Chapter 30: Xavier does his magic

 Dean: Incubus, mage. Will do anything to keep his party together. 

Allan comes back from his carpet buying mission, with Augustine's bottomless bag in tow. When he pulls out the carpet, I find the differences. 

"This is the closest thing I could find," he says, when we are ready to argue. "Can your friend maybe drop her some hints, that this was her original carpet?" 

"That will cost us extra," I sigh at that. Xavier is a cutthroat. Yet, he is the best pride demon there is. No one can do his level of mind magic. 

We hear the doorbell, and Augustine rushes to open the door. Fortunately, Betty is still unconscious. She slept through the entire cleaning spree. 

Xavier steps inside the house, and eyes the situation before him. I know how this all must look like. Us, with a woman slumped on the couch, and a small turtle, playing with the empty shell of her predecessor. 

"Dean, in what sort of shit are you in now?" Xavier asks, and then comes to me. He envelops me into a one-armed hug, and I resist the urge to feel up his ass. As strange as it all is, I am practically a married man now. Even though the harem is not exactly official, I have had everyone in it by this point. 

"Are you feeling well? Why didn't you grope me?" Xavier feels my forehead, and then blinks, when he finds out that I don't have a fever. 

"He is taken," Atha grumbles. I wink at him, but he is not done. "And if he doesn't keep his hands to himself, we won't buy condoms his size." 

"Oh, whipped," Xavier says with a chuckle, when I scrunch up my nose at the threat, but do not argue. "I never thought that I will see you as a married man, Dean. Although, a harem is really something I should have expected." 

"I didn't call you here to speak about my marriage," I snap. Allan coughs in his hand, his face so red, I want to go over to him, tie him up, and then pet him with a feather over the dick until he laughs. He is ticklish down there. Something that brought me more than a little joy, during our time together. 

"You are here to save me from getting kicked out of the adventurer's guild, over a... dead turtle," I point at the new turtle, who is peaking at us from behind the shell of the old one. "As you can see, I blew up a living thing again. Although, this time, I had help."

I glare at Atha, who, in all honesty, shoulders most of the blame for Alice's untimely demise. 

"Bobby was too adorable not to be petted," Atha says, in a whiny voice. 

"You tried to make it grow up faster, right?" Xavier says in a level tone. 

"Why, yes. How did you know?" Atha asks. 

"You dungeon cores have the common sense of a toddler," Xavier comments, and then goes to Betty. "What is her name, and what do you want me to feed into her subconsciousness?" 

"Betty," Atha and I say at the same time. 

"Anna," Allan insists. We both look at him. "Look, if we don't use her real name, the hypnosis probably won't set in." 

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"Her name is Anna," Augustine chimes in, as Vincent nods. "Ignore the incubus and the dungeon core." 

"Excuse me? Are you going to refer to me by my species?" I ask, my hands going to my hips. 

"We can go to jail over this, Dean. You can't play the insulted card," Vincent says, and I wither a bit. 

"Over a dead turtle?" Atha asks. I have to remember that, for the average dungeon core, such things are small problems. Yet, the reality is not like in Atha's mind. 

"Well, it is still a destruction of property," Xavier says, and then points at Betty. "And a brainwashing attempt." 

A silence stretches over us all. Then, Xavier reaches out to me. 

"The money, now, Dean," he tells me. Ah, Xavier. You'd do anything for money. Except for sex, of course. Darn pride demons, and their, well, pride. 

I rummage into my bottomless bag, and take out a coin pouch. 

"Count them after we get out of here. She has been asleep for hours. What took you so long, anyway?" I snap, as he weights the pouch in his hand. 

"I had another gig. I can't tell you about it. You know how much I value my client's trust," the pride demon tells me, and then goes to Betty. He takes out two pink crystals from his pockets, that hang on a chain, and then begins to wave them over Betty's prone form. Her eyelids flutter, but don't open. This is exciting for me, seeing as this is the first time, I have seen Xavier brainwashing people. 

"Anna, if you can hear me, don't wake up, but rise your right hand," he says, and Betty does so. We all hold our breaths, waiting for a light show, or something of the sort. 

"Ok, what do you want her to know?" Xavier asks, as he keeps waving the crystals over Betty. 

"That her turtle never died. Oh, and that she bought a new carpet," Augustine says. He looks at Vincent, who adds. 

"And that we completed the quest so well, she is going to give us five stars." 

"Oh, my. You guys are really something. First, you kill her pet, then you make her rate you five stars," Xavier chuckles at that, but then speaks in a commanding voice. He gives her one command after the other, finishing with a command for her to sleep until five in the afternoon. Then, he pockets his crystals, and goes to the new turtle. 

The pride demon reaches out, and takes the empty shell of the old turtle in his hands. The new turtle tries to bite him, but he dodges it. Huh, shouldn't it have hidden in its shell?

"Come on, it is time to go. She will get the review before closing hours, and your asses are safe now," Xavier says, as he makes his way towards the door. The new turtle follows him, as quickly as its little legs allow. Atha bends, just as it passes by him, and picks it up. 

"How are you moving this quickly?" He voices all our thoughts, and then goes, and dumps the turtle into the terrarium. Just as we leave, the turtle places a paw on the glass. There is a strange glint in its eyes. I can see, from across the room, that there is something wrong with it. Oh, well, not my problem. 

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