But every sun doesn't rise, and no one tells you where you went wrong

Nick stared at Morgana, trying to figure out what she meant by that.

“What do you mean by that?” Nick asked. “I can’t… trust Dakota? Why not?”

He knew that Dakota acted in a way that was questionable; after all, what had happened with Mary he had some issues with as well. But he didn’t question her that much. He knew that Dakota was a good person, and the way she operated was for his sake.

“Morgana, is this what you talked to me about before?” Kim asked. “About… Dakota?”

Morgana swallowed and nodded.

Nick wanted to get to the bottom of this. If this was about Dakota… then he needed to know.

“Did Dakota do anything to you?” He asked gently. He remembered the way Morgana had been when she first came here; she’d practically worshipped the ground Dakota walked on her first day here! And then… something had changed.

Now that it was put in front of him like this, he was seeing it clearly. Morgana was definitely afraid of Dakota… but he didn’t know why.

And he wanted to get to the bottom of it. If two people he cared about were having issues, then Nick wanted to do something to help.

But Morgana seemed uneasy to even TELL him anything.

“It’s not… it’s not something she did, not to me,” Morgana said. Her voice sounded cautious, like someone was listening in. “Look… I don’t think I should say…”

“You told me that, too,” Kim volunteered. “Telling me to be wary of Dakota… but you wouldn’t give me any specifics, either.”

“Then what is it?” Nick asked. “If she didn’t do anything to you, is it because of what she did to Mary? Or someone else?”

He hoped he wasn’t sounding too forceful. The last thing he wanted was to ruin all the progress he’d made with Morgana by getting aggressive like this.

But she shook her head again.

“I can’t say!” She said, a little louder this time. “I’m sorry, I just can’t say. It’s… it’s part of the rules, I’m sorry.”

…THAT changed a lot.

“The rules?” Nick’s expression darkened. “You mean… Sylvia said not to trust Dakota? Sylvia told you something not to tell anyone else?”

“Can she do that?” Kim asked, frowning. “That seems like blatant bias if you ask me.”

Nick had noticed that things seemed tense between Dakota and Sylvia, too. In fact, Dakota seemed to have tension with a lot of people. He hoped that she wasn’t in danger of being eliminated.

“It’s not like that,” Morgana said, shaking her head. “Sylvia didn’t tell me anything, no, it’s… I… I had a dream.”

Nick stared at her, trying to make sense of that. “A… dream? So the reason you’re suspicious of Dakota is because… you had a dream about her?”

Morgana seemed to get even more anxious. Whatever she wasn’t supposed to be telling, it was clear that she was getting closer to that line.

“It was… my first night here,” she confessed. “My first dream here. Remember?” She prodded him, but Nick continued to give her a blank stare.

“Your transformation!” Kim gasped, putting the pieces together.

Morgana sighed in relief and nodded her head.

“Transformation?” Nick turned to Kim. “What do you mean?”

Morgana had gotten five transformations in her last round. He couldn’t be expected to remember all of them! There was the one that gave her huge boobs… her huge ass… the one with the diary, which had caused a lot of trouble, the one that cleared up her skin and made her even more pale, and… the fifth one…

The High Priestess: Once per round, Morgana will receive a prophetic vision from the producers. This vision can vary in content, but will always be about helping her please the master somehow, whether romantically, platonically, or sexually. Morgana will feel compelled to act on these visions. (Fantasy)

Right, that was it.

“The High Priestess transformation, that’s the one you’re talking about, right?” Kim confirmed.

Morgana nodded.

“So wait, so… you had some sort of prophetic dream or something?” Nick asked. “From the producers? Something that would please me?”

“And I had to act on it,” Morgana confirmed. “But… I’m not allowed to tell anyone exactly what it is. Not another contestant, not even the master… I’m not allowed to say. Just act. That’s what Sylvia told me. I went to her that morning, and she explained the rules to me. I want to say, but… I can’t.”

So Morgana was magically bound from saying anything. Nick guessed that extended to writing the answer down on a notepad, too.

But what could it be? What secret was so important that Morgana would feel compelled to act like this?

And why would it please him?

“I still don’t really understand,” Nick said, shaking his head. “Morgana, what would please me is for you and Dakota to get along together. That’s what would make me happy, not… I don’t know, being scared of her all the time. You really can’t tell me anything?”

There were so many things Morgana wanted to say.

But she couldn’t.

She shook her head. “No,” she said solemnly. “All I can do is tell you that you shouldn’t trust Dakota.”

“I… I kind of feel the same way,” Kim admitted.

She couldn’t get the image of how she’d been dragged into that lurid performance by Dakota’s wiles. Sure, she’d enjoyed herself, and she could have rejected it, but the fact that she was so eager to drag other women into Mary’s wedding, it just didn’t seem normal. Well, abnormal IS the name of the game I suppose.

Kim tried to explain her position. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Dakota’s a bad person, but there’s definitely something off about her. I know she helped Mary, and I appreciate her for that a lot, but… still…”

“Of course there is!” Nick was starting to lose his temper. “She died, don’t you two get that? She died, and then she was brought back to life, to compete in this sick game just like the rest of you! Of course that would end up twisting her!”

“No one’s saying that she’s not a victim, of course she is,” Kim said, quickly trying to soothe Nick’s temper. “It’s just… if it’s between her and someone else, I don’t know…”

She glanced at Morgana, who looked absolutely miserable. When Nick saw her face, he realized that maybe he’d crossed a line.

He sighed and slumped against the counter. “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have exploded like that. It’s just… Dakota is very important to me. I know she’s done some really shady and manipulative stuff, but I’ll talk to her, I promise. I’m sure we can work this all out.”

“I hope so,” Kim said quietly. She just wanted everyone to get along and be happy. She didn’t want to deal with a mess like this one.

Nick sighed and turned to Morgana. “Again, Morgana, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad like that. You’re just trying to help, I understand that. And if what you saw is really that bad, I’m not going to tell you that you need to trust Dakota right away or anything like that. But I really hope that, in time, you two can become friends. Okay?”

Morgana doubted that would ever happen. But at the same time, she couldn’t say no to the hopeful look in Nick’s eyes.

She sighed and nodded.

“I’ll… I’ll try,” she promised.

That seemed to take a load off of Nick’s shoulders. “Well, alright then,” he said. “So Dakota’s off the table for now. Is there anyone else you’d like?” He didn’t want to put any pressure on her anymore; this was her decision, not his.

Morgana thought about it for a while. Compared to Dakota, everyone seemed like a good choice. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was someone that she’d really connected with, someone who she wanted to explore her relationship with, and see if it could develop into a real friendship.

“What about… Mary?” She asked hopefully. “Could Mary… be someone?”

“I guess so,” Nick nodded. “Mary would love to get to know you better, Morgana. Just… um… please leave out the witchcraft and devil-worship stuff, please. She’s not that good with that sort of thing, as I’m sure you realized.

Morgana nodded, a sheepish look crossing her face. “It’s fine. I mainly want to know about the stuff she’s into. Although…”

Now that Nick brought it up, Mary’s religious fervor meant that she might be opposed to a deeper friendship with Morgana. All of her self-doubt was starting to rear its ugly head again, and she wasn’t sure if she should be entertaining the idea of courting Nick’s Christian wife as a potential friend.

“There’s… there’s Gina, too,” Morgana noted. “Gina and I got along pretty good, I think… maybe I could hang out with her?”

Now, Nick wasn’t so sure that was a great idea. If Mary was a good influence on a budding 18 year old with major social problems, then Gina was about as close to the opposite of that as you could imagine. Hell, he didn’t even know where she was at this point. Since she wasn’t clawing for his dick, he suspected she might be at the bar.

“Oh, if you’re looking for Mary and Gina, I know where they are,” Kim said.

Nick and Morgana both turned to her, surprised.

“Really? You do?” Nick asked. “But haven’t you been here all morning?”

Kim shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I don’t hear stuff. They’re in the kitchen.”

THAT was something that caught them by surprise.

“…The kitchen?” Morgana echoed, not sure what to make of that.

At first, Nick thought they might be in one of the kitchens that the girls had used for the previous challenge. Nick had never entered one himself, but he’d heard from the girls that time seemed to be dilated there. Mary had used it for a while yesterday morning, to prepare the wedding cake (which he had never gotten to eat, by the way).

But this kitchen didn’t have any time-delay spells on it or anything of the sort. No, it was just the kitchen the faeries used to cook the meals for everyone at the hotel, and when Nick stepped inside, he saw countless numbers of the winged pixies fluttering around, carrying out orders and preparing meals.

Mary and Gina were nowhere to be seen.

Was Kim just trolling us? Nick wondered. Mary I understand, but what would Gina be doing in a kitchen? …Unless it was to snag some of the cooking wine.

The only way he could picture Gina in a kitchen was gorging her face.

“Excuse me?” Nick flagged down a faerie that seemed to be in charge. She was wearing a white apron and a chef’s hat over her snow-white form, and she looked rather irritated when she turned to him. Then she saw he was the master and her expression immediately brightened.

“Hello there!” She greeted him with a smile. “You must be the master! How can I help you today, master?”

Nick had gotten used to a lot of things on this island, but talking to someone who could stand on the palm of his hand was something he doubted he’d ever get used to.

“I, uh… I’m looking for my wife, actually,” he said, holding up his hand and showing off the ring on his finger. “I wanted to talk to her about something, and I heard that she’s somewhere in here?”

He looked around at the swarm of faeries.

“…But I don’t see her. Is she here?”

“Why yes, of course!” The faerie chirped. “The master’s wife is always welcome here! She and the girls are carrying out their lessons in the adjoining room, if you’d care to go check up on them.”

Nick nodded. “Thanks, that would be- wait, did you say ‘and the girls’ just now?”

The faerie blinked and tilted her head to the side. “Why of course!” She said cheerily. “Mistress Mary’s lessons did start today, after all. Shall I show you the way?”

The faerie turned, and flew through the kitchen, leaving a trail of pixie dust in her wake. Nick and Morgana glanced at each other and then followed the little sprite, weaving through the sinks and countertops to get to the back of the kitchen.

“Here they are!” The faerie stopped next to a sturdy metal door, which swung open with a snap of her fingers.

Nick and Morgana stepped inside, and what they saw shocked them.

“…And this is how to properly prepare the sauce. We’re going to go over the recipe one more time to make sure everyone’s got it, alright?” Mary stood at the head of the kitchen with a mixing bowl in her hands. Holly stood right beside her, with a cheerful smile on her face.

Mary was wearing a wide apron over her usual cowgirl clothes, which Nick found interesting. So that was an appropriate clothing choice? It certainly wasn’t a modest one, as it hung low enough to show off her cleavage. When Nick saw her with that bright look in her eyes talking about cooking, his heart skipped a beat.

Then he noticed who else was in the room, and he nearly choked.

Mary had an audience of three.

Rose stood in front of a mixing bowl of her own, wearing a big smile on her face. The apron she wore was a bit odd, since it was part of a very modest dress ensemble as well; green with pink flowers. The sort of clothes Nick would expect to see in an old movie. With her curly blonde hair she looked every part the traditional homemaker from a 50s cliché.

The other two girls… did not.

“Ugh, why’s there gotta be so much measuring?” Gina groaned. “If I wanted to do math all day, I’d be mathemagician.” She looked completely out of place, trying to scoop everything up using different spoons. She was clearly failing to get the proper amounts indicated, even if Nick wasn’t sure of the recipe. But what looked the most out of place about her was the frilly pink apron that she had on over her dark clothes. Her leather jacket was nowhere to be seen.

Gina, wearing pink? Voluntarily? Nick must have been dreaming.

For Gina, though, it was more like a nightmare. “Cooking’s a fucking pain in the ass!” She exclaimed, flinging some white powder into the mixing bowl. And not the fun kind of white powder either, either. Stupid baking powder.

“No swearing in my kitchen,” Mary chastised her. Gina had flashbacks to the last time she’d been in the kitchen, with her duplicate, and the “swear jar”. She felt a wave of nausea rise up in her gut.

“Teacher, would you like to check MY measurements?” Rose preened, raising her hand high like a teacher’s pet in a classroom. Gina muttered something that would have upset Mary even further if she heard, but didn’t follow it with anything else.

“Is… is this the right amount? I’m not sure…”

The third voice belonged to the last person Nick would have ever expected to see here. Gina was one thing, but… Dani?

The bluenette was frantically checking and rechecking her measurements, and looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. She was completely out of her element in the kitchen, and it showed. Nick half-worried she might torch the whole hotel if she got too close to the burners.

…Which may or may not have been a bad thing, frankly.

Seeing Dani was the last straw, and Nick could no longer contain his sheer, utter confusion at what he was seeing.

“What the heck?!” He exclaimed, and the whole room froze.

Five pairs of eyes turned his way. Five mouths dropped open. He felt like a cop busting down a speakeasy during prohibition, having caught the girls with their hands in the proverbial cookie jar.

Naturally, Holly was the first one to respond.

“Master!” She chirped, running over to him. For once, her apron had served its intended purpose. “You’re here! It’s so good to see you! Would you like to try Mary’s recipe?”

“Uh… what’s going on here?” Nick didn’t even know how to respond at this point. He looked past the short girl with her arms wrapped around his stomach, and met his wife’s eyes.

Mary turned red and smiled bashfully up at him. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

“H-he can’t be here!” Dani exclaimed, her tanned face turning pale. “Mary, you said he wouldn’t be here! No boys allowed!”

“I don’t mind!” Rose purred. “I’d quite enjoy for Nick to have a taste of the dish I’m whipping up. What about you, Gina?”

“Go and set your hair on fire, bimbo!” Gina snapped, not even looking at Rose. All her attention was on the pink apron she was wearing, and her attempts to get it off.

“H-hi,” Mary stammered, approaching Nick. She was happy to see him, really, but he’d come at the worst possible time. “Um… sorry about this. But… the girls and I… well, Dani and Gina, mainly, but Rose invited herself… we were talking, and, well… I thought…”

“A cooking class?” Nick may have been dense about a lot of things, but a blind monkey could tell what was going on here.”

“…Yeah,” Mary admitted. “Holly and I decided to help teach them how to cook.”

Nick vaguely remembered promises to that effect at the beginning of the week, but he’d dismissed them as just vague plans that had never panned out.

“Well, uh… that’s really something,” Nick said. “I’m sure you make a great teacher.”

“She’s not,” Dani groaned.

“Yeah, she sucks,” Gina smirked. Mary shot both girls a withering look.

Rose chimed in next. “She said that she’d give me an ‘A’ if I pleasured her sexual-”

She ducked under the cheese grater flung at her face.

“YOU were the one who said you’d do that!” Mary snapped. “And why are you even here, anyway?! You KNOW how to cook!”

“I know how to bake,” Rose corrected her. “Cooking is completely different.”

Mary took a deep breath and calmed down. “…Okay, yes, they’re different, but the skills can at least transition moderately well,” she replied.

“I know. That’s why I mixed everything properly,” Rose said, gesturing to her bowl, which had a smooth, soupy brown sauce sitting in it. “Because I know what I’m doing. Whereas pinkie over there only knows how to get baked.”

Gina’s eye twitched.

Nick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Rose had gotten a high score in the popularity polls, and already it was starting to go to her head. It wasn’t too long ago that she’d been in his room crying in his arms about her likelihood of elimination due to her poor results.

Whatever. That wasn’t important.

“Okay, look, I’ll get out of your hair, okay?” Nick said, raising his hands in surrender. Mary had already thrown something today, he didn’t want to be there if Dani lost her temper next. The tomboy looked positively terrified as she stared at him, as if the thought of being perceived as feminine or “girly” in any way was anathema to her.

Nick didn’t want to push his luck.

“But, um, before I go…” Nick turned to Morgana, who’d been standing off in the corner, feeling ostracized again. “Morgana… do you think you could let her sit in on a lesson? Maybe try and make something herself?” He asked hopefully.

“WHAT?! Wait, what?!” Morgana’s jaw dropped. The most complicated dish she’d ever prepared was cup noodles. She didn’t sign up for this!

“Sure!” Mary’s face lit up like Christmas. “I’d be happy to teach you! Come, come!” She rushed over to Morgana and took her by the hands, leading the goth girl over to the others.

Morgana shot Nick a helpless look, and he smiled back at her. This was what she wanted, after all, to get in good with the other girls. And what could be better than cooking with them?

Feeling very proud of himself for how he helped the goth, Nick turned and sauntered out of the kitchen, leaving poor Morgana to her fate.