Twisted Wonderland

Morning Heat

You feel your hair drift to your face, tickling you awake. You open your eyes and gasp. You can barely see the room you're in but from what you can see, you're under water.

You bring a hand to your neck, surprised you could actually breath. Looking around you see you're in the rib cage of a massive leviathan that's been long dead.

"Come in. Come in, my child."

You quickly dart to a coral shelf, high enough that you can still see what's happening below without anyone spotting you. The mermaid from before cautiously pokes her head into the room.

"It's very rude to linger."

You look to the source of the voice, realizing someone else was in the room. From a large shell, octopus tentacles wrap around the shell's edges. A woman slides out of the shell, grinning at the mermaid.

She was a large woman with short, gray hair. She has a spiral she'll necklace tied around her neck. But what stood out to you was her purple colored skin and octopus legs instead of a regular mermaid tail.

The octopus lady points to the mermaid. "You're here because you got a thing for that human."

The girl's eyes widened. "But how did-"

She wraps a tentacle around the girl and leads her to a large cauldron. "Here's the deal."

Lights pours out from the cauldron, showing the girl but walking on two legs.

"I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days."

Two, blue eels circle around the octopus woman. Both have the same, different colored eyes. Hey, those two remind me of-

"Before the sun sets on the third day," The octopus woman interrupts your train of thought. "You've got to get dear ol' princey to fall in love with you."

The mermaid watches the image of herself walking on legs in awe. The woman grins. "If you don't, then you'll turn back into a mermaid."

The girl in the image changes back and has a tail, before being pulled into the cauldron and the light disappears.

"Oh, and there is one more thing." The woman continues. "We haven't discussed the subject of payment."

"But I don't have-"

"I'm not asking much." The woman interrupts. "Just a token really, a trifle. What I want from you is..." The woman leans close to the girl. "Your voice."

The girl holds a hand to her chest. "But without my voice, how can I-"

"You have your looks," The woman interrupts again. "Your pretty face."

The woman walks over to a shelf. "And don't underestimate the importance of body language!" The woman throws ingredients into the cauldron and a huge burst of light explodes out. "Come on you poor unfortunate soul! Go ahead! Make your choice! I'm a very busy woman and I haven't got all day. It won't cost much, just your voice!"

A golden scroll and a fish bone quill materializes in front of the mermaid. The girl nervously looks at the the scroll.

"You poor unfortunate soul. It's sad but true. If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet, you've got the pay the toll. Take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll!" She leans back to whisper to the eels. "Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys. The boss is on a roll! This poor unfortunate soul!"

Your eyes widen as you watch the girl take the quill and sign her name. She looks determined as the woman grabs the scroll and grins widely. A current swirls around them, blowing your hair around with it.

You feel yourself being pulled away as ripples fill your vision. The last thing you hear is the sound of the woman laughing.

"Heya, g'morning! Leona, it's time to get up." Ruggie bursts through the doors to Leona's room. "Up and at 'em, Y/N and Grim. Let's get those mangy faces washed."

Grim groggily sits up. "Mrah? Morning already? W-wait, it's barely six!"

You sit up and rub the sleep from your eyes. Why can't I just have a normal dream?

"We do morning Spelldrive training here at Savanaclaw." The hyena explains. "Since you're part of the dorm for the next few days, you'll be joining us."

"Muh?" Grim tilts his head. "Morning training?"

Ruggie nods. "Yup. We've been at it ever since the last Spelldrive tournament."

Leona glares at the hyena through half closed eyes. He growls. "Lay off."

"Leona!" Ruggie tries to drag Leona off the bed. "Don't roll over and go back to sleep!"

"Whoa." Grim laughs. "Ruggie's draggin' his own boss outta bed feet first."

You laugh. "And he's still not waking up. Guess that goes to show how tough it is to get him out of bed in the morning."

After getting ready and dressing in your P.E. clothes, you meet everyone on the spelldrive field. You wave to Jack as you approach him.

"Oh, hey." Jack waves back. "You're joining us for morning practice?"

Grim folds his arms. "I coulda used several more winks, but Ruggie wasn't havin' it."

Ruggie calls out to the group of students. "Since we've got these freshmen crashing with us, let's make today a light game. Go easy on 'em."

Leona yawns. "All this standin' around is gonna make me fall asleep again. Let's get on with it."

Grim smirks. "Hey, he thinks he can take us while he's still half-asleep!"

Leona laughs. "Forget half-asleep, I could take ya while I'm fully in dreamland."

Ruggie signals the start of the game. "Okay, let's get this party started!"

This game went a lot better than the last one you played. Grim has yet to throw the disk at your head again. Jack takes the disk and throws it into the goal.

Ruggie let's out a low whistle. "Wow, you're hoppin' this mornin', Jack!"

"I never go easy in any kind of competition." Jack answers. "I'd appreciate if you all could pick up the pace!"

Ruggie rolls his eyes. "Woof, gimme a break..."

You cover a laugh with your hand. "Glad you're on my side, Jack."

Jack turns away from you, hiding the color showing in his cheeks. "Yeah, same."

The game continues and Grim eventually takes the disk. "Woohoo! Feel the wrath of my super-special explosive shot! Wait, what?"

The disk was swiped away from him faster than a blink of an eye. You spot Leona spinning the disk on a finger.

"Let's not repeat what happened at the tournament."

"Hey!" Grim glowers. "That was one time!"

"Yeah, and I'd like it to never happen again." You say to the cat.

Leona stretches out his muscles. "Well, that woke me up."

"I think it's about time to wind things down." Ruggie adds.

Jack nods. "This was great practice!"

Grim looks at the departing students in despair. "Whaaat? But I wanna keep goin'!"