It had been a decently long day and even young mischevious witches needed time to rest, so the cool but wicked Delia found herself at the Minitropolis Mall that fateful afternoon, her eyes scanning over her environment to find ways to cool off with some further magic induced trouble.
She'd scoff to herself seeing the usual cast of suspects, the snarky guy who checked her out as she walked by.
"You wish..." she muttered under her breath
She'd see the usual crowds of giddy teenage girls spazzing out over some new bathing suit or boy band. Quite frankly she didn't see the point in using her mind reading powers to figure out what they were blathering on about.
Then there was the Shake Stand guy, Henry. Well, let's just say his backstory wasn't even worth delving into.
But there was one person who was catching Delia's attention more than the rest. It wasn't the bubbly redhaired elf Mara, although she was an intriguing case as well. Delia could sense her own magical energy and that she wasn't fully human. She wasn't entirely aware of what she was but she could tell the young woman had spent some time among the fairies.
Ugh, fairies ... how Delia hated them.
Speaking of which she could sense an aura that almost felt like that of a "human fairy" ... if there were such a thing.
In addition to giving off a syrupy sweet vibe of kindness, the brunette woman she spied from up on the mall's second floor almost seemed to exude fairy energy itself. Quite frankly, it was giving her a headache.
Whereas she could tap into anybody's thoughts with but a flick of her wrist, if she tried to do the same with the mysterious Alexis Cole, she'd get nothing but static, as if she was being shut out. Nobody shuts out Delia Greystone.
As for Lexi herself, feeling a bit elevated from her brief time with Chrissy (although sad to hear that her newfound friend was leaving town soon) she was perusing the mall with a bit of newfound confidence, even as she had been caught briefly admiring the deviant appearing witchy lady from afar.
"If that's the girl that hit on Leah..." Lexi thought to herself, a brief playful look crossing her face, "consider me jealous"
Lexi's strides would be short lived however as she soon found herself face to face with the suddenly obstructive Delia, quite literally. Lexi found herself on her butt after smacking into the woman who seemed to almost appear out of nowhere.
"Oh gosh!" Lexi sputtered, getting a gratuitious look at the woman's impressive black heeled boots that seemed to span a good portion of those tree trunk like thighs, the rest being appealing on the eyes as well leading up to a confused face with brown eyes and purple hair. "I am SO sorry Miss!"
"Heh..." Delia simply muttered, seeming neither offended nor happy, just maintaining a sort of indifferent glance as she didn't even bother to help Lexi up but rather reveled in watching the flustered girl help herself off the mall's tiled floor. "Clumsy much, chica?"
"Oh, me? Yes! Yes ... extremely clumsy..." Lexi stammered, as if rattling off an accomplishment before realizing the error she had made, "I mean ... not always ... but in this case, yes ... I'm sorry Miss... I must've just been in a hurry and didn't see you ..."
"Relax..." Delia sighed, already sounding exhausted by Lexi's hastened speech, "are you hurt? am I hurt? No? Then good, let's move on"
"Yes yes ... moving on is good ..." Lexi pouted, "still... I'm sorry I ... r-ran into you ... maybe I can uh ... buy you a milkshake?"
"Buy me a milkshake?" Delia asked, raising an eyebrow. What kind of girl was she dealing with here?
"Y-Yeah... yknow... make up for it?" Lexi asked nervously. Of course in her own strange way she was also just desiring more time with this purple haired seductress who she only knew as "the girl who hit on Leah" and yeah, Mara wasn't exageratting, she was indeed 'smoking hot'
"I think I'll live..." Delia said, in a sarcastic tone before thinking on it a bit more. For whatever reason this spunky little brown haired girl had been able to jam her magic mind reading AND she had been guilty herself of purposefully teleporting into her path for just this reason. It would be foolish not to analyze it further. Plus ... who didn't love a milkshake? "Okay ... y'know what? Fine ... reimburse me with chocolate milk... yank my leg"
"Okay cool!" Lexi giggled, seemingly ignoring the girl's dismissive tone and dwelling instead on the fact that she got her "yes" in a roundabout sort of way. She'd yank on her hand playfully to lead her towards the food court before quickly learning that Delia didn't roll that way.
"Uh ... what are you doing?" Delia asked, seemingly weighing about 1000 pounds at that moment as Lexi could not budge her at all. It was if she were a statue affixed to the floor. "I ... don't do the hand holding thing ... plus I know where the food court is ... I've been here before, yknow"
"Oh... of course you have!" Lexi blushed, "I wasn't trying to like .. yeah ... let's ... let's go... I'll show you a really cool place for milkshakes... and a really cool guy who makes em!"
"You mean the middle aged guy with the Eeyore look?" Delia shrugged, "I figured he offed himself by now..."
"Hah, you're funny! Nah, he's still alive!" Lexi giggled, "let's go say hello!"
"Lead the way, SpunkGirl..." Delia sighed, before realizing her own interpretation of Lexi, quite literally. She was already pretty sure she recognized her from somewhere but now she was sure of it.
The girl in front of her who was prattling on about chocolate milkshakes and who knows what other cheerleader-y stuff was the girl from the news. ShrinkGirl. The do-gooder. The source of all things lollipops and rainbows... but why was SHE of all people able to evade Delia's strong mystical powers?
Could she have been another witch herself? That's nearly impossible... Delia thought to herself, for it was Delia herself who made sure most if not all traces of witchcraft were extinguished long ago aside from herself. So what was it then? She appeared to be human and even if she could size shift, she might've simply been borrowing magic or just was really dumb lucky.
"Best not to underestimate this potential mastermind..." Delia thought to herself before Lexi would turn with a dopey grin
"Oh! They also have strawberry milkshakes! Ugh but look at me, just rambling on..." Lexi sighed, briefly slowing down her speech to deliver a more appropriate greeting, "I didn't even get your name, Miss... mine's Lexi!"
"Delia." Delia said in as blunt a tone as possible, not even offering a hand to shake as Lexi did herself. Finally, she reluctantly shook the hand but didn't look too keen on it, "Uh ... so yeah ... milkshakes, huh?"
"Yeah aren't they great?" Lexi giggled, now perched just in front of the Shake Shack with her reluctant mall-goer friend Delia as she waited for the mopey Henry to make a return to the counter.
"W-Weren't you just here?" Henry asked, a bit of excasperation in his voice
"Yeah! But look I brought someone!" Lexi said cheerfully. Delia gave him a bored wave and shrugged similar to how Henry did.
"Oh I see..." Henry nodded
"Isn't her hair cool?" Lexi giggled, before turning to Delia, "Sorry I should've said something earlier but I think your hair is awesome! How do you get it like that?"
"Gallons of hair dye..." Delia quipped, "so what's the special today, Hector?"
"It's Henry..." Henry groaned before deciding he didn't really care, "Uh ... we have milkshakes..."
"He's just messing around!" Lexi smirked, "fix us up something special, Henry! I believe in you"
"Hooray..." Henry sighed, turning around to make 2 of the most basic chocolate milkshakes he could, "Someone believes in me ... call my mom..."
"Isn't Henry great?" Lexi giggled, standing enthusiastically next to Delia who kept glancing down at Lexi's purse.
It was somewhere therein that seemed to house Delia's kryptonite.
That was the source of the strange girl's power, Delia thought to herself but she had to delve more into why. That would unfortunately mean socializing with the girl.
"Ohhhh yeah ... he's uh ... awesome" Delia smirked, deciding to play the game for now. "and these milkshakes, you say they're really good?"
"They're the best! The best in the city!" Lexi nodded, eager to impress the attractive young woman as two milkshakes found their way to the counter. "Oh! Would you look at that? Henry hooked us up with the good stuff! What do you call these?"
"Nesquik..." Henry mumbled before walking away.
"Hah! Good one Henry!" Lexi giggled, taking a big sip before realizing they DID taste familiar. "H-Hey ... he forgot to take my money..."
"Save it..." Delia smirked, "Money ain't going to cure what's wrong with him"
"I can't not pay ..." Lexi frowned, before folding a few bills up and sticking it under a napkin holder. She then wrote on the napkin
"Hope you have a lovely day, Henry, thanks for the shakes ~ Lexi ~ <3"
"So you've like never ... taken anything?" Delia asked, raising an eyebrow as the two made their way back to the table. Delia took a sip of her milkshake and had to admit it was decent, if not familiar to something she had tried at a supermarket once.
"Well no, I guess not" Lexi shrugged as the two sat down on opposite sides of the table to talk. Now that she had some time to process how lovely and exotic the new girl looked she wanted to get to know the girl behind the awesome name and face. "Have you?"
"Eh, no comment" Delia said, "I mean, if something's there for the taking ... why not take it?"
"Well ... I guess..." Lexi pouted, "but ...sometimes taking is wrong, yknow? It's ... stealing"
"Yeah...." Delia responded, with a confused look "and?"
"Umm... w-well I don't know..." Lexi sputtered nervously. Maybe this Delia wasn't the girl to be hitting on her platonically straight best friend. Still, she couldn't be too quick to jump to judgement.
"Look, I come from a big city..." Delia shrugged, "I'm kinda new here so I'm not used to how ..."
"Oh!" Lexi nodded, "You're new here..."
For whatever reason, hearing that somebody was "new" always gave Lexi a bit of excitement. She often found herself being the type to "help" the new person, whether they needed it or not. She knew being new could be a bit of an overwhelming experience for some and she wanted everyone to feel welcome, especially in the community she deemed to be so wonderful. She was always taught to do her best to offer friendship and it was something she held near and dear even as she entered her second year of college. For that reason, she put any misgivings she had about Delia to the side as she tried to learn more.
"yeah ... I mean, I bounce around a lot, no big deal" Delia said
"No! Of course not" Lexi replied, her purse down at her feet as she spoke, "so how long you been in the Miniborough area?"
"A few months or so" Delia replied, sipping on the milkshake, "kinda boring honestly ... although there are some nice spots"
"Oh yeah ... for sure, for sure" Lexi nodded, eager to foster her role as "Miniborough Ambassador" "I could ... show you some of them, maybe?"
"Uh ... maybe..." Delia shrugged, "I mean, I can show myself around..."
"Oh yeah for sure" Lexi replied in utter agreement, "It's just ... maybe you're not familiar with some of the more secluded spots... like there's this really nice forest on the edge of the city called ..."
"...Fenster Forest..." Delia said bleakly, not seeming as excited about it as her zestful new charge.
"Oh so you HAVE been there" Lexi said, not realizing the significance of it. Of course LEXI knew that Fenster Forest housed a magical fairy colony at its core but that's a factoid she assumed 99% of the population knew nothing of. Unbeknownst to Lexi, she was currently speaking with part of the 1%
"I've ... dabbled..." Delia said, "look, in case you can't tell I'm not exactly your average chica... I don't like long walks on the beach or carnival rides or ..."
"Oh yeah, there's a carnival too.. down by the pier!" Lexi added, "they're ... kinda closed for a while though... but you said you don't LIKE carnivals so ... never mind ... sorry, I really need to start listening better"
Delia rolled her eyes before continuing her remarks, "I think I heard about that actually ... carnival had some kind of incident? This happened before I came to town"
"Oh uh yeah..." Lexi blushed nervously, perhaps inadvertently steering the conversation in a direction she didn't want it to go down.
"Strangest thing too..." Delia continued, "because the news reports were SUPER weird, even for me ... talks of a giant robot and some kind of criminal girl..."
"Ummm... yeah" Lexi said nervously, "and that's all"
"No... I think they said someone else was there ..." Delia said, putting the pieces together, although really she had known the whole time, "Someone was like ... there but they said it was a ... tiny girl?"
"Tiny ...? Hah!" Lexi smirked, milk almost squirting out of her nose, "that's uh ... I mean I htink I read about that ... on the uh ... internet"
"Yeah ... that's where I read it" Delia smirked, leveraging Lexi's talkativeness against her, "And after that I was so curious I did a web search and I found this website..."
Oh God. Lexi thought. Not the website.
"ShrinkGirl.com" Delia giggled, proudly showing her phone with the new mobile version of the website Josh had been working on. There was even an SG app in development despite Lexi's protests. "That's where I read all about the adventures of ShrinkGirl!"
"Y-You know that's all just like fan fiction, right?" Lexi pouted, "it's not even that well written, I doubt she exists..."
"That's what I thought too" Delia replied, "but then more stories started coming out ..."
"You mean on the website..." Lexi nodded
"No... in reality" Delia smiled with confidence, "Stories about this 'ShrinkGirl' well ... shrinking things, saving people, the hero business... I don't know, she sounds kinda dangerous to me..."
"W-Well, I dont know ... about that ..." Lexi sputtered, becoming baited into protecting her good name, "I'm sure she does her best ... y'know .. if she exists..."
"Yeah well, if she doesn't exist how do you explain what happened to Rachel Rutschmann?" Delia asked
Fuck. Lexi hated anytime that name came up.
"I mean, she's in a jail cell about the size of a hamster cage" Delia said cruelly, "that doesn't just happen, y'know? and she's not the only one ... several criminals have testified that a girl in purple tights and a ridiculous costume stopped them mid-heist and either shrank them or threatened to"
"W-Well you can't believe criminals..." Lexi gulped nervously before muttering under her breath "...especially Pyro Pete"
"Hmmm ... maybe you're right" Delia said, resuming sipping her milkshake. Lexi was almost surprised how quickly Delia appeared to surrender her inquiry. "I mean ... still... if she WAS real, I'd almost say she was kinda cool"
To this, Lexi would be surprised. Delia didn't seem like the type to find ANYTHING cool.
"R-Really?" Lexi asked shyly
"Well I mean yeah ... she's a bit unconventional but ... I like that" Delia nodded, "Breaking the rules, going undercover ... shrinking people ... shrinking herself even ... haven't you ever wondered what it's like to shrink?"
One of the fastest ways to get Alexis Cole to blush bright red in any conversation was to ask that question.
"Well I mean ... I ... I don't know ..." Lexi sputtered, "it's not like I ..."
"Except you DO know" Delia smiled, cutting right to the chase, "you've been shrunk before ... because you are her"
"What?" Lexi eeped, almost ejecting her milkshake in the process.
"C'mon ... Lexi, you said it was?" Delia said, "I've seen your picture ... I'm seeing you up close... I mean you don't even wear a mask!"
"I am so tired of hearing about the mask thing..." Lexi muttered
"I mean, maybe I'm wrong..." Delia said indifferently, "Actually think ShrinkGirl is kinda hot"
"...What?" Lexi asked, now surely blushing red.
"You heard me" Delia winked coyly, sipping her milkshake very slowly.
Was Lexi really going to allow herself to fall victim to a sexy lady again?
"W-Well suppose I WAS ShrinkGirl..." Lexi said nervously
"I'm not supposing ... I already know you are" Delia said, simply stating the obvious. Lexi had an awful poker face after all.
"Well I mean ..." Lexi said confused, "It's not like ... if you were having lunch with Peter Parker right now, he'd just say "yeah sure I'm Spider-Man"
"So is that a confession?" Delia grinned triumphantly. This Lexi girl was simply too easy. Her next step would be trying to figure out what about her seemed to hinder her dark magic.
"Look..." Lexi whispered, pulling her purse onto the table.
It was then Delia felt the headaches tremoring again. What the hell was in that purse besides Mentos and some old photo strips of her and Leah? The young witch was about to find out.
Lexi beckoned Delia closer so that she could gaze into the purse revealing what looked like a mini wrestling medallion but it was the SG medallion itself. It gave off such a strong energy that Delia actually recoiled in pain a bit, slinking back into her seat.
"Oh shit, are you alright?" Lexi stammered, a little startled.
"Y-Yeah ... just an ... uh .. allergy" Delia gasped, putting it together now, "that uh ... that belt or whatever .. it's uh ... not a regular belt is it? Is that how you .. shrink?"
"Uhhh there's actually some long-winded sciency explanation for why I shrink..." Lexi replied sheepishly, "No, the belt is pretty awesome though, my best friend Leah made it..."
"Leah ... from the clothes store" Delia nodded as Lexi realized she accidentally named her best friend.
"Um... yeah ... she's really good with fashion stuff but ... that's not all ... the belt has ... if you can believe it ... fairy magic around it" Lexi blushed as she continued divulging information. She figured since Delia knew anyway (and as a bonus thought ShrinkGirl was 'hot') she would maybe brag a little bit. "Supposedly protects me from like black magic and stuff..."
Delia raised an eyebrow as she wondered if superheroes were ALWAYS so careless with their information.
"Huh. I see..." Delia said
"S-Sorry, now you probably think I'm nuts" Lexi sighed
"Oh I do, but that's not why" Delia said in a callous way before starting to laugh to signal it was a joke. Lexi awkweardly joined in the laughing.
Internally however, Delia was not so pleased. Fairy magic may as well have been sulfuric acid to the powerful witch. It was a direct opposition to everything her magic could do. She could pierce it on occasion but it was definitely the yin to her yang and this young 20 something with the purple tights was somehow able to do something that practically entire civilizations couldn't and that's silence the magic of a Greystone witch. That didn't sit well. Not in the least.
"Well hey ..." Delia said, deciding to play her cards on the table, "you shared a secret with me ... I'll share one with you..."
"Oh?" Lexi asked curiously, wondering what this could be about
"What if I told you ...?" Delia leaned in a bit, although not as much, feeling the strongly repugnant tremors emanating from the fairy magic endowed belt. "...I'm a witch?"
Lexi blinked a few times before putting her head down.
"I'm sorry, I deserved that" Lexi sighed
"Huh?"
"I ... kinda came off as judgy before" Lexi confessed, "and I can see why people would like ... call you that cuz of the purple hair and all... which is TOTALLY awesome by the way ... but you shouldn't talk about yourself that way ... I mean, nothing wrong with witchcraft of course but ..."
"You are not this dense..." Delia sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm a witch"
"Look, just cause you swiped a few things doesn't make you ..."
"Lexi." Delia said bluntly, her eyes glowing purple for a moment, "I'm a witch."
"Do you have ... like contact lenses or something?" Lexi asked
"Oh my god... fine... yes, I have contact lenses" Delia sighed. She never felt so much like she had both met her match but also like she could crush that same person like a bug. Maybe literally.
"Look, I ... I mean even if you ARE a witch..." Lexi said, keeping her voice hushed to respect the sanctity of the secrets given out, "I mean, that's not a bad thing ... I mean, my friend Mara? She's an elf ... has a pet phoenix..."
Delia thought she had sniffed phoenix essense on the red heads person earlier ...
Still, Delia made it known to herself that Lexi was not the type to entrust a secret to. Either that or perhaps Delia's persuasive magic WAS having some effect despite the protection. She couldn't fully hypnotize Lexi but it did seem like Lexi was volunteering a lot with no pressure.
"Alright well..." Delia shrugged, standing up to exit, throwing her milk shake cup a fairly far distance and somehow making it. It was almost as if by magic, "As thrilling as this all has been, I should take off now ... thanks for the uh ... milkshake, I guess"
"W-Well hey, maybe we could see each other again sometime?" Lexi asked
"I ... I don't know" Delia responded coldly.
Again Lexi's better judgement told her not to but there did seem to be something attractive about the purple haired woman named Delia other than her actual looks. A certain grip on her mentality that made her more loose lipped. It was for that reason most likely that Lexi would proceed to form her next sentence.
"My friend Chrissy's having a party up at Miniborough University tomorrow night" Lexi spouted out. Delia turned.
"Oh?" she asked
"Y-Yeah, you should come! Gonna be some silly times and you'll meet some cool new people!" Lexi said, suddenly trying to sell the enchantress on attending, "Oh, there'll be alchohol there"
Delia paused again.
"Oh yeah? Alchohol at a college party..." Delia said facetiously, "what a novel concept"
"Heh I suppose..." Lexi shrugged, "I'm not much of a drinker though ... maybe a jello shot or two but nothing crazy, yknow?"
Like a lightbulb clicking in the young witch's head, the words led her to a conclusion that wasn't exactly too groundbreaking.
Lexi was likely a lightweight when it came to drinking. Drunk Lexi meant lower judgement. Even in her current state Lexi seemed like an unworthy opponent. Alcohol would undoubtedly tip the scales and more importantly grant the witch an opportunity to cease the infernal medallion that protected her. It was almost unfair how easy Lexi was making this.
Delia turned with a happy grin
"What the heck, you convinced me" Delia grinned, her eyes glowing purple briefly
"Really? Awesome! We'll ... we'll see you there!" Lexi almost jumped out of her seat she was so excited.
"Wonderful ... shall I bring anything?" Delia asked, although she was also being tongue in cheek. She wasn't exactly the life of parties.
"I mean, if you want ..." Lexi shrugged, "I don't think Chrissy would mind... but you can just bring yourself too... that ... that works"
"Alright then ..." Delia said, also raising an eyebrow as if completing a business transaction. In other words, she wanted to get the hell out of there now. "I guess I'll see you then..."
"Well w-wait..." Lexi said, trying to catch up with Delia as her pace seemed to hasten. "I didn't even get your number ... or tell you when it is ... or where it is..."
"Don't worry about that..." Delia shrugged with a dismissive smirk, fading further into the crowd. "I'll find you"
If Lexi didn't know any better she would swear Delia seemed to vanish as the crowds folded over her. She was there one second and then gone entirely, leaving the young brunette flummoxed even further.
Have I just made a big mistake? Lexi wondered
Giantess World
