The Grand Masquerade: part 2

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Carol burst through the front door of her home. When she heard the screams, she had barely taken the time to unlock the door. Once inside, she frantically looked for her nephew and the one who was screaming. She didn’t see her nephew. But she did find the screamer. And her jaw dropped.

The screamer was a Naga. Or, maybe she was a Lamia. Carol couldn’t tell. The being had the upper body of a woman and her lower body was a snake’s. But she had four arms. None of the myths or legends said they had more than two. She took a quick look around the room, but couldn’t see anything. Since she couldn’t see any threats, Carol decided to try to calm the screamer down. She slowly approached the strange female, all the while making calming noises.

“Calm down,” Carol said when she got within arm’s reach. “You’re alright. There’s nobody here that will hurt you.” Her words seemed to do the trick. Slowly the female calmed down.

Carol looked around as her husband and kids entered the house. “I didn’t see anybody else inside,” she said. “Did you?”

“I didn’t,” Donald answered. He looked around for a moment. “Where’s Matthew?”

“I didn’t see him when I got here,” Carol answered. “Did you see him outside?”

Donald shook his head. “No. Do you think. . .” he couldn’t finish the question.

“A-aunt Carol.”

Both Carol’s and Donald’s heads snapped toward the female. “How do you know my name,” Carol asked.

“She also called you ‘aunt,’” Donald said.

“It’s me, Matthew,” the female said.

The adults shared a look. “You can’t be Matthew,” Donald said. “Matthew is a boy.” Carol didn’t say anything, but she did look thoughtful.

“I swear it’s me,” the girl said. “I’m Matthew.”

“Can you tell us how you got here,” Donald asked. “That way, we can tell if you’re telling the truth.”

“I’m not lying," the female insisted. “I’m really Matthew. I don’t know what happened. I fell asleep on the couch, had some weird dream, then woke up like this.”

Carol attention spiked. She held up her hand to stop her husband from speaking. “Weird dream,” she asked. “What happened in this dream?”

“Just some voices telling me I was chosen for something,” the girl asked. “For what, I didn’t catch. When I woke up, I looked like this.”

Donald stared at his wife for a moment. “Do you believe her,” he finally asked. “That story is a bit hard to swallow.”

“Donald,” Carol said seriously. “Before coming home, we witnessed our high priestess get possessed by our goddess. She told us that Their emissary was being placed in our home. Is Their fault that we thought they meant something different?” She sighed. “Besides, how else can you explain Matthew’s disappearance?”

Donald rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t know what to say. On one hand, their god spoke to them. Which he had to admit, was pretty convincing. On the other, people just don’t transform like this without offending the gods in some manner. And he couldn’t see how Matthew could have offended them. The situation was beyond him.

“Whatever we do,” Carol said. “We need to get the kids inside. It seems safe enough in here.” As her husband walked off, Carol turned to, what she was beginning to suspect, her nephew, now her niece. She opened her mouth. But froze as her eyes dropped to Matthew’s massive breasts. “Um, do you mind if I cover those up?” The female looked down and blushed as her four hands came up and tried to cover her breasts. Those hands looked very small against the flesh of her chest. She nodded, and Carol turned away to get a blanket.

Carol couldn’t help but compare those with her own. She felt a little self-conscious over the size difference. She reminded herself that nobody would take her seriously if she had breasts that size. She also would never be able to convince people that that Wiccans, or, at least her group of Wiccans, didn’t go sky clad during religious ceremonies. She had enough of a problem with that as it was. It didn’t take her long to find a blanket and return to the young female.

“Here you go, um, Matthew,” Carol said as she handed her the blanket.

“Thank you,” Matthew quietly said. She quickly wrapped the blanket around herself. Her four arms clutching it close to her body. “Do you know what happened to me?”

Carol winced. She was not ready to answer that question. Matthew was not a religious person. Understandable considering what happened to his parents. She did not think that her new niece would appreciate being changed by the gods. She really didn’t think Matthew would want to prepare the world for their return. But she also had never lied to him before. And she wasn’t going to start now. Especially since the changed boy would need to trust as never before.

“Well,” Carol began. “I do know what happened. But, you’re not going to like it.”

Matthew gave her a look. “I already don’t like what happened,” she said. “How can it be any worse?”

“Don’t tempt the gods,” Carol said with a wince. “They can always make it worse.”

Before either of them could say anything else, Donald returned with their children. “I’ll call a Timothy to fix the door,” he said as he entered the room. Their children stared curiously at the snake woman.

“Kids,” Carol began. “You know we left the ceremony early, right?” she waited for their nods. “Well, the reason was because the gods have chosen us for a very special task. We are to guard and help their chosen emissary to prepare the world for their return.”

“Is that who that is,” her son William asked. He was a tall fourteen-year-old. Like his father, he had brown hair and eyes.

“Yes,” Carol answered. “She is the emissary.” Matthew couldn’t help the wince when his aunt called him a she. “She’ll be living with us now.”

“What about Matthew,” her daughter, Briana, asked. She was eight, had white blonde hair and very blue eyes. Carol had high hopes that she would be a powerful magic user when she grew up. “Where’s he going to live?”

“We need to talk about that.” Carol swallowed. This wasn’t going to be easy. She believed that William would understand what happened. She wasn’t so sure about Briana. She glanced at Matthew. “You see, when the gods chose the emissary. They didn’t just make her out of nothing. They chose a living person to become their emissary. They chose Matthew.”

Briana tilted her head to the side. “They can’t have picked Matthew,” she said. “Matthew is a boy. The emississary is a girl.” She pointed at Matthew. “See, she has real big boobies.”

Both Carol and Matthew blushed. “Briana, honey,” Carol said. “While it is true, that’s not a polite thing to say.”

“I’m sorry, Mommy,” Briana said as she looked down.

“I’m not mad. This is just something you need to remember for the future. Some people do not like having their differences pointed out.”

“That’s Matthew,” blurted out William. “How can that be?”

“The gods did it,” answered Carol. “They chose Matthew to be their emissary. Why they chose to change him into this, I don’t know.” She looked at Matthew. She shook her head. “And neither does Matthew. They may tell us in the future, but that’s then. Right now, we need to help Matthew get used to his, um, her new body.” She looked at her husband. “We also need to see who we need to contact about this. No matter what, Matthew still needs an education.”

“Aunt Carol,” Matthew said, surprising her cousins with her soft voice. “Who’d believe this?” She waved two hands at her body. “Who would believe that the gods, changed me?”

“You’d be surprised,” Donald said. He held up his phone. “From what the internet says, if you chose to believe it, this is was a world-wide event. Religious leaders from around the world received visions from their gods.”

“Well,” Carol said. “We should prepare for visitors. Some of them won’t be friendly. They’ll probably be hostile.”

“And that mean’s getting the door fixed,” Donald said.

“Sorry,” blushed Carol. “I heard a scream and just reacted.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Donald said as he gave his wife a hug. “I would have done the same thing.” He looked at their broken door. “I guess I’ll call Steve in the morning.” He turned back to his wife. “He should be able to fix it tomorrow. Especially if I tell him it’s emergency.”

“What’s an emergency,” a voice called from their open front door.

The family turned toward the door to see a tall, blonde man standing there. He was wearing a red flannel shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of old sneakers. “Steve,” Donald said. “What are you doing here at this time of night?”

“Ask the wife,” Steve said. “I was just minding my own business, when, suddenly, she told me to grab my tools and to be here at this time. You know how she gets, sometimes.” His voice grew quiet as he finally saw Matthew.

A sudden slithering sound filled the room. Everybody stared as Matthew’s tail curled protectively around her. Carol had a sinking feeling as she a light appear in her daughter’s eyes.

Donald scratched the back of his head. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s a long story. I’ll you as you work on the door?”

Steve nodded, not taking his eyes off Matthew. “Raven did say I’d find something different here.”

Carol grabbed Briana’s arm as she tried to sneak past. “Alright kids,” she said. “It’s time for bed.”

“Mom,” William said. “It’s not even ten o’clock yet.”

“If you go to bed now,” bargained Carol. “I’ll buy you both three large bags of candy next time I go shopping.” Briana gasped then turned her head to look at her mother. After a moment, she darted off to the bathroom to start getting ready for bed. Carol looked at her son.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m going.” He followed his sister.

“What about me,” Matthew asked as she uncurled her tail from around her body. “Do I need to go to bed now?”

Carol and Donald looked at each other. Donald tilted his head toward Carol. She rolled her eyes in response. “Might as well,” she said. “It’ll probably take time to make a space large enough for you.” Bothe men watched as the two females left the room. It took a minute for the last of Matthew’s tail to vanish from view.

“You had your eyes on her tits, didn’t you,” Donald suddenly asked Steve.

“I couldn’t not look,” Steve said. “They’re so huge! I could still see them even though her back was to us.”

Donald grimaced. He too, couldn’t keep his eyes from returning to her chest. “You know she’s only 16, right?”

Steve hung his head. “I’m going to hell,” he moaned. “Please don’t tell Raven. I’d like to delay my trip to hell for as long as possible.”

Donald winced. “Don’t joke about those things now,” he said as the two turned toward the door. “Haven’t you been watching the tv?”

* *

Carol walked beside her new niece. She tried to keep from looking at her breasts. But they were just so big. It was like there was some force pulling her gaze there. “I’m not doing this to punish you,” Carol said. “I think that the gods didn’t, or couldn’t, tell you everything when they first spoke to you.”

Matthew looked at the older woman. “You think they’ll speak to me when I go back to sleep,” she asked. She shifted her second set of arms in an effort to minimize the jiggling her new breasts were doing.

“It’s possible. But I don’t speak for them. I’d be crazy to say that with the recent evidence.”

Matthew grimaced. She knew that she was the evidence her aunt was talking about. She sighed. She really wished this hadn’t happened to her. “Why me,” she asked. “What did I do to make them choose me?”

Even though she believed it was a rhetorical question, Carol answered it anyway. “I wish I knew, Matthew. Knowing that would make this a whole lot easier.” She winced as she saw Matthew’s shoulders slump. “What I’d like to know,” she said brightly, “is how do you know how to move? A few hours ago, you had legs. Now you have a tail and you’re moving like you were born like that.”

Matthew twisted to look over her shoulder. She studied her tail for a moment. “I don’t know,” she said softly as she twisted back around. “Maybe the gods gave me the ability,” she said bitterly.

Carol didn’t know what to say. While she believed in the gods, she knew Matthew did not. He hadn’t really believed in them since his parents were killed. And she couldn’t blame him. No child should be forced to watch their own parents killed. Whether it was an accident or not. They came upon Matthew’s room before she could think of anything to say. With a relieved sigh, Carol opened the door then froze in shock. Matthew’s room had changed.

No longer was Matthew’s room a mid-sized bedroom. It was now forty feet to a side. The bed, now in the middle of the room, had changed from a full sized to a custom circular one with a ten-foot diameter. In the opposite wall was the window. The curtains were still the same. Next to that, was a huge vanity. In the west wall Carol could see a set of double doors and regular door. She assumed they led to the closet and bathroom, respectively. After staring at the room for a moment, she looked down the hall to the next room. The distance hadn’t changed. She chose to believe that the gods had changed the room and house.

“Well,” Carol said weakly. “I don’t think I need to make room for you. I think the gods already did it.”

Matthew pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “I’m not sure I like this,” she said.

“Sorry, honey,” said Carol. “But there’s nothing I can do about it. If the gods speak to you tonight, you should take it up with them. They may be willing to make some changes to the room. After all, you are their chosen emissary. It would make sense to keep you happy.”

“I’d be happier if I could have kept my original body,” Matthew grumbled.

“That’s between you and the gods,” Carol sighed. “They do things for their own reasons. If we’re lucky, they’ll tell us what they are.” She sighed and studied the bed. The lines were obvious, which she was happy about. She didn’t know where she could get lines for a circular bed. It even had pillows stacked on one side. It looked very comfortable. Even if the person was, mostly, covered in scales.

“I’ll leave you to get ready for bed,” Carol told her niece. “Unless you need me for anything, that is.”

Matthew shook her head and shifted her arms. She grimaced at the movement this caused in her breasts. “I should be okay, she said. “It’s not like I have much to do to get ready, anyway.”

“I really hope the gods talk to you again,” Carol said as she turned to leave. “This is confusing enough as it is.”

Matthew watched her aunt as she left the room. She stared at the older woman as she stood by the door. It took a moment for Matthew to realize that her aunt was waiting for her to pull in the rest of her tail. Sheepishly, Matthew pulled in her tail. The question of how she knew how to move her new body arose. Again, Matthew couldn’t answer it.

Once the door was closed, Matthew stared at the bed. The circular shaped confused her until she looked at her tail. Then she understood the shape. “I guess it’ll be easier to sleep on a bed shaped like that,” she told herself. But she couldn’t figure out why a bed. A circular pad on the floor would have been enough. Especially since she didn’t think she’d be able to stay on the bed while asleep.

With a sigh, Matthew let the blanket drop and moved toward the bed. She found that the bed was waist high. She looked down at her lag of legs and wondered if that matter to her anymore. With her tail, she could easily adjust how high her waist was. Climbing into the bed was easier than she thought it would be. Once she got a loop of her tail up, the rest just flowed onto the bed. She had decided to stay over the covers this time as she didn’t notice any changes in temperature with her tail. She didn’t know if she was coldblooded or not. She made herself comfortable and tried to get some sleep. She doubted the gods would speak to her when she was awake. If they chose to speak with her at all. She did wonder what they would tell her, if they did speak with her. With that last thought, she drifted off to sleep.

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Comments

The next

chapter will answer a few questions. Chief among them will be why they're coming back and why they need an emissary. Until the next chapter is ready, I'm taking up jogging. I may need to run very fast once that's up.

Neck down

Jamie Lee's picture

Donald and Steve, and Carol to some extent, have proved no one will hear a word Matthew might say with the size of breasts the gods gave her. The men will need constant prodding to close their mouths, and the woman will do as Carol did and make a comparison to their own breasts.

Why in the world would the gods give her such larges breasts when they will detract what they want Matthew to do, what ever that happens to be. The gods really need to re-educate about the human male eye levels.

Carol is supposed to teach the emissary what? How can she teach Matthew when neither know what Matthew is supposed to do or where they are supposed to go?

The neighbors aren't happy with Carol or Donald because of them being Wiccan, so if/when they see Matthew they are going to go ballistic. And the police chief will get a lot of calls. How will they keep Matthew out of the public eye or scientific hands?

Others have feelings too.

All this

will be answered in chapter 4. Well, I hope I can get it all in that chapter. There are times when my characters do not do what I want them to.

I'll wait and

Wendy Jean's picture

see it is going to be hard for Matt to reconcile what has happened to her.

Matthew

is still in shock. Some of the gods might take advantage of this.