Mollified Magic Ch. 24

Chapter 24: New beginnings

Late Sunday afternoon.

Tom resumes the narration.

The sound of a gong was heard, as I reappeared in the foyer, along with Tish, Adrian, Grandmother and Aunt Agnes.

"I'm sorry I took so long," I said, "But I had Agnes make a large batch of healing ointment first. I also had to convince them that this was not a trap."

Molly and Morgana had tears of joy in their eyes as they hugged Tish, Adrian and Grandmother. Molly and Morgana reassured them that they were fine.

"Who are all these people?" Mother asked of the mansion staff gathered on the staircase.

"They were all slaves Blaze used mostly for his perversions," Morgana explained. "All of them are non-magical except for Nigel. Molly and I are trying to sort them all out now."

I looked over at Nigel and found him being embraced by Aunt Agnes.

"You're still alive!" I heard Agnes say. Tears were streaming down her face. "It's been over 20 years; I can't believe it."

"I everyone here?" I asked Nigel.

"Everyone except those poor souls in the basement," Nigel explained, "I think we should discuss them separately."

"Attention everybody!" Tom announced, "Could everyone just take a seat on the stairs? I have a few announcements to make."

While they were sorting themselves out, I conferred with Molly and Morgana about their interviews and gave them their cell phones. Once they were all seated and quiet, I turned to address them.

"As I hope all of you now know," I began, "Blaze is no longer master of this mansion."

I pointed the Golden Staff to a vacant corner of the foyer and with a thought, the gilded cage containing Blaze instantly appeared there. He was standing naked, spread eagle with his wrists and ankles shackled in the cuffs attached to the cage. I placed one of his own red collars around his neck so he couldn't heat himself up and melt the cuffs holding him in place.

There were murmurs from the crowd on the steps.

"My name is Tom Ward, and this is my family," I said, indicating the Spellmans and Brewsters standing behind me, "We are the new owners of the mansion. As of right now, none of you will be working here as slaves any longer. For those of you who wish to stay and work here, you will get paid for your work and allowed use of the facilities."

"For those of you who wish to return to your own homes and families, we will do our best to make that happen, but there is a problem," I continued. "All of you are aware that magic is real and there are many bad actors in the magical community who misuse their power. But there are good witches and warlocks, too, and I hope that every one of you will consider us to be among them. If you choose to go home, we will need to wipe all memory of this place and your experience with magic from your minds, but only if you choose to leave.

"But before you decide," I continued, "there is one thing I must do."

I held up the Golden Staff in front of the crowd on the stairs.

"Amovere Eradica!" I shouted, keeping the intent of my command in my mind.

All of the red collars disappeared, except for the one on Blaze's neck. The crowd of people on the stairs hesitated before they spontaneously started talking all at once.

I turned around and looked at Molly, Morgana, Tish, Adrian, Aunt Agnes, and Nigel.

"Will you guys help me sort out those who want to leave and those who want to stay?" I asked. "I need to talk with Grandmother for a bit, then we can start to return people to where they belong."

Molly, Morgana, Mother, Daddy, Aunt Agnes, and Nigel spent the next two hours sorting out the former slave servants into those wishing to return to their homes and those opting to stay and work the mansion.

Meanwhile, I conferred with Grandmother in the study about my leading the Warlock Council since I held the Golden Staff. I also wanted her opinion about what to do with Blaze. Fortunately, Blaze had an exceptional library in the study and Grandmother helped me find the references I needed, as well as some advice about dealing with the warlocks on the Council. After over ninety minutes, we joined the others in sorting out the men and women who staffed the mansion.

I was surprised to find that many of the girls wanted to stay, as did a few of the boys. They were given the further option of keeping or changing their body enhancements. Almost all of the girls wanted their breasts to be reduced to their natural sizes, but a couple wanted to keep or modify their enhancements. As expected, all of the boys who stayed wanted their packages restored and, in most cases, further enlarged.

Between me, Molly, Morgana, Mother, Daddy, and Grandmother, we were able to quickly undo Lord Blaze's perverted body distortions on the mansion staff; although some of the boys didn't get as much penile enlargement over their natural size as they requested. The girls were all happy to have their breast sizes restored, especially those who were lactating.

I made a special effort to seek out the young man that I endowed with enormous breasts. I learn his name was Lucas and he was from a small village in Denmark. I returned his chest to its natural chiseled state and gave him the ten-inch penis with equivalent scrotum he requested. He accepted my apology and told me he wanted to stay at on the mansion.

Aunt Agnes and Nigel made potions in the kitchen for all the staff members. Every one of them had suffered from traumatic experiences at Lord Blaze's demented expense and the potions would cause them to either forget or move on from those experiences.

For those people returning to their homes, the potion they were given would cause an amnesia, enabling them to forget everything that happened from the time Blaze took them from their families. For those who were staying, their potion would help them to push past those stressful memories.

The people leaving the mansion got first pick of the clothing in the closets upstairs. Once they were dressed, no matter how ill-fitting the clothing was, each man and woman drank the amnesia potion, and I returned them to a secluded area near their homes where they would reunite with their families.

Adrian accompanied me and Nigel in the basement. There wasn't much we could do for the magically mutilated bodies we found there since all that remained were body parts with no way of communicating who they were or where they had come from. After conferring with Adrian and Nigel, we agreed to simply remove the magic keeping them alive and let them rest in peace.

With the little remaining time I had before the Warlock Council meeting, I secluded myself in the study to prepare my plan for the meeting.

I was the first to arrive at the Council Chamber, but not before Molly joined Alani in "dressing me up" in my black tuxedo in every detail, right down to the last shirt stud and cufflink. Both Alani and Molly had reminded me to be sure I had my horns out. Molly insisted on measuring their length. As she predicted, they were a full 11 inches long.

I materialized with the Golden Staff in hand in front of what used to be Lord Blaze's chair. The chair had the tallest backrest of all the chairs around the table. It was engraved with a large red flame symbolizing the Warlock of Fire.

The other chairs also had engravings, each uniquely symbolizing the special qualities of their warlock occupants. There were gold coins and gold ingots engraved on the back of the chair for the Warlock of Greed and a veritable feast engraved on the chair of the Warlock of Gluttony. Lewd depictions of sexual acts were engraved on the back of the chair reserved for the Warlock of Lust.

As I looked at the figures carved into that chair, they were suddenly obscured by Conner, its rightful occupant as he materialized in front of it.

"Welcome Conner," I greeted him.

"Hello, Tom," he replied.

Other warlocks were literally popping into the room.

I tried to greet them individually, but the warlocks arrived so quickly that I had only greeted half of them before everyone was there.

They all looked at me expectantly because I held the Golden Staff.

"Gentlemen, please be seated," I said, smiling.

No one moved. Twelve sets of eyes looked at me, waiting.

"I will sit last," I announced, breaking the precedent set by Blaze.

They looked at each other and murmured amongst themselves. Gradually and cautiously, the warlocks around the table sat down. I sat down after everyone was seated.

"While you are all aware that I have assumed the leadership of the Council," I began, "you are probably wondering what kind of leader I will be and how that might affect each of you."

"Unlike my, um . . ." I couldn't bring myself to say the word 'father', so I restarted, "Unlike the previous holder of this staff, I do not seek power or domination. I've seen what that did to him, and I have no intention of becoming anything like that."

Faces around the table turned to each other briefly along with a low murmur in the room. I waited until it stopped before continuing.

"I've only been a warlock for exactly one week," I pointed out, "Each of you possesses more knowledge and experience about magic and the role of the Council than me. In addition, the position of Council Leader has always been an elected position until my . . . um . . . until Blaze usurped that position. It is my intention to reinstate the role of Council Leader to its original form as an elected position."

Smiles broke out across the table. "Here, here," "well done," and "excellent," was voiced my most of the members.

"But before you vote," I said loudly to get their attention, "I would like for this Council to decide what to do about him," I pointed the Golden Staff to an area on my right.

The gilded cage with Blaze inside appeared where I pointed. Blaze faced the Council Table with his wrists and ankles held in the cuffs affixed on opposite sides of the cage to prevent him from casting a spell. He had a red collar around his neck and wore a black, hooded robe that Nigel had placed over him at my request.

"You are all acquainted with many of the various crimes against the magical community committed by this warlock," I announced, not using the word 'father', "But only a few of you are aware of the multiple violations of magical law that he committed in his various mansions. I seek your counsel in deciding what to do with him."

There was a moment of hesitation when the warlocks looked around the table at each other before Damon, the Warlock of Corruption, with the rust-orange orb on his staff rose from his seat.

"There is no need to debate," he said in his scratchy voice, "He deserves a fate worse than the one he gave my son!"

Damon pointed his staff at the cage as a rust-orange beam of light streamed from the orb towards the cage.

"No!" Blaze screamed, as he aged before my eyes.

One by one, the other warlocks pointed their orbed staffs in Blaze's direction. Blaze's body changed multiple times while he continued to age. He was repeatedly zapped by small storm clouds that the Warlock of Air placed above the cage. His feet hardened into rock, and he became obscenely obese and sluggish. Lust and anger consumed his thoughts as he spat out profane epithets.

Only Adrian and Mortimer, the Warlocks of Water and Death held back. Blaze was a raging mess, crippled and rotting, he was no longer rational as he screamed profanities at no one in particular.

Mortimer looked at Adrian, who nodded. Mortimer then looked at me.

"I have always considered myself to be a warlock of mercy," the Warlock of Death said, "Death is more often than not a kindness and a relief from pain and suffering."

I walked up to the cage and stood in front of Blaze.

"I may be your son," I said to him, "but you were never my father. You not only killed the only family I ever knew, but you stole and killed their child before torturing them to their deaths. I will never forgive you for what you did to them, but I will show you more mercy than you deserve."

I stepped aside and nodded towards Mortimer.

Mortimer pointed his staff with the obsidian orb at Blaze. A white beam of light emanated from Blaze's chest and radiated towards the obsidian orb and was absorbed. The tortured body in the gilded cage went still. Seconds later, the body burst into flames and was consumed by the flames so that not even an ash was left.

I went back to my chair and stood to address the Council.

"In his study," I explained, "Blaze had books that explained the various methods for transferring the power of the Golden Staff. There is a way to transfer the ownership of the Golden Staff and ensure that the rightful owner cannot have the staff taken away even by accident or trickery. But under that method of transference, the new owner can only possess the staff for up to a year, unless reelected by the Council."

I climbed up on the great onyx table and stood near its center, holding the Golden Staff. I placed the butt end of the staff against the center of the table and began to chant.

"I hereby relinquish this staff made of gold,

To the warlock elected in Council to hold,

Entrusted by colleagues to wield its great power,

Until next Halloween at the top of the hour."

The white light of the orb glowed brighter. I pushed down on the staff and a small opening formed in the table as the end of the staff descended into the hole. It sunk about half a foot into the table and stopped. I tugged on the staff to be sure it was secure before releasing it.

The white orb at the top of the staff slowly dimmed and went out, leaving what looked like a clear or empty glass orb at the top of the staff. When I looked to climb down from the table, I saw that my chair, or rather, the chair belonging to the Warlock of Fire, was no longer there. I didn't realize that when I gave up the Golden Staff, I also gave up my seat on the Council.

"Oh!" I said in surprise.

I left the table and walked off into the darkness. Noisy bickering erupted behind me as the warlocks at the Council argued in their own behalf about their right to become the next leader and hold the Golden Staff.

The walk gave me a chance to reflect back on the events of the day, especially the joyful faces of the young men and women who were going home to see their families, knowing they would never remember the horrors and humiliations they suffered under Blaze.

They had each suffered so much. Blaze had tortured and humiliated them for his own amusement. The women were all sexual playthings to him, and he would change their physical appearances to suit his mood without regard to, or maybe because of the psychological impact those changes would have on them. I was grateful for the potions that Agnes and Nigel made, enabling them to restart their lives without the psychological trauma that would otherwise hold them back or drive them to suicide.

The men suffered just as much. They were humiliated and degraded almost daily, and many were used for his own perverse sexual pleasures. They were surrounded by attractive women and mercilessly humiliated in front of them if they displayed any interest in those women. Agnes' potions, combined with enhanced restorations of their penis sizes would go a long way to making things right with them again.

I also reflected on the beautiful men and women who opted to stay and serve at the mansion, most of whom enjoyed the attractive enhancements to their bodies. There were secret relationships that some of the men and women had formed with each other at the mansion. Those relationships were often the reason that most of the men were persuaded not to get too carried away with their penile enlargements.

Alani was one of the women who chose to remain and requested to retain her position as my personal valet. Maybe I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was when Molly asked Alani if she would share duties with her as well. Those two became fast friends once we all had a chance to be alone together.

After she met the real Alani, Molly understood how quickly I was able to spot the imposter Blaze had sent to spy on us. To me, that was the most difficult part of my plan to defeat Blaze, for I had to berate and abuse Molly for almost 45 minutes until I could send Blaze's spy down to the patio. Only then could I explain my plan to Molly. That didn't leave much time for us to switch bodies and have Molly beat me to get the red marks I needed to convince Blaze that I was Molly and Molly was "Thermos" and loyal to him.

I walked in circles, reminiscing about the Wards, college, and rowing. I was so lost in thought that I didn't hear Adrian approach me in the darkness.

"Tom?" he said, "The Council would like to see you back."

I started to walk behind Adrian to the Council table, but he stopped and put his arm over my shoulder, and we walked back to the Council table side-by-side. When we got back to the table, things had changed. The Golden Staff was no longer planted at the center of the table. Instead, it was held in Conner's right hand, and its orb glowed a bright purple. Conner was smiling triumphantly; his warlock horns were a magnificent 8-inches long.

The empty chair belonging to the Warlord of Fire was back and was the same height as all the other chairs around the table, except for Conner's, which now had the highest backrest. Planted in the table in front of the Fire Warlord's chair was a staff with a colorless orb.

"Welcome back, Thermos!" Conner said with a big grin, "or would you prefer to be called Tom or 'Honey'?"

I chuckled, "Tom is fine."

"As you can see," he said, "I cashed in all those favors these guys owed me. I told you that Lust was a great power!"

"I never doubted it, Your Excellency," I said, bowing my head.

"None of this head-bowing, 'Your Excellency' shit around here," Conner said with a wink, "I'm still Conner."

"Yes, Conner," I said with a smile.

He cleared his throat.

"By unanimous decision of the Warlock Council," he said in a regal-sounding voice, which oddly sounded strange coming from him, "We have officially elected you as the Warlock of Fire for your bravery, your cunning and most of all, for your loyalty to the Council. Do you accept? Or do I have to fill you with so much lust that you'll beg me to accept?"

I laughed. "Both options sound good," I said, "But as you know, I have more lust around me than I can handle now. I accept."

I glanced at Adrian when I said that and his did his best to hide a smile behind his hands.

I reached out and touched the staff planted in front of me. It glowed a bright white color as I drew it out of the table. I was now a permanent member of the Warlock Council as the Warlock of Fire.

"Excellent," Conner replied, "then if there are no objections, this meeting is adjourned. Oh, and everyone is invited to my place next Saturday for a celebratory orgy. Guests are welcome and clothing is optional as always."

Most of the warlocks disappeared, although a few held private conversations before leaving. Adrian came over and asked to accompany me back to the mansion. I placed my hand on his shoulder, raised my staff and a white flamed engulfed us as the Council Chamber disappeared around us.

A gong sounded as we rematerialized in the foyer of the mansion.

It was well after 2 AM. Lucas, who stayed on to work at the mansion, greeted us. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a formal white shirt with only the bottom two buttons actually fastened and with most of his muscular chest on display. His shirt was only half tucked in, and he was barefoot.

Behind him was a beautiful, barefoot, petite blonde, struggling to button the oversized men's shirt she was wearing, or trying to wear. Her hair was slightly mussed, and it was obvious that the two of them were in the process of enjoying their new freedom until our arrival interrupted their activities.