Alice y in the hammock by the stock pond, basking in the warm sunlight of early summer. She was taking a rare break, using the pleasant afternoon weather as an excuse to splurge on herself and catch up on reading instead of adventuring or managing the daily life of the nearly one hundred inhabitants of her town of Persistence. At twenty years old, Alice had far more responsibilities than the former farm girl had ever imagined she might have to deal with. The busty dark-haired healer was one of a small group of combatants fighting to save the world against unknown threats with magical powers, hers granted specifically by the goddess Aphrodite. She'd battled a variety of human and non-human foes, nearly dying, and suffering a variety of indignities over the previous two years. Sometimes, though, Alice just needed to push all of that from her head and ignore the big picture. She turned the page on her novel, her breath quickening as the smut filled her imagination with new ideas to explore with her girlfriend.

  The characters in her book were engaged in some pretty ludicrously improbable behavior, far beyond what any magical training academy would ever permit from their students, but apparently letting a student get gang-banged by a tentacle monster counted as acceptable cssroom instruction in this world. Not that Alice would be caught compining if it was her in that situation, oh no. She'd be eagerly awaiting her turn in front of the css, ready to demonstrate the proper technique for being spit-roast by tentacles as her professor gazed on approvingly, but still. Just what were the teachers thinking, condoning this kind of behavior? And the prose? So predictable and stilted, yet arousing all the same.

  Alice fanned at herself, her skin prickling with sweat as she flushed. She was dressed fairly minimally, just a pair of tight gym shorts and a loose fitting tank top that showed enormous amounts of side boob, but somehow felt quite warm after reading that st passage. Alice licked her lips and turned the page again, starting to sneak a finger down her shorts while she did. She could probably enjoy a little self exploration without getting caught. Nobody would notice her masturbating this far away from town, and why not? I deserve the self-indulgence, Alice thought to herself as she slipped the first finger into her wet slit, her breath catching slightly as she did.

  "Where the fuck is he?," an angry female voice roared. Alice felt her hammock tip and spin, shrieking as she fell out of it. Her left leg snagged in the ropes, dropping her on her head as tears sprang to her eyes and the book fell from her grasp, losing her pce as she tried to hold her shirt down and avoid exposing herself to the stranger. The angry voice kicked at her, knocking her free of the hammock, and she fell to the ground nding painfully on her face. She quickly sprang to her feet, looking for the intruder and startled by the ck of any magical intruder arms.

  A vision of fury faced her from several feet away, a pink-glowing wand that crackled with malevolent energy pointed straight at her face. As Alice focused on the face behind the wand, she was struck by just how beautiful - and angry - it was. A young woman, maybe slightly older than her own twenty years, gred at her with an expression of raw hatred. An open wound split the side of her face from temple to chin, blood freely flowing down and dripping onto a cy bck corset top, a bck skirt, and knee-high combat boots. A witch's hat sat perched on top of a shock of chin-length pink hair.

  Alice raised her hands defensively, taking a cautious step backwards. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you're talking about. Who are you looking for?"

  "Fuck you you stupid slut," the woman shrieked, stepping forward to prevent Alice from gaining distance and shoving the wand in her face again. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. He was just sent here a few minutes ago, same as me! Where is Victor?" She hissed the st sentence, her body shaking with fury. "Tell me and I might let you live."

  "Okay, woah," Alice said, "I don't know any Victor, I'm pretty sure there's nobody in this town by that name. But you need to calm down, please. There's no need for violence."

  "You don't know shit," the angry woman snapped, "So shut the fuck up. If you don't know where he is, take me to someone who would." She reached out, attempting to grab Alice by the cuff of her neck, but Alice tried to bat away the hand. As the two made contact, Alice suddenly heard the goddess Aphrodite's voice in her head, resonating, and the stranger's eyes fshed pink.

  Alice, she needs your help.

  The two women stumbled apart, the stranger clutching at her head and blinking furiously. Alice's jaw dropped, stunned by both the intrusion of Fi's voice and the stranger's eyes changing colors.

  "Who are you?," Alice asked in a tentative voice.

  The woman shook herself, almost like a dog trying to shake a flea or water from its ear, and stood up straight again, pointing the wand at Alice. Her expression was a little less raw hatred, faint traces of confusion mixed in, but she still gred at the healer.

  "I'm asking the questions," she snapped. She let out a harsh bark of a ugh, "But if you don't know anything, then take me to your leader. No tricks or you die first. I'm here for Victor."

  "Look, dy, I'm being honest with you," Alice started. "I'm the mayor of this town. There's nobody named Victor here, but I'll gdly walk you around and introduce you to everyone and let you ask them yourself. In the meantime, I'm a healer. Can I fix your face? You look injured."

  "Yea, like the mayor of a fucking town in post-apocalyptic America is a sexy girl sitting around by a ke, reading tentacle porn, and rubbing one out. The sex scenes aren't even well written, it's pure slush pile drivel," the woman said sarcastically, picking up Alice's book and flinging it at her face. The cover showed a scantily cd woman held by a pnt monster, pink dripping letters advertising "Magical Pleasure Academy, Volume 14 - Bodacious Botanical Hijinks!" Alice grabbed the book, mortified, and shoved it into her storage ring.

  "I can expin," she began, but the woman cut her off with a sharp chop of her hand.

  "I don't even give a shit about your smut," she replied. "Take me to Victor. Now."

  Alice sighed, brushing the dirt off her legs and tried once more. "Your face, miss? Please? I can help you. You look hurt."

  "If you cast a spell, I'm going to assume it's an attack on me or to warn someone else that I'm coming and I will respond with immediate and lethal violence," the stranger warned, raising the wand to point at Alice's face again.

  With an exasperated huff, Alice waved a hand in the direction of her farmhouse and the main part of the town about a mile away. "Shall we, oh mysterious and angry stranger?" The stranger gred at her and Alice wilted, feeling foolish. Alice led the way, the two women walking toward Persistence. Alice groaned inwardly, trying to figure out how this crazy dy could be so massively confused about where she was and how she was going to expin it to Bridgette and the rest of her friends. The stranger kept a firm grasp on her wand, jumping at every sound from the surrounding fields and clearly was prepared to defend herself from any immediate threat.

  "No funny business," she warned Alice. "March me straight to the boss of this town and find a way to introduce me so it's not suspicious. Maybe an old friend that came to visit, something like that. Otherwise, I'm gonna start bsting, and you're target one."

  "You've made your point," Alice said grumpily. "I'll do what I can." But who the hell am I supposed to introduce her to?, she wondered as they set off down the path.