CHAPTER#61

"Agreed." Abella put a hand on his shoulder. She smiled, the fused crack in her face glinting in the sunlight. It was the stone equivalent of a scar, yet somehow the flaw looked good on her. It traveled down her forehead, across her eye and then along her cheek. "We can't bail you out if we don't know where you are."

He smiled but didn't feel good about it on the inside. "Well, at least I know I can count on you."

She smiled, her azure eyes glittering in the daylight.

Zel stepped out of the backdoor, her hooves clomping on the pavement.

"Check it out!" She lifted up her skirt to reveal that she had put on a pair of Mike's boxers. "There's even a tail hole in the back!" She spun around to reveal that she had practically destroyed the fly of his underwear by pulling her tail through.

Naia laughed, the sound snapping Mike out of his funk. He stood up and gave Zel a hug. "You can keep that pair. I don't need them anymore."

"Really?" She did a little spin, releasing her skirt. "They aren't as lacy as the ones Abella showed me on her tablet."

"You've been showing her underwear on your tablet?" he asked the gargoyle.

"A bit of this and that." Abella shrugged, crossing her arms. "Sometimes the people in my videos wear underwear."

"But never for very long," Zel added. "If they know they're going to have sex, why do they bother getting dressed at all?"

Of course. Mike laughed again, the tension caused by the wardrobe fading from his mind. "If Abella's been showing you p**n, I suspect you have lots of questions, actually. We can address those later." He turned his attention to the nymph. "Naia, do you know anything about the wardrobe?"

"Doesn't ring any bells, lover." She sat on a fountain of water. 'It feels the same as earlier. I don't remember, but I feel like I really should."

"That's a shame."

"I would like to look at it with you," Zel said. "I think it's fascinating that you have an enchanted wardrobe."

"Who has an enchanted wardrobe?" Ratu came out of the backdoor, her white kimono decorated with a golden dragon that flew around on the fabric, spiraling around her chest before disappearing.

"I do. I think I'm being magically compelled to check it out."

"I see. I would love to take a look at it with you. But first," she held up the magical emerald. "Naia, if you would?"

The nymph sighed. "Toss it in."

Ratu obliged, the emerald splashing in the fountain and then disappearing. "I had a breakthrough this morning regarding that particular piece of magic."

"You did? What is it?"

"It's interesting, that's what." Ratu sat on the edge of the fountain and hiked up her kimono, revealing her scaly legs. She turned to lie on her back, unfolding the front of her kimono until she was barely covered. "The sun feels good today."

"Ratu, c'mon." He sat next to her, wondering what she was up to.

"Rub my feet and I'll tell you." She gave him a wink, and he rolled his eyes. He took her demure foot in his hands and began kneading the flesh around the base of her toes.

"Ah, that feels good. Anyway, like I was saying, the emerald is one of the more amusing trinkets I've come across. Bluntly put, it grants you a wish."

"Wait, what?" Mike stopped squeezing. Ratu gave him a small kick with her free foot until he continued.

"You heard me. Nothing big, mind you, but it can do little things. It calibrates to your heart's desire, and that's what its function becomes. Magic like this is extremely powerful. If you desired money, the emerald would attune to that desire and help you find it. If you wanted power, it could do that. That's why I wasn't able to figure out what it did for so long. I didn't have a strong enough desire for its abilities to manifest, so it's just been sitting on my desk, raw potential waiting to take form."

"Oh, like a magical catalyst!" Zel exlaimed, then ran to the garage and returned with a notebook. From where he sat, Mike could see that she was drawing the emerald from memory.

"That's another way of putting it. Mike, are you doing something different with your hair?" Ratu was looking at the top of his head.

"What?" He stopped rubbing her feet and felt his hair. "No, why?"

She shrugged. "Looks different today, like it's fuller or something. Anyway, the previous king of rats wanted an army to protect his people. Thus the emerald gave him the power to animate furniture. Our desires are largely open to interpretation, so the gem does its best to accommodate."

"But then what was the deal with Jenny?" he asked.

"Oh, that's my favorite. Your little friend is cursed to live in a doll forever. As a result, her desires are a little out of whack. What happened when she was under the effects of the gem?"

He blushed. Everybody had heard from Tink about the incident in the church. It wouldn't have bothered him as much if it hadn't happened in front of Beth. "She trapped me in a dream and seduced me."

"You are half correct. Oh, yes, I love it when you hit that spot." He was now squeezing the space between her big toe and the one next to it. "I am under the impression that Jane wanted certain experiences prior to her death. Her desire manifested as a grand illusion, allowing you to be with her intimately. Part of me wonders if her memory hasn't been permanently altered as a result. She may truly believe now that your interaction occurred so many centuries ago."

He frowned, thinking back on the encounter. "That makes sense, I guess. But it was more than that. Jenny was being weird and kept transforming into herself. It seemed like she was talking to me, but also like she was just babbling."