt like his hands. He continued the process until he was able to stand up straight.

Opening his eyes, he found that he was standing in a large field of wheat. It was a completely flat plain, utterly featureless, and stretching out forever. Excerpt for directly in front of him. In the distance, stood a featureless stone tower. The same one from Kelna.

Christi's there he figured, his thoughts a bit louder in his head. With confidence, he started walking but only took a few steps before stopping and looking down. He was completely nude.

I suppose that makes sense Mels thought, and, not knowing what to do about it, continued onward. He takes a few more steps before stopping at the sound of rustling in the wheat beside his own. He turns to see that, out of nothing, a stag with a dark blue coat has appeared. A Stag, with two heads, one of which grazed while the other watched Mels. Its fur was a gradient, getting brighter on its underside, and with dots of white sprinkled against its coat, it nearly resembled the night sky. Pure white antlers sat elegantly on the upright head, nearly glowing. To complete the strange imagery, it was saddled as if he was someone's mount, but Mels saw no one else around.

Despite the strangeness of this creature, Mels felt calm as he approached it. The head with antlers continued to stare as the other head grazed as he walked closer. When he got close enough, Mels placed a tentative on its side, feeling its belly rise and fall. Its fur was soft. Being close enough, he noted that the head had four eyes, all of which were pale gold.

"Hey there," Mels said, softly stroking its side. "Who do you belong to?" At that question the stag raised its other head, this one having curled ram horns. What happened next Mels would not be able to explain if he could, but staring at the stag, into all eight eyes, he heard unintelligible whispers in his mind. Despite that, however, a wave of understanding came over him. Mels nodded in response to the magical feeling, reaching out to scratch behind the ears of the antlered head. It blew air out its nose in appreciation.

"You're going to help me, Ussu?" Mels asked as if talking to an old friend. As if he was talking to Christi.

The stag stamped the ground twice, and inexplicably, Mels took that as a yes. He carefully climbed onto the saddle, giving a few more pets to both heads.

"Lead the way."

And with that, they bolted towards the tower. Mels did not have any reins, yet as he leaned forward and placed his hands on the saddle, there was not even a hint of panic or worry. Ussu galloped faster than any deer he could recall from the real world, gliding across the field. In no time at all they neared the base of the tower, though as they got closer, the tower got stranger and stranger. Encircling the tower was a large pit as wide as a lake. Ussu stopped right at the edge, allowing Mels a full view. The pit itself stretched into darkness, shadows obscuring its depth. The tower itself stood tall in the middle, sitting on a tiny island. Along the cliffs of the pits were enormous tree roots, twisting and turning as they reached out to the tower, coming up to its base and incircling it, covering the first few floors in branches. The bark of the roots was pure white, dotted with pink flowers.

Mels leaned over to look into the pit, being strangely drawn to it, and he quickly realized its nature, as he detected a familiar magic emanating from the shadows. Corruption. He looked back up at the tower, gazing at it as if trying to look through its walls.

"I'm coming, Christi," he said aloud, pulling on his saddle to guide Ussu toward the nearest branch. As they got closer he realized it was as large as a house, yet as they approached it, Ussu, braced and jumped towards it. Mels, only mildly surprised, held on tightly as they landed on the root and began galloping along it. They traced the winding root over the pit and up to the tower. The roots thinned, yet as they got closer, Ussu slowed to a stride, balancing elegantly on the skinny branches. They eventually reached the tower, only to realize there was no entrance.

"Any ideas, Ussu?" Mels asked, and without a beat, the magical mount stepped up to the stone wall and started to climb it, clinging to it like a spider. Mels held on tight to the saddle, only to realize that he did not fall backward, remaining upright as they trotted up the wall. The strangeness of the whole act hardly occurred to Mels, having long surrendered to the magic of the mindscape.

Ussu came to a stop on the wall, and looking down, Mels realized they stood near a window. Mels climbed off and landed off the wall, giving parting scratches to the ram horn head, which nuzzled into his hand. Stepping up to the window, he squatted and looked inside, and his heart jumped into his throat.

He saw Christi, sitting at the table. Fiddling with a dreamscope.

Mels suddenly found he was completely clueless on how to proceed. After a few moments of hesitation, he leaned over to knock on the window. However, he found himself leaning so far that he fell into the window. Mels yelped as he fell sideways into the room, colliding with a pile of books, and scattering scores of parchment.

"Oh, hi Mels," Christi said cheerfully.

Mels groaned in pain as he climbed out of the pile of parchment and books. The pain faded quickly, however, as he stood up straight to look at Christi. She was a mirror image of the Christi he remembered the day he was offered to join her on an adventure. Mels felt himself smiling stupidly, as his heart filled with joy and-

"Sooo, are you gonna put on some pants?" Mels froze as he looked down at his nude body. It didn't even occur to him to cover his junk, and instead, he met her smirking gaze with an awkward shrug.

"I uh... do you have a pair?" he asked sheepishly, his pointed ears drooping.

"Stop playing around Mels, just think up some for yourself," she said matter-of-factly, going back to fiddle with the dreamscope. After a few moments in which nothing happened, she turned back to Mels. "Oh, don't worry it's easy. It's a mindscape, you come up with anything here, as long as I allow it."

"Oh," he said. That makes sense, I guess. Closing his eyes, he willed himself to feel clothes covering his body, channeling just as he did before in the field. When he opened his eyes, he found he was wearing his farm clothes. Complete with pants.

"Are you alright?" Mels asked, walking up and taking a seat on the table, looking down at Christi.

She looked up with a confused look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've been corrupted? And I'm currently inside your mind to somehow cure you?" He left a pregnant pause to hopefully impart just how absurd this all is.

"Huh. I don't feel corrupted," she said with genuine confusion, shuffling in her seat. "I'm guessing my conscious self is using holy magic in order to imprison my subconscious personalities in memories as a method of limiting the spread of Corruption in her mind. That's just my current working theory, anyway."

Mels watch her continue to fiddle with the dreamscope in silence, before chuckling. "Even you're subconscious is as snarky as ever." She smiled and continued to fiddle. He looked at the swirling colors of the device for a while before sighing. "But I guess what I mean to say is that you're really smart"

She finally stopped working the dreamscope and looked up with a smirk. "Oh? Is that all?"

"Again, you're trying to tease me, but I'm being genuine. You are really smart. And empathetic." He paused to look at Christi, who now seemed raptured by what he had to say. "I mean, for all you're teasing, which I also do, you never judged me for wanting to learn magic. I know that Aylala said that I was only doing it to get in your bed but, YOU never said that. I think you genuinely wanted to help. I'll admit that initially, I just wanted to impress you. But over time I think your mentorship became something more to me."

When he looked up Christi's expression was almost sad. She was lost in thought as if testing the weight of Mel's words. Mels stood up tentatively reached and placed a hand on hers.

And she held it.

"For two years, I kept visiting because you were my friend, and I liked you. I kept visiting more because... I loved you."

Time froze once more as the youthful pair looked into each other's eyes. And eventually, she smiled.

"Aaawwww! That was like, the cutest thing ever!"

Mels and Christi quickly turned to look at the landing of the stairs, eyes widening in shock. Standing there was the corrupted Christi, complete with her exaggerated hourglass figure. She wore the same silver mage uniform as the Christi beside him, replacing the deep blue with a dark purple. Her top and loincloth both strained against her overly generous hips and bust, and her face was as immaculate as Christi's save for lips so full it forced her to involuntarily pout. She was bouncing in place, apparently unconcerned with the possibility of her jiggling breasts escaping her top.

"Didya hear what he said?! Didya, didya?!" She exclaimed.

"Obviously," the Christi beside Mels said in an even tone.

The voluptuous Christi bounded over Mels, who remained frozen in place and clung to his arm. "He said he loved us!" She peppered Mels' face and neck with kisses. "And Christi loves you too, Melsie-poo!" She rubbed her breasts against his arm, moaning softly.

"Subtle," snarked the less-exaggerated Christi, who then stood up. "I'd say we'd come up with names to tell us apart, but obviously only one of us is going to be constantly humping you."

"Ah, a name! That's a good idea!" said the moaning Christi. "Um.... how about.... Oh, it's like, so hard to think! Daddy, can you come up with a name for your baby girl?"

Mels, being dead silent this whole time, finally let out an exasperated sigh. "Christi, I'm not your daddy."

"But of course you are, Melsie!" she whined. "You said you loved us!"

"I SAID I loved Christi." Mels, realizing what he just said, looked back at the uncorrupted Christi for support, but she simply leaned against the table, smirking at her feet.

"Hmph! Well, even though you're so smart, Melsie," said the corrupted Christi, swaying beside her less busty counterpoint. "You should know that, like, whatever you said to her, you also say to me too! Because we're both her sub..su-sub, um..."

"Subconscious," said uncorrupted Christi.

"Yeah! That!"

Mels stood back, observing the two of them. They both watched him carefully, but Mels equally considered the both of them. And despite one being unabashedly busty, curvy, eager to climb on top of him and never get back down. He considered that that one was right, in a way. They are both, equally, Christi.

"Crystal," Mels blurted out suddenly.

"Hmm? What's that?" the silver-eyed Christi said.

"It's my new name for you," he said to the purple-eyed Christi, who gasped in excitement.

"Really?!" She asked, and Mels nodded. She leaped into his arms "Thank you so much, daddy! I love love love it, it's so pretty!" She continued to rub herself against him, moaning in pleasure. Mels hesitated to look at Christi, but all he saw was a satisfied smile.

The three of them settled into a comfortable silence, but it wasn't long before it was interrupted by the sound of a distant boom. It came from beneath them, from beneath the tower. And, suddenly, the familiar weight of Corruption filled the room. Mels tensed and Chriti tensed up, looking at the staircase. Crystal continued to cling to Mels, though she stopped rubbing against him, whimpering into his neck.

"Mels," Christi said tentatively

"Christi, I think that's-"

The entire tower shook, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Crystal clinged tighter to Mels. Watching the stairs they saw what appeared to be a rising flood of tar. They all backed up as the liquid slowly filled the room, bubbly and bursting like lava.

"Melsie!"

"Christi!"

"Mels, move your ass!" When Mels looked back, Christi was already beginning to climb the stairs on the opposite side of the room. Mels quickly realized the obvious and followed close behind, with Crystal gripping tightly onto his clothes. Mels did not look back, but he could hear just how quickly the room flooded, and even more eerily, how the furniture creaked and moaned terribly as it was falling apart.

"Come on!" Chrsti shouted down the stairs. The trio quickened their pace, quickly passing by the next few floors. As they went, Mels noticed that Christi was brushing her hand against the wall, leaving runic symbols to carve themselves into the stone as they went. He was of course curious, but they continued onwards without a word. Eventually, they came to the top floor, which was utterly featureless. And yet, as Christi moved to its center, a chair suddenly appeared, and Christi stood up on it. As Mels and Crystal followed close behind, they saw her reach up for a trap door and open it. She climbed through, turned, and reached towards them.

"Take my hand, Mels!"

He instead lifted Crystal to the chair, and she stretched out to take her hand. Christi hesitates before lifting her through the trap door. As she does, Mels finally looks back and sees the approaching tar, violently bubbling.

"TAKE IT!"

He obeyed and was pulled through just as the liquid reached the chair. Christi closed the trap door, leaving the three of them alone on the rook. Mels looked over the side and saw the lower floors destroyed, with debris falling into the pit. The roots that were connected to it were crumbling into ash. As he suspected, the shadows from the pit reached upward like prying hands, and a pit formed in his stomach.

"Melsie, what's that?!"

He turned and was equal parts surprised and relieved. Standing there proudly was Ussu, complete with his saddle. His coat sparkled like the light at the end of the tunnel, and the two heads stood upright. Mels stepped to the mysterious steed and noticed on closer inspection, that his build had changed from that of a lithe deer to a well-build draft horse, big enough for the three of them.

"Don't worry, he's friendly!" Mels exclaimed as he climbed onto his back. Crystal climbed up and sat up behind him, wrapping her hands around his waist, and pressing her enormous breasts into his back. Christi simply looked up at him.

"Mels..."

The trap door burst open, the tar bubbling like a geyser. And Mels reached out. "Take it, Christi!"

She did and climbed on in front of Mels. And leaned against his chest.

Despite the urgency, Mels was slow to wrap his hands around Christi to grab the saddle, but when he did he guided Ussu towards the edge of the tower. Both girls yelped as they galloped over the edge, sharply turning downwards as Ussu clung to the wall once more. Crystal holds onto Mels tightly and he does the same with Christi as they bounded down the side of the tower. Mels began to worry as they approached the crumbling lower floors, but just as before, a sense of calm fell over him, surrendering his trust to Ussu.

The steed proceeded to leap gracefully from the wall, landing on the decaying roots. Ussu pranced like a swan across the roots, reaching the edge of the pit. Behind them the the shadows erupted, and the tar-like liquid began to writhe as if trying to shape itself. Suddenly, Christi yelled and reached behind them as they galloped into the field, her hand glowing gold. To his amazement, Mels watched as the entire tower and the corrupting tar were suddenly engulfed in golden flame, now realizing the purpose of those runes. It quickly formed into a tornado of fire, reaching into the sky, so big that Mels could feel the heat even as they galloped into the endless wheat field. The writhing tar let out a piercing, inhuman screech as it began to violently burst against the golden tornado as if it were fighting it. Christi grunted with effort before falling limp against his chest. Mels pulled Ussu to a stop as he held onto her to prevent her from falling.

"That should hold it," Christi managed in between gasps. "For a little while at least."

"Christi," Mels said. "You're amazing."

Christi weakly chuckled as she leaned into his arms, smiling. "You could stand to say that more often."

Thunder suddenly crackled above them as storm clouds began to form. Mels pulled on the saddle to will Ussu to gallop again. In moments the trio were drenched in a downpour as they continued to ride on. Mels looked behind them to see, in the distance, the rain slowly extinguishing the flame.

"We can't just ride on forever!" Christi shouted over the thunder and rain. "I have an idea!"

She then gripped Mels' hand tightly as she closed her eyes. Crystal did the same with his other hand. He couldn't tell what the two of them were planning, but a strange, warm sensation began to blanket his entire body. He did not resist as he closed his eyes as well, and his body became weightless, akin to falling asleep.

Moments later he opened his eyes and sat in silent awe as he looked at the towering wheat above him. As Ussu leaped over a large boulder, he realized they had all shrunk, to the extent that only a few drops of drain pierced the the canopy of wheat. Christi then grabbed onto the saddle, and Mels let him guide their mount through the forest of wheat. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of an enormous clear bottle.

Ussu was pulled to a stop and they all dismounted, with Crystal still tightly attached to Mels. Christi jumped and grabbed onto the lip of the bottle, pulling herself up into its neck. Mels and Crystal were right behind her, with Mels helping to pull Crystal up. He couldn't help but notice how her comically large - and now glistening wet - breasts squished against the glass. She moaned in pleasure as she stood up straight, her large nipples poking through her soaked top.

"Do you like them, Melsie?"

"Come on Crystal," said Christi as she walked into the body of the bottle. "Now's really not the time."

Mels remained silent as he followed behind Christi, who waved her hands as she walked. Behind them, a cork formed to seal them in, and runic symbols, similar to the ones from the tower, scratch themselves into the surface of the bottle.

"That should keep us safe," she said as she landed in the body of the bottle, took a few steps, and collapsed against its side. Soon after Crystal practically landed on top of him, which dislodged her top just enough to allow her right nipple to poke over the top. She didn't adjust it.

"You know, you're just jealous because my boobies are, like, totally bigger than yours," Crystal said proudly. Mels did not dare to move his lips as she laid across his side, pulling him to cuddle against said boobies.