"Marble Petrification"

"Marble Petrification" It states rather simply. It's remarkably simple, as well requiring no more than a single page to explain the theory. The effect? Turn the visible target to stone. It does seem to require a lot of complex spoken articulations, that take longer than you'd like to cast, but you think you can pull it off. All you have to do is prepare and wait. You wobble over to your arms, and try to gently nudge them out of the center of the room, so the Demoness won't be tipped off to quickly about your escape, then you return to the book and memorize the spell.

You wait so long that you consider sitting down, when at last you hear the clack of heels echoing distantly through the halls. You immediately begin muttering the incantation, and are pleased to find it easy to dip into the well of magic within you.

"Arvilla, my lovely doll." The voice practically squeals. "I've dealt with your distraction, and punished you for your petty rebelliousness, now cease this foolishness. My heart aches for you to be mine again."

You hear her heels clacking down the stairs.

"Arvilla?" She stammers, immediately concerned as she spies the empty armbinder. At last you see her as she scurries into the room. "Arvilla! Where have you gone!" For a moment, you detect genuine concern in her voice. With some internal peace you recognize that yes, she really did care, in her evil sort of way.

She holds the armbinder in her hand, and at last, her eyes turn to the pulpit where she sees you. Her expression is dumb while she watches you articulate the words, then her eyes go wide and frenzied. She reaches out to you, getting ready to snap her fingers, and summon the leash. She cries your name. "ARVIL~" Her voice is stopped as a moment later a pulse of pure energy erupts from somewhere in front of you and bathes the demoness in a glorious light. It's only a moment and then its gone, but that moment was all it took. Before you, in the darkness of the dungeon, stands a perfectly lifelike marble statue of the demoness. Even her clothes have turned to stone.

"Yes!" You shout, and laugh with relief. You hop around as best as you can, and as much as you dare. and attempt to throw your arms in the air, which naturally yields no results. Still you can't wipe away the smile that's plastered on your face, and giggle softly as you wobble your way back over to her.

Spite and frustration in your heart, you bump into her angrily. Your body clinks loudly as porcelain meets stone, but it doesn't cause you to stop.

"Take..." You wobble forward, and bump into her again. "That..." You shove your body against her taller frame. "You..." Your push your head against her, finding some purchase under the curve of her breast. "BITCH!" You cry out the last words, and at last the demoness tips over. She falls slowly, and you watch as she lands hard on her outstretched right hand. Her arm breaks off at the elbow and shoulder, and ultimately her face impacts with the ground. Hairline fractures erupt across her visage, but at last her form comes to rest.

Your victory cries are cut short however, as her severed arm begins to leak an inky black cloud. You nearly fall on your ass as one of those clouds takes on a human silhouette and begins to pull itself free of her arm. It attempts to fly away, but instead some gravity takes hold of it, and pulls it deeper into the earth. You take a few steps backwards as this continues, and more and more shadowy creatures claw their way free. Most come from the broken arm, but some manage to wiggle their way out of her main body at the broken shoulder. You stand with your back to the wall as you watch this display, until finally... One of the forms doesn't sink into the ground.

It lies there, like a wounded bird, panting for air that it can't actually feel. You see the faintest hint of red pulsing within it, like a throbbing wound where it should have a heart... But that wound gives it an appearance of life in contrast to the other miserable souls. You shout as its eyes settle on you, and it begins to crawl its way across the ground to where you stand.

"No!" You shout. "No no!" You try to hop away, but thanks to your bound legs, you move slower than even this miserable creatures. At last it touches your leg, and slithers into your body. You shout as your mind is filled with a sensation of power, and strength that you didn't expect... And curiously, a vision flashes through your mind. A vision of Nealie from when she first left the dungeon with the demoness...

You see every twist and turn as she follows lock step behind her, until they finally come to a room and the vision dissipates.

You consider the vision for a few moments. It seems as real as if it were happening to you. The tension, the fear, but the inability to resist mistresses commands. You look down at your armless bound body and realize that Nealie isn't too far from the dungeon... She may be just the help you need.

Stairs... stairs are the worst. It's so hard to navigate them with the spreader bar. It's not that you can't step up, but rather that once you've stepped up, you can't move your foot forward. The bar catches on the corner of the stairs. Instead you have to lean against the wall, with your chin on the hand railing, and sort of hop up each step, or only place your toes on the next step up, before reorienting yourself for the step after. It's slow going, but it is going, and with the demoness gone, you're more patient, and more confident of your odds.

At last you reach the servants quarters, and being shambling down the hall to the room where you saw Nealie taken. Your next big challenge is the door. The large door has a small, thin, round, intricately carved door knob... And you have no hands. At first you lean down and try to take it in your mouth, but the knob is still too large for that. You try to twist it by pushing your cheek against it, but like the pages, your near frictionless body gives you no purchase. Instead all that happens is a distressing grinding noise, like scraping a fork across a plate. It causes your teeth to rattle, and makes you sick to your stomach so you stop. You ultimately manage to turn the knob, by pinching it between your chin and shoulder, and sort of twisting your whole body. It doesn't help that the door opens out rather than in, causing you to loose your balance, and immediately slam the door after opening it more than once, but after a few tries you manage to get it open for good.

Sticking your foot in the room, you hop inside where you find yourself in a grand walk-in closet overflowing with clothes. Wooden mannequins line one wall showing off the intricate lace work of various gowns, and it's only a moment later that you realize one of the mannequins isn't a mannequin at all.

"Nealie!" You shout, as you hobble over to the girl. For a moment, you're worried that she won't help you after the trouble you've caused, but instead she looks at you and smiles.

"Mistress." She says softly, with an almost melancholy satisfaction.

"No!" You state. "I've turned her to stone in the dungeon. You're free of her."

"No." She shakes her head and chides you. "Mistress... You're mistress now."

You stand upright, taken aback by her words. "What are you talking about."

"My soul is bound to you Mistress Arvilla. We can be together at last."

"I..." You stammer, but as you think about it, a realization comes over your mind. "The ghosts from her broken body... The ghost that entered me, that's you? That's your soul?"

"Of course." She titters. "What else would it be?"

Your brow furrows, unsure of what you think about being anyone's soulbound mistress, but that's yet another thought for later. "Nealie." You refocus your attention. Her wide eyes, and eager smile disarms you, but you persist. "Can you cast a kintsukuroi spell?"

She titters. "Of course, I'm a handmaiden in this estate aren't I? I'm honestly surprised you never learned mistress, even if it is beneath you."

"Oh... uhh right. Well, then, come on, let's go!"

She shakes her head. "I wish I could, but I can't."

You begin to assess her. "What do you mean? Let's go quickly! Before the others find us."

Her gaze turns curious. "But... You said the mistress is turned to stone, so all those bound to her service should be lifeless goloms now..." You gape at the thought, but Nealie continues. "Besides... like I said, I can't go... Look..." She gestures down with her nose, and at last her predicament dawns on you.

She's nothing more than a torso suspended on a rod, with a wire frame for her dress to rest on. She's a mannequin, meant to display the demoness' dresses, and nothing more. No arms, no legs, completely bound in place.