[Chaos Echo]

Chapter twelve

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It was getting late in the afternoon; the sun, or rather whatever it was that mimicked it, was setting, and orange began to pervade the sky. Carline sat against a building, curled in a ball, her head down. She’d been that way for hours. Aphira was right. She was worthless. Not only did her life get screwed up again and again, but she couldn’t handle it in the least. But then, finally, a small voice manifested in her head. “No you’re not… you can’t be worthless. If you were worthless, how could you be who you are?” “I don’t understand what you mean, …uh, head me?” “Look at yourself! You are an accomplished sorceress, especially for your age; you have a dear friend in Tuicia, a devoted if somewhat… I-don’t-know-how-to-describe-her apprentice in Anni; a small gaggle of servants who have to have been spreading word about you and your change of heart. And hey, if you were worthless, you woulda killed yourself back after the incident like you’d planned to! But no, ya didn’t! Know why? Because Tuicia! Because she, some random French chick on the street that day, saw value in you, someone she didn’t even know.” “But I’ve only even been as nice in return for that in this last yearish! Before that… I treated her… well, alright, but not like what someone who saved my life should be treated! I’ve been cold and distant, and a total bitch to everyone else!” “That can’t be helped. You’ve turned yourself around, though! You’re trying to undo the damage you caused during the eight years before that! During the Redlich Massacre!”


“That’s true…” “And who the hell is Aphira to judge us? We only lost Ghatteus eight years ago! She’s been around for centuries, or millennia, or whatever she said! She had eons to get over her losses! And to adjust to the hardships she bears!” “Yeah…” “And she cares about humanity, sure, but damn! Could she at least have a little respect for someone who’s not as ready to move on from mistakes as her?” “Yeah.” “Well then what’re you doing, ya dumb ho? Go tell her off! And stop having conversations with yourself!” “Yeah!” Carline said the last one out loud, suddenly motivated. She stood up, and made her way over to Aphira’s home again, determined. She rapped on the door hard.


Aphira answered, once again in her lounging clothes. “You? What do you want? Finally ready to stop wallowing in self-pity?” “Yeah, and I’m here to tell you: you have no right to tell me off for what I did, and how I feel, and I don’t care what-” “Yes, I know.” “-you what now?” “I know I was too harsh. I’ve been alive so long, been through so many people, that even as the self-appointed benefactor of humanity, I’ve forgotten basic empathy. I’m sorry.” “You… well… that kind or wrecked my steam there.” “Good.”Carline had nothing to say as Aphira fixatedly stared into her eyes. “Well come in. I’m not gonna stand here talking to you on my doorstep.” Carline stepped inside, and followed her to the room as she continued to speak. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, sorceress, I really do. I think it’s noble of you to try to reverse a reputation as foul as yours. I mean, you really should get out and try harder, but…” She waved her hand at the television as she had previously, silencing it. Carline had a thought, still rather mad about the day’s events. “Why’d you stay in here watching television? How long did it take you to come to your conclusion?” “Oh, not long. But I knew if I let you be, you’d motivate yourself to come back here. Plus, I’m a lazy bum and didn’t want to get up again.” “So wait, I’m just supposed to get over you COMPLETELY ripping into me and my insecurities, and go on like nothing happened?” “Well, yeah. I got over you being a little bitch earlier.”


Carline was going to raise an objection, but Aphira began to speak again. “So… about Bella…” “What about her? You don’t believe me. I know you don’t.” “Look. It’s just hard to believe. I mean, she was a beast. She stood no chance against me and my magic, but against any lesser sorceress, I just… find it hard to believe.” She flopped down on the couch. Carline sat down on the other side. “And what do I have to gain from lying?” “I don’t know! Am I in your head? It’s less any inherent distrust of you than unwillingness to accept what it would imply…” She drummed her fingers on the back of the seat a few times, and then looked to have an idea. “I can prove this easily.” She stood up again.


“BELLA! Come forth!” She held her hands out, one black, the other white. There was a mighty trembling, and a nightmarish chasm opened in the floor, howling with the voices of the damned. A skeletal hand, a rotted glove semi-encasing it, grasped the edge of the void. A skeleton in rags came from within, wearing tattered remains of what Bella once wore. Once finished, it anticlimactically stood perfectly still, head down. Aphira began circling and studying it. “That’s not right… that’s not right at all… It’s her, it’s definitely her; it’s got her clothing and frame, but…” “But it’s empty.” “Exactly… her spirit is in use already.” She exhaled slowly. “Which means she is indeed alive.” “I told you that already. Why should you distrust me?” “Because, you don’t understand the significance of this. There’s a difference between reanimating someone into undeath and into full life. The latter is something only one sorceress has perfected. Not only that, but Bella’s body stands here. Which means the one she uses is not hers; but one that has been warped into her appearance, and houses her. And most worrying… her armor. It is not here.” “No shit. She had it on.” Aphira was not in the mood for backsass. “No! Don’t you get it? That means someone stole her armor for their use, that someone murdered what was likely an innocent, and that someone used that body to reanimate Bella!” Carline stared in confusion. “I don’t know how deep you’ve delved into magic, Carline, but that means that someone wants Bella back to killing sorceresses. Someone who is a sorceress herself.”


“Oh! That… what? Who would… what?” “And what concerns me the most is the actual revival of her… the only person who knows how to do that… is my daughter.” Carline was unsure how to react, so she kept a neutral face. Aphira started pacing. “But… it couldn’t possibly have been her. She’s not like that. Not at all. She must’ve taught someone. Someone who’s planning something. Someone who probably could’ve coerced her into teaching her. But I don’t know any sorceresses who are after anything like that… could something have gotten through the gap?” She turned to Carline. “You said that Bella had been neutralized, correct?” “Yes.” “Good, good. Hopefully whoever did this doesn’t know yet. She’ll be waiting still if she doesn’t.” She paused, before coming to a conclusion. “Carline. You need to go talk to my daughter, Ectri.” “Why can’t you?” “I need to probe the other world, ask around some friendly inhabitants, see if they know anything.” “Okay then… where’s she live?” “You’re familiar with it. You lived there for like twelve years.” “Baltrond? But… that’s-” “Yeah, it’s across the ocean. But I need you to do this for me.” Carline sighed. “Where does she live? Baltrond’s kinda-” She stopped speaking as Aphira put her hand to her head, and she suddenly had knowledge of where Ectri lived. “Oh.”


“So how’m I supposed to get there?” “You’re a smart girl, figure something out.” “Bah. Could you help at all?” “Fine; you want help? Go down to Redlich.” “Red… but… Redlich? Really?” “Yes; trust me. You’ll find someone there. Now, I have things to deliberate about. Shoo.” Carline contemplated what she’d been told. “Redlich? Really? The place where I’d…” “Yes, Redlich, really. Now stop asking and just go! The first step of getting over it is acceptance! And if you keep running from yourself, you’re gonna keep moping about it forever!” Carline turned to leave after that, not willing to argue with her after that mind-reading display. Aphira probably was intending to help, but she really wasn’t helping at all. As the somewhat conflicted sorceress reached the doorknob, however, Aphira called to her from the room she was in.


“Actually, Carline, before you go…” Carline released the doorknob. “What now?” “Come back in here, if you would.” Carline turned around and did so, in time to see the hellish whirl that indicated Bella’s skeleton returning to whence it came. “I almost forgot… there’ve been rumors going about the sorceress community…” “Rumors… about what?” “That you’ve rediscovered what was referred to as some old beautification spells…” Carline knew where this was headed. “You want me to make your breasts bigger.” “No! Kind of… Nothing permanent! I just wanna see what it feels like. Maybe it’ll ease my mind before I go on to do this.” “Why is it so important anyway? I don’t even remember where I picked the book up. And now I have you, Aphira, the Grand Lady of Sorcery, wanting it. What’s with that?” “Things beyond you. You have no idea- not just for purposes like that, but for disguise. You have no idea how specific magic can get sometimes. It’s hard to go incognito when you have to keep your same physical shape no matter how else you alter yourself. For me, it’s not a problem, but for some people with more… outstanding figures, like say Helena, it can be a hassle.” Carline sighed and readied her magic. Aphira watched carefully, obviously trying to decipher it for later use. She let it off, and Aphira nodded. “Got it.” She flicked her wrists a few times, and they glowed pink as well, but she quickly dispelled it. “Tell you what, you show me how to do the other end after this, and I’ll show you how to alter some other things. Trust me, you’ll need to not be yourself if you’re going to Redlich.”


Aphira could feel her nipples getting hard, but they didn’t show well through her thick sweater. “What’s this?” She brought a hand up and poked at her breast where it was. “This… I haven’t had this happen in decades…” She then felt pleasurable warmth. “Ohh… and I haven’t felt like this for centuries…” She felt herself up, both hands fondling her breasts. “That’s the problem, when you hit ages like I do… you don’t often seek out situations like this, and you forget how good they feel…” She could feel the hemispheres on her chest begin to fill out, and increased her self-stimulation. “Ooh… does it have to be like this when you do it? It seems like it’d be rather… distracting…” Her sweater was loose, so it had yet to show any effects of the increasing size of what it contained. The twin globes were swelling, going from just larger than one could fit in hand to bigger and bigger. All the way, though, they retained their perfect spherical shape.


Aphira was still feeling them, and decided to make things a bit more exciting. As she ran her hands over her clothed breasts, she poured a small bit of magic into her sweater, tightening it. She was pleased with the results as her enlarging assets strained against the suddenly unforgiving fabric. Now her nipples, seemingly much more prominent, showed very plainly. She once again reached for the nubs, pinching both lightly. “Oooh…” She left them alone, returning to the more impressive bust she was commanding. Her sweater had been pulled up past her belly, and she pushed one of her hands beneath to feel her approaching-head-size breasts. A small, sinister smile flashed on her face, and she traced a vertical line beneath her sweater, which it promptly tore at, exposing deep cleavage. Now the flesh of her bosom attempted to escape through its new exit, pushing out of the hole. Aphira felt the increasing mass slow, and pushed it onward herself. With new vigor her breasts swelled, but while she was at it, she did something else as well, and seemed more in control of herself. “That’s enough of that kind of pleasure for now. I have an image to maintain.”


She egged her breasts on with skillfully applied magic, desiring at least a tear through her sweater. Her breasts were large enough that the bottom of it was sneaking up her engorged mammaries, and her nipples poked inches through it. Her black, purely magic bra was covering the lower half of her breasts, hiding anything obscene from nakedly showing. She was getting impatient, but was too busy lightly fondling herself to mild enjoyment to act on it. She wore a small, happy smile from the dialed down, but still present, sensations, her breasts bigger than any natural size, and her growth slowed again. She pushed it onward slightly, willing them to go that last little bit, until she finally heard a satisfying rip from the bottom of her sweater. It grew in size until it met the massive gap she’d created herself, and then the remains of her sweater crawled up her breasts until they rested on top. She let out a finally contented sigh, letting up on the magic and letting the pleasure fade to a stop. She looked down at her breasts, hanging from her torso as enormous, juicy orbs of womanliness, her smile still present.


Carline had been watching in silence the entire time, and stepped forward. “Aphira, if I could…?” “Yes, sorceress. I know you’re curious. Go on, take it off.” Carline slowly reached for the black mass, and as she laid her hands on it, it felt almost watery. She pulled at it, but instead of coming off, it disappeared the moment it left Aphira’s bosom. Carline snorted on catching sight of the master sorceress’s nipples. They were the same deep purple as her eyes, hair, and lips. It was interesting to behold against her pale brown skin. Aphira seemed offended, though. “What, is there something wrong with my nipples?” “No, no, it’s just… why are you so purple?” “Why are you so varied in color?” There was a pause in the conversation, Carline not entirely sure how to respond to that.


“Well… this was fruitful. Academically, of course.” She reached her arms around her breasts, and sank them into the wonderful plumpness. “Is there a way to put them back to normal, or do I wait for them to go themselves?” “You can. I can show you if you’d like.” “Naahh… I think I’ll… experiment with it myself and figure it out.” She drummed her fingers on her breasts. “Now… how about the other end…”