Ashley Price, Honoring Oaths

"So, this is gonna get lightly blasphemous for a sec. We're cool with that, right?"

Jenny just raises her eyebrows in response, while Isabelle favors you with a bemused finger-gun. "Go for it, girl."

"Dope." You spread the book you'd been holding in your lap out on the library table, revealing a picture of a circle flanked by a pair of outward facing crescent. "So, have you two heard of the Triple Goddess? By which I mean Isabelle, have you heard of the Triple Goddess?"

Jenny sticks out her tongue. "I've heard of things, I'll have you know."

"Have you heard of this thing?"

"Nope."

You respond by sticking your tongue out at Jenny as Isabelle somewhat hesitantly offers her thoughts. "Kinda? I mean, I know it's something in one of my mom's courses. This is that whole mother and maiden thing?"

"Yeah, it's this idea about a sort of deity or spiritual archetype that's three individual womanly figures united into one all-powerful being. Usually it's the Mother, the Maiden and the Crone, which each part being a different stage of female life. Also the moon. See?" You draw your finger across the symbol, highlighting it's similarity to both the phases of the moon and a gravid woman. "It's also why you see witches show up in threes all the time. Like in Macbeth, remember?"

"Or Hocus Pocus!"

You offer Jenny flat look. "That movie is garbage."

Jenny gasps in mock outrage as Isabelle turns the book around, inspecting the symbol intently. "So what, are you saying that we're tapping into the powers of this Triple Goddess? Or that we're becoming them or something?"

"I don't think it's quite that explicit? I mean, I don't think there is some exact being that is the thing written about here. This is thousands of different traditions boiled down into a single idea by some guy in like the nineteen twenties. However,"--you've begun tracing a boob sigil on the table--"I think it's clear that Threes are powerful, and I think that when we took the Oath we might have created something like a Triple Goddess. Another one of those thousands of traditions."

Isabelle considers that. "So that sort of explains why we have different strengths?"

You tap a finger to the side of your nose as Jenny leans in, something else on her mind. "Hey, how are you doing your ward thing? Didn't you use up all the mojo you got from Sydney's milk? I know I did."

"Uh yeah, no duh you did." If Jenny thought you had missed the fact that she definitely turned her body reshaping ability on herself after the three of you had parted ways last night, she sorely underestimates your familiarity with how bras are meant to fit. Judging by the way she's muffin topping out of the overworked number she's currently sporting, she definitely topped herself off by another cup size. "You'd better watch out, by the way; busting a bra isn't as fun as it sounds."

If the Asian girl is embarrassed in the slightest by being found out she doesn't show it. She rather looks like the cat who caught the canary as she gives an airy shrug, slightly arching her back to make her big but somewhat outmatched bra creak in protest. "I'm sure I'd live."

Isabelle gives a reproachful sigh. "Really, Jenny? You weren't big enough before?'

"Hey, it's not like I want to be as big as Ash or anything."--She'd fucking better not--"But you've seen my mom, I was gonna get bigger anyway. Now I just get to choose how big, and when."

This has gone off the rails. "Well you're right, I used up almost all of my power last night at Bad Starbucks. But I did have a little left this morning, so I put a ward on my locker. But then I kinda gave Leslie Dickinson and David Wright a nudge towards each other, and-"

Isabelle cuts you off. "Wait, really? Isn't he, like, your boyfriend or something?"

Ugh, everyone is so interested in settling you down with a boy. You know Isabelle doesn't mean it like that, but seriously. Getting pretty old. "No? We've had some fun, but I don't really do 'boyfriends'."

Jenny leans in to you, her freshly expanded chest wobbling against yours as she makes a show of intrigue at that. "Really? Do you do 'girlfriends'?"

You shoulder bump the girl off of you as Isabelle all but buries herself in the book, ears burning. "Can I please finish? As I was saying, when I did some work pointing them towards one another, the influence of the ward I had just drawn expanded. And, I got back the power I would need to draw this ward." You tap your finger against the stylized boob that softly glows on the table, the pulsing influence not quite taking up the entirety of its surface. "But it was only a little, because I was fulfilling Isabelle's Oath, not mine."

Isabelle peeks up from where she'd been hiding. "My Oath?"

"Yeah, remember? You said,"--you mime holding up a latte--"'I'm doing this so we can help people, because I am a goodie two shoes'. That Oath."

The girl coolly arches an eyebrow at you. "Something in that sounds wrong. But I see where you're going; you're saying that bringing people together would fall under the umbrella of my reason for gaining these powers. Ergo, it would have a more powerful effect from me."

Jenny seems amused by that. "So what, if Isabelle had introduced David and Leslie, they'd have just gotten engaged right then and there?"

"Maybe."

The cheerleader didn't seem to expect that answer, her smile fading a little. "Oh. Well damn."

"Exactly. So let's test it out on a relatively safe target." You pull a sheet of notebook paper out of your bag. "To wit: Did you know that Ms. Hayden and Mr. York the track coach have been circling each other?"

"Really?" Jenny cranes her neck over towards where Ms. Hayden sits, the librarian quietly sorting through papers. "That is cute! They're a good match!"

You definitely agree. Mr. York is a fascinating mix of sporty and dorky, handsome without having quite shed all of his lanky awkwardness as he grew into an adult. Meanwhile, between her silver-specked brunette bun and conservative sweaters, Ms. Hayden might seem to be the cold librarian stereotype at first glance? But you've seen the Deathly Hallows tattoo on her wrist, and on Halloween she always shows up in some outrageously over the top costume. The chick is fun. Also, it must be said: she's got a dynamite rack.

Isabelle seems just as pleased by this information as Jenny. "How do you know, Ash?"

This was actually something you'd noticed as Old Ash, but you're entirely certain it still applies to the new reality. "They make it really obvious if you hang around here enough. He makes so many excuses to come to the library. Also once I was in here during lunch and they were watching Mandalorian together? She touched his leg so many times."

Jenny grins at that. "Aww, that's adorable. Every time two nerds find each other a dragon gets its wings."

"Precisely. And that,"--You crease the blank sheet of paper over like a note--"is why we're going to give them a prod in the right direction. Sound good?"

Isabelle furrows her brow as you pass the empty message to her. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You should have gotten some power back too, yeah? We're all still working on instinct here, so I guess just do whatever feels right?"

The girl thinks about it for a moment, something flickering behind her eyes as she murmurs to herself. "Hmm, okay. Two people who are close, but want to be closer..." Her voice trails off for a moment as she absentmindedly rubs the paper between her fingers, sparkles beginning to trickle into the note itself. "This is going to be everything they want to say, but haven't. Everything they know they feel, but ignore. If is no 'them', that's okay. But if there is..."--she trails off again as she lifts the paper to her lips, giving it a soft kiss--"then that's even better, isn't it?"

"Whoa, look!" Jenny points at the glowing paper, Isabelle's eyes going wide at the sight of the shimmering rainbow-hued lip print she left behind, the magical stamp already fading away. Jenny quickly snatches the note from Isabelle's hand. "Well I took an Oath, too, and in my opinion this is starting to get too sappy." She lightly brushes her fingers across the message, the paper starting to quiver as if receiving a lover's caress. "So sure, let them come together! As long as they cum together. Am I right?" She coquettishly breaths a puff of teasing air onto the message, which gives an audible sigh of delight as she places it down carefully. "Yes, I am right."

Isabelle hums at the note where it lies, practically thrumming with energy, then glances your way. "Well Ash? Do you have to add something?"

You shake your head, tapping a finger to the ward that still glows on the tabletop. "No, this is my part in this particular scheme. I think my Oath would just muddy the waters here."

Jenny tilts her head to one side. "What was your Oath? Didn't you just say, like, it was because you wanted to or something?"

"Yeah, I'm still figuring it out. The point is,"--you snatch the note up from the table--"that this is a finished product. Are we ready?" They both nod, and you grin. "Cool. Let's go see about getting a dragon some wings."