A Demonstration of Power

"Fucking Kelly" Jessie hissed angrily when Haley had also left "The situation with Craig is delicate enough as it is. I could really do without having to ask him to start giving people demonstrations of my curse"

"What about your Mum?" Emily suggested "Is there any way you could get her back here for this, even for just an hour? Whatever is happening with her work, this is surely more important, and it's not like she would be needed for long"

"That's a good point" Jessie nodded "New York isn't exactly the other side of the world. It will be a pain in the ass for her to have to disrupt her job and fly over just to stop Kelly from acting like an idiot, but I'm sure she can do it. I'll speak to my Dad"

---

"God, I've missed you so much" Maisie's husband leaned across and embraced her tightly as she morphed back from Emily to herself in the car.

"I haven't actually been anywhere" she giggled.

"I know, but it's so nice to see you as the woman I love again" he answered, his voice cracking with emotion "And I really don't see you that much at all these days, even as Emily. You're always with Jess or her cousins"

"It would look a bit strange if the foreign exchange girl spent all her time with some distant uncle who is more than twice her age" Maisie reminded him "And it's actually been lovely spending so much time with my daughter. But, believe me, I miss us being together too. This is important though, and it's working. Your hunch about Craig was right, and I can deal with that mush more effectively as Emily than as me. But the bigger urgency is our nieces and this party on Saturday. I think they are all in real and immediate danger. But hopefully, if Kelly sees that the curse isn't a fantasy, that problem will be dealt with for now. Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave again. The more time Emily is away while I'm here, the more suspicious I start to look. Especially as the cousins will also now know I carry the curse and can be disguised. Those kids aren't stupid by a long shot"

---

As Maisie walked back into her home, the living room was full. It wasn't just Jessie, Abby and their cousins who were there. Holly, Melanie and Kylie had also been summoned, such was the importance of current events to their eldest, or in the case of Holly only, children. Kelly, who had effectively caused all this drama to happen, was looking a little sheepish and Tammy nervous while Haley, as usual, seemed to be taking everything in her stride. Everyone else in the room already knew the curse was real and had seen it in action before, but that didn't mean they weren't treating this situation with the gravity it demanded.

Jessie and Abby both rushed over to enthusiastically embrace their mother before she sat down at the table in front of everyone.

"It's lovely to see you all, but unfortunately I can't stay long. If everyone is here we should probably start now"

"Wait, where is Emily?" Tammy asked.

"She had to go to the British Embassy in Charlotte" Jessie repeated the excuse she had been given earlier "Some kind of visa issue. She didn't think it would be a problem, but they needed her there in person to resolve it. She doesn't have to see this anyway"

"Okay my dear, shall we go with the old classic?" Maisie prompted her husband.

"Sure, Maisie, have pink hair" he smiled a little wistfully, harking back to the first command he had ever given her "Now have blue hair. Now have rainbow coloured hair. No go back to your natural hair colour"

"Holy fuck" Kelly was open mouthed in shock at what she had just witnessed "I'm so sorry everyone. I thought there was no way the curse could be real"

"It's my fault and I take full responsibility" Kylie stepped in to protect her daughter "I should have taken the same approach as Maisie and told you about it. I figured the less you knew the safer you would be, but obviously I got that wrong"

"Don't blame yourself, Mel and I did the exact same thing" Holly consoled her cousin.

"Yeah, and it's not like my decision completely panned out either, considering the Craig issue" Maisie added "I just don't think there is a good and foolproof way to deal with a curse like ours"

"So, wait, Dad doesn't even know about this?" Tammy checked.

"No" Holly confirmed "That knowledge would immediately make him my master. I love your father very much and trust him completely, but I don't want that"

"Also, you never know for sure what the future holds" Melanie chipped in "I almost told my ex about the curse twenty years ago, then we split up a few months later. I dread to think what would have happened if he still had control over me now or, God forbid, had done during a messy split that he never wanted and blamed me for"

"I don't have anyone in mind, but is there something to be said for finding someone harmless to tell?" Haley wondered out loud "Craig already knows more than he should and could potentially tell anyone. There is stuff about the curse online if you know where to look. I found it and assumed it was nonsense, but someone else might decide to track down the people who carry it and try their luck with it. The worst case scenario would be getting a master you didn't choose yourself"

"The problem is there's practically no such thing as harmless when it comes to this curse" Holly advised "I did way too much research into it when I was young, and whenever it is triggered it almost always ends badly. What happened with Maisie is very rare. It's not completely unheard of to get a decent master, but it's always a huge risk to even tell someone you think you can trust completely"

"Tell me about it" Jessie sighed.

"How about a gay guy?" Kelly suggested.

"I don't want my beautiful daughter being turned into a son, thank you very much" Kylie answered "Even if you picked an asexual person, there are just so many other ways someone who can literally be made to do anything can be exploited. Power without consequence can be incredibly corrupting for just about anyone"

"The key thing now is making sure Craig keeps quiet, which to be fair he has been so far" Jessie figured.

"That boy is going to have a LOT of angry Petersen women to deal with if this gets out" Holly folded her arms almost aggressively at the thought "But what Haley said earlier is also correct. There is stuff about this online that someone could stumble across by accident. So I don't think we can say you should never tell anyone under any circumstances. You all have the full information to make your own choices now. But if you do decide to confide in someone, choose them very, very carefully"

There was a prolonged and grave silence as all present considered the enormity of the predicament they or their loved ones found themselves in. Eventually, it was Maisie who broke it.

"I'm going to have to love you and leave you all for now. Hopefully next time I'm back it will be under happier circumstances. Enjoy your party on Saturday girls!"

"I almost feel like cancelling it now" Kelly sighed "I trust Craig not to be a total dick and tell everyone when he's sober, but who knows what might slip out once he's wasted?"

"Stressing and catastrophising about this isn't going to help us" Haley reasoned "Why don't we all sleep on it. Mom got me an afternoon at a spa and sauna for my birthday, and I get to bring four guests. Assuming Emily is back tomorrow, the five of us can go and talk things through in a nice, relaxing environment"

"Sounds good to me. Thanks Hales" Jessie smiled "Oh, and you too Aunt Mel"

"Actually I did have an idea about this, but I'll save it until tomorrow" Tammy added cryptically "We don't have to all get naked at this sauna do we Haley?"

"It's totally optional" her cousin confirmed "But we'll have it to ourselves for a while, and it's definitely more comfortable in that heat if we do"