And all your secrets I will keep

Vivian was not the only one experimenting with the limits of her transformation at the slumber party. Sylvia had some progress to make, after all! There were plenty of women here who she hadn’t had the chance to experiment with her upgrade on- and she was going to make full use of it!

Let’s see, Carly and Rose have already upgraded their transformations with me once this week. And Vivian just did it tonight. That still leaves a lot of options available, though! Sylvia scanned the crowd of partygoers, looking for a good subject to try and convince to get an upgrade.

“No!” Morgana’s shrill voice broke through the crowd, grabbing her attention. “I’m not going to go get my spellbook!”

“Come on!” Gina said with a grin. “It’ll be fun! It’s a slumber party after all, those are all about telling ghost stories, practicing witchcraft, all that stuff! …I mean, I think.”

“B-but…!” Morgana’s lip quivered, and she glanced furtively down the hall, towards her room. She was very weak to pressure, and if Gina wanted, she could probably coax the shy goth girl into doing whatever she wanted.

“It’s not like swapping stories about our crushes would be that engaging,” Gina continued, going down the options. “What, are we gonna sit in a circle and go ‘So why did you fall in love with Nick?’ and then have Dani and Carly give the only taste of variety here?”

Dani grunted something from the couch, which Gina ignored.

Morgana bit her lip. She could understand where Gina was coming from, really, she could. But that didn’t make her current situation any better!

“You didn’t see the effects of my magic,” Morgana mumbled, looking down. “Those spells, they’re… a little too ****.”

She remembered all the chaos that had ensued the other day. She doubted anyone was in the mood for a repeat performance. Ella had barely looked her in the eye since then!

Gina frowned. She had just been playing around, but seeing how upset Morgana was by the idea, maybe she should reconsider.

“Hey, I mean…” The punk girl scratched her head and bit her lip. “If you’re not feeling up to it, then I guess-”

“What are you guys talking about?” Sylvia chirped, popping in between the two of them before Gina could finish her sentence.

Morgana jumped. “Oh! S-Sylvia, hey… what’s up?”

“Nothing much!” Sylvia chirped, giving a twirl. She really liked the way her pajamas felt on her. “I overheard you guys talking transformations and I just had to stop by! Morgana, you were talking about your spells, right?”

Morgana bit her lip and nodded shyly. “That… that’s right,” she said, glancing warily over at Gina. “Gina said she wanted me to use my spellbook to do some spells for the slumber party, but I…”

She was too afraid that the spells wouldn’t work. Or that they would.

“Hey, look…” Gina held up her hands in surrender. “If you’re not interested, that’s fine!”

Relief washed over Morgana like a tidal wave. She was about to reaffirm that she didn’t want to try her spells, only for Sylvia to once again interject herself into the conversation.

“So does that mean you’re just never going to use your transformation ever again?” Sylvia asked.

Her words slammed into Morgana like a truck.

“I… that…” The goth girl struggled to form words as she stared at the red-haired girl, who was looking at her with a surprisingly serious expression on her face.

“It is kind of a shame,” Gina admitted with an awkward shrug. “You were so happy when you got that transformation, that’s why I asked in the first place. I thought you would be thrilled to show off your magic in front of everyone. But I guess I was wrong…”

“N-no, it’s not that, I just…” Morgana bit her lip, her hands shaking. She looked down at the ground, and furrowed her brow.

Was that what she was saying? That she wasn’t ever going to use her magic again, because of the side effects?

Once the thought popped into her head, it stayed there, burrowing into her skull like a parasite and setting up residence.

Her hands started to shake.

Morgana remembered how happy she’d been the second she saw the description of that transformation. Her heart had practically leapt out of her chest! The minute she read the words, the other two transformations on the screen disappeared from thought (she couldn’t even remember them!) and all that remained was the joy she imagined for herself, finally being able to use magic.

And now… it was like that joy was turning to ash.

Could she really give it all up? Never use her magic again?

But if I use it… and I mess up… everyone will get upset. I don’t want that… That would be just the worst! Morgana felt like she could cry. She always imagined herself as this cool and intelligent witch, and for years had dreamed of being able to use magic. She’d always imagined what kind of person she would be once she was capable of using magic.

Would she be sexy? Cool? Would she make a million friends with her spells?

Well, now that dream had finally come true, and she had found out exactly the kind of person she was.

She was someone too sweet and kind to risk using magic, because it would hurt other people.

Morgana had never been very good at hiding her emotions, and she wasn’t doing a good job of it now. Both Gina and Sylvia could see how troubled she was by this whole thing.

Sylvia wouldn’t stand for it! She’d gotten Morgana onto this show not just by dangling Nick in front of her like a worm on a hook, but also by dangling the possibility of becoming a real witch in front of her, as well!

If Morgana was hesitant… it was because Sylvia had not properly prepared her for what was to come!

This is, in some small way, partially my fault. Maybe I can help! Sylvia decided.

“Morgana, let me see your transformation again,” Sylvia said, summoning up the goth witch’s transformation before Morgana could voice an objection. “Mhm, just as I thought, take a look right here!”

“Huh? Where?” Morgana squinted, looking over the description of her transformation. She had no idea what Sylvia was trying to show her.

• Sexcaster: In order to enhance Morgana’s witch credentials, she’ll be given the ability to use magic! Her magic will be sex-based, of course, and she must still study the correct spells in order to use it. And she’ll get a cute little witch’s hat as well! [NOTE: Results may vary, use with caution.] (Goth)

“I don’t see it either,” Gina said, just as confused as the other girl.

“It says right here! Here!” Sylvia pointed an insistent finger. “Use with caution!”

“…Uh-huh… I know,” Morgana mumbled. “Because I might do stuff like what happened before…”

“Right, so as long as you’re careful about it, it won’t be a big deal!” Sylvia said, bullshitting her. “Also, this part, about studying! I think what it’s trying to say is that the reason the results were so unpredictable before was because you hadn’t used those spells! But maybe if you study them and you practice your magic more, you’ll have more control over it, and things won’t get all wild and chaotic anymore! Don’t you think?”

Morgana looked at Sylvia with wide, red eyes filled with disbelief and doubt. When Sylvia was proposing that things wouldn’t get wild and chaotic, that was a red flag.

“I mean, what she’s saying makes sense,” Gina admitted, scratching her head. “But again, it’s your transformation.”

“Y-yeah…” Morgana was still stuck with the fact that if she stopped using magic, she would squander something that had once been her dearest dream. And all because she was scared.

Was that really what she wanted?

I thought I was brave and cool now… not someone who’s afraid of their transformations… what happened to me? Morgana could still remember (to great shame) what she had been like when she first arrived at the island. That had been a woman brimming with confidence!

…The only problem was, that confidence had been completely baseless, and it had basically amounted to stroking her own ego. Like a naïve child she had convinced herself she knew how the world worked, and she had strutted around pretending like she was cock of the walk. But as she’d gotten to know the others and formed real friendships with them, and the consequences of abusing those friendships had become clear, that old Morgana had disappeared, replaced by a girl who genuinely wanted to bond with her friends.

Now if only Morgana could recapture that confidence in some select way, then things would just be perfect! But unfortunately, it didn’t work like that.

Morgana let out a long, tired sigh.

“Is it really… okay?” She asked, looking warily at the two of them. “To use my magic?” She was split right down the middle. The part of her that adored the fact that she was finally a true witch was at war with the side that didn’t want to inconvenience her friends.

Seeing that the goth girl was tilting precariously in two separate directions, Sylvia was happy to give her a push in the direction she wanted Morgana to fall.

“How about if I upgrade your transformation?” Sylvia suggested excitedly. “Just for a little bit, I mean. Wouldn’t that be fine?”

Morgana’s eyes widened in surprise. “Upgrade?” She mouthed the word again, not quite sure she’d heard it right.

“Oh hey, yeah, I didn’t even think of that!” Gina nodded. “You did get that transformation, huh…?”

“You bet I did!” Sylvia chirped. “I can upgrade your transformation for one full day, Morgana! Just think! Remember your Dear Diary transformation? You hated that one at first! But then you upgraded it, and it became much easier to use! That’s the value of upgrades, my girl! They make transformations better! So if you upgrade this one, well, who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to use it in a beneficial way, or have better control over your spells! It couldn’t hurt to try.”

Morgana bit her lip. She was being swept up in Sylvia’s current, and a part of her knew that the former host was goading her on due to her love of transformations. But she also wasn’t wrong, that was the thing.

Maybe… maybe an upgrade would help. Maybe if I upgraded my transformation, I could use my magic a little better! Morgana considered.

It was a very tempting offer, and one she needed to think about. In the past, she would have impulsively accepted without a second thought. But Morgana’s developing friendship with Dawn over these past few rounds had led her to develop a deep respect for how the cat girl approached things with careful consideration, and she wanted to do the same.

So instead of immediately taking Sylvia up on her offer, she gave it some real thought and weighed the pros and cons.

There isn’t really a downside. The only possible downside is that, if Sylvia upgrades it now, she won’t be able to upgrade anything for me for the rest of the round, whether that’s this transformation, or some other possible transformation.

Morgana did have a lot of BP; if she wanted, she could probably upgrade just about every worthwhile transformation she had. But she didn’t want to do that. Knowing Sylvia, the former host would be happy to upgrade any transformation wanted, but she could only do it once per round.

And was tonight the night?

My night with Nick is at the end of the week. Wouldn’t it be better if I waited to use my free upgrade for my transformation then? That’s probably what Dawn would do. …Then again, if I upgrade it now, and I like it, buying one upgrade would be fine, and I could keep it forever.

It all depended on her plans with Nick. Unfortunately, Morgana absolutely sucked when it came to long-term planning. She could already feel the start of a headache coming on, as she considered whether or not it was worth it to use her transformation like this.

Are there even any spells I have that would be good for my night with him? She wondered. Her magic was primarily used on other women. Then again, she didn’t know what spells would be made available to her later, either.

In the end, she wouldn’t get anywhere unless she was willing to experiment. Morgana understood that much, at least.

Sighing, she raised her head, and looked into Sylvia’s big, shiny eyes.

“Well?” Sylvia asked hopefully. “Are you thinking about it? All the fun spells you’ll be able to harness once you upgrade your transformation?”

“Okay Sylvia, I think dial it back a little,” Gina said, scratching her cheek. “You’re starting to come across like a used car salesman.”

Gina squirmed a little, rubbing her thighs together. She understood why Sylvia was getting so excited; the former host’s eyes were a little glassy and her cheeks were flushed, and it definitely wasn’t only due to her excitement about a potential transformation upgrade, no.

Morgana’s Sotto Voce was in full affect, and she’d been talking to them both quite a lot. So the arousal Gina was feeling right now, Sylvia was definitely feeling it, too. And while it may have been affecting her judgment somewhat, Gina was pretty sure this was just Sylvia being Sylvia.

“…Okay!” Morgana said finally, coming to a snap decision. “Let’s do it! I’m ready! …To try it out, anyway.”

Morgana was hesitant. She wasn’t being reckless with this, she wasn’t! This was just her being confident and bold, like she wanted to be! That was different from recklessness.

Because it was. She said so!

“Okay!” Sylvia chirped, her chest surging with excitement and slight arousal. She raised her hand, and prepared her transformation.

“What are you guys doing?” Kim walked over just as Sylvia was about to use her transformation, interrupting them.

Sylvia jumped, and stopped before she could upgrade Morgana. “O-oh, um… just, you know, helping her out a bit!” She said, smiling from ear to ear. “Morgana’s magic transformation gave her some trouble last time, so I’m upgrading it temporarily to see if that’ll help her keep it under control!”

Kim blinked, surprised. “Oh, right, yeah… I forgot you could do that.”

“So?!” Morgana practically whined. “Sylvia, are we going to do this thing?!”

She’d been so hesitant before, but now that she’d made her choice, she was getting impatient. She didn’t want to change her mind, she wanted to use magic! Even if that meant there would be side effects and consequences!

“Right, absolutely!” Sylvia said, waving her hand. “Watch closely, Kim, maybe you’ll want an upgrade yourself!”

“…Right,” Kim said dryly, rolling her eyes. But Gina noted that she didn’t actually leave, staying behind to watch Morgana getting upgraded.

And she wasn’t the only one, either. They’d drawn a bit of a crowd, since this was the only thing going on right now. People put their conversations aside to take a look at Morgana and the others, as Sylvia worked a little magic of her own.

It didn’t take long for context to be passed around; everyone soon knew that Morgana was upgrading her Sexcaster transformation temporarily, to make better use of her magic.

And for people that had already been on the receiving end of that magic…

Rose was curious, and maybe a little excited. But Ella was petrified. She remembered the last time she’d been the victim of Morgana’s spells, and things between her and Nick were still awkward! So she closed her eyes and snapped her rubber-band, and prayed that the effects wouldn’t be too bad.

The light around Morgana’s body faded as the upgrade was finalized, and her hat slumped to the side of her head.

Morgana couldn’t check the details of her newly-upgraded transformation fast enough.

• Sexcaster: In order to enhance Morgana’s witch credentials, she’ll be given the ability to use magic! Her magic will be sex-based, of course, and she must still study the correct spells in order to use it. And she’ll get a cute little witch’s hat as well! [NOTE: Results may vary, use with caution.] UPGRADE: Having gained further skill with practicing magic, Morgana will now be able to read the description of the spells in her spellbook, instead of just relying on visual hints. Information on the effects and duration of all her spells will now be provided, but practice will still be necessary to use them to their fullest effect. (Goth)

“Oh, wow…” Morgana didn’t know what to think. It wasn’t exactly what she’d expected, and it didn’t actually make her any better with her magic, unfortunately. But at least with this, there wouldn’t be any surprises.

“I think that’s pretty good!” Rose said, stepping forward. “Remember, the biggest problem we had was that we didn’t know what your spells would do until we used them, right? So now that you know, you’ll be able to handle them a little better!”

“Yeah, I-I guess,” Morgana said, nodding.

“Is that really worth an upgrade, though?” Dawn asked, throwing a wet blanket on the fire as smart people so often did.

“Huh? Of course it is!” Sylvia said with a pout.

Dawn shrugged. “I mean… knowledge about how your spells work… that’s something you found out already through trial and error, right?” She pointed out. “After using a spell once, you should have a pretty good idea of what it does. It seems like this upgrade isn’t all that useful.”

“I see where you’re coming from, Dawn, but I think that depends on what we consider ‘useful’ don’t you?” Vivian inserted herself into the conversation. “I think knowing what a spell does before you use it the first time would be very useful. Especially if your goal is trying to avoid any accidental mishaps, like it sounds happened last time.”

“…True,” Dawn admitted. “You weren’t there, but… there were some… incidents.”

She remembered Nick sinking his teeth into Rose’s butt in the middle of their date. Something that she notably hadn’t even gotten VP for.

Yeah, maybe avoiding awkward moments like that in the future would be a good thing.

So while everyone was discussing Morgana’s transformation and the benefits of the upgrade, Morgana herself scurried off, needing some space and privacy. And she also needed to get her book. Just to see what the new descriptions of her spells were, honest!

She wasn’t going to do anything crazy with it.

Promise.