107 Karen's Change

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Oak.

October, x781.

While Elicia and Angel were fighting, Karen could only look on in dumbfounded amazement. Without her spirits, she would be no match for either of them, that much was obvious. What surprised her the most, however, was how competent Angel was without her Celestial Spirits.

"She's a [Celestial Spirit] wizard just like me, right?" Karen muttered to herself with her head lowered as she watched Elicia drag the unconscious Angel toward her. "Then, why am I so helpless without my spirits?"

"That's simple." Elicia said as she arrived in front of Karen. "It's because you never trained without them."

At the sound of Elicia's voice, Karen looked up subconsciously. Then, when she made eye contact with Elicia once again, her body began to shudder involuntarily.

"Now, why don't we talk about how you ended up like this, Karen." Elicia said with a kind smile on her face. "More importantly, how you managed to get one of my finest pieces in such a state."

'Why didn't I run away when she was fighting?' Karen thought to herself as Elicia continued to come closer and closer. 'This little monster is gonna hurt me even worse than the bitch who wanted to steal my keys. I need to think of something, fast. If she finds out the real reason why I ended up like this, I don't know what she'll do, she's a goodie-two-shoes, after all.'

While Karen was thinking, Elicia had finally arrived next to the Z3. Then, she took Scorpio's Celestial Key from Angel and threw it into the passenger seat with the other one. Then, she dragged Angel to the back of the car, popped the trunk, and put Angel inside. Though it was a little tight inside with Elicia's luggage, Elicia made it work.

'*Sigh* I wonder what kind of tale Karen is going to spin.' Elicia asked herself. 'Well, I guess that doesn't matter. I have to get those keys away from her one way or another. The way she abused her spirits, especially Aries, is unforgivable. Still, I don't think she deserved to die for it. So, I'm glad I saved her.'

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Elicia asked as she closed the Z3's trunk.

"It's because one of my spirits stopped obeying my commands." Karen said, trying to sound as pitiful as she could. "He hasn't returned to the Celestial World in months. And because of that, this is the first quest I've taken in months, as well."

"Oh? And why would he refuse to go back?" Elicia asked as she stood in front of the open driver's side door. Then, after dusting her clothes off a little, she sat down as she continued. "From what I've heard, it's pretty uncomfortable for Celestial Spirits to stay on Earth Land for a long time."

"*Sigh* I have to blame my beauty for that." Karen said while moving her disheveled hair out of her face. "He's been asking to sleep with me ever since we signed the contract. But I've refused every time. I guess he finally got fed up. After the last time I summoned him, he said he wouldn't go back until I gave in."

'Oh yeah, nailed it.' Karen thought to herself as she spun her story.

Meanwhile, as Karen answered her question, Elicia had turned away to pick up the two Celestial Spirit Keys laying on her passenger seat. Then, she opened the glove compartment and placed the keys inside.

'Just going off the tone of her voice, I might have believed her if I didn't know the whole story.' Elicia thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. Then, her smile grew in kindness as she continued to think to herself. "Unfortunate for her, I don't like being lied to. So, her punishment will be worse.'

"I see." Elicia said, turning around to look at Karen again. "Well, we should go see your other spirit. Regardless of what the truth is, what he's doing almost cost you your life."

'Why did she say it like that?' Karen asked herself. 'Can she tell that I'm lying? No, impossible. Not even Master Bob has seen through my lies when I really go for it. I must be imagining things. But why does her smile make me feel even more uneasy now?'

While Karen thought to herself, Elicia held up her hands. A moment later, a high number of threads shot out of her fingertips before starting to weave themselves together, eventually producing a cloak that would cover Karen's exposed skin.

Then, as the newly created cloak fell into Elicia's lap, she reached into the back seat. She then grabbed a small pouch that was filled with medicines and stepped out of the car once again.

"Before I have you put on this cloak, let's do a little first-aid on your wounds." Elicia said, creating bandages out of her threads.

For the next few minutes, Elicia wrapped Karen's injuries. After all Karen's injuries were taken care of, Elicia gave her the cloak she created, walked back to the Z3, and sat down in the driver's seat. Meanwhile, Karen continued to sit in place with the cloak draped over her.

"What are you waiting for?" Elicia asked while tilting her head cutely. "Get in the car, we need to go see your spirit. He's got some explaining to do."

Meanwhile, sitting in the ruins of a church ,with a haggard expression, was a young man with delicate facial features, spikey orange hair that resembled a lion's mane with bangs framing his face and two tufts of hair that looked like cat ears on the top of his head, and hazel eyes wearing a black business suit, white shirt, and black tie.

"*Sigh* I really hope Karen gives in soon." Leo, Karen's other Golden Celestial Spirit, said in a tired tone. "I don't know how much longer I can take this."

A moment later, however, Leo raised his head with determination burning in his eyes.

"No, I'll withstand this for as long as it takes." Leo said, his voice filled with the same amount of determination that could be seen in his eyes. "I can't let her treat Aries like that anymore."

After speaking to himself, the ruins fell into silence, that lasted for about an hour, once again. However, that silence was broken by the sound of an engine pulling up to the ruins. After that, the sound of two car doors opening and closing could be heard.

"Someone's here." Leo muttered, yet he made no move to see who it was.

Leo felt it was unnecessary to check on who was outside. He could feel his contractor approaching. And since he knew the only thing she would do is try to get him to return to the Celestial World, there was no reason to entertain her.

"Is he really staying here?" the voice of an unfamiliar female said from outside the ruined church Leo was sitting in.

"Yes." Karen said in response. "For the last three months, he's just been sitting in there."

'*Sigh* She really did come here.' Leo thought to himself. 'And it looks like she brought another woman. Is she going to try a honey trap this time?'

A few moments later, Karen, who had clearly been injured not too long ago, and a woman he had seen before, a seamstress and a wizard of Fairy Tail, Elicia Taylor, with brown skin entered the ruined church.

'Well, at least it's not a honey trap.' Leo thought to himself. 'I know that woman has a partner. And I doubt she would be willing to cheat on him just for Karen.'

"So, you're Leo, huh?" Elicia said after she and Karen arrived in front of Leo. Then, she supported her chin with her right hand while supporting her right elbow with her left hand as she continued. "You're not looking so good. To think you'd go this far just because Karen won't let you sleep with her. Is this love? Or just obsession?"

As soon as Elicia's words fell, Leo opened his mouth and eyes wide in disbelief. Meanwhile, Karen felt cold sweat starting to run down her back.

'She knows!' Karen shouted internally. 'She knows I was lying. Or at the very least, she was suspicious. If Leo tells her the truth, I'm gonna be in trouble.'

"I… What?" Leo asked with an absurd amount of confusion in his tone.

"well, according to Karen, here." Elicia said while gesturing towards Karen. "The reason she ended up like this is because she took a quest but couldn't summon any of her Celestial Spirits, no thanks to you, I'm sure. Apparently, she completed the quest, somehow. But on her way back, she was ambushed by a dark wizard who wanted to steal her Celestial Keys."

"What?" Leo exclaimed as he stood up. Then, he locked his gaze on Karen. "Karen, you really took that quest? I thought you were just saying that to get me to go back."

"What else was I supposed to do?" Karen shouted back angrily. "I haven't worked in three months. And doing photo shoots for Sorcerer Weekly doesn't pay enough to maintain my lifestyle! Besides, I thought you would be following me in secret to make sure nothing happened to me!"

Hearing that, it was clear from Leo's expression that he felt guilty that he was the cause of Karen's injuries. Still, the determination in his eyes never faded.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, Karen." Leo said with a solemn expression on his face. "Still, I won't go back until you release Aries and I from our contracts with you."

At that moment, Karen froze in place with even more cold sweat flowing down her back. On top of that, she could feel Elicia staring a hole in the side of her head.

"Karen?" Elicia asked calmly.

"Y-Yes?" Karen replied, shuddering from the dark aura she could feel from Elicia.

"Didn't you tell me that he refused to go back because you wouldn't sleep with him?" Elicia asked.

"I-I did." Karen replied honestly, too scared to try and make an excuse.

"Then, why is he saying that he won't go back until you cancel your contract with him and your other spirit?" Elicia asked yet another question.

"Well… Um… You see…" Karen stammered as she took several steps away from Elicia.

"Did you lie to me, Karen?" Elicia asked, taking several steps towards Karen, maintaining the distance between them.

"I… I… I… I did." Karen finally replied after several false starts while hanging her head.

A few moments passed and Karen did not hear a reply. So, she timidly raised her head. And when she did, she almost passed out. On top of the dark aura surrounding Elicia having increased, threads were sticking out from all over her body and waving menacingly.

"You know, Karen." Elicia said, wearing a smile that did not reach her eyes. "The two things I hate most in the world are seeing the clothes I made ruined and being lied to. And guess what you did, Karen?"

"I-I-I did b-b-both…" Karen stammered out with terror in her eyes.

"That's~ right~." Elicia replied in a sing-song voice. "Now, how should I punish you?"

As Elicia asked that question, her threads started extending toward Karen. Meanwhile, Karen did all she could to gain some distance from the threads. Eventually, however, she backed into the wall of the church and had nowhere else to go.

"Elicia, I'm sorry!" Karen shouted when she felt her back hit the wall. "I promise I'll be more careful with the clothes I buy from you. And I promise I'll never lie to you… No! to anyone, ever again. Please, don't do this. Stop! Get those things away from me. Please… Stop! No~~~~~~~~~~!"

A few moments later, Leo diverted his eyes from the spectacle in front of him with a blush on his face.

Meanwhile, Karen was hanging from the ceiling. Wearing only a tattered dress, her arms and legs were spread while the rest of her body was tied up turtle bondage style with a crotch rope. On top of that, Karen's face was also tinted red. The feeling of Elicia's threads moving over her body was much more stimulating than she expected them to be.

Elicia, on the other hand, seeing Karen's flushed face and heated gaze directed at her felt a bit awkward now that the deed was done.

"Um… Why did you tie her up like that?" Leo asked, doing his best not to look at Karen's current appearance.

In response, Elicia looked away from Leo and sheepishly scratched the side of her head.

"I don't' know…" Elicia muttered. "At first, I was just really mad and let my instincts take over to punish her. But now, seeing her like this, I feel like I did something wrong."

"No, you did nothing wrong, Elicia!" Karen exclaimed passionately. "I was wrong for lying to you! Your punishment helped me see that. I was a bad girl. Please, continue to punish me!"

"Yeah, I really messed up." Elicia said, taking a step away from Karen. Then, she looked at Leo with a more serious expression. "So, why don't you tell me why you wanted to cancel your contract with Karen?"

"Oh, now she's ignoring me…" Karen muttered to herself while squirming around excitedly. "Mmm~! That's right, a bad girl like me doesn't deserve your attention, Elicia."

Shuddering in response to Karen's muttering, Elicia focused on Leo who was hesitating to tell the matters between Karen and himself. However, after seeing Karen's current state, he decided now would be the best opportunity to free himself and Aries from Karen's abuse.

So, Leo explained everything that happened. Then, he waited to see what Elicia would do.

"*Sigh* How could you treat them like that, Karen?" Elicia asked, reluctantly looking over to Karen as she did. "How could you treat another living being like that?"

Waiting for Karen to respond, Elicia did her best to ignore the excited blush on her face and the clear, viscus liquid dripping down her inner thighs.

"You're right, Elicia, I was a bad girl." Karen replied a little too excitedly. "I will cancel the contracts with Leo and Aries. But I still don't think that will redeem me of my sins. So, please punish me some more."

While Leo was elated to hear what Karen said, Elicia shuddered once again.

"We can talk about that after you cancel the contracts." Elicia said.

Not even five seconds later, two Golden Celestial Keys and six silver ones floated out of a small pouch Karen wore on her waist. At the same time, Leo, who was standing next to Elicia, was covered in golden light.

"She really did it?" Leo muttered in disbelief. Then, before he vanished completely, he turned to Elicia. "Why don't you become our new contractor? I know we would be in good hands with someone like you."

"No thanks." Elicia said, waving off Leo's request. "But, I'll hold on to your keys. Then, if I find a suitable person, I'll introduce you to them."

"*Sigh* I guess that's the best I can hope for." Leo said as his body started to vanish. "Thanks again, Elicia. I hope me meet again soon."

With that, the golden light brightened for an instant. Then, when it dimmed down, Leo could no longer be seen.

"Well, I guess that's been taken care of." Elicia said with a smile.

"Now, what about my punishment?" Karen asked excitedly.

"*Sigh* And now I have to deal with this…" Elicia muttered.

After speaking, Elicia walked toward Karen. And with every step she took Karen's expression grew even more excited. Eventually, when Elicia arrived next to the bound woman, she walked behind her.

"Oh, are you going to punish my naughty ass?" Karen asked as she tried her best to wiggle her butt. "Or maybe you want to---"

In the middle of her sentence, Elicia delivered a chop to the back of Karen's neck, resulting in her falling unconscious immediately.

"Nope, I'm not dealing with this." Elicia said in an exasperated tone. "I'll drop her off at the Blue Pegasus guild hall and let Master Bob deal with that problem."