Teacup_Kitty

CW:

Spoiler

Restraints, Kidnapping, Threats of Death

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The Night Queen simply stood before me, looking me up and down with a heavy scowl on her otherwise radiant face. She was the great evil I’d have to defeat. Somehow. I didn’t even have armor or a weapon yet; and considering I didn’t even know magic existed before today, I very much didn’t have that going for me either. But this woman, this gorgeous, magnificent, terrifyingly attractive woman - I shook my head to clear it of my less than helpful helplessly gay thoughts. She’d kidnapped my parents, my best friend, and my great grandmother I’d only just met. I wasn’t going to let her get away with it, no matter how pretty she was. 

I lifted up my hands in something resembling a combat stance. I’d never had any training of any sort, but I’d watched a lot of action movies that often seemed to devolve into fist fights eventually, even if they didn’t start out that way. This seemed to catch the Night Queen off guard, as she became very very still. Looking side to side, to make sure I wasn’t being surrounded, I returned my focus to her and locked eyes with her. Oh those eyes, they were a dark sapphire, like the depths of the deepest ocean. 

Seconds passed with neither of us making the first move. But before I could even consider lunging for her, she smirked. It made my belly fill with butterflies and I could feel my cheeks flush. And then she laughed. She started giggling, at first before shifting to a full on maniacal laughter. The gay panic that had left me paralyzed quickly faded, leaving me more annoyed than anything.

“I - I’m going to stop you. You won’t get away with this!” I exclaimed as I lunged at her, throwing a sloppy punch.  She easily sidestepped my attack, her laughter ending, but her smirk still present. I kept charging her, throwing punch after punch, never managing to land a hit. Slowly her smirk faded and she just looked disappointed. 

“Stop stop stop,” she commanded after my tenth failed strike. I felt my body go stiff, and I couldn’t move. The Night Queen strode around me, her dress trailing a bit behind her. She looked so very bored. “This is…” She sighed. “This is frankly unacceptable. When I heard that Marcos and Carol had a daughter and that she was to be my ultimate downfall, I couldn’t believe my luck. Finally! A worthy challenge!” Her arms were animated while she spoke, swishing this way and that to punctuate her words. It was honestly kind of cute. “When my spies told me you were here, I was beyond thrilled! I orchestrated this whole kidnapping plan, just for you! To motivate you! And yet here you are, flailing like a newborn child. You can’t even throw a punch right and -” she stopped mid sentence, standing right in front of me. She leaned in so very close, her warm breath tickling my face. “Wait, why?” She frowned as she began circling me again, before ending up before me once more. With a wave of her hand, I dropped to the ground, cut free from the invisible bindings. 

For a moment I was forgotten as she paced back and forth, muttering to herself. I caught bits and pieces of what she was saying. Something about manifestation and wells; I was getting really tired of not getting answers. 

“Excuse me,” I said, waving towards her with one hand, while the other brushed some dust from my dress. “Could you explain to me what you’re talking about? With the well and manifestation and all that?” My words seemed to be a more efficient blow than any of my failed punches, as she whipped around to look at me with the most confused expression.

“I beg your pardon?” she asked. “Do you mean that- No. There’s no way Carol of all people wouldn’t have explained it to you. Not with how she -” she trailed off. I watched her in awkward silence for a few minutes. Just as I was about to ask her to elaborate further, she stamped her foot on the ground. “This will just not do. I can’t believe my foes would be so… so irresponsible!” she snaps. “That it should fall to me, your nemesis, to explain the way the world works is just the height of ignorance!” she shouted. I wanted to point out that she was using ignorance wrong, but I didn’t really think it was the time. 

The Night Queen marched over to me and took my hand. Her grip was surprisingly gentle for someone who’d come to engage in mortal combat with me not even twenty minutes prior. She led me out of the room and back down the hall I had passed through. I really should’ve tried to resist, maybe fled to gather my strength, but the way she had been so outraged, seemingly on my behalf made me think that maybe deep down, there might be a good person under that evil, but oh so sexy exterior. It also didn’t help that my useless gay heart was pounding like an industrial hammer in my chest just because this utterly ravishing woman was holding my hand.

We entered the grand hall where I had arrived. There were more of her cloaked soldiers around the room, holding the entire Nexus hostage. She led me over to Donna, who was being held down with chains made of wispy shadows by four separate warriors. The Night Queen waved her hand and the soldiers released the chains, causing them to disappear and allow Donna to stand. She looked at her hammer and seemed to consider reaching for it, but my seeming captor wagged her finger back and forth. 

“Ah ah ah, now now sweet smith, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to the,” she scoffed, “Chosen One, would we?” She smirked. I was so doomed. There was no way in hell I could even begin to stand up to her with what that smirk did to me. And what made things worse was the way she cupped my chin as she spoke next. “This sweet little thing is oh so under prepared, and frankly I’m insulted. My spies told me that you were working on some armor for her. Finish it. But no funny business or I’ll give the word and everyone in this building, including your precious hero, dies before you can even lay a hand on me. Understood?” I watched as Donna’s shoulders slumped.

“I understand,” the smith relented. The Night Queen smiled and waved her hand, gesturing for Donna to get to work. With one last look at me, as if she was weighing her options, she sighed and took her hammer and started working on what appeared to be a set of armor. 

With that matter addressed, I was led away from the smithy and over to where some of the Queen’s underlings were setting up what looked to be a tea party. They set down a table and cloth, along with a steaming pot and a plate of little sandwiches filled with something I didn’t recognize. She released my arm and gestured for me to sit as she took her own seat. I considered lunging for her again, but as she had hundreds of hostages, I simply followed her demand. She nodded, seemingly pleased by my prudence as she waved her hand, calling a servant over. I was a little surprised that it wasn’t another one of her cloak-clad soldiers, but a butler, judging by the clean pressed suit they were wearing. I couldn’t be sure as to their gender, though, as they straddled the line between male and female, not to mention the pair of curved horns on their head and the long forked tail behind them. Their digitigrade legs ended in shiny black hooves and their skin was a soft lavender color. They smiled sweetly at me as they poured some sort of tea into both the cups that had been set out. With another wave of the Queen’s hand, the butler departed as quickly as they had come. I turned to see where they went, but they were just gone.

I stared at the warm, steaming drink before me for a few moments, before deciding that she wouldn’t have made Donna continue on my armor if she planned to poison me. I took my first hesitant sip and my eyes shot wide. I’d never been a big tea drinker before, but if this was what tea on the Other Side was like, I could get used to it. It filled my belly with warmth and I could almost feel something else inside me, something I didn’t have words for just yet. I looked up at the Queen, my question clearly on my face as she just gave me a heart melting smile before speaking.

“This whole fiasco has been nothing short of disastrous,” she stated as she set her own tea down. “I’m going to ask you a few questions, and you’re going to answer them truthfully, alright then, Miss Hero?”

“Calliope,” I stated simply. 

“Excuse me?” she asked, her lips curled up in amusement. 

“My name is Calliope, not Miss Hero. I just got done telling my parents that, and I’m done letting other people decide what to call me,” I explained. I’d set my tea down and tried to summon up every miniscule amount of determination in my body. It was exceedingly hard, especially when she smiled at me. It wasn’t a condescending smile, or a forced smile, it was just straight forward and genuine. It just wasn’t fair. Why did the Evil Queen have to be so - so - just so. I couldn’t really put into words the full scope of what she made me feel, but it was becoming very difficult to believe she was this ultimate evil everyone seemed so terrified of. Sure, she’d threatened to kill everyone as casually as one might talk about tossing out the trash, but - I’m not sure where I was going with that train of thought, but I shoved it down as the Queen in question began to speak.

“You are just, so so very cute,” she cooed. My face must’ve looked like a lobster by that point. She either hadn’t noticed, or - oh, no, she’d noticed. Her amused smile twisted back into that damn smirk again. “Very well, Calliope. I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer them, do you understand?” I nodded and she continued, “Did your parents teach you anything about magic as you grew up?” 

“No, I didn’t even know magic existed,” I replied. She frowned before nodding thoughtfully.

“I thought not, though surely you must’ve thought it strange your father was a catfolk when, if I’m not mistaken, there aren’t any native to the Other Side,” she continued. I looked at her confused. I’d thought the Other Side was her side of things. She let out a soft huff of laughter before adding, “Ah, yes, the silly nomenclature of this place. Both sides of the world refer to the other as ‘The Other Side.’ It’s a rather confusing and ridiculous decision, but I’m not in a position to change that - yet.” She let out a trilling evil laugh. There was no way it was her natural laugh, one had to practice to achieve that level of distilled menace mixed with sensual delight. When I still looked confused, she frowned. “No. Do not tell me your father hid who he was from you, his daughter,” she demanded, nearly standing up as she seemed to get more enraged. She shook her head, having read my expression for what it meant. “Oh the awful awful things I’m going to do to that man. Honestly, even I’m not neglectful, and I’ve been trapped in stasis for decades!” she ranted. She began to describe the horrible, torturous things she would do, each punishment more elaborate than the last.

“Please don’t hurt him!” I cried out, my voice breaking as fear for what she might do welled up inside me. There was something else welling up, something I hadn’t felt before. The Night Queen paused her rant, before turning to look at me once more. 

“My apologies Calliope. I just get so agitated when it comes to negligent parents,” she said, and then sighed, struggling to regain her composure. “I won’t hurt your parents, not that I don’t think they deserve it after leaving you in the dark. I’ve learned a bit about your world. I know that magic doesn’t exist there, so people like you, those born with a body that doesn’t match their soul, have to go through such lengths to even get close to achieving harmony in their lives. That isn’t how it is on my side of things. Once your well ignites, it reinforces your true self and the more you accept that truth about yourself, the more powerful you become. The more powerful you become, the more your body reflects your true self,” she explained, her voice gentle and patient.

“Wait, so if I had magic, then I’d -” my throat hitched, causing my words to falter. If what she was saying was true, then I wouldn’t have had to take blockers, or wait till I turned eighteen to get hormones, or even had to live with a body that felt so wrong. I felt betrayed by my parents. They’d even mentioned that they had thought I might be trans, and they were more concerned with preventing me from getting magic powers than helping me. I stared down at the table, and the tears I’d been trying to hold back all day in an effort to preserve my makeup could not be restrained any longer. 

I felt like I had been sobbing for hours when an arm wrapped around my shoulder. I looked up to see the Night Queen offering me a tissue and a kind smile. The way she was being so gentle and kind with me stood at odds with her threats of violence. Something clicked at that moment, though. Something that struck me as odd. I sat up a little bit, the Queen taking that as her cue to sit back in her seat. I looked around the Nexus, taking stock of everyone that was being held prisoner. Not a single person seemed injured – there were no bodies, no signs of struggle. When the Night Queen had taken the Nexus, she hadn’t hurt a single soul. I looked back at this supposedly evil and dangerous individual and began to wonder if she was really as sinister as everyone made her out to be. 

I took another sip of my tea. It helped me steady my nerves as I tried to wrap my head around this new revelation. I looked up at her once more, my eyes clear of tears.

“Thank you,” I finally said. “For the tea, and the tissue. You’ve been very kind.” The Queen let out a quiet chuckle.

“I’m really not, I’m just being a good host,” she rationalized. “Besides, it’d be difficult to get the answers I want from you if you’re too busy crying.” It was odd, she seemed to believe her reasoning, but it still struck me as false. There was something odd about her tone of voice as she spoke. I’d need more time with her to really figure it out. 

She looked over my shoulder towards the smithy, so I followed her gaze. It seemed Donna had finished already. I imagine she was just doing some alterations, as making a full new suit of armor should’ve taken much longer than that. I looked back at the Night Queen who stood up and gestured for me to follow her. 

“We’ll finish our discussion later; we’ll have plenty of time to do so,” she stated with that tantalizing smirk. She had me wrapped around her finger and there’s no way she didn’t realize it. Not with the way she was sashaying over to the forge. It took an insane amount of willpower to not stare openly at her butt as I followed her. 

Donna held up something. It didn’t look like any armor I’d ever seen, that was for certain. In her hands she had some sort of silvery loose long sleeved turtle neck and a matching pair of pants. She handed them, and a pair of simple leather boots to me and nodded to the back of the shop.

“There’s a change room in the back, kid. Put it on and the magic’ll do the rest,” she explained. Well that made more sense, at least a little bit. “Get down to your skibbies though,” she added as I made my way to the room she’d pointed out. I flushed and hurried inside to get changed.

I wasn’t terribly eager to take off my nice dress and expose my lacking figure to the world, let alone the Night Queen, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. I quickly shimmied out of my dress and set it to the side, nice and neatly folded. I was about to put the weird shimmery fabric on when there was a knock on the door. I let out a terrified squeak which caused whoever was out there to giggle. To my surprise, it was the Night Queen. She opened the door just a crack and offered me a pair of dark purple underwear and a matching athletics bra. 

“Here, take these. They’ll do a better job than whatever you could’ve gotten on the Other Side,” she explained. I gingerly took the undergarments, so glad that she couldn’t see how flustered she had made me. I’d only just met her and she was already giving me underwear?

Stripping down even further, I did my best not to look at myself as I pulled up the underwear first. It was by far the softest, most comfortable pair I’d ever worn. I couldn’t help but look down out of curiosity. My crotch was flat as one would expect of a young woman. Whatever the undergarments were made of, they were tight enough to hide my hated bulge, but somehow at the same time, not so tight that they cut off any circulation and allowed for full movement. I couldn’t even feel anything out of place down there. 

With the success of the underwear motivating me, I quickly put on the bra, and marveled at how it seemed to add just that little bit of shape to me in ways that even a normal padded bra couldn’t. I beamed with delight and quickly put on the shimmery silver ‘armor’ over top. As soon as I had finished putting on the full set, it warbled and clung tight to my skin, causing me to gasp. Then it began to pulse as it changed texture, color and shape. Within a few moments, I was clad in a simple breast plate, similar to my parents, but a bit more delicate. My arms were covered with overlapping plates that looked impossibly thin, but it was clear they would protect me better than any mundane equivalent. My hips were covered with two big metal plates that gave the impression of having wider hips than I did. I may have let out the girliest of giggles as I saw that in the mirror. All in all, the armor fit perfectly, and accentuated the curves I didn’t have yet, but from what I’d been told I’d soon possess. 

I gathered up my clothing and made my way out to the front of the shop. Donna was off to the side again, her four guards standing around her, but not putting her in chains again. I turned to look at the Night Queen who was busy discussing something with what I assumed was one of her officers. When she heard me come out she dismissed her subordinate and spun around to gaze at me. She became very still as she looked me up and down, and I could’ve sworn I caught the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks. I must’ve been imagining it though, as she strode up to me with not a hint of nerves and looked me up and down more blatantly.

“Well then, this is definitely a look for you. We’ll see how long it lasts, hm?” she said softly before gesturing over at Donna. “Don’t forget her weapon,” she commanded, causing the guards to nudge Donna forward. 

Donna approached with a metal rod that looked like it could be part of a staff, or the base of a sword handle, but aside from some glowing runes, it looked rather plain. She held it out before explaining how it worked. Apparently, this was a blank weapon, commonly given to those with little to no previous combat experience. It’d shift to match whatever form fit me best at that moment, whether it be a staff, a sword, a mace or anything in between.

She set the rod in my hand and stepped back. I waited for something to happen, but it just seemed to sit there. I wasn’t the only one confused as both Donna and the Night Queen seemed surprised by the lack of activity. Even the guards around Donna seemed caught off guard. 

“Well now, isn’t this a surprise? And after I was so gracious as to ignite your well. You are quite the peculiarity Calliope, aren't you?”  the Night Queen cooed, suddenly sounding more amused than confused. “It’ll be quite the experience seeing how you develop,” she stated as she laid a hand on my shoulder. “Well, it’s been a lovely little get together, and as much as I’d like to conquer the Nexus right now, I know that your reinforcements will be arriving any minute now. So my forces and I shall be taking our leave,” she announced loudly enough that all could hear.

Murmurs of confusion echoed through the hall as the hostages tried to figure out what was going on. The Night Queen held up a hand and spoke once more,

“Oh, one last thing. I’ll be bringing Miss Calliope with me.” Before I even had a chance to react, a cloud of darkness sprung into existence around us, whisking us away to who knows where. 

End Chapter 3

Teacup_Kitty

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know in the comments what you liked or didn't like (please keep it constructive, I am a sensitive soul). As a quick reminder, I post chapters as they get finished up on my Patreon, link below. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day! Oh! And I'm also starting a new story called Witch of the Web. It's a sort of Cyberpunk/Fantasy story. Check it out!