Chapter 17 by Zeebop

What does Zatanna tell Lois to do?

Repeat After Me

"Logomancy is the most difficult and powerful of the magical arts," Zatanna explained. Lois nodded, chewing her way through a spring roll. One hand rubbed her swollen, pregnant stomach. She wasn't sure how many babies were in there right now, but a few more plates and she was certain the idol would do its thing again and there would be more. "I'm going to handle the difficult part and channel the magic through our phone connection, but you have to say the words exactly correctly."

The gravid reporter swallowed heavily. She was glad she was wearing her stretchy pants, even if there was some unaccustomed pudge poking out over the top of the elastic. She wiped the grease from her lips with a napkin.

"This isn't going to hurt the babies, right?" Lois asked.

A pause on the other end.

"It shouldn't. We're going to cast a spell to break the enchantment on the idol. That should prevent you from getting...more pregnant...but it won't do anything to change your body."

"Good," Lois said with unexpected ****. A strong wave of maternal desire washed through her. She hadn't been pregnant for long, but she was already determined to keep her babies.

But what if that's part of the enchantment too? Lois wondered. Will that go away when we cast this spell?

It was a worrisome idea. Lois couldn't really trust her own body or mind. What was real?

Her hand squeezed her taut stomach.

This. This is real.

"Okay, so say each syllable individually..."

They worked through the incantation for several minutes, never saying the full thing. It felt weird, the shape of the sounds in Lois Lane's mouth. She had never tried to speak backwards before, the weird clips and slurs...and worse, when she was talking, she wasn't eating. The hunger gnawed at her guts like a living thing. It made it difficult to concentrate. Something inside of Lois just wanted to eat more and more, get bigger and bigger, until...

She lost her train of thought. Lois wasn't sure what the limit was.

Hundreds of pounds? Dozens of babies? How big and pregnant could I get?

"Okay, I think we've got it," Zatanna said. "Now, on three...say it with me. One...two..."

Their voices sounded in unison.

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