Amy

I took the flask from May with trembling hands, staring at the gray liquid within it as if I were looking death directly in the face. Not that I expected it to kill me or anything - rather, I didn’t know what to expect from the punishing concoction May had just made. I only knew that I’d agreed to drink it.

“I can’t believe I’m actually doing this,” I muttered to myself, before lifting the flask to my lips and drinking directly from it. The liquid inside was… hard to describe. It tasted stale, but also somehow… fuzzy? It tickled my throat on the way down, leaving a cottony taste in my mouth. Its one saving grace was that it was also refreshingly cool.

The moment I swallowed, I felt something - a sudden building pressure within my core, combined with a sudden heat, as if there were a miniature sun burning within my chest. I felt, in that moment, as if I could do anything. Cast anything.

No, more than that - I felt like I had to cast something. As if all that energy would come bursting out of me if I failed to do something with it. As such, I dove into my core, concentrating on the source of the heat within. Though I had no way of visually checking anything, I could feel the power within, trying to force its way out through the spells I’d carved. I took hold of it, guiding its passage out of my core, and allowing the spell to form - tentacles sprouting out from under my skirt, pushing their way into existence as they writhed across the floor.

“Amy?” Pauline called out, clearly worried. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t respond, too busy focusing on the magic within me. There was still so much. I had to do something with it - and I started by activating my subspells. Lead to make my tentacles weightier, liquid nitrogen to make them cold to the touch - so cold that frost began to spread around the ground about them, as wisps of vapor formed around the edges of my tentacles. The sponge subspell was left alone, as it would only draw more mana in. Instead, I focused on the ant subspell, strengthening my tentacles and giving them a touch of independence. The moment I did that, the ice stopped spreading across the ground, the tentacles lifting their tips into the air. Not that I was in much of a state to care - there was still so much magic within me. Far more than I’d expected.

Thankfully I knew what to do with it. Three quarters of my core was still sealed, after all, and I currently had more than enough pressure to open a quadrant or two. As for whether I should, though… Well, I probably should have thought that through before consuming the potion. There wasn’t time to think, now. If I didn’t willingly open up a quadrant, and simply allowed the energy to rail against its constraints, there was no telling what would happen. There was a chance it would be beneficial - opening all the quadrants at once, for example - but for all I knew there might be just as much chance of it cracking under the strain. So instead I took hold of the energy and focused it, pushing against one quadrant in particular. I felt the seal lift, the ‘book’s’ cover popping open to reveal the blank page beneath - a core segment, waiting for a new spell.

Too bad I had no idea what to carve into it. Even worse, I still had energy left to spare - perhaps even enough to open up another quadrant, if I desired. That would likely drain me dry, though - and wasn’t that a waste? Using up all that magic to open up a third quadrant, when I wasn’t even sure what to carve on my second? No. There had to be a better way to use the magic churning within me, and I knew exactly what it was.

To that end, I focused on my ant subspell once more. More specifically, I focused on the mana-storing element. The reaction was almost instantaneous - the magic within me began to drain, and my tentacles began to swell. It wasn’t much - not split between eight of the things - but they were still noticeably thicker by the time my core felt settled enough to stop.

Unfortunately, I had no chance to celebrate my victory. Just as I thought it all over, I felt something - mana, moving outside of my control. It was split into three parts, three spots of warmth that navigated their way through my body. Two shot up towards my head, rising to the very top of my scalp, while the other moved lower, settling right above my ass. Suddenly, the spots where they had gathered began to itch. I reached for my head first, thinking it the more proper choice in front of the company, but scratching at my scalp did nothing to alleviate the sensation. If anything, it grew worse, until it was practically all I could think about.

Then, without warning, it stopped, something black and fuzzy flopped down into my vision.

“Are those…?” Pauline whispered.

“Yup,” May confirmed.

“What?” I asked, confused. “What did you do to me? What was that rush of magic - was that the mana potion? And the itch…”

“You know, most people don’t drink the entire potion in one go,” May remarked. “How much of the energy did you have to let go?”

“None of it,” I replied, frowning at her. “I stored the excess in my tentacles, for the time being. Now answer my question.”

“Your tentacles?” May asked, eyeing them. “They do look rather large… Does that mean you’re stuck with them, for now? Or can you store the magic within them even after they’ve been put away?”

“That’s… I don’t know. Can you please just answer the question? The more you evade it, the more worried I get.”

“Nothing too bad,” May promised, shrugging. “I just gave you a pair of bunny ears. I’m much more interested in your tentacles - can you pull the mana out of them and back into your core? Or do you have to process it in some way before you can reabsorb it? Do you think the mana within could perhaps be injected into something, like a potion? It wouldn’t have the same oomph as a full core, of course, but it would allow me to add little more power to ‘commoners’ potions.’”

“I… I don’t know,” I admitted, my frustrations with May momentarily a secondary concern as I tried to think it through. “I… Maybe? I never put much thought into how I’d get the mana out again… I think you’re supposed to suck on the ends of the tentacles, maybe? But it’s possible I could just squirt the mana out, as some form of… liquid? Maybe?”

“Mana liquid would be a very useful potion ingredient,” May noted. “I think we should test it later.”

“Um… Amy?” Pauline interjected, biting her lower lip. “Maybe we can focus on that later? I’m a little worried about May’s punishment…”

“Right… the… bunny ears?” I remarked, frowning as I reached up towards the top of my head. I found them there - or what I assumed to be them, at least. Two long and fuzzy things, stuck to the top of my head. They felt surprisingly cool to the touch.

“There’s also a tail,” May informed me. “It looks cute.”

“A… tail?” I demanded, spinning about as I desperately tried to catch sight of it.

“It looks like a little cottonball,” Pauline volunteered, her hand lifted to her mouth as she tried and failed to stifle her laughter.

“A… how can you even see it?” I demanded. “My dress should cover it up, no?”

“There is no covering it up!” May explained. “Its made of shadow, so it’ll just phase through any materials you put over it. Same for your ears.”

“Right… This is definitely going to start new rumors of some sort, isn’t it? Won’t people think I ‘beastalized’ or whatever it’s called?”

“Perhaps,” May admitted, with a shrug. “I did not really consider it.”

“Then why did you give them to me?” I demanded, grimacing. Clara was going to lecture me for an hour about the importance of maintaining my image after this.

“To see if I could, mostly,” May confessed. “And because I thought you might look cute like this.”

“Cute?” I asked, baffled. “I didn’t think you were the sort to care about appearances - or anything else that doesn’t affect potions, for that matter.”

“I don’t see the need to alter my behavior in regard to cute stimuli, if that’s what you mean, but there’s no reason not to chase aesthetic perfection as part of a grander potion making plan. Would you rather I made you look ugly, instead?”

“Well… no,” I admitted, “but this is supposed to be a punishment isn’t it?”

“That doesn’t mean I have to offend my own sense of aesthetics. Also, if you aren’t interested in testing out the tentacles, then you should probably leave. I have more potions to brew.”

“I thought you were out of ingredients,” Pauline said.

“Yes. Which is why I will only be brewing them in my head. It’s not as fun, but it does help me plan out future recipes.”

“You…” I trailed off, letting out a sigh. Perhaps May’s logic was simply beyond my understanding - or maybe she didn’t have any reasoning at all, beyond wanting to see if she could accomplish an effect. I wasn’t sure, honestly, and in the end it didn’t seem to matter much. “Alright, fine. First we experiment with the tentacles, and then I go home. Or perhaps take Pauline home? As thanks for accompanying me, and putting up with all this.”

“I don’t mind,” Pauline said, her cheeks flushing faintly. “I am a bit worried you’ll get lost on your way back if you try to take me anywhere, though. Maybe I should lead you to your place, instead?”

“That hardly seems like a good way to pay you back,” I protested. “Though I suppose I could ask Clara to make some snacks, or some such, if you’re alright with spending time at my place?”

“I think I’d like that.” Pauline smiled as she spoke - though it faltered a bit when she saw me sticking the tip of one tentacle into the flask that had formerly held my mana potion. “Um… Amy?”

“Don’t worry,” I assured her. “I’m just going to try and squirt some mana into this. I’m not sure if it’ll work the way May hopes, but if it does it might prove useful down the line. Besides, I’d like to know a bit more about how my own spell works in any case.”

“Are you sure it’ll be okay? What were you imagining when you created the subspell?”

“Well, honeypot ants are supposed to be able to store excess nutrients as honey within their bodies, more or less - honey that others can feed upon. I honestly pictured the tentacles in much the same way, with someone drinking from the tip, so I’m not sure if squirting it will even be possible to be honest… but if it is, I imagine it’ll come out as a somewhat viscous liquid?”

“It’ll be fine,” May promised. “I have a spell called acid shell that melts anything that tries to hit me, so even if the glass shatters I won’t get injured.”

“What about Amy, though?” Pauline asked.

“What about you?” I countered, frowning. “Perhaps this isn’t such a good idea after all?”

“She can just duck behind a desk,” May said. “And heal you if things go wrong. Though if you’re really scared, I suppose you could try to do it at a distance, instead of holding the glass up to your face?”

“That might be a good idea,” I confirmed, transferring the flask to a tentacle which stretched halfway across the room before putting it down. Then I pushed the tip of the tentacle into the flask and imagined myself pushing the liquid out. “...Nothing.”

“Can I try something?” May asked, already walking towards the flask. Without waiting for an answer, she lifted my tentacle up out of the flask, grasped the tip, and squeezed, causing black liquid to squirt out from the tip and enter the glassware. “There. Bottled mana.”

“Huh. I… suppose that works,” I murmured, frowning. “A bit odd that it’s black, though…”

“And writhing,” Pauline said, pointing at the flask. Indeed, the liquid was bubbling and swirling about, bits of it rising up to splatter against the walls and fall down again. “Maybe it has something to do with that whole ‘eldritch’ thing?”

“Maybe…” I said, frowning. “In any case, I don’t recommend drinking the thing.”

“Babies,” May said, picking up the flask. “It’ll be fine. I’ll do experiments.”

“On what?” Pauline asked.

“Or who?” I added.

“I’ll ask the alchemy teacher for help,” May replied. “There are tools for testing potions, you know.”

“Right…” That made sense. “Well, let me know how it works out, I suppose? I’ll just be heading home…”

Saying so, I turned towards the door - only to stop a moment later as Pauline called out to me.

“Um… Amy? Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Hmm?”

“The um… tentacles?” she said, pointing to them. “They’re still out.”

“And they’ll stay out,” I replied. “I wouldn’t want to waste the mana in them, after all… and with the bunny ears already on display, I don’t think the rumors can get much worse. If anything, it might help to show people that my magic is still in play.”

“Maybe…” Pauline said, though she didn’t look convinced.

I gave her a warm smile. “Come on. What’s the worst that can happen?”

***

Firanna

***

“Where is she?” I muttered, fighting the urge to tap my foot against the ground or glance towards the door.

“Is something the matter?” our guest asked, arching an eyebrow at me even as she picked at the cookies on the table.

“Of course not,” I replied, forcing a smile to my lips. “I’m just so thrilled to have you here… Aunty.”