After feeling a strange tickling sensation beneath her skirt, she discreetly slipped a hand underneath, casting a cautious glance around. In a village like this, simply wearing a skirt was bold enough, but being seen fiddling with her undergarments in a crowd could easily spark gossip. Still, whatever had captured the crowd's attention seemed to be interesting enough that she momentarily pushed aside her concerns for decorum to fix the discomfort.
Alburn only saw the hand at the last moment.
it completely startled him, catching him in the middle of a questionable act. Instinctively, he jumped forward,
And then he landed.
Directly into the abyss. His face got squeezed inwards by the surrounding pale pillows, pulling him in.
Due to her size, she was fairly used to having wardrobe malfunctions, having to adjust and readjust when no one was looking. But this sudden sensation of something colliding with such a vulnerable area was something she'd never felt before. It sent a surge of energy up her spine, directly to her brain. If she wasn't awake before, she most definitely was now.
She was brought up to her tiptoes, letting out an unladylike whimper, sound dampened by her sealed lips. An older villager who was standing close by heard her and shot a heavy glare across.
Flustered, she quickly removed her hand from her skirt and awkwardly smiled, turning away in embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Albern was being swallowed in a soft consumptive sea. He was fighting desperately to escape as he struggled to breathe, being dragged deeper and deeper in.
"I CAN'T BREATH!" He yelled as his body was starting to be hugged by the fabric in the only gap that wasn't straining against it.
"HELP ME!!!"
[You got yourself into this one, pal]
[4 minutes left]
In the blur of chaos, Albern's fingernails shot outward like a lion's claws. He grasped at the soft wall, and like a mountain climber, he found his way up the gelatinous mountain. Each grasp at the surface would make it wobble like mounds of jelly.
But somehow, against all odds, he made it up. He pulled himself free and stood triumphantly atop his former prison. Yes, it stuck out that far. Far enough for him to actually stand on.
He felt a little bad about all the microscopic red marks he left behind, but it was really life or death for him, and he wouldn't have any time to feel bad because the hand returned from behind. She most definitely felt the extra junk on her trunk as her open palm was directly moving towards him.
Before it could close in on him, he used her rear like a diving board, jumping once, then leaping up, catching just enough air to narrowly escape her grasp.
[Hee hee hee Cutting it close again, I see?]
The moment when he bounced off made her head quickly rock backwards; she almost let out another strange sound, but managed to bring her fist to her mouth and bite down, eyes forced shut before fluttering, scanning the people around her.
Then she regained her composure and fixed her posture. Her cheeks flushed a light pink as she took a few steps back from the crowd, turning away from them.
The old gentleman standing next to her stared at her once again with a look of concern, but all of those thoughts immediately vanished the moment his eyes drifted downward… and landed squarely on her healthy buttocks. A giddy smile grew on his face as his expression changed from his initial confusion and worry to a man with many a thought.
Though Albern's movements would mostly lightly tickle and create strange light sensations, she was beginning to grow increasingly suspicious that something had truly made its way under there, growing in agitation. In the end, she had given up all hope of maintaining her image and realised that fixing whatever was causing her discomfort should take priority.
The old man who stood nearby, with utter surprise, bore witness to this fair lady putting her hand in such ludicrous places.
Albern was now hovering in front of her spine. He observed her hand struggle greatly but ultimately succeeded in covering her bare backside, returning the bloomers to their rightful position, before going back to the outside skirt.
"Well, that didn't work," he said.
But before he could say anything, the walls of her undershirt caved in on him, exerting a great force.
"Argh!"
She was pressing her hand against her back, feeling a small bump causing discomfort in her chemise.
Being squeezed between skin and fabric, he just about managed to slip through, trying to crawl up. But as she felt him escape, she removed her hand, aimed a little higher up and smacked him down again.
This time, he shuffled out the side and used his claws to grasp the linen. He started climbing up diagonally like a spiral tower, which made her increasingly nervous as she could feel the small bump travel upwards in such an unnatural manner.
Now fully convinced that some insect had made its way underneath, she was frantically patting down several parts of her clothes, hoping to squish it, making for quite the show for the onlooking old man.
Albern pressed on despite this, eventually reaching the bosom, where he gave a cheeky little kick in hopes of distracting her to no avail. She was relentless.
In the end, he made his way to her shoulder blade. Then to her neck. He was almost to the light, but as he approached the exit. Her hand pressed down firmly, so firm that he couldn't move an inch, and he felt his brittle bones being squeezed. She finally had him. But just as she was about to move her other hand to grab him from the top. He said it:
"Undo Shrink!"
The collar of her outfit expanded, then gave way with a Pop. He grew to about the size of a kitten, too big for her to hold in one hand, let alone be contained by her clothing. Her hand shot out, and her fingers slipped open as his growing body squeezed out the top of her high-neck chemise, which was subsequently starting to rip. Then it suddenly snapped open.
Just before she was exposed to the world, however, she managed to grab at her clothes and hold everything in place.
But that, paired with the idea of some giant insect being on her neck, made her finally crack.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!" She shrieked, whilst clutching her chest, as her knees grew weak and she dropped to the ground. The seismic waves alone from her heavy bum hitting the hard-paved floor could have alerted the whole village.
Naturally, all the people in the crowd instantly turned to her and stared blankly.
She blushed heavily, eyes and mouth trembling shut.
Just above, Albern had managed to recast Shrink and fly high enough to avoid unwanted gazes.
[+10 Exp]
[Nice goin' partner, that was a real feast for the eyes]
[35 Exp to go before you level up]
"..."
[Hey! I'm talkin' to you]
Albern sighed.
"I feel kind of bad, Nixin."
[WHAT!?]
"I mean, it's not like I was trying to tear her shirt or anything. I doubt the people of this village have a whole wardrobe to choose from."
[Listen here, pal! You're a demon, a D-E-M-O-N! There's no room for such foolish thoughts]
His attention turned back to the victim of his prank. She sat on the cold floor, pancakes spread out, embarrassed, with one hand covering her face. He scratched the back of his head and sighed.
Out of nowhere, she shakily raised her other arm and pointed dead-centre into the circle of gawking villagers. Then she spoke.
"I-It was her," she stammered.
Albern widened his eyes in surprise.
"Huh?! No, it wasn't. It was me, Dio- ahem, it was me!"
"Wait, who the heck is she even accusing?"
The crowd fell silent at first. Then came murmurs. Many turned to follow the direction of her trembling finger. Others kept their wide eyes fixed on her.
"The witch! She cast a spell on me!" she cried out.
As soon as she said that, voices started to leak out from the crowd
"That's despicable!"
"Poor girl."
"Any of us could be next."
"Indeed."
"This can't continue."
Albern sulked with a raised lip, confused as to how his brilliant prank could possibly be mistaken for someone else's doing. He flew closer to the centre of the crowd, pushing his head forward to get a better view.
But what he saw just bewildered him more.
At the centre, there was a bald man dressed in a black and red robe holding a wooden club. And just in front of him was a hooded figure lying gracefully on the floor. He couldn't see their face, but their hands most certainly surprised him. Tender, shimmering faintly with a mystical aura. More importantly:
They were blue.