Home Makeover

The three got off the bus at the stop closest to John’s house. The three made their way to the front door and entered. Brenda Newman would be at work right now, so John did not have to worry about his mom seeing him bring in two girls and question what was going on.

“I’m huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuungry!” complained Miho.

“As am I,” Mikuru siding with her sister.

“Yeah, me too. Let’s order some pizza and take it to the kingdom. I’m sure Idena is hungry as well,” John said as he went to the phone. The twins headed off upstairs, most likely to go tell Idena they were back and getting food. John watched the two go up the stairs and wished either their skirts were shorter or the stairs a better angle because he just barely missed seeing their asses. Well, I’ll just have to see them later, thought John with a devilish grin as he called the nearest pizza place.

“Yes, Little Mikey’s Legit Pizza Place? I’d like to order one large pepperoni pizza and one large cheese pizza,” ordered John.

“Heeeey, ya sure ya don’ want a pineapple pizza?” asked the man in a heavy New York accent of someone with a clear Italian decent. The idea of pineapples on pizza nearly made John gag.

“No thanks, I like good tasting pizzas,” replied John. The pizza guy mumbled an insult to John under his breath before getting the address for the delivery. With 30 minutes to wait until the pizza arrived, John decided to go to turn on the T.V. and see if anything interesting was on. The T.V. turned onto one of the cable news networks, American News Network, with lead anchor Fox Dripple.

“This is a follow up to our earlier story about various reports of real life monsters appearing in the Aokigahara, more commonly known as the Japanese Suicide Forest. Footage, which has been authenticated to not have been tampered with, appears to show grainy footage of what appears to be a Gashadokuru of Japanese folklore. These creatures are giant skeletons that are made from the spirits of the unburied dead. This story is very similar to what appeared to be footage of a leviathan appearing near the Bermuda Triangle. We turn to our resident folklore consultant for some sense of what is going on. Dr. McMurry?”

“Thank you, Fox. These are two confirmed cases captured via video cameras of creatures of folklore and mythology actually existing. As to why the footage appears grainy, I believe it could be because of whatever is allowing these creatures to exist on a separate plane from us.”

“What do you mean by a separate plane?” questioned the curious anchor.

“Ah yes. Well, I theorize that long ago, humanity and these creatures lived side by side, thus creating the stories we have of them. But at some point, a powerful ****, perhaps God, separated the two, placing a magical barrier that prevents the two sides from interacting with each other,” explained the scientist, seemingly excited his research is finally getting the attention he believed it had always deserved.
“Well, that is quite a pill to swallow, doctor.”

“Ah yes, I understand the hesitation in accepting it. But with the various firsthand accounts we are hearing about at ancient sites of power or ****, and now video footage, I believe it is only a matter of time until the barrier dissipates and the two cultures are unified once again,” the giddy doctor told the viewers. The two then went on to theorize what kind of cultural and political changes such a thing happening would cause. John, knowing magic and monsters really did exist, became far more concerned.

“Wait, but I thought Gaia smote anyone or thing that tried to reveal monsters and magic to the human world? I’ll have to ask the twins if they know anything about this,” John decided as he channel surfed for the remaining time it took for the pizza to get there.

Ding dong

The doorbell’s ring snapped John back to reality as he had zoned out while channel surfing. As he got up and turned off the T.V., John reached into his pocket to pull out $50 to pay for the pizza and tip the delivery guy. John made his way to the front door and opened it to a kid that had to be young enough to where he just would have gotten his driver’s license.

“Hi, that’ll be $34.57,” informed the pizza delivery guy. John handed him the 50 dollars.

“Thanks, and keep the change!” John smiled to the kid as he said it and took the pizzas from him.

“Thanks man! Hope you order pizzas more often!” John thanked the person for the food once again before he closed the door and headed upstairs. Opening his bedroom door while holding two pizzas would have been quite tricky for John in the past, but thanks to his strength and agility stat boosts, he could easily hold both pizzas in one hand and balance them perfectly as he opened the door and made his way to the computer. With a conscious thought, John was taken from his room to his kingdom, appearing in the entrance hall. Something felt off, but John couldn’t tell what as he made his way through the entrance hall and into the main hall. That was when he noticed it, the entire décor had been changed. All of the standard décor, which matched a standard European kingdom, was replaced with branches, leaves, and feathers.

“What…the….hell…” was all John could stammer out as he dropped the pizzas and looked around the hall, looking at his birdified castle. John took in the changes as he spun around, seeing the mahogany chairs replaced with what looked like mini-nests made out of a combination of twigs, feathers, and leaves held together with dried mud. The banners that had a mural of John on them were replaced by banners made of feathers and leaves, with colored leaves forming the silhouette of a harpy on it. The tablecloth, while still there, had leaves and feathers woven into it. There were also small wicker baskets on the table, holding some fruits from presumably the forests.

“Oh, hey master,” Idena said as she flew in, putting extra emphasis on the word master. “Don’t you just loooooooove what I’ve done to the place? I’ve made it much more homely, don’t you agree?” she said with a smirk on her face, knowing full well that John would not be happy with it. John’s face curled in anger at the harpy, which she saw and just made her start laughing. I will not be made a fool of in my own kingdom! thought John as he rushed the harpy, his left hand wrapping around her throat. Idena gasped for breath as she felt John’s hand close around her throat, cutting off her oxygen. Idena summoned her claws on her hands and started scratching John’s chest.

-10 HP

-9 HP

-10 HP

John did not care that her attacks were slowly draining his HP; his anger was in control of him right now, and his anger demanded retribution, and she would receive all of it.

“Why the fuck did you do this?!” demanded John, Idena staring into his eyes with only rage staring back at her, his hand squeezing even more on her throat before releasing the pressure just enough for her to speak.

“B-because I wanted to p-piss you off…” she meekly replied.

“Why?” growled John, his teeth clenched together.

“F-for **** of enslaving me and then branding me…I’ll never be able to return to my nest now!” complained Idena, speaking up towards the end as she, too, vented her anger. Idena’s eyes now burned with fear but at the same time determination. Her determination was to stand up for herself and try to gain some power back in the relationship she had with John.

“You are here because of your own doing!” spat John, saliva landing on Idena’s face, slightly turning her head to the side to try to shield herself from the spit. “If you hadn’t decided to attack me and fuck me to ****, I wouldn’t have had to use the collar on you to save myself!” John informed her. After saying that, an idea formed in John’s head. A devilish grin slowly formed on his face as his idea took shape and he decided to roll with it. Idena watched as John’s hand slid into his pocket and a few seconds later returned with the **** collar in hand. Idena’s eyes widen in horror as she realized what was about to happen.
“Nononononono! Please don’t do this! I’ll be good, I sw---” Idena was unable to finish pleading as John’s left hand contracted around her throat, cutting off her oxygen and preventing her from speaking.

“I decided to show you mercy and trust by removing this collar, and how do you repay me?! By doing this!” John said as he motioned around the hall with his collar holding hand. Tears began to stream down Idena’s eyes, dripping onto John’s hand. “Now you need to be punished! To learn not to defy me! To realize your place!” As John spoke to Idena, he removed his hand and replaced it with the **** collar. Idena burst out crying as the collar once again fit snuggly on her neck. She was now once again at John’s complete and total mercy, and he had none for her in his current mood. John looked at the doorway to the throne room where he spotted the twins, with Miho’s head buried into Mikuru’s chest, not wanting to watch what was happening. John grabbed Idena by the hair and dragged her to one of the nearby doorways before turning to face the twins.

“The pizza is at other doorway, save me a few slices,” John said in a very calm voice to the twins. They nodded as they made their way to where the pizza was dropped by John.

“Come on, bird, we’re gonna discipline you,” John said in a cocky tone as the devilish grin returned to his face. He let out a small laugh as he dragged the bawling Idena by the hair to the only bedroom in the castle.