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The three teens lay in stunned silence, the reality of the impossibility weighing them down. Drake has his eyes firmly clench shut, going over things in his mind. This has to be a dream, it must be. People don't fall asleep in class, wake up in the middle of the track field, and just mutate! This is not a thing that happens! But the cold grass beneath him says otherwise. Opening his eyes, Jacob glances around quickly at first confused as to what the hell is happening. After ascertaining there is no immediate threat to himself, or the two girls he has tentatively labeled as his new friends, he looks around carefully, taking in detail and attempting to spot anything unusual or that would be worrying. Off in the distance, he can see people running on the track. Peering closer, and he has trouble believing his eyes. Some of the runner have animal ears and/or tails. He can tell as they pass close that they're real, not plastic fakes as they twitch and flop in the wind.

Meanwhile, Megan's mind is running a mile a minute. Magic. Not even almost debatable, it's magic. And with a Power behind it... but a dark and terrible power.

Clearly this must be the plan the fates have for her; she has been lead to the service of all the gods for this moment.

But first she needs to figure out who that Lady was, and what all of this field is - a ritual? A deliberate manifestation of power? Or simply the world shaping itself to reflect the dark divinity?

She examines the rose bushes and (from a distance) the students, looking for clues in their placement and form. As she examines the bushes, she can see the thorns are all but dripping with Poison. Instincts she's never felt before scream that this is not something she should touch. Ever. Though the placement of the bushes seems random, there is something of a pattern to them. But as of yet, there aren't enough of them for her to tell for sure.

Remembering her studies of flowers and their purpose in channeling and altering energies, she looks closer at the roses and she sees something a bit more interesting. These aren't roses. The stamen structure is all wrong. It as if a drawing of a rose were made real, and she can't help but feel like she's seen this exact rose elsewhere before, recently too . . .

Oblivious to this, Drake speaks up, "something weird is happening. Some of the others have animal parts. Like ears, or tails. I think we should get inside, now."

Tia Episki's belly rumbles. "It's impossible to think on an empty stomach, after all, and the cafeteria is as good a place to talk as any. I can't think when I'm hungry..." Looking around, Tia shrugs. "and besides, I want to see if the gym class was the only one affected."

Megan shakes her head, attempting to get her thoughts in order. "These roses are wrong, too. The blossoms themselves are superficially correct but all the delicate structures are off, and all the thorns are dripping poison. The bushes... I feel like there's supposed to be a pattern to them but there aren't enough to tell what it is yet."

Eying the bushes, Drake responds, "Maybe you can only see the pattern from an elevated position?"

Raising shoulders, Megan moves on, "I think this is related to the dream I had last night. There were vines digging into everything, and a person demanding to be released... and then at breakfast Ioviflux said the same thing. Then something grows rosebushes all over the track and starts transforming people. It can't be a coincidence."

Drake looks at Megan as she mentions the dream. "You had a weird dream like that too? I thought...... this is weird."

"It's probably a bad sign, too. You don't get dream portents for happy things, y'know," Tia says, dropping an arm across his shoulders, she begins to steer him off the field, leading him towards the main building.

Megan claps her hands, gather the other two's attention, "Alright, so it's not just a prophetic dream, it's a shared prophetic dream. I bet Ioviflux had it too. Maybe Abner, he was looking even worse than usual this morning. The feathers definitely have to mean something, they wouldn't be fighting the vines if they didn't figure in." Megan keeps pace with Tia and Drake. "So, if we know we had the dream... did everyone on the field have it? Were we singled out for some reason, is that why we weren't running? I bet Ioviflux and Abner had it too, why weren't they out there?"

"Maybe they were here, and they woke up earlier?" Drake chips in. ""Mind the Rose Plant........."

"And was it the field, or the whole school?" Tia adds, being sure to give the roses a wide birth. "I doubt the flowers are the only sign of influence. It would not surprise me if others were infected from different sources."

Jacob, while carefully considering Megan's words, does his best to think what the roses could mean. That's when it struck him. The things that he was sure he saw moving earlier today. The Lady of the Rose's flowers are here, blooming on the track field. "The Mural. These roses, they are painted on the Mural!"

Murals

They're all over the school.

Tia blanches as the facts hit home. "Ah. Oh dear, that's...not good."

Megan pales as she considers what this might mean. "The murals of the Lady of the Rose? That... is significantly bad. If that magic is coming from the symbolic patron of the school... it might be a lot harder to resist anything she does. I don't know what her magic felt like to you, but to me it was overwhelming and dark. Definitely not something you'd want other people forcing on you."

Drake glances around, "Let's move, everyone else is gone."

Three of them make their way to the cafeteria, finding t emptier than usual, but that may be because they've arrived a little late. There isn't much food left, but what is there is plenty to eat, even for Tia. It's just a shame that you missed the shepherd's pie. There's still sliced roast beef and sandwich fixings. And potatoes, of course.

Tia grins. Lots of potatoes.

As they settle in to eat, they can see that no one is reacting to the changes. Almost everyone is sporting a change, some as minor as bigger bust, others have scaly skin in rainbow colors.

Tia is a one-woman machine, obliterating her way through six trays of entrees, six bowls of potatoes, a pound of roast beef, and a small juice box. Through it all, she carefully pays no attention to anyone else's changes, in case someone is watching.

Megan has a single potato - not even a very large one - carefully slicing it so that each piece has a portion of skin, while her eyes rove across the cafeteria, taking in the changes.

That's when a teacher walks in the room. Simon Willright, you had one of his classes today. There is no way he hasn't noticed you were absent, and he doesn't tolerate those who play hooky. He walks right by your table, cursing gently when he finds that there are no more potatoes.

That brings up a question Megan hadn't considered yet - have the staff been transformed as well? She goes back through the food line for a slice of bread, surreptitiously checking Mr. Willwright and any visible kitchen staff for changes.

Megan Is fairly familiar with how Simon looks, and she's not certain he's unchanged. He's definitely bigger, but he's the sort who spent his summer at the gym. His pants look tighter around the crotch, but so does everyone else's.

Drake grabs his food and sits down, eating quickly to sate his hunger as he idly looks around the cafeteri, absently noting that despite different body builds, every girl he has seen at this school qualifies as attractive, or even hot. Snickering as a thought crosses his mind, "I wonder if that girl in the red beret got cow like transformations?" he mumbles to himself.

A cold chill stops Drake's musings, he can feel eyes staring at him, but a quick look around the room and the only person looking at him a girl with exceptionally big breast and mouse ears sitting behind him. As he looks at her she glances down to make notes on a pad of paper in her hand. Looking more closely, it seems she's making notes on quite a few people in the room, not just him, but he can't quite shake the feeling he's been singled out.

Jacob cocks his head at the strange girl, and hesitantly asks her what she wants

Tia leans over to see who Drake's talking too, swallows a big mouthful of food and says, "Hello Jessica, wotchu doin?" Turning to Drake, she says, "That's Jessica Lane, who runs the newspaper. Real sweet heart, once you get to know her."

Jessica Lane, The Comodor's Connection ignores Drake for a good thirty seconds, but Tia's introduction draws her attention back to the moment. "Oh, sorry, did you say something? I'm, like, trying to think of a good article for tomorrow's paper. Time's running thin, deadlines and you know. Do you, like, have any stories for me, Mr. Drake?"

Jacob blinks, the valley girl thing throwing him off. "Sure? How about the fact that the track is overgrown with rose buses? I'm Jacob by the way. Drakes just a nickname."

Jessica Lane tilts her head to the left, looking confused. "But, like, the track's always had bushes. They've tried to get rid of them, but they keep coming back." Straighten her head, she smiles. "Oh, I know Mr. Drake. But Mr. Drake is, like, so much cooler."

Swallowing, Tia adds "Also, probably cause the school's haunted."

"Oh, you know about the ghost who steals your panties too?!? Tomorrow you and I must Talk, Tia. But the ghost is, like, old news. Mr. Iffies won't let me run a new story on it without more hard details." Jessica says as she makes a note on her pad.

"I actually meant a different ghost, thank you."

Jacob "Drake" McAllester is stunned speechless by her offhand comment, and seemingly nonexistent attention span. Leaning over to Megan, Drake whispers to the paranormal obsessed girl, "Do you think we might be the only ones who remember things before whatever the heck happened, happened?"

Megan whispers back "Could be. Would want to check a few more people but it looks like another thing we share."

Jacob turns back to Jessica, "Out of curiosity, did everyone here always have animal parts? Like ears and tails?"

"And do you know who the lady in our mural is?" Tia chimes in.

Jessica Lane tilts her head to the right, looking vaguely annoyed. "Like, um, we're all animals. You should pay more attention to biology class." Turning to face Tia, her eyes harden, looking focused for the first time since the conversation began. "Our Lady of the Rose? That's gonna cost you. When I think of a price, I'll, like, let you know." Smiling, she adds, "I, like, always need more stories, though."

Jacob nods along when Tia mentions the mural, and anime sweatdrops when Jesica says everyone was already animals. Was the bimbo thing an act to get people to underestimate her, or was she actually like this? "Um, is there something in particular you want? Story wise, I mean." Jacob excuses himself from the table, cursing the new tightness of his pants as he to get another drink before swiftly returning. "Sorry. Please continue."

Jessica Lane's eyes brighten, her smile set ablaze. "I have an idea for the next story! If it goes down well, I think I might just need you for a follow up! See you, like, tomorrow!" Grabbing her things, Jessica bursts out of the cafeteria in a rush of energy.

Tia watches the girl go and sighs. "We are gonna regret. You just watch. Sweet girl, really, but with a nasty habit of bad ideas." Finally finished with her food, Tia cleans her area and heads off to her club.

Jacob just shakes his head before putting his tray into the dirty disposal bin and returning to the table "Well, I'm going to go tinker a bit before turning in. Night, I guess." Drake moves for the exit of the cafeteria, bumping into the girl he earlier suspected of having cow like changes due to the size of her bust in his distraction. "Sorry, lost in thought."

A large hand takes firm hold of his shoulder as Alec Carmine, the leader of the Poison Thorns, looms over Drake, his sharp clothes not hiding his bulked-up muscles or short purple hair. "You need to watch where you step." He intones coldly, his glasses catching the light with an ominous gleam. Looking around, Drake finds himself surrounded by coldly grinning faces. "I said I was sorry" Drake tries to explain before Alec cuts him off with, "I know. That's why you get a warning, this time. I don't do second warnings, understand?"

Drake nods, not sure if his training would be enough to take on these numbers and thus deciding that discretion is the better part of valor.

"Good. Glad we had this talk." Alec nods to the rest of his crew, they break and leave cafeteria for parts unknown.

Drake stand still for a few minutes, wondering just what the hell happened before he decides to go to Tinker's Haven and get a move on his initiation project.

Taking a deep breath to clear his head, Drake takes in the room, trying to see if anything has changed. It's hard though, as this is only the second time he's been in this room. But he feels that the mechanical dildo the girl in the corner is working on isn't something Octavia would have allowed her to do before.

But everything else, in as far as he can tell, is the same, so he settles in and gets to work on those blueprints. The weirdness of the day had nearly thrown off his creative spark, but the familiarity of machines, materials and the noise of creative construction helped sooth him into getting back into his groove. Finished plans on the table, he waves goodbye at everyone as he heads for the Beyond the Dungeon room, needing to both introduce himself and find out if there were any club obligations from them.

Opening the door, Drake stares into the darkened gloom to see a familiar sight, a gaming table rich with soda stains and covered in mats, maps and minis, flanked on two sides by gamers staring with rapt attention to the one sitting at the head of the Table. Upon seeing the door open, the guy shifts his glasses, getting up from his spot behind the DM screen. He must be George Carlson, the club head, as speaks for the group, "Welcome, friend, to our little dungeon. Care to introduce yourself, brave traveler?"

"Sure. Um, I'm Jacob, my old friends call me Drake, Drakeslayer if they are being asses, and yeah. Oh, I'm also working in Tinkers Haven, so if we need scenery or stuff, I can probably help out. Just let me know well in advance though." Drake looks around the room, noting the quality of the various tabletop figures and scenery bits.

George Carlson Smiles "Well, as you can see, we've got most of that. If you're looking to join a game, it's bit late in the session tonight. Getting in isn't hard, just come by early one day and we'll run you through the gauntlet, Drakeslayer." He says as his smile morphs into a smirk.

Jacob "Drake" McAllester moves to the table, and inquires as to what system they are using, as well as what everyone else is playing. No sense in wasting time by just standing around, so building his character now it is.

George shakes his head as he explains, "Won't do you much good, we won't be using this in your initiation anyway, and no sense getting attach to a character you won't be able to use if you don't pass your test."

Meanwhile, Tia has made her way to her club room, the cooking club, The Baker's Dozen. As she walks in the door, the tall, skinny blonde form of Zoelle Wilson swoops down and gives her a desperate hug. "Tia! You're here! We need to get baking!"

Zoelle is all but jumps for joy now that Tia's in the room, as she's been riding herd on Ms. Alchimi and hasn't been able to do much work. It seems she's insisting on helping, but has at least stopped with the crazy recipes and is sticking with the tried and true, proving that she can be helpful. Sometimes.

Tia walks into the club's kitchen like she owns the place, taking charge with instinctive ease and a calm confidence, even as she tries to catalogue the change, but it's been a hard day, and the relaxing groove of her own baking clouds her sight. The only change she sees is that Zoelle has a golden furred tail, and even then, it's only because it thawps her in the face as Zoelle buzzes around the kitchen.

After a long, hard day, Tia and the rest of the 5 members of the baker's dozen can be proud of the work they have done. Tomorrow, all they need do is bake most of this off and get decorating, and they will be ready.

Tia can't help but feel uneasy, but that might be just residuals from what earlier in the day.

After finishing her meal, Megan gets an idea as she heqads to the Classics Corner room. Two birds with one stone! "I was thinking about what we could do to recruit, and maybe we could see if there are any old legends about the school, try to play up our connections with its history. I know it's not that old, but still. Maybe the Lady of the Rose comes from somewhere else originally." She begins flipping through the club's small library looking for something relevant.

Maddox Merriwether, her club's leader, Classics Corner blinks a few times, surprised by Megan's train of thought. "Hmmm? Books on Our Lady? I know we have a few on the shelves. . ."

Megan searches the shelves, but she doesn't find anything on Our Lady of the Rose, except a few books that have been proven false. There are a few empty spaces on the shelves, but they never been full.

But, you could almost swear that they were more books last year. . . .

Megan huffs, "Oh, these are just that faux-Edwardian nonsense. They aren't even thirty years old, I have no idea why we didn't toss them in the trash already. I could have sworn we had more books than this..."

"Hmmm? We do, don't we?" Maddox replies, befuddlement flavoring his voice, "I know we do, where are they?" Getting up, he joins Megan in looking through the shelves, but to no avail. They are missing three books.

Comodor, a History of the School and it's Environs.

Legends of a Lady: A Tale of Roses

Roselines: The History of the Magic and Occult Nature of Comodor Valley.

For the first time in the year she's know him, Megan can tell that Maddox is positively livid as he yells about Ms. Turner and how she will hear of the theft. Trying to get him to focus on the here and now, Megan asks, "That's weird. I know we don't usually loan anything out. Did they just get misplaced? Maybe the History or Library club would have spare copies of some of these until we can find ours again. Do you want to ask around the History club while I check the Library club, Maddox?"

Maddox makes a face at the mere mention of the history club. "Uhg. Trying to lump me with the harder task? I'd be okay with checking out the library club for you, but if you want to ask the history club" Maddox shudders, "You do it."

Megan shrugs, She knows that the History club's not got the best reputation but they can't be that bad. "Sure. Be back in a bit."

Maddox bows his head, his right hand making the motions to form the sign of the cross the Sign of the Cross as he intones, "G-ds, please protect her hallowed soul."

Slightly weirded out, Megan crosses the hall and knocks on the history club's door.

"For sooth! someone doth knock on our chamber door!" A voice bellows out, before Justin Teller, the club head of the history club Past Guidence opens the door. "'Tis a maiden! A maiden doth knock on our chamber door! Welcome, yon maiden of the knocking, welcome to our most gladsome domain!" He speaks in a nearly perfect archaic pattern, you might not have noticed his mis takes and errors except that as a member of Classic's Corner, Megan is familiar enough with how it's supposed to be done that she could give him an itemized list. That is, of course, if she could get past his nasally voice. just being near him is an assault on her ears, and his club members are if anything worse than he in every way except for the voice.

But, they're only ALMOST as annoying her many cousins, Megan manages to power her way through to ask her question. "Ah, yes. I'm just looking to see if I could borrow a book or two - a few are missing from our library and I thought maybe you would have an extra. Do you have any copies of..." she checks a sheet of paper... "'Comodor, a History of the School and its Environs', 'Legends of a Lady', or 'Roselines'?"

Justin grins, pleased that a cute girl hasn't run off yet. "Mighty tomes indeed, doth the maiden do request. But these tomes we Have! And as it would be rude to refuse a lady, I shall fetch them!" Justin ducks back into his club, Megan hopes to fetch the books. Her hopes are soon dashed when she hears his voice once more, "SOMEONE HAS STOLEN FROM OUR SHELVES!!!!!!"

"I SHALL NOT LET THIS BE!!!"

"EXCUSE ME, MISS." Justin gently pushes past Megan as runs off, presumably to get the club supervisor.

"Well that's ominous." Megan goes to check in with Maddox, hitting the Library Club first. Maybe he's had success? Approaching her club, she can hear noises coming from the library club's domain. This is odd, the club members preach silence to the point of orthodoxy, and yet what sounds like the screams of a harpy echo through the halls.

As if to answer her questions, a panting, Maddox flees from the room. "Oh g-ds, never again."

Megan rolls her eyes as she walks up to him. "Let me guess, their copies are missing too?"

Maddox staring at Megan as he catches his breath. "Did you say something? I can't hear you, my ears are ringing. Bethany does not take kindly to book thieves, it would seem."

Megan places a hand on her chin as she mulls things over. "We're three for three on missing books, then. Obviously, someone has to be taking them."

Maddox seems to have come to the same conclusion as he shares he thoughts, "This, this is troubling. The hunting of books reeks of all the worst ideologies of the world. Book contain free thought and knowledge, and if someone is clamping down on that, that can't be good." Knocking the heel of his hand against his ear, he motions for Megan to follow him. "Come on, Ms. Turner wants us to cataloging our books, to see if anything else is missing."

It takes the better part of 2 hours, but it seems that the only other missing book turns out to have been borrowed without permission by a club member and is swiftly returned. It's just those three that are missing.

Megan's eyes narrow, "That's concerning. Those three in particular? Is somebody trying to erase the school's history?"

Maddox shakes his head. "Hmm, no, only the history of the Dragon Lines and the Lady are missing. And even then, only the older books."

"This is most troubling."

"Then just the ones that would talk about the school's rituals. ...Have the Occult Club and Ritual club been hit too?" Megan makes a face as she remembers those two clubs and their members.

Maddox glances to the clock on his desk. "I don't know, but it's almost time for lights out. We'll have to ask them tomorrow." And with they move to clean things up, the light's out bell is soon to ring.

Upstairs, Drake showers, cleans up, and gets ready for bed, preforming a few stretches to loosen the muscles before climbing into bed, ready to sleep. Today has been the oddest blend of normal and bizarre.

Tia takes a moment to measure the increased tightness of her clothes, making a note to go shopping later, when she has the time. Strange, she expected her clothes to be tighter, given how much she's grown. . . .

Megan goes back to her dorm room - the room she shares with two other girls - reminds Megan of what she now has in her panties. And it's small, but... it's still a, well, penis. Thankful for the sheet-tent she's already made on the bed, she crawls into it with her pajamas and pauses in the middle of changing. It's hard... and huddled in the tent, she strokes herself softly, with a mix of shame and excitement.

When she comes she catches it in her hand, and idly paints lines and patterns over herself as she drifts off to sleep.

As they settle in for sleep, the dreams come once more. The vines have gained strength, the feathers huddle together in a tight defensive wall, slowly but surely being pushed back as the vines advance.

All three of them can feel something's attention baring down on them, the familiar voice of the Lady not-speaking to them, You should enjoy my gifts, young ones, for soon you shall be MINE.

RINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG

The morning bell pries the sleepers from the world of dreams.

Friday has come.