"Now, back to our original topic, you were about to go into the forest." Galatea reminded Raki.

Dietrich paled. "Don't tell me you wanted to take the left path."

"Let's see," Raki recapitulated, "I have a choice between a very nice path on the right, and a completely creepy one on the left. Why would I hesitate?"

"Good call indeed, for the left path would take you into the lair of the fearsome Jabberwock." Galatea stated.

"Jabberwock?"

"More like Jabber-attention-whore." Dietrich muttered.

"Beware the Jabberwock, young traveler." Galatea said. "She was once a beautiful woman, called Hysteria the Elegant, and was a complete attention whore; but one day she transformed into a strange cross between a chicken and a spider, and becamean even bigger attention whore, which no one thought possible. She wanders those cursed woods, trapped by their magic, looking for someone who can remove the sword the March Hare jabbed through her throat during a vicious fight."

"Why can't she do it herself?" Raki asked.

"She has no arms." Galatea explained.

"And no, it doesn't make her harmless." Dietrich continued.

"How can she eat then? Shouldn't she have starved to death by now?"

Dietrich spoke in an ominous tone. "She just reduces her preys into a pulp and drinks them instead."

"Okay, not taking the left path then." Raki nodded.

()()()()

Somewhere in the forest, Hysteria the Jabberwock threw a tantrum, feeling like she had just been ignored by a hot guy.

"NOT AGAIN! I HATE BEING IGNORED DAMN IT!"

()()()()

"What about the right path? Is it safe?" Raki asked.

"Perfectly safe, don't worry. The Cheshire Cat dwells there, but she's not dangerous."

"Most of the time." Dietrich added too low to be heard.

"Good, I'll be leaving then." Raki said, glad that this encounter had not devolved into insanity.

"You know, you could join us…" Dietrich offered. "I was going to challenge Galatea to a drinking contest."

"Again? Come on Dietrich, you have never managed to defeat me in any of those." Galatea smiled. Her expression looked almost… hungry.

"This time I'll win! And once I've won, I'll unleash upon you all the resentment I've built up." the short woman proclaimed, glaring up at Galatea. She then glanced at Raki. "Or on you, depending if you lose."

"What? But I didn't do anything to you!" an alarmed Raki shouted.

"I know, it's the principle of the thing." Dietrich shrugged before looking at Galatea again. "I'll rip off your clothes and tie you to the wooden horse, and then I'll have my way with you. I'll use the whip and the paddle and the strap-on and..."

"Keep on dreaming little Tracker, usually it ends up with you under me. All sweaty, screaming in both pleasure and pain." Galatea smirked.

Raki was now trying, and failing, to hold back a nosebleed. And he'd thought they were the most normal people here…

"What do you say young man? If you win, you could get us both. Together. Completely. At. Your. Mercy." the revealed naughty nun offered.

'Blood… leaving… brain…'

"Of course, if you lose…" Dietrich trailed off.

Raki, who had been on the verge of accepting, ran away, quickly disappearing in the distance. Dietrich's eyes met Galatea's unseeing ones.

"Damn!" they both shouted.

()()()()

Author note : Did anyone else get some interesting images of how Dietrich would 'unleash her resentment' upon Galatea? Well, at least that gave me something to use from her. Hysteria ended up as the Jabberwock (sorry Kyugan), and was pretty much ignored. Raki's next encounter was hinted at in this chapter.