Anguille Benoȋton

Maddy was **** to remove her bra, not that it could have done much anyway; the rapid expansion of her breasts had caused the clasp in the back to snap even if it had been big enough to contain her new mammaries. Which it decidedly was not. Lily leaned over and rubbed Maddy’s back consolingly, while also looking over her shoulder,

“I’m sorry, Maddy, you shouldn’t have to deal with this. I’d offer my bra, but I think you’re bigger than me.” The plant woman remarked while gauging the size of the chef’s new breasts.

Maddy sniffled but shook her head and moved to stand, “It’s fine…I offered to do this for this exact reason. If we hadn’t tested it, we all would be dealing with it.”

Stella looked off to the side, “Oh yes, wouldn’t that be a shame? Lily was the only one in the group who came in with a sizable rack.”

Lily blushed and crossed her arms in a huff while Maya looked down at her own chest, a good deal of which was hanging out from the gaps in the fabric, and looked over at Stella, “I always considered myself fairly big.”

Leaning in Stella looking appraisingly with one eye open, “I mean you’re not in flat town for sure, but you can’t really compare to the mammoths like Lily, Mira, and the professor. Of course, I could always go in for closer inspection.” The imp leaned in lecherously, hands flexing in front of her.

Maya reared back slightly, and Amy crossed the room and slapped Stella’s hand away, “Try to keep focused, ok? We only have a little bit of time before we’re going to be **** to turn around and head back.”

The imp pouted, and Amy shook her head and desperately wanted the Stella who spoke up randomly about architecture back. Sighing, Amy turned towards the recently endowed blonde, “Are you good to keep going? I’d understand if you wanted to head back.” They didn’t even know if this transformation was permanent or even if it was temporary, how long it might last.

Maddy raised her fists, unintentionally pressing her new breasts together, “I’m good to keep going… it's” she looked around as if searching for additional courage before continuing, “It’s ok, we haven’t found what we’re looking for yet and I’d hate for us to go back empty handed.”

Pressing her hand on Maddy’s shoulder, Lily smiled, “I can walk with you in the back if you like.”

Maddy’s smile faltered, and she gently removed Lily’s hand. “I’ll be ok. Besides, we still need to be careful about your pollen. If drinking this stuff does this,” she gestured to her chest, “I’m worried what bathing in it might do.”

Withdrawing her hand, Lily looked off to the side, “Oh yeah, that makes sense.”

Amy didn’t want to let this awkward atmosphere develop into anything distracting that might make them lose more time, so she began to head towards the exit, “Come on, we have a little under an hour, I know we’re all tired, but its only a little more and we can head back faster knowing the path is clear.”

The group nodded uncertainly. In general, there was a growing sense that even if this was the right place, maybe it was impossible under the constraints they were under. It sounded like a move Lucian would pull, making something available and technically possible, but then punish them for it. Still, they gathered their stuff together and resumed walking.

There was no change in scenery going forward; the walls stayed the same glossy black reflective stone that they had been in this area, but gradually it began to taper in size. The hallway had been wide enough for two people to walk comfortably side by side, but now there was just enough room for one, with the ceiling descending down and brushing against Amy’s horns as they walked. The torches became spaced farther and farther apart until there were sequences of feet at a time the group would be shrouded in darkness until the next one, and then suddenly they stopped.

There was still a path in front of them, but there were no more torches lighting the way. Amy pulled out her flashlight and checked the time. They still had half an hour until they had to turn around, but walking in the darkness…She turned to the rest of the group. “Am I the only one with a light?” The other girls nodded, and Amy pulled out a length of rope. “There’s no light ahead, and my flashlight will only really help me, so we’re gonna tie ourselves together in a line so we’ll know if anything happens to one of us.”

Maya raised her hand before speaking up, “If something does happen, though, don’t we risk whatever it is grabbing all of us instead of just one?”

It was a valid point, but not one Amy was concerned with for the moment, “Listen, if we don’t know someone is missing or something is wrong, we can’t help them. You’re right, it’s a risk, but at least if we all get caught in some trap, we’ll be able to help each other out.”

“I guess that’s true, but there are some traps that even if we’re together, we can’t help each other,” Maya commented.

Tensing Amy turned on the purple-haired girl and snapped, “Do you have any bright ideas then?” The entire group was taken aback, and Amy saw Maya shrinking in on herself. Amy let out a deep breath, “Maya, I’m sorry…I’m just…I’m tired and worried about that stuff too. I shouldn’t have lashed out. Your points are valid, I just don’t want to leave without something.” The oni crossed her arms and dug her fingers into her skin as she tensed, “Sorry, if everyone decides it’s better to turn around now, we can do that.

Stella leaned back on the wall, “I’m good to keep going, honestly at this point, I’ve been face fucked in the air, so I don’t see it getting much worse.”

Wringing her hands together, Maddy’s voice shook as she spoke, “I won’t lie, it freaks me out to go further into the dark like this, but…” She looked at her chest and stretched her back. “We’ve come this far already.”

Lily nodded in the back, “Honestly, if we didn’t go as far as we could, it would bother me more.”

Maya was looking away from the Oni with her arms tucked in and then quietly said, “I wasn’t trying to be critical…”

Frowning, Amy shook her head, “Maya, it was my bad, forget it, I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

“When I ask questions, it’s because I don’t know the answer, and I think you might. It wasn’t an attack on you.” Maya turned to look Amy in the eyes and then let out her breath, “I want to go forward. We haven’t found anything interesting yet, and I’d like to.”

Lily gave out an exasperated sound, “The clothes-eating slime wasn’t interesting enough for you?”

Ignoring the plant woman, Maya pressed on, “So I’m not opposed, I just thought we should all know the risk if we were planning to move forward.

Amy handed the rope to Maya and nodded to the group, “Thanks, guys, I do really appreciate you all coming with me on this trip. I couldn’t have managed it on my own. I’ll make it up to you.”

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Stella called out, “Drink some of the fountain water and we’ll call it even.”

Amy scoffed, “In your dreams.”

“In my dreams, we do a lot more than drink water,” Stella waggled her eyebrows

“Shut up!” It was clear from Amy’s tone that she wasn’t serious, and she laughed as they continued to tie the group together.

Once they were linked together like a six-pack of beer, the group resumed moving forward. Aside from the beam from Amy’s flashlight, the group was shrouded in darkness, the only noise being the occasional chattering of Maddy’s teeth. They kept pushing in, and then, to Amy’s surprise, the light bounced off something at the far end of the corridor.

“Something up ahead!” She called back, and they pushed on. It was a dead end; the only thing there at the end of the hallway was a relief of a coiled snake, its body wound up against itself, its head resting on the piled layers of its body. Its mouth was open, and it had little black gemstones for eyes, which must have been what the light had bounced off of, but other than the relief, there was nothing.

Maya tried peering over Amy’s shoulder, but couldn’t make out anything. “What is it?”

Amy ran her hand along the lines of the relief, “It’s just an inlay of a snake…but it’s a dead end, there’s nothing here.”

“Oh no!” Maddy cried out, had it all been for nothing?

Stella frowned, “Well, gee, it just figures, doesn’t it?”

Simultaneously, both Maya and Lily spoke up, “Is the snake’s mouth open?”

Amy turned slightly, surprised by both of them speaking out, “Yeah? Why?”

Lily started to speak and was cut off by an excited Maya, “In games, when you reach a dead end and there’s a statue or something like that, there's always a hidden switch in its mouth.”

Amy raised an eyebrow, though the two couldn’t see it as Lily picked up with a note of irritation in her tone, “It’s pretty common in dungeon crawlers.”

Looking back towards the relief, Amy threw up her shoulders and shrugged, “You know what? Why not? We’re already here, may as well.” She thrust her arm forward and found not only was the mouth large enough for her hand to fit, but the hole was deceptively deep; she found her arm up to her bicep going inside. Feeling around blindly with her hand, her fingers wrapped around a loop, like a handle. “You've got to be kidding me.” Her fingers wrap around the handle, and she twists her wrist, and with a sharp sound, the handle shifts.

With an audible crunching noise, something the group couldn’t see shifted, and dust began to rain from the ceiling of the right side wall. Suddenly, a fifteen-foot segment of the wall dropped into the ground, in its wake revealing a large semi-circle portcullis with torches on either side illuminating the group. With a sound of winding chain, the gate of the portcullis raised, leading to a tenebrous space beyond.

Maya cheered and turned to Lily for a high five. The plant woman looked at the hand disdainfully, but after a moment, looking away, begrudgingly raised her hand and slapped Maya’s.

Eyes wide, Amy began to undo the knot around her waist and stepped forward. This had to be it, hidden away like this? It wouldn’t make sense for it to be anything else. The oni tried to collect herself and cleared her throat, turning to the others, “Let’s head in, be careful though, keep your eyes open.”

Cautiously, the group walked through the archway. The space was open and large in comparison to the hallways they had been in before now. As they walked, Maddy couldn’t help but feel like something was watching her. Then a voice spoke up, it was light and musical but with an edge to it that made your hair stand on end.

“So many pretty women, wandering into my domain. You’ve come a long way, dearies.” Following the voice, there was a dry buzzing sound like lots of beads being shaken in a container.

Amy tried to find the location of the sound in the dark, but within the space, the echoes of the area made it difficult to discern where it was coming from. A bead of sweat snaked down her cheek, and she tried to keep her voice even, “We’re contestants on the show, we’re looking for the upgrade shop.”

“Oh, a shop, you say?” The voice came up again, now Maya heard something behind her, heavy but fast, dragging along the stone work, and jumped up. The voice continued, “Well, I don’t know about any shop, but if it’s upgrades you’re after…I may be able to assist you, for a price.”

“Yeah, that’s how a shop works,” Lily let out snidely before nearly jumping out of her clothes when the hissing sound came from right behind her.

Ignoring the comment from Lily, the voice moved towards the center of the area, “My, you girls look haggard. Why don’t we turn on the lights and have a proper discussion? Shall we?”

With a snap of the fingers, suddenly a large bowl suspended from the ceiling burst into scarlet flame, and the whole room was illuminated. The area was adorned with luxurious furnishings and fine silks. The girls found that what they had assumed to be a rug beneath them was the pelt of some large creature they couldn’t recognize. In front of them was a large table with a slightly indented surface and an upholstered red surface. On the other side of the table was a raised platform with a canopy of red silks.

Beneath those red silks was the source of the voice, a radiantly pale woman with high cheekbones, red eyes, and short raven hair adorned with gold ornaments. Her arms and neck were adorned with gold bangles, and she was dressed in a crimson toga-like outfit that, while not revealing, put the woman's body on display. Then, it became clear that this woman was not human, as where her legs should be was the large coiled form of a serpent, with gleaming black scales and a tail that ended like a rattlesnake’s.

Her expression was glazed in a predatory smile as she leaned in, looking the group over, “Ah yes, now I can get a better look at you all.”

Maddy had unconsciously moved behind Maya when the pale woman gazed over the group, and no one was sure of what to expect next. Still, Amy pushed forward, “Can you clarify, is this the place to get upgrades for our transformations?”

Tutting gently, the woman slid her snake-like body forward so her torso hovered above Amy’s, her expression one of stern castigation. Despite the size, it was clear the woman could move her form quite agilely and quickly. “Is that how modern folk introduce themselves? I must say I don’t care for it. In my day, even when storming my home, they would always loudly proclaim who they were. Of course, I’d still kill them, but it was the polite thing to do.”

Amy swallowed, her throat dry, trying to match the intense gaze of the woman in front of her, “My name is Amy Tanaka, and these are my companions Maya, Maddy, Stella, and Lily” She indicated each woman in turn and then turned back to the serpent woman, “We apologize for any rudeness, it was unintentional. Would you please tell us who you are?”

A smile slid back onto the woman’s countenance, and she slid back onto her dais. “That’s much better, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Kalliope, a lamia, and as you may have surmised, I am in charge of transformation upgrades here at my Ante table.”

Maya leaned in, eyes shining, this sounded like a game, “Ante Table?!”

Peering wistfully at Maya, Kalliope raised her hand to her cheek and licked her lips, “Oh, you’re adorable. But before we discuss more, you must be exhausted after traveling here. May I offer libations?”

Nervous to refuse, Amy nodded, “We would appreciate any hospitality you offer.”

Smirking, Kalliope raised her hands and clapped them, and a fawn with black wool and a crown on its head that had gone unnoticed in the corner jumped from its sleep. Kalliope glared at the fawn, “Bring water for our guests, please.”

The fawn gathered itself up and rushed past some of the silk curtains, leaving the women with Kalliope as she gazed down at all of them. “Relax, I don’t bite, not casually at least.” She opened her mouth, revealing two sharp canines.

As the fawn began to bring them drinks, the group wondered, as the lamia watched them like rats, if having reached their goal was something worth celebrating after all.