Alice sat next to the window and looked outside onto the street below. It was early enough that the cloudy sky had yet to lose its orange glow. There were people mingling through the streets right past the perimeter that had been set around their building. The people walking past were each one female. Each and every one wearing a collar.

Maidens.

Their collars gave them away as such, put prominently in display for everyone to see. The coloration of these items varied, and it was hard to guess at why. Black and red were the most frequent in the early hours, but as the sun began to peek over the horizon, greens and blues were starting to make their way through the village.

The psychology teacher couldn’t help but pick apart their behavior as they moved. Blacks were always in a hurry, usually carrying things that were far heavier than a woman of their size should have the ability to carry. Reds often handled lighter loads, foodstuff and cloth sacks. Some even took a stop to greet one or several of the maidens that were in the building’s perimeter. Meanwhile, the greens and blues were more leisurely in how they moved, stopping to make small-talk with the guards more often than not, some even pointing at the building and appearing quite inquisitive about the whole thing.

Laughs and little spats occurred, only ever harsh words or loud chuckles. The guards would always have someone ushering the guests away. Perhaps trying to avoid being spotted by their superiors and getting into trouble for it.

Not once did Alice see a male, or a human female at that. The two times she’d seen a child, they’d been barely ten. Both were little girls with mousy ears atop their heads, and their collars were the purest white, helping the mousy mother to carry groceries down the street.

It all seemed so strangely… normal. They moved about, they talked, they smiled or looked tired or both. Some more energetic, some less so. But Alice’s eyes lingered on those things that weren’t quite as normal. Animal ears and tails, wings, odd hair and skin coloration. Most seemed to be canines or mice. Out of every dozen, they only made up half. There were patterns to be found, behaviors.

The more scandalous part was the clothing, or rather, the lack thereof. Many of the blacks and reds were almost completely naked. Shorts or shoes sometimes were the only piece of clothing they wore save the ever present collars. Greens wore revealing dresses, short skirts, exposed cleavages. Blues were closer to what Alice would’ve expected, more conservative skirts or even pants.

It made Alice’s hackles rise. There was something very wrong with all of this.

A knocking perturbed her thoughts. She waited for a heartbeat, pulling her eyes away from the street. “Come in.”

Much to her surprise, it was May that stepped through. The young woman bashfully smiled and bowed her head a little. Why would she…? Alice blinked and saw the one who’d been pushing May into the room. “May, Kat, what can I help you with?”

The dirty blond girl beamed at the psychology teacher. “Nah, May wanted company, couldn’t work up the courage so here she is now.” The proclamation made the quiet woman lower her head slightly and nod marginally.

Alice took a moment of pause, catching the glint of humidity in Kat’s hair from the reflection of light that came from the corridor. The young woman had showered? This early? And yesterday too… “Did you sleep well?”

“Like a log.” There was a very quick forced smile. “Anyway, let’s get some breakfast? I’m dying to find out what the hell these people plan to do with us.”

“Catherine.” With a pause, Alice glanced out the window, back down to the street and those passing by. “Have you noticed anything… off about the… maidens? Besides the option in clothing I mean.”

“Other than the animal bits and superpowers?” Kat quirked a brow. “Most of them are one olive oil accident away from turning themselves into a playboy cover shot.”

The teacher’s lips pursed slightly, that… was not what had been gnawing at her, but now that it had been pointed out to her, she couldn’t avoid from realizing Kat was right. The women in the street all looked pretty, some stunningly so. The teacher narrowed her eyes slightly and turned away from the window. “Let’s have breakfast, it should do us some good.”

May seemed the most enthusiastic of the three at the prospect, even if quietly so. She with a slight smile and followed the group out and down towards the mess hall that had been put in place for them. The smell that reached them was sweet and enticing, Alice couldn’t pin down any one thing, but her mouth watered all the same.

The room was large, but with a long table in the middle dividing it into two parts. Around it there were a dozen round tables with four chairs each. The middle table had a flat long stone surface, slate by the looks of it. Three women worked as chefs in one side of that slate, while the other had an array of already cooked dishes waiting to be picked up.

“Wicked!”

Kat had been the first to notice the cooks and rushed ahead, her focus not on the food but on the trio of maidens. And these three were unmistakably not human. The first was a woman with chalk-pale skin and long green hair that grew all the way past her hips. The hair was thick and littered with small white flowers. The second was a woman with fiery red hair and a pair of angelic wings that were equally red, both flickering with flames as if she could combust at any second. The third had no traits that were quite so impressive, but she had short purple hair that almost seemed to glow.

All three wore collars, blue, save the fiery woman who wore a collar Alice hadn’t seen before: gold. She was the only one also wearing a white hat. It was rather easy to guess at the hierarchy.

“We have an audience,” the purple woman proclaimed, smiling from ear to ear as her eyes flickered at Kat. “Show time?”

The other two quickly shot a tired look at the woman, and the redhead spoke up, fiery wings rustling. “Do you want to go have a talk with Irene again?” As she said this, she reached down to the slate with her bare hand, pressing her palms firmly against the slate. There was a burst of steam as she caressed the black surface, heat and redness spreading through the rock, trailing behind her hands as she was very clearly heating up the entire thing.

“Gah.” The purple-haired woman flinched away from the steam, lowering her head a little.

“I want a show.” Kat said, pouting. “Please?”

It was like a jolt, the two maidens hesitated, a glance of preoccupation was shared before they glanced at the third one, who became all smiles and smugness. There was a quiet conversation carried out by their shared looks.

“You don’t have to do anything.” Alice quickly spoke up, throwing a glare at Kat. “We wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” The red-head bowed quickly, going back to work, pouring batter onto her portion of the slate and preparing what looked to be small pancakes.

That gnawing in the back of Alice’s head bit down slightly more into her.

“Psst.” The third cook made a little come-hither gesture at Kat with her free hand, taking a bright red apple and placing it against the black slate stone.

Instantly it began to sizzle, but the purple-haired maiden was quick to bring out a small knife. Her hands moved with such speed Alice had a hard time following the gestures, each flick of the wrist cut another slice out of the apple, as if it were pie. And with each cut, the slice would wobble off, do a somersault, and land on its side against the heated stone. In a flurry of movement the apple was gone, leaving behind a prismatic circle of apple slices.

The violet haired maiden lightly slapped the table with the palm of her hand, and the slices flipped themselves over.

“Tada~!” She spoke in a little voice and a grin.

Kat clapped her hands happily, but Alice’s focus had shifted to the other two. There was a deep sigh but neither said nothing, only rolling their eyes at what looked like an antic rather than whatever it was that they’d worried over.

The teacher’s stomach rumbled, and she found her focus shifting towards the plates that were littered with already prepared food. A strange feeling washed over Alice as she realized she could recognize almost all of it. Cheese, a bit of ham, there were a great deal of bread-based meals such as muffins and pancakes, and a lot of fruit. Actually, the fruit was almost all of it.

“Huh, they have kiwi,” Kat muttered under her breath, taking some of the slices and serving herself.

“Oh yes, they are very tricky to grow naturally in this weather.” The green woman beamed. “Would you want some more? We’d only made a variety serving since we weren’t certain what might be more appetizing to you.”

“Sure!”

The green-haired woman reached up to her hair, a finger idly caressing against one of the little white flowers. In an instant, it closed up, its petals falling off as it began to grow bulbous. Everyone’s eyes widened as the bulb quickly expanded, little flecks of brown hair covering its surface. With a happy little hum, the maiden plucked it out of her hair and offered it to Kat.

All three humans stared at the fruit as if it were about to sprout wings and fly.

With her knife, Kat cut it in half, revealing the green and white interior. “Holy crap.” She glanced at the maiden that had vines for hair with wide eyes.

There was a giggling sound from the purple-haired woman, a mischievous grin on her lips as she looked at their faces. “If you guys are this excited over something like that, maybe a show might have been a bit too much of a shock.”

Alice could only nod quietly and wonder.