Ashley's Odyssey II

15:20

Liz(once again carrying Ashley) had an obnoxiously easy time navigating her way through Ludo Manor. Why that is, Ashley still couldn’t tell.

According to the dog girl, the servant quarters are in the basement of Ludo Manor, directly before the dungeon, where her own quarters are located. That did check out with his map, but Ashley was still sure Liz completely ignored the arrows.

The change in scenery was dramatic. One flight of stairs and the beautifully decorated interior(if you like penguins) gave way to dull and drab stonewalls, only periodically illuminated by torches.

It was fairly quiet down here, which is why they heard her before they saw her.

“Please Megan, open the door!”

“Dahlia?”

Sure enough, the busty(emphasis) brunette was currently knocking against a door.

Ashley liked how her breasts jiggled while she did it. There is definitely a case for larger breasts, Ashley admitted. And the glasses were a nice touch too. Big breasts just go with glasses. He wondered how it would feel to squish his face...

“Ash!”, Dahlia gasped, surprised. “What are you doing here? And why is Liz carrying you like that?”

Ashley quickly cleared his throat and Liz finally let him down. “Just walking my dog, or I guess you could say...she walks me.”

The joke fell flatter than Ora’s chest.

Another round of skipped explanations later.

“I see”, Dahlia frowned. “The fact that de Sade is controlling your mind is indeed very concerning.”

“Right?”, Liz crossed her arms and nodded eagerly. “Shortstuff's way too chill about that. Mind control's fair dinkum serious, mate!

Since when did we upgrade from poison to mind control?

Ashley could only roll his eyes. “Girls, can we please focus on the task at hand? We are running out of time.”

Upon hearing that Dahlia let out a deep sigh. “I know. I am trying to get through to her for hours. But Megan won’t even talk to me. Let alone open the door!”

Ashley **** his eyes away from the impressive cleavage and towards the door instead. “Are you sure she’s even in there?”

Dahlia pouted cutely. “Give me some credit, Ash. Of course she’s in there! Probably.”

Probably.

Fortunately, they had a Liz. The bully took one sniff towards the door and nodded. “Yeah, I can smell the brainiac now. She's here, Shortstuff."

“How does she smell?”

Both girls gave Ashley a look that made him rescind the question.

Ok, switching topics. Ashley felt he really should finally clarify what exactly Megan’s job is.

Dahlia was happy to oblige

Megan tour guide 8 hours/day 14 BP/h

“Huh?”

"T-Tour Guide?"

“Yes”, the brunette nodded. “I felt we needed somebody to navigate this mansion and Megan needs to get over her anti-social behavior. It was a perfect fit.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!”, Ashley objected. “I saw her outside in the freezing cold doing some sort of perverted jester training!”

His childhood friend seemed just as confused upon hearing that. “Jester? T-that...I didn’t order anything like that! And I definitely didn’t demand that she be trained outside!”

“Are ya sure?”, Liz interrupted. “Who says yer even tellin' the truth?”

“Of course she is!” Ashley responded indignantly. “Dahlia wouldn’t lie to me!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get yer fancy tutu in a twist, Shortstuff”, Liz shrugged her shoulders.

“Reckon we just gotta ask the brainy Sheila herself. Want me to kick the bloody door in?”

As tempting as it was, Ashley didn’t think that would be very smart. While he had no doubt that Liz would be capable of such, he wasn’t sure if wanton destruction would be counted as non erotic ****. And with the dog girl already in the negative he really wanted to avoid another de Sade situation.

Instead he moved to the door and started knocking. “Megan? Can you open up? It’s me. Ashley. I just want to talk.”

No response.

“Megan please. This is serious.”

“We have to find a solution.”

Further inquiries yielded no better result.

"OI, OPEN THE BLOODY DOOR YA CUNT, OR I'LL TOAST YA PUBES!"

Even Liz’s advanced negotiation techniques fell flat.

“See? I tried everything.” Dahlia seemed at a complete loss.

The bully raised an eyebrow. “Everything, huh? Sure doesn’t look like it to me, mate.”

“Liz! Stop this already!”

“It’s alright, Ash”, Dahlia gave him a small smile before confronting the dog girl. “If you have a better idea, let’s hear it.”

“Simple. Her roomie”, the dingo delinquent suggested. "She oughta have a key.”

Ah. That is true.

“That would be Carol”, Dahlia offered. “I put her on garden duty. And yes, that did occur to me but I feared that if I went looking for her, Megan would sneak out of her room.”

Garden.

Ashley opened his map. Wait, wasn’t that where Shizu was? Did they just fail to notice Carol?

But then again that place was pretty big. And it even had a Hedge Maze. If Carol’s in there finding her would be a nightmare.

“Carol only has to work four hours a day”, the manager continued. “She should return soon.”

"Aye, but didn't she go see the shrink today to get her gnashers sorted? Might be the nerds still at work.”

Right. Ashley remembered that from when Sahara recalled the events during breakfast.

Fuck!

At this point they had less than thirty minutes until four!

“Alright”, Liz nodded. "Reckon I'll go take a squiz while you two blokes stay put.”

“I-If you need to use the bathroom you don’t have to inform us!”, Dahlia blushed.

"Oi, wot's this? Who's blatherin' 'bout the dunny? A squiz! I'm havin' a squiz!"

“I think she means that she is going to look for Megan”, Ashley clarified. “In other words, Liz’s not having a piss, she’s having a squiz!”

…

Come on, that was a good one!

Hedhehogstew69: that joke sucked ass lol

“Megan!” Ashley and Dahlia both shouted near simultaneously.

"Right, ripper! That's fair dinkum bonkers. I'm off to grab the other brainiac. You two galahs keep an eye on this smarmy tosser. Hooroo!"

…

..

.

15:40

Carol was dutifully watering another row of flowers, involuntarily letting out a sigh.

She wasn’t expecting her work to be so...non-stimulating.

All she essentially did after a short five minute “training” session was watering rows upon rows of flowers with a gardening can. This garden was so humongous that this act alone took enough time to fill an entire shift.

She really hoped to do something more distracting. That way her constant tooth ache could be ignored. It was a four now, on the pain scale. Still bearable but she was not looking forward to how bad it will be tomorrow. She will try to avoid taking these pills for as long as possible but tomorrow might be her limit.

Well, it was pills or sucking off Pompadour.

The nerd's heart rate quickened as she imagined it. What if she vomits during it? What if she chokes and suffocates? Will she have to swallow for it to work?

Or what if she can’t get him to ejaculate? That shouldn’t be an issue, according to the transformation, but how accurate is that really? The text on her breast transformation certainly got interpreted very loosely.

Carol shook her head. Her mind tends to wander when not occupied. She should focus on more productive topics.

Like this job. One can definitely end up with worse jobs than this.

For example, Carol imagined that keeping track of time could be quite difficult for some of the girls but all she had to do was look up and there was a massive clock tower showing the time. (Although the song it plays every hour does get a tad repetitive)

The temperature itself was pleasantly warm too. Despite her skimpy outfit(and her breasts essentially being fully exposed) she didn’t feel particularly cold. Curiously enough, that warmth was centralized around the flower beds. In a more mundane setting, Carol would imagine some advanced heating technique but the answer was probably magic.

As for the garden, while flowers aren’t exactly anything Carol had any interest in, it did offer some interesting set pieces, including a giant hedge maze.

Naturally she had no intention of going in there but it was interesting.

And while the work was mundane, it did allow her to gather her thoughts.

Yesterday, they went through Watson’s laptop, and while the device did have a working internet connection it only seemed to connect to a Club Penguin server. They also found pictures of penguins on the hard drive. Five Terabytes worth of it. And virtually every penguin movie ever made.

Aside from that, there was one encrypted folder. Contrary to the stereotype neither she nor Watson were hackers, so that one remained encrypted. Carol also didn’t deem it a wise move to touch it in the first place. This was either a dumb prank to make them waste their time or more likely will end up with them receiving a punishment for messing with stuff they should not have.

No, if she wants to find out anything that could give her an advantage she will have to search the manor itself. Today was unfortunately already mostly wasted, she thought frustrated. After her doctor’s appointment she went and gave her body(mostly her breasts) a thorough wash and after that she had lunch. The afternoon was then spent here in the garden and by the time she will have finished her work it will already be getting dark.

Something tells Carol that wandering around a magic manor after dark was not a smart move.

She will have to do better tomorrow, the nerd vowed. Knowledge is power and the sooner she gets a grasp on what this manor has to offer, the better.

“It appears you are quite hard at work.”

The familiar voice made Carol gasp and turn around.

Her teacher casually strolled through the garden as if she owned the place.

“Miss de Sade! I was under the impression you had a date with Pompadour.”

“Matters have changed”, de Sade responded curtly. “And I am in need of some way to pass the time. Humoring my favorite pupil might be pleasant.”

Carol tensed. Her teacher clearly knew more about this game then anyone.

“Your thirst for knowledge was always your most endearing quality, my pupil”, the older woman smiled. “Go on, I will allow it. Ask.”

Carol readied herself. She had indeed many questions.

But just as she was about to, somebody else, considerably less stealthy, approached them at great speed.

“YOU THERE!”

“Eek!”

The delinquent bully turned dog girl rushed towards Carol as if she was on a mission to maul her!

“SHORTSTUFFNEEDSAHANDJIGGLINGTHELOCKONYOURROOMSOWECANHAVEA YARNWITHYOURFLATMATEANDKNOCKSOMESENSEINTOTHESILLYSHEILA!”

…

“Huh?”

“Playing fetch now?”, de Sade scoffed. “You are interrupting a high level conversation, mutt. Remove yourself.”

Apparently Liz managed to somehow overlook de Sade. But now she had her full attention.

“How aboot I remove yer fooking face from yer face ye fooking slimy old cunt”, Liz smashed her fists together. “Think ya can just muck around with Shortstuff without me noticing, eh?”

“Ah...that” the teacher smiled thinly. “And here I was thinking you would appreciate what I did.”

“How the fook do ya reckon that…” then however Liz shook her head. “Ain't got time for yer bullcrap! The eggheads are comin' with me, whether ya like it or not, ya drongo!"

“Then you would have to go through me”, de Sade announced coolly.

"Yeah, no worries, that can be arranged, ya bloody cunt!”

“Wait!”, Carol interrupted the two “Did I understand you correctly that you wish to gain access to my room?”

“Aye.”

“In that case you can just take my key.”

Oh!

Keys are lighter than nerds, Liz reasoned. “That’s smart! That’s why yer the egghead!”

“R-right...just make sure you give them back to…”

SNATCH!

“AND I’M OFF! TOOOO!!!!!”

The two women watched the dog girl run off at impressive speed.

“Towards her doomed quest”, de Sade mused. “But futile struggle has its allure. I believe this evening will prove to be quite entertaining.”

“What exactly is going on with Watson?”, Carol finally heard herself asking. Watson might be a highly unpleasant individual but she was also her roommate.

“I could tell you that”, the teacher allowed. “Or I could offer you a glimpse.”

“A glimpse?”

“A glimpse into the true nature of this world.”

Carol hesitated only for a moment.

Then she nodded.

And de Sade smiled.

“Cut the feed.”

BZZZT!

...

..

.

15:52

Ashley knew that time was running out.

He tried to argue through the door with Megan but after that original comment all he was met with was silence.

“This is my fault”, Dahlia said glumly. “I should have given her another job.”

“No”, Ashley shook his head. “You couldn’t know that this would happen.”

“Thanks Ash”, Dahlia allowed a smile. “I will try my best. These girls...sometimes I have the feeling I need to get angry on your behalf.”

Ashley shook his head. “You don’t have to do that.”

“But someone has to punish them”, Dahlia argued. “They can’t get away with what they did to you.”

…

“And sometimes I find myself thinking, if they want to get eliminated so badly, then...good riddance.”

Ashley was silent on that. A dark part of him knew that Dahlia was only voicing what he doesn’t have the courage to say. He wanted to save Megan. But why he wanted to do that, was something he couldn’t answer.

Time ticked inexorably forward and just as all hope was lost, they heard the rapid approach of footsteps.

“OIIIII! SHORTSTUFF! ONE KEY DELIVERY, COMING RIGHT UUUUUP!!!”

To save time, Liz chucked Carol’s key at Ashley with a speed of 100,5 mph.

BLAM!

Violation of the masters no **** rule -0.5 VP

hit master in face with projectile(accident) -0.5 VP

First time bonus! -0.5 VP

fetch item for master +0.5 VP

First time bonus! +0.5 VP

“DID YOU HAVE TO THROW THEM!”

"Bloody oath, Shortstuff! Did yer old man never teach ya how to snag a ball?”

“That was not a ball! That was a metal projectile that is now permanently imprinted on my forehead!”

"Oi, stop ya whinging! Just harden up and walk it off, Shortstuff!”

Dahlia cleared her throat. “Ash, the door.”

Oh, right. Ashley will punish Liz later. He had more important matters to attend to.

Swiftly he moved to the door. “Megan? We’re coming in.”

Sure enough, using the key Ashley had no problem opening the room and the trio entered the sparsely furnished, yet still cramped room.

For a moment Ashley had to pause. This place looked abysmal. He was expecting the lower ranked girls to not exactly live in luxury but he wasn’t expecting a windowless hovel like this.

The small bed took up about two thirds of the room and with three people standing there was barely any space left. It didn’t look like Dahlia or Liz were keen on waiting outside though.

“Reckon she's under there”, Liz gestured towards the bed or rather the hump under it. Apparently Megan was hiding under a blanket.

“Megan…” Ashley began gently.

...

Actually…

He was so focused on getting in here, he spent no time thinking what he actually was supposed to say. At least in terms of anything that would get through to Megan. He already pleaded with her through the door. What could he possibly add that will get Megan to change her mind?

“If you don’t do anything, you will get eliminated.”

…

“Look, I know it sounds hard but guiding people really isn’t that difficult. You don’t even have to talk much.”

...

“I get it. You can’t do the work. That’s fine. Kikki can make a deal with you. We can find a solution that works for you.”

…

“I...uh...ok I don’t know exactly how it works but it will help you do your job. It’s the best solution really.”

…

“So, all you really have to do is make that deal. That’s it.”

…

“So, basically it’s just that. Just this one little thing.”

...

“Megan! Please! Do you realize what’s at stake here? Your about to get eliminated! Your life as you know it is about to end!”

“Good.”

…

Pling

A short chime echoed.

It came from beneath the covers.

“4’ o clock”, a hollow voice responded. “Game over.”

“Megan!”

“This is your fault, lil’prince”, the voice continued.

“I’m getting killed because of you.”

“How dare you!”, Dahlia shouted furiously. “Ash tried everything in his power to save you!”

“Guess he’s just a loser then. Serves him right.”

...

“Enjoy living with this guilt for the rest of your life. Hope it eats you up every waking moment.”

“Just leave her be, Shortstuff”, Liz put a hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “Ya had a crack, but some blokes are just too far gone.”

“No, not yet.”Ashley responded stubbornly. “She worked this morning during training. There’s still time.”

“But why, Ash?”, Dahlia’s voice was barely above a whisper. “You heard what she said. Why go to such extremes for someone like her?”

How often was he asked that question now?

And Ashley still didn’t have an answer. Some phrases came to mind.

Because it’s the right thing to do.

Because nobody is beyond redemption

Because this is no true atonement.

But all of it sounded shallow.

…

No.

He did have an answer.

It was exceedingly simple.

“Because I want to.”

...

It was faint but there was a stirring under the covers.

“I am aware of that”, Dahlia furrowed her brow. “I’m asking why you want to.”

“I want to because I want to”, Ashley responded without even turning his head. “That’s all there is to it.”

...

“Ke…”

“Kekeke…”

“Kekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekekeke!”

The sudden, cackling laughter surprised everyone in the room.

It came from the lump under the covers.

“I’m a failure! A complete waste of space! I dropped out of college and haven’t left my room in ages! I don’t even know when I last showered!”

The voice was manic.

“The only thing ... .the only thing that gave me pleasure at that time...was you! You! Youuuu!”

Megan threw the cover back and suddenly raised upwards.

Naturally, she was naked. But this time there was no shame in her manic, bloodshot eyes.

That however was not necessarily a good thing.

“You kept me going! You! If only I could control you! There was value to me! I’m not worthless! I’m not garbage! You’re worse! You’re still worse!”

Dahlia and Liz exchanged a glance.

“But now look at you! Look at you! Strong, assertive! You don’t even allow me to die! Let me die! I want to die! Die! Die! Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!”

SLAP!

Ashley slapped her.

“You got one thing right”, Ashley spoke in a low voice. “I am the one who decides your fate and you do not have my permission to die. Not until you paid me back for every single thing you did to me.”

Megan stared at him with a wide tear stained red eye.

Ashley stared back.

“Now get in uniform and do your fucking job, you piece of shit.”

“A—aaa---aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT TIMES UPGRMPLFFFLLFLFLFLFFFFF!!!!!!!!”

Ora teleported herself into the room. But since this place is not build for five people, she found herself squished between Liz and Dahlia(‘s big breasts)

The small host crawled herself out of the boob prison. “Haaaa! Geez! What the hell are you doing here all cramped together! If you want to have a sexy, steamy orgy be my guest, but leave me out of it!”

“What do you want?”, Ashley asked, annoyed. Of course now, after all this, their so-called host would show up.

On that question Ora grinned. “Why, to inform you that little Megan’s time is up.”

“What do you mean?”

The little host rolled her eyes. “Geez! What could I possibly mean? Huh? Alright let me walk you through it. Miss I hate work. Spend exactly 4 minutes and 24 seconds on the job before you rudely told her to walk off. That’s four minutes and 24 seconds of her eight hour work schedule she completed so far. Now, what time is it? Come on, guess!”

“N-No…”, Dahlia gasped.

“16:05!”, Ora announced gleefully. “In other words...this contestant is no longer able to work the eight hours she is legally obligated to do!”

“Only four minutes? This is ridiculous!”, Dahlia objected. “It had to be longer than that!”

“Weeeell yes, actually. But Megan did such an awful job that I can really only count that.”, Ora countered.

"That's just not cricket, mate!", Liz joined in.

“Too bad! You know the rules and so do I!”, Ora cackled. “Now it’s time for her puni...”

“No.”

Ashley spoke the word with complete finality.

“No?”, Ora asked back.

The master looked at their prison guard. “I am not accepting this.”

Ora rolled her eyes. “My femboy, what in blazes makes you think I gave a single whit about...”

Ashley grabbed the host and slammed her against the nearest wall.

“Listen here, you fucking slut”, he growled. “None of my girls are getting eliminated without my fucking per…”

He stopped mid sentence.

That was because Ashley was gone. At his place sat a small plushie.

“Ash!”, Dahlia gasped.

“Holy fook!”

“Haaaaah?”, Ora scoffed towards the stuffed prince. “You think I’m one of those weakling hosts that let their master walk all over them? Do I look like a Cassandra to you?”

With great flourish Ora straightening her non existent tie. “Harem Hotel Rule Number One! Never attack the host. Maybe a bit of a taste of what an elimination’s like will teach you that.”

“E-elimination…”, Megan blubbered the word out as she stared at what used to be Ashley just a moment ago.

“Well for the girls it will be a bit more sexy”, the little host clarified. “I did show you all the examples, right?”

Megan’s one visible eye widened and she wet herself for the second time today, seriously just how much is in that bladder?

Meanwhile Dahlia had scooped up the Ashley plush and pressed it against her chest.

“H-How awful!" (Even if he is very cute like that) Undo this! (relatively soon)”

"Eh, reckon he can stay put 'til that cunt’s date's cactus. But not a bloody tick longer, mate! I don't need a bloody chew toy!"

These girls' compassion towards their master is heartwarming.

But hold on. That’s actually perfect!

A devious smile crossed Ora’s face. “You know...this is a very good opportunity to rid myself of a pest once and for all but this room is definitely too cramped for that...penguins!”

A waddle of penguins rushed into the already over cramped room.

Before anyone could utter even a shriek of panic, everyone was carried off.