According to the brochure that had been shoved in his hands by his mom when she got tired of answering Jon's questions about what this vacation was supposed to be like, Paradise Winds Resort was supposed to be a slice of heaven on Earth. Incredible natural beauty matched by a resort that was the pinnacle of luxury; honestly, even if Jon hadn't known that the stone was the cause of all this, he'd have assumed magic had to be involved for his family to get to go somewhere like this. Their vacations, when they happened, tended to be someplace they could get to within a day's drive and stay at for south of 200 dollars. So, as their flight took off, he'd allowed himself to get excited, speculating with Karyn and surprisingly Stephanie about what this place was going to be like.
Of course, 18 hours later after having to make their seventh transfer to yet another plane where he somehow ended up in a seat behind a crying baby, that excitement had dimmed somewhat. By the time they were crammed onto the ferry that would take them from the Italian port he honestly couldn't remember the name of at that point to the island, he was exhausted and judging from the expressions of the rest of his party, he wasn't the only one.
"Oh, I cannot wait to get to our suite and relax," Linda Gibson muttered. The 47 year old paralegal couldn't believe her idiot husband had finally managed to come through with something as wonderful as this vacation, and the image of white towels and exotic masseurs ran through her head, making all the trouble getting there seem worth it. The beaches were also an attractive thought, but.... well, Linda had packed a swimsuit, a very covering one piece 'mom' suit, but she was a little embarrassed to wear it. She had never been one of those lucky stick thin women, and after three kids, she was frankly a bit pudgy. She shook her chin length straight brown hair and pushed the thought from her mind. Instead she allowed herself to idly fantasize about encountering a handsome island lover with who she could have a discreet little affair. She knew it was far from likely, but a woman could dream, right?
Zoe leaned against the ferry railing, her face a bit green from the motion of the boat and her expression scowling, as ever. "Ugh, I don't understand why we all had to come on this stupid trip. We're totally missing Crying Demons playing at the Snakepit, you know?"
Her friend Stephanie Wright shrugged but didn't argue. Truth was Steph was far less into the whole goth lifestyle than the rest of her clique, but had just sort of been dragged into it when her friends, Zoe, Athena and Zelda all got into it a few years ago. She was actually secretly happy Athena's parent's hadn't let her come, allowing Steph to get the invite. See, if the Gibsons were lower middle class, Stephanie Wright and her chronically drunk, often unemployed father were plain poor. For her a vacation of any kind was an exciting novelty, and a medeterranian island resort for three weeks? That was insanely appealing. "I bet Trevor will bootleg the whole thing anyway, so you can see it when you get back."
Trevor was Zoe's on again off again boyfriend, and they were currently in an on again phase. She'd probably have invited him instead of me, if her folks would have gone along with it. Stephanie reflected glumly. She often felt like a tag-along, one of 'the rest', rather than anyone's favorite.
A few meters away Karyn stretched her arms over her head, only to get a little startled when she accidentally made her newly enlarged breasts jiggle. "I swear I will never get used to these," she muttered quietly to Jon. "At least your accidental wish just gave us a free vacation and more time off school, instead of permanently changing your body."
Jon had explained the whole something interesting wish during one of their long layovers. He forcefully wrenched his eyes away from Karyn's new Sarah sized chest and said, "uh, yeah, really lucky I guess." He swallowed awkwardly and changed the subject, "I wish I'd remembered to grab the stone before we left, but on the other hand, what would we really need to wish for on a luxury vacation anyway?"
Kalea hummed to herself as she checked over her darling little machines, making sure they were already for the fun that would begin after the sun had set. Of course Beufort's Outstanding Overpowering Brain Switcher would be taking center stage, it was her crown jewel after all, but she had a bevy of newer devices she was eager to try out on this batch of guinea pigs. There was her Trait Intensifying Transmission System, her Additional Skill Synthesizer, and quite a few more she was just dying to see in action.
"Boss?" the voice of Unit 1-I, AKA Ingrid, came over the intercom. "Sophie says the last of the guests have boarded their boats and should be arriving within the next two hours. Will you be making an appearance to greet the VIPS or should I have Persephone do it?" Unit 1-P, Persephone, appeared to be a stunning Spanish woman and was the head of public relations.
"No, no," Kalea replied, "I'll see to them myself, but have Persephone meet me in my room later. I could use a little exercise before we get started with the experiment.
Hilde von Bremen slipped into one of the Hotel's three bars, eager to get a drink before it got crowded. Still, even though the sun hadn't set, it was still fairly populated and she could feel the eyes of most of the men and sever of the women on her as she passed to the bar. She smirked, as a very successful influencer the young German woman she was used to the attention, but she never minded getting a little more. Skipping past the line of three or four people waiting to order, she went straight for the bartender. Leaning over the bar she asked the olive skinned man behind it, "could I have Sex on ze Beach?" in her distinctive but light accent.
The bartender's eyes dipped down to her light sweater and thirty seconds later she had her drink on the house, ignoring the dirty look she got from the somewhat thickset brunette in glasses, wearing a 'bridesmaid' sash, who was still waiting on her cosmo. Hilde pulled her phone from her backpocket and took a few pouting selfies with the drink. She took a seat by the window, which showed a beautiful view of the beach in the setting sun, and picked out the best photo before making a post to her millions of followers with a little flirty message below it. Her entire stay, in one of the main hotel's luxury suites, was being paid for by the resort, and all for a promised 6 posts that tagged the place while she was there. Considering posts from an island paradise were already going to get a ton of engagement, itt was the best brand deal she'd ever made.
Oskar tried to ignore the sounds coming from the room he was standing in front of. He was outside one of the resort's three private beachfront villas that were even more exclusive than the nicest suites in the main hotel, but it wasn't where he was staying. His quarters, which he shared with three of his coworkers, weren't even in that main hotel, they were in the budget annex, a decidedly less fancy complex on the far side of the resort for the less wealthy clientele of Paradise Winds. The villa belonged to his boss, the utter brat Tatiana Olev, and she was the one doing all the moaning with her English suitor, Mr. Isaacs.
He should enjoy it now, Oskar, a 6'4 bodyguard in a dark suit despite the island heat, thought darkly. Once Mr. Olev finds out what this Englishman has been up to with his darling daughter, he will be lucky if he can still walk. He'd considered informing the oligarch himself, but ultimately decided to stay out of it, lest he somehow get blamed. He checked his watch, only one more hour until Sergei would relive him and he could get some shut eye. There was another loud moan through the walls. He shook his head, that hour couldn't go fast enough.
Thanks a lot stone, Jon grumbled internally as he tried to ignore the sound of his parents arguing. They'd been doing that pretty much non-stop since his father's miraculous island get away turned out to be made of pyrite rather than gold. Oh, the island was beautiful, and so was the main resort, at least least it appeared to be from the distance they'd seen it. Pretty much immediately after they arrived they discovered their tickets were for the extreme budget package, and they wouldn't be staying in the main hotel, instead getting shunted into a much plainer boxier building a ways down the coast, which looked far more like a roadside motel on the inside than exotic resort.
The whole group was crammed into a single room, with a curtain divider to split the two boys off from the girls, and several of them, including Jon, were stuck in trundle beds. They'd also discovered, much to his mom's annoyance, that quite a few of the resort's advertised amenities weren't actually included in their package. They could make the hike to the main resort and use the pool, but, unlike the guests staying there, if they wanted to order at the restaurant, have a massage, use the steam room, or pretty much anything else, they'd have to pay each time. None of it was inclusive in their package and the prices the staff member quoted them made their eyes water.
Jon tended to be the sort that looked on the bright side. Sure the room wasn't great and the budget annex's meal offerings were more pre-packaged cereal than filet mignon, but they were still on a friggin island get away. They could still enjoy the beaches, well, the ones not roped off for the private villas, the pool, and the inland nature trails. He thought they could still have a good time, but his mom was pissed and Zoe, who was never that excited about the whole trip in the first place, was on her side for once. Jon glanced over to where Mikey had already conked out, exhausted from the long trip and offered a weak smile to Karyn and Stephanie.
The two bickering parents likely would have kept sniping at one another for another hour or two if a colorless, odorless gas wasn't piped into the room. Within two minutes, the entire Gibson party had joined Mikey in sleep, and across the island, they weren't the only ones.
It was finally time for the games to begin.
Hilde von Bremen:
