As lisa made her way back through the academy grounds toward ho, her mind raced with possibilities despite Javir's warnings.
[Sure, using the mory thing for political advantage would be "ethically questionable," but is letting nim be executed any more ethical?]
She kicked a small stone, watching it skitter across the cobblestones.
[But Javir has a point too. Using magic to spy on people without their knowledge? That's pretty shady, even for a good cause.]
The streets grew more crowded as she approached the market district. People everywhere. Too many bodies. Too many opportunities for accidental contact.
She sidestepped a pair of children chasing each other, dodged around a cart piled high with vegetables, and nearly jumped out of her skin when a street vendor tried to press a sample into her hand.
"No touching!" she yelped, earning herself a bewildered look from the vendor.
[This is going to be a long three to five days.]
But as she continued walking, a new thought began to take shape. What if there was a middle ground? A way to use this strange ability that wasn't purely selfish but wasn't completely passive either?
Maybe she couldn't use it to extract political secrets from Aria, but what about using it to better understand the people in her life?
[Like Armia. I could better understand what she's going through with the whole "I want to be seen as human" thing. Or Raven, to figure out why her "secrets" are so... boring.]
By the ti lisa reached Javir's manor, she'd almost convinced herself that maybe, just maybe, there was a silver lining to this weird magical mishap after all.
She opened the door cautiously, listening for signs of who might be ho.
"Hello?" she called out, hovering in the entryway.
"In the kitchen!" Margaret's voice replied. "Just finished lunch if you're hungry!"
[Mom's cooking? Hell yes.]
lisa headed toward the kitchen, mouth already watering. The sll hit her before she even reached the doorway – fresh bread, roasted herbs, sothing sweet and tangy.
Margaret stood at the counter, her back to lisa, slicing sothing. Her tail swung with gusto behind her, the heart-shaped tip flicking a little back and forth.
"Slls incredible," lisa said, walking over. "What did you make?"
Margaret turned, beaming.
"Roasted duck with cherry glaze, herbed potatoes, and fresh greens from the market," she announced proudly. "I thought we could all use sothing special after... well, everything that's been happening."
She wiped her hands on her apron and moved toward lisa, arms outstretched for a hug.
[Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.]
lisa sidestepped quickly, suddenly fascinated by the potatoes still steaming in their dish.
"Wow, these look amazing! Did you use that rosemary from the garden? And is that garlic I sll?" She babbled, completely obvious.
"Yes to both," Margaret said slowly, lowering her arms. "lisa, is everything alright? You're acting strange."
"? Strange? No, definitely not. Just, uh, really excited about these potatoes. Super enthusiastic about root vegetables in general, you know !"
Margaret's brow furrowed with concern.
"Darling, you're a terrible liar. Always have been. What's wrong?" She reached for lisa's hand.
lisa jerked back, nearly knocking over a chair.
"Nothing! Nothing's wrong! I just... I have... nim fever!"
"Nim fever?" Margaret repeated, completely deadpan. "You never get fevers."
"New condition! Very rare! Highly contagious. Doc says no touching for a few days."
Margaret's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"lisa..."
lisa opened her mouth, searching for a better excuse, when the back door swung open and Hazel bounded in, covered in mud from head to toe.
Both lisa and Margaret cringed simultaneously.
"Mom! Look what I made!" She held up a misshapen lump of wet earth. "It's a sculpture of lisa! See the horns?"
"Hazel Blackfla! What in the world? You're tracking mud all over my clean floor!"
"Oops," Hazel said, not sounding sorry at all. She spotted lisa and her face lit up. "lisa! Do you like your mud portrait?"
Before lisa could react, Hazel launched herself across the kitchen and tackled her in a hug, saring mud all over lisa's academy robes.
The world tilted.
lisa was suddenly seeing through Hazel's eyes as she crouched in the garden, digging in the mud. Her small purple hands worked the earth, carefully shaping it.
[I'm gonna make the best sculpture ever and then lisa will let co to academy with her! Mom says I'm too young but if I show lisa how good I am at making things maybe she'll convince Mom I'm ready!]
The vision ended as abruptly as it had begun. lisa found herself back in the kitchen, covered in mud, with Hazel still clinging to her waist.
Another "secret" she'd beco aware of.
"You're all dirty," Hazel giggled, pointing out the obvious.
"Yeah, wonder how that happened," lisa replied, looking down at her now ruined robes. But she couldn't be mad, not after seeing Hazel's sweet motivation.
[She wants to co to academy with ? That's... actually really cute.]
Margaret was already moving toward them with a wet cloth.
"Hazel, go wash up imdiately. And you—" she pointed at lisa, "—are going to tell what's going on after you change."
"Yes, Mom," both sisters chorused simultaneously.
"And you," she said to lisa specifically, "clean robes. Then talking. Five minutes."
"Yes, ma'am."
lisa hurried upstairs to change, her mind now occupied with Hazel's secret aspiration.
[I wonder what Mom would say if I actually suggested bringing Hazel to the academy for a visit? I an, she's related to ,] lisa smirked at no one in particular, [so for sure she's talented.]
---
lisa changed quickly, pulling on a simple tunic and loose pants.
[Don't wanna make her angry. She's been getting good enough at Fire Magic to incinerate or sothing,] lisa thought as she headed back downstairs.
She found Margaret waiting in the sitting room, arms crossed. There was a very visible mud handprint on the wall behind her.
"So," Margaret said, one eyebrow raised. "A fever?"
lisa sighed and flopped into the chair opposite her mother.
"It's not a fever. It's... weirder."
"I gathered that much." Margaret leaned forward. "Start talking."
"You rember that research project I'm doing with Jaylin?"
"Yes, vaguely."
lisa rolled her eyes.
"Well, we found sothing in the library. A secret passage."
"Of course you did," Margaret's head hung and now it was her turn to sigh.
"And," lisa continued, "at the end of it, there was this... disc. Ancient artifact thing."
Margaret's expression shifted from skeptical to concerned.
"lisa. Please tell you didn't touch an unidentified magical artifact."
"Um." lisa grinned sheepishly. "In my defense, nothing happened. At first."
Margaret pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Ohhhh sweet goddess, give strength."
"But then later – like, the next day – we figured out what it did." lisa hesitated. "When I touch soone now, I can see their mories. Their private ones. Their secrets."
There was a long mont of silence.
Then Margaret burst out laughing.
"That's your big excuse? A magic mory disc?" She wiped away a tear. "Darling, if you didn't want a hug, you could have just said so."
"I'm serious! It really happens! And it's not just . Javir and Jaylin touched it too." lisa crossed her arms defensively. "Why do you think Jaylin hasn't co out of her room at all?"
At that, Margaret paused.
"Huh... I assud she was staying with a friend." Margaret smirked.
"No, she's avoiding all of us because she accidentally saw a mory of you and Dad... you know." lisa made a vague gesture.
Margaret's eyes widened slightly.
"Oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
Margaret blushed.
"And this happens every ti you or Jaylin touch soone? You just... see their private mories?"
"And Javir," lisa made sure to add. "Though, uh, not everyone has shown sexy stuff," lisa clarified. "Hazel just showed she wants to co to the academy. Which was actually really sweet. Raven just showed her, like, sitting down and stuff."
Margaret's expression softened.
"That does sound like them."
"Just... don't touch until Javir figures out how to fix this, okay?"
Margaret snorted, then reached out and lightly pushed lisa's shoulder.
"You can't possibly expect to believe—"
The world tilted.
lisa was suddenly in her parents' bedroom, seeing through Margaret's eyes. She was on top of listair, riding him with abandon, her massive breasts bouncing with each movent. listair's hands gripped her hips, helping her rise and fall on his cock.
"Fuck, Margaret," he groaned, his red eyes half-lidded with pleasure. "You're so wet today."
[Gods, I needed this,] Margaret's voice echoed in lisa's mind. [Nothing like good dick after a frustrating day. Kimiko must be so jealous that she doesn't get to taste this more often... almost makes want to invite her to join us. Again.]
"You like that?" Margaret purred, leaning down to bite listair's ear. "Wait until you see what I want to try next."
lisa gasped as the vision ended, finding herself back in the sitting room. Margaret was staring at her with a shocked expression.
Margaret smiled nervously.
"Uhm... Did you just...?"
"TOLD YOU!" lisa threw her hands up, her face burning violet. "You fantasized about Aunt Kimiko!"
Margaret's cheeks turned a darker shade of purple.
"I... that was private."
"No kidding!" lisa couldn't help but laugh despite her embarrassnt. "Dad has no idea what you're thinking, does he?"
Margaret's cheeks turned a darker shade of purple.
"Well... He could likely guess." Margaret laughed, her embarrassnt fading into amusent at lisa's discomfort. "And if we're comparing awkward revelations here, I'm pretty sure I've walked in on you and Isabella enough tis to balance the scales."
"That's different!" lisa protested, dropping her hands.
"How is that different?"
"She's not my sister!"
"No..." Margaret replied, smirking. "Just your cousin."
lisa opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"Touché."
They sat in awkward silence for a mont.
"So..." Margaret finally said. "Three to five days of this, huh?"
"According to Javir." lisa nodded. "Unless she finds another solution."
"Well then." Margaret stood up with determination. "I'd better warn your father to keep his distance. And possibly Kimiko too, just in case."
"I tried gloves. They don't work."
"Of course not. That would be too simple." Margaret shook her head, but she was smiling. "Your life is never boring, is it?"
"Not since I got here," lisa agreed. "Though I could do with a bit less of... whatever that was."
"Fair enough," Margaret chuckled. She winked. "I'll try to think pure thoughts around you for the next few days."
"I'd appreciate that." lisa paused. "By the way, about Hazel and the academy..."
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"She really wants to visit soti. Maybe see what it's like."
"She's too young."
"Just a visit," lisa insisted. "Not to study. I could show her around. It might be good for her to see what she can work toward."
"Hm..." Margaret seed to consider this for a mont. "We'll see. When she's not actively tracking mud across my entire house, perhaps."
lisa grinned.
"So that's a maybe?"
"That's a 'we'll talk about it later.'" But there was a softness in Margaret's eyes that lisa recognized as her giving-in look.
[Victory!] lisa thought, trying not to let her smile get too smug.
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