Chapter Forty-Nine Guilt (Patreon)

Lily stepped out of the guardpost. Staring at her feet, she made her way down the street. This was the last guard post in the town, and what she had done was starting to hit her like a ton of falling boulders. She had done it, she had used the ability that Aurora had given her. The one she had bet her that she would never use. Lily knew full well why she had done it. Not that it made her feel better. As she walked down the road, she found herself wondering if she had really done the right thing. Was it really right to change so many people, just because a couple of people were abusing their authority? What if there had been a better way to fix this? Questions like these kept repeating themselves in her head.

It occurred to her that Aurora was right, this power was too tempting. She had used it, proving her right. Now she found herself asking if she really deserved to have such power. If she had used it once, she would use it again. Did she really deserve to have such power?

Her mind froze briefly after asking that question. She stopped in her tracks and seriously thought on the subject. Did anyone really deserve it? Was this kind of power worth the risks? She had heard many stories about the dangers of great power and the responsibility that came with it. For the first time in her life, she was starting to truly understand what that meant. This power was so tempting to use, and the slightest slip down the wrong path was easy to make. Worse, once that happened the next would be easier, and the next.

She picked up the pace. Lily didn’t want this power anymore. Sure she had just used it for good, but she just as easily could have used it for evil. She needed to find Aurora. Besides, she did not think it was worth it trying to hide that she had used the power. Sure there had been special circumstances involved, but as she saw it she had still used the power and that meant she had lost the bet. Maybe not having her modesty won’t be so bad.

She sighed, who was she kidding. It was going to lead to trouble, she knew it, but it was best to get this over and done with. Just head on over, admit what she had done, and accept the consequences. Do it fast, before she had time to have second thoughts. Suddenly she realized that she was in a familiar part of town

Lily looked around. It seemed in her idle walking she had unknowingly returned to the inn. Through that door, she would likely find Aurora. However, she froze. Hesitant to take the next step forward. Her mind conjuring images of all the trouble she might get into thanks to losing a bet she never should have made. If she could go back to the moment she made that fateful bet and do everything over again she would. This time she would have turned it down, especially now that she knew how tempting the power was. How alluring it was. Having used it once, she knew she would have a hard time resisting using it again. Maybe next time, it won’t be a corrupt guard or some rapists. Perhaps the next time she gave in, it would be someone undeserving of being changed.

That thought broke her hesitation, and she pushed open the door. It was a little busier than it was last time, but a look through the attached tavern tables turned up no naked dragon ladies. Evidently she was not here either. She sighed and headed for the door that would lead to their rooms in the back of the inn. Her not being here just gave her more time to wallow in her thoughts.

Passing through the door to the back, she was thinking of what she would say when she bumped right into the familiar and naked form of Aurora. Aurora smiled gently and helped her back to her feet. Without a word, she started to lead her down the hall.

Lily took a moment to order herself, before speaking, “You.. were uh, right. I well used your...”

Aurora looked back, and said, “I know. Personally I think you made a noble choice. Choosing the greater good over yourself. I don’t feel you deserve to be punished for that, but I can sense in your heart that you would reject any reward in favor of a punishment.”

Put that way, it did seem noble, but in her heart, she could not agree. She had merely chosen the lesser evil, but she had still done something evil. She had changed people’s minds and done so against their will. Sure she had made them into better people, but to her, that did not excuse what she had done. The very idea of being rewarded for something like that did not sit well with her. “Can we, uh get this over with?”

Aurora opened a door, and said quietly, “I figured you might want to lay down first. You don’t want to keep the power do you?”

She shook her head, and then asked, “Why would I want to lay down first? It isn’t going to be like last time is it?”

Aurora regarded her for a moment, then replied, “Not exactly. It won’t hurt like last time. No mind-numbing headaches, but there will be some disorientation at first, and maybe a little confusion. Nothing more serious than what you did to the city guards. Well, maybe a little more, given that I would be removing a very large chunk of knowledge. Thankfully it is all recent knowledge. The other thing is a little trickier given how deeply it is rooted in your mind, but since you already agreed to give it up, not much.”

Lily understood what Aurora meant there. Thanks to that knowledge, she had been gifted. Having been taught how to change people, she knew about manipulating memory and changing a person’s traits. Traits people cling to strongly, their core traits are hard to change, but the ones they want to change can easily be changed. Her modesty wasn’t something she wanted to be changed, but she had agreed to let it be changed if she lost. She had lost, and since she agreed it meant that no matter how deeply rooted the trait was, Aurora could change it easily. She had a feeling that her modesty was very deeply rooted, and that was the main reason that Aurora wanted her to lay down.

Without a word, she nodded and entered the room. Behind her, she sensed the dragon lady enter and close the door. With some trepidation, she climbed onto the bed and lay down. Beside her, Aurora settled on to the bed and gave her a reassuring smile. Then suddenly she was not so alone with her thoughts. Aurora was in her head again, and this time she was awake and could watch what she was doing.

A gentle light filled her mind with warmth, and she felt that force wrap around the gift she had been given earlier. One moment, she knew and understood all Aurora was doing, and the next that knowledge was gone. A chunk of her was missing, and she was back to being plain old Lily. In her mind, she watched that glowing light wrapped around a chunk of her knowledge pull away. Aurora wasn’t done though, and next, she watched as the tendrils penetrated deeply into her mind. She felt a little uneasy, but somehow she felt that Aurora meant her no harm.

The light pierced deep into her mind and then wrapped around something deep within her. Bit by bit that something came undone and unraveled from her mind. It was so surreal watching a piece of her being undone. A piece she had agreed to lose, and while she no longer knew why she could feel that agreement made it impossible for her to protect it. The knowledge may be gone, but she realized that the understanding remained.

Before long, that piece of her Aurora was undoing came completely unraveled, and the light left her mind, but a few little pieces of it remained behind. After a moment, the world shifted back into focus, and she found herself looking into Aurora’s face. Her head ached a little, and the room seemed to be spinning a little, but that didn’t last long.

“So how do you feel?”

She rubbed her head a bit, and said, “I don’t really feel any different. Odd I thought I would feel different after this.”

Aurora giggled for a minute or two, and when she spoke, she asked her a question.

Lily stared at her and drew a complete blank. She knew just a short while ago, she had known the answer, but now there was nothing. After a moment’s silence, she said softly, “It’s gone. It’s all gone, I don’t know.” 

With those words, it was like a heavy burden she had barely realized she was carrying went with it. She felt a bit of relief knowing that the knowledge, and with it, the responsibility it carried was no longer hers. Aurora stroked her head gently, “Glad I can help, now are you feeling better, or do you still feel the need to be punished for your choice?”

She did not answer. Lily had no idea what to say. She just sat there, her mind lost in thought. While Aurora sat next to her.

In the next room over, Rose stirred. At first, she just lay there, but then the events from earlier came to the forefront of her thoughts, and she blushed red. She stretched a bit and rolled to her side. Next to her, Arlie was still asleep, and the way she had curled up was quite cute. Rose had not really noticed it before, but Arlie always seemed to sleep in a ball. She lay there and watched the other girl’s naked chest rise and fall gently with her breath.

It occurred to her that after what just happened, there was no going back. Nothing would be the same between her and Arlie. She just wished she could have shared that experience with Lily. Maybe she could find a chance to share it with her later.

Arlie was remarkably still at the moment, when with sudden abruptness she rolled over. After a few moments of adjusting herself, she slipped back into the peaceful slumber she was in earlier. Except now, Rose was watching her back. Her bare naked back, but still her back. Something Rose did not find as interesting as her chest, even if it had been half blocked by her legs.

It was a little strange, she had never thought she was attracted to girls, but with Arlie there was something. Something indescribable that she could not find words for. Their bond went far deeper than the sisterly bond she had thought they had. How deep that connection went, she did not know. She only knew deep down that it was strong. Although she was not certain how strong it was.

A sudden thought occurred to her. Maybe when Arlie woke up, and she was back to herself, they could go on a date. She should drag Lily along on the date, and together they should explore this growing bond between them. A part of her was even looking forward to another wild round with Arlie, but with her sister participating as well. That thought seemed to get her hot, at least a little. However before she could think on it for long, Arlie began to stir.