Should Have Let Me Die

Chapter 130: Magic School Bus

The girls both looked worried because a giant snake was sneaking up on me. I laughed at them and turned around to Greshaha's head in my face. He wasn't undead, but his breath was making me think he had eaten something that was.

I put my glasses down and then put my right hand on the head of Greshaha. The light was brilliant, and once it faded, A snake-like man with no legs stood in his place, but his scales were something else. It was almost like they were covered in a dull chrome and somewhat reflective, maybe stainless steel would be a better description, but it made Greshaha almost look like a robot.

"Gresh! You look great! I won't lose you anywhere, you're like a friggin disco ball!"

"I am not a full man?!"

"No, sorry about that, but you could possibly evolve if you"

"NO! This is perfect, I am almost a Naga like this, thank you. I was worried I would gain two awkward legs like the ones you all have." Greshaha explained.

"Well, like I said you will have a chance to evolve, but you can decide the direction you want to go with it. I told you, my magic is magic, just believe in it."

Wow, that was one for the records, I bet Gripton was howling up top. I just kept saying more and more dumb shit, but Greshaha took it to heart and gave me a fierce nod.

"So, now what? You said you had things to do, right? What is your plan?"

"You will be my magic school bus driver Frizz, I will be Ralphie Tennelli, Arrentia you will be Phoebe, and Tescelle, you will be Dorothy Ann, Okay?"

I changed my clothes then to a blue t-shirt and gray pants, I wanted to look different so I wouldn't be recognized right away, there was no hiding my tattoos on my neck or hands. Then changed Tescelle in a soft blue dress that wasn't fancy, but could stop any weapon, and we were trying to blend in, what that meant. I didn't know if these were perfect disguise but we should be able to blend in for the most part. 

"Why do we all have to have these ridiculous names, and bland clothes?" Tescelle complained.

"Because we can't go into the city as royalty, just some halfway nobles looking for slaves. We just need to get the word out to the traders to bring all the slaves out for us to buy and we will take loads back until we have them all. Then we will need to deal with the king and work out again, from the castle to take down the slavers."

"Will it be that easy? Surely the slavers aren't going to just turn themselves in?" Arrentia asked as we all got on the bus.

The front area was a bit comfier for us and the opposite side left more than enough room for Greshaha to relax. Once we were all settled, I explained my plans as we flew. I could use telekinesis to move the bus more than fast enough, so I only used the planetary magic to block the wind and bugs. 

Soon, I could see a colorful city that we were approaching, but it was more of a combination of buildings in one area than an actual city. There were no walls and the castle was just a very big house, not that I disapproved. The thing was for having so many slaves, you would think that they would be using them for free labor to help build up the infrastructure of the city. 

That could mean many things, the problem was that they were all bad reasons to not be using the slaves as workers. I was getting a bad feeling about this place; I was going to have to make some big changes and that was going to take more than a day. Ugh, why does life always have to be so damn complicated!

There was no guard post or check stop at the front entrance if you could even call it that. It was just the place where the widest street lay, and the area where most people were milling about. There were shops and vendor stalls all down the long road that ended at the city center. 

There was a massive wood built house that looked like a rainbow had puked on it. The paint had been splashed on it from what I could see at this distance, and I wondered if this town was just going to be filled with hippies and other drug-users. 

"The Perdi are known for their love of colors. They have an annual painting festival when they splash paint on slaves and parade them around as they splash paint on the houses." Tescelle explained as I finally brought us down just outside of the capital.

"Are you kidding me? I want to yell about how stupid this is, but it's pointless. Well, there will be a reckoning and a change in traditions, or else."

I waited for everyone to get out of the bus, and then I brought clay up and over the top of our ride, and then cooked the stuff solid with fire, making a nice little oval dome locker shed with no door. That should keep the riff-raff out, not that there was anything to steal, but I didn't want any unexpected surprises waiting for us when we got back.

I turned back to Phoebe, Dorothy, and The Frizz, and smiled at them all with a mischievous grin.

"Let's go stir up some trouble!"

The plan was to split into 2 groups and start spreading rumors that there would be a new slaver coming to the outside of town buying all slaves. We would also distribute a couple of the...items around so people understood what kind of value was earned from coming to trade with us. I hoped that it would not bring out most of the slaves, but it would also get me more information on the slavers and maybe some about the ones that don't come.

Everyone understood the plan and I gave Tescelle a long kiss, before separating and taking Arrentia's hand. I also explained that if anything happened to my wife, Greshaha would face something far worse than death. The threat wasn't needed, but he understood and nodded to me.

"I shall protect your family as my own, do not fear."

"You are just begging for trouble if you talk like that, you idiot!"