The Scales of Time: Chapter 2

In this chapter, we get to meet more of Julie's family, and the stakes of her upcoming challenge are raised. Enjoy!

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— The Next Day —

It was a nervous habit that Julie had, snacking. Well, it was also a habit of hers when she was angry, and sad… and happy or surprised or really any strong or not particularly strong emotional reaction. Honestly, Julie liked to snack just all the time, but she especially liked to snack when she was nervous. And she was never so nervous as when she was outside of her mother’s office.

Like she was right now.

And that’s why she was chain eating bags of M&Ms.

Snacking in general was a tremendously bad habit for Julie (hence the 400 pounds of bouncing blubber she was sporting) and M&Ms was a particular weakness, as were Skittles, and Sour Patch Kids, and pretty much any variety of easily portable candy. With M&Ms, Julie never had to worry about getting chocolate on her hands because, as a dedicated chain snacker, she would simply rip the bag, tilt it upward, consume the M&Ms in two to three gos and then move right on to the next package.

Although she had only been standing in front of the doorway for five minutes, the floor near her feet was currently littered with three such bags as if she was going for her personal best. None of this came close to quelling the rumbling in her tummy, a mix of nerves and the fact that she was already two hours removed from having breakfast. She was working hard to tide herself over for another hour until she could enjoy her pre-lunch meal.

Julie knew these were the kinds of things Vivian never thought about. Vivian focused on power. Vivian was in control. Vivian didn’t think about how many snacks she would need to get to her next meal, and Julie resented her for it. She wished she could make Vivian more like her. If she could somehow beat her in the challenge- but no. That thought was impossible. But she could daydream a bit and….

Suddenly the door opened and Julie’s thoughts were interrupted by a waifish woman with willowy blonde hair rushing out and accidentally bumping into her. Julie was a wall of a woman, so she was fine. The blonde instead bounced off of blubber and fell to the floor. Undeterred, she picked up her glasses, delivered a proper quick but polite “I’m sorry” and made her down the hall and around the corner before Julie could even start to say something.

Her mouth being full of M&Ms may have also had something to do with her delayed response. In fact, Julie looked down and saw that brief contact had knocked one of her precious candies out of her mouth and onto the floor. She looked both ways and then began the arduous task of reaching down to pick it up.

Julie’s entire body jiggled as she spread her legs out  and bent forward to get the M&M. Her surging belly fought her knees as her big fat butt waved in the air serving as a key counter balance to keep Julie from falling on her fat face as she picked the M&M off the ground and plopped it into her mouth. Her happy double chin was jiggling until-

“Really, Julie?”

Julie’s fat ass was still stuck up in the air preventing her from seeing who was talking to her, but she knew the perpetually disappointed tone of her Aunt Calpurnia anywhere.

“You want to get your fat butt in here, or are you going to keep eating off the floor?”

Julie’s Aunt Cal was a woman who was stunning. She used to be blessed with the same tight body that most of the witches in the coven had, and had long ago won her challenge to earn it. However, the last seven years of hard drinking and hard snacking had changed all of that. Now she looked very much like a middle aged woman with big sagging breasts and a match pudgy pooch of a pot belly. That beer belly was currently peeking out of the bottom of her ill fitting blouse. This and her juicy love handles gave her a distinct muffin top. Her beer belly jiggled as Calpurnia sighed and placed a hand on her softened hip while waiting for Julie’s response.

“Sorry,” said Julie, almost out of breath from the effort of hoisting her fat body back into a standing position.

“I’m com-”

Calpurnia didn’t even wait before turning on her heel and stepping back into the office. Her once pert posterior bounced with each step.

Julie dutifully waddled after her with her extra wide hips brushing against the doorframe. Once the heavy door slammed shut behind her, Julie watched her mother rise and cross to meet her.

Julie’s mother was a tall woman with a body that failed to betray her true age. Her mom had followed in her grandmother’s footsteps, having her first daughter later in life. Though, unlike grandma, Julie’s mother didn’t seem keen on having any others. It’s not that Julie was a bad child. (She only seldom felt like she was crushing disappointment to her mother.) It’s just that Julie’s mom was much more focused on her career and on the direction of the coven.

“Hello, dear.”

After struggling to get her arms all the way around Julie’s fat form, and eliciting an eye roll from Calpurnia, Julie’s mother settled for putting her hands on Julie’s shoulders and then sliding them down and giving her fat arms a squeeze.

“How are you doing?”

“Well ummm…” Julie nervously pivoted on one foot causing her great big belly to jiggle in response. The act of nervously shuffling, while small to most people, quickly set Julie’s body into a sensational swaying of gobs of gluttonous fat, radiating outward in through rippling flab.

“My challenge is coming up.”

“Yes, dear. And we’re all very excited to see you perform.”

“Speak for yourself,” chided Aunt Cal.

“I umm… well, I was hoping I could get some help.”

“From?” asked Julie’s mother with her eyes narrowing into a glare that sent another shiver through Julie’s fat body.

“Well. From you.”

Julie’s mother gave a head shake that turned seamlessly into her silently turning on her and walking back to her desk. Julie tried to waddle as fast as she could after her, knowing that her desk was where Julie’s mother preferred to make pronouncements and wanting to postpone that possibility for as long as possible.

“Please, mom.”

Her waddling was cut off by her Aunt Cal stepping in front and nearly getting slammed by her fat belly for her troubles.

“Now? You come to ask for her help now? What have you been doing this entire time?” Her aunt laced in Julie, her breath still reeking of her late breakfast of bacon and bourbon.

“I’ve been training.”

“In what? Simple wand magic? You really think a few basic defense charms and cantrips are going to help you in your challenge? Against a Blake?”

Julie knew her aunt was speaking the truth. Wands were an interesting thing amongst witches. Most of the arcanists she knew barely bothered to carry wands anymore. They were essentially baby’s first arcane focus, good for learning how to wield one’s magic and particularly useful for shield spells and light dueling, but most witches and wizards worth their salt quickly moved on to more complicated rituals suited to their type or just relying purely on their will. Theoretically, in the hands of a supremely powerful arcane user could be used to produce something exceptionally special, but she had never seen anyone wield such power, and amongst arcanists that kind of thing was really more of a rumor or legend than a known fact.

None of this knowledge was helping in stopping her Aunt Cal from continuing to berate Julie.

“The contest is always about will, something you clearly lack. And your knowledge is-”

“Perhaps,” interrupted Julie’s mother from her high backed chair behind her desk.

“If you had taken the time and effort to take her on and train her properly instead of wallowing in booze and self-pity, Julianna would not find herself in this predicament.”

Calpurnia’s puffed up chest caved inward as the icy words hit her like a dagger, and as her shoulders slumped, her beer belly bounced. It was a thing seldom talked about but well known that Calpurnia’s last apprentice was her sister Cassiopeia, and it was that failing that sent her seeking absolution in alcohol.

Calpurnia’s deflation left Julie with a glimmer of help.

“So you help me then?”

“No.”

And that was punctured like a balloon.

“Why not!?” exclaimed both Julie and her aunt at the same time, now unexpected allies.

“You know what’s at stake!” shouted her aunt with an urgency that caught Julie off guard.

“I mean… yes… my powers…”

“Child, your lack of knowledge is as wide as your fat ass.”

“Calpurnia,” proclaimed Julie’s mom as she rose from her seat without raising her voice.

“Speak to my daughter like that again, and I will forget that you are my sister.”

“But she doesn’t know!”

“So explain it. She’s old enough now, and family. I think we can give her this one peek into our business.”

Calpurnia turned and grabbed her niece by both arms. Her long, well manicured nails, dug into Julie’s soft, spongy flesh.

“You think this challenge is just about you- about your powers and maybe about this whole dynamic that you have with Vivian Blake. And- yeah- sure it is. But it’s not just that. It’s not even just about what happened with Cassiopeia. It’s about the whole damn thing. If you lose your challenge, and Vivian ascends, the Blake’s will have three family witches, and we will be down to two. And your mother and I cannot stand against them by ourselves, especially since they’re already aligned with the Hargroves, the Gulches, and the Aguilars. Everyone is fucking coming for us, and and our control of the coven hinges on you.”

Julie’s head was suddenly spinning. In fact, all of this new and heavy information made it feel like the whole room was spinning, and Julie was afraid her heavy body was going to collapse to the floor. Her thick thighs, already wobbly with fat, felt distinctly like jelly, a roiling sense of fear gathered in the deep pit of her fat gut, and her bountiful bosomed heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. All of this sudden pressure made her want to drown herself in chocolate syrup.

Her Aun Cal was right. She didn’t know shit, and she was cursing herself for such blatant lack of knowledge of her own coven. Her aunt was dropping names and the only one she really recognized was Hargrove because that was Eloise’s last name. She had truly never felt stupider than this very moment and all she could muster was then-

“So… won’t you help me, mom?”

“No.”

“But why not?”

Julie’s mother stayed perfectly stoic behind her desk in a pose that granted her next words a large amount of gravitas.

“Because I am the Matriarch of this Coven, and while the contest is ongoing, I am bound by rule to not directly interfere on your behalf. I will not break with our code and tradition and risk a blatant showing of favoritism. No. No matter the risk, you must do this without my aid.”

“C-can’t you make an exception though? Just this once. It’s too much.”

Julie’s mother’s stern face softened as she came around her desk and gently put her hands on Julie’s chubby cheeks.

“Oh, darling. Perhaps I have coddled you too much, and that is why you are so soft. And maybe we have all failed you and we will all pay for that. But I believe in you, and you need to trust me when I say I know you can do this on your own.”

Her mother gave Julie a pat on the cheek and made her way back to her desk.

“Now, why don’t you go to the mall or something, and you can take your mind off of things for a bit. A spin around the food court will make you feel better.”

Julie’s stomach rumbled at the thought. That would indeed help, but it was odd of her mother to be so blatant in indulging Julie’s voracious appetite.

“And while you’re there,” chimed in her Aunt Cal.

“Think about how sweet it would be to not only save your family’s position, but turn the tables on Vivian Blake.”

Julie didn’t have to wait. She immediately began to imagine what turning the tables on Vivian would look like.

She wanted to watch Vivin’s tight abs balloon outward into a massive jiggly pot belly, a true spare tire that stuck out far past her boobs and then drooped down toward her knees, a fat turgid gut splitting itself into a wobbling double belly, pale save for the stretchmarks on her flabby overstretch rolls.

Julie imagined Vivian’s thighs growing so big that her pants ripped off, finished by her ballooning ass cheeks sending tatters to the floor and leaving Vivian’s modesty intact only because of the gigantic paunch drooping down in front of her.

She wanted to watch Vivian’s face scream in fear only to see that same face, once angular and angelic, turned into a multi chinned chubby cheeked, pig nosed mess.

She wanted to see Vivian turned into a morbidly obese hog, just like her, a bloated pig of a woman and a pariah on this campus. This, Julie was certain, would be the most fitting punishment possible.

“Time to go now dear,” decreed her mother, now firmly back behind her desk and ending Julie’s daydream.

“My next appointment is waiting.”

With a wave of her hand, the door opened and there was a man standing with his hand about to knock. He was a tall, rather attractive man, with black medium length hair and chiseled facial features detailed with a pointed goatee. In his other hand he held a paper bag filled with, what Julie could tell even from a distance were, freshly baked blueberry scones.

“What is this ab-”

Julie’s mother gave another motion of her hand, and without the use of magic, Julie knew that this meant to be quiet.

“Julianna, don’t ask me about my business. Go now.”

Julie gave an obedient nod and walked out the door, making sure to take a big sniff of the air to enjoy as much of those blueberry scones as she could.

Once outside the office, she turned back one more time to see the handsome stranger bowing his head and respectfully kissing her mother’s hand. Julie made eye contact with her aunt who looked at her ruefully while closing the door and leaving her shut outside of whatever this meeting was.

“I can practically hear the strings.”

Julie turned around to see a circus fat lady taking up multiple seats outside her mother’s office. The woman was dressed in a patterned mumu that did little to hide the vastness of her thighs which spread outward like a sea of cellulite. They were the kind of thick thighs that had fat rolls that threatened to engulf her knees even when sitting down, slabs of drooping fat that poured over the chairs she was sitting on. Her rolling belly seemed barely restrained by what was supposed to be flowing fabric and yet it seemed like a miracle that it still stuck out farther than the women’s massive breasts. It was rare that Julie ran into other women that made her feel thin, and yet, here she was. This woman was the epitome of corpulence, a temple of gluttony.

She was everything Julie wanted Vivian to be.

“I’m sorry?” Julie said to the woman, shaking her head as she broke herself off from yet another daydream.

“Nothing. Just referencing a movie I saw,” laughed the fat lady as she reached into her bag and pulled out four Hershey’s chocolate bars.

She offered one to Julie.

“It’s not easy, being on the outside.”

Julie, never one to turn down a snack, took the chocolate bar and the chance to commiserate.

“Tell me about it,” said Julie as she began to unwrap her chocolate bar. The residual sweat on her palms from the meeting with her mother made tearing the wrapping more difficult, so she couldn’t open it with her usual verve. But once she was done fumbling with the finicky wrapper, the bite of chocolate was a welcome respite.

She looked up from her struggles with the Hershey bar to see the fat lady still sitting there happily munching away and nodding at her. One of the wrappers was already on the floor and a second was resting on the small amount of lap space that her prodigious belly left available.

“Are you uh… waiting to go in?” asked Julie.

The fat lady’s jowls jiggled furiously as she shook her head. The actual movement of her head was quite small, but her chubby cheeks and wobbling triple chins rippled outward in an almost cartoonish exaggeration.

“No. That was my husband. He has business. Doesn’t tell me what most of the time. I’m just used to sitting around and watching things happen.”

“And that doesn’t get boring?”

“Honey, I get to be witness to the complete reshaping of reality at another person’s whims. How can that be boring?”

The fat lady took a thoughtful bite of her third chocolate bar before adding.

“Oh, you are one of them, right? Or at least adjacent? You’re not just a regular grad student are you?”

“N-no. I’m… at least adjacent.”

“Oh good, otherwise I think someone would have to scrub your memory… or something. Honestly, it’s been fifteen years, and I haven’t quite figured this whole thing out yet.”

“I don’t think it works like that… does it?”

“Shouldn’t you know better than me?”

“Yes…”

“Who are you, anyway?”

“Sorry. Where’s my manners? I’m Melanie.”

Melanie raised one fat arm to shake Julie’s hand, and Julie watched her hamhock of a flabby bicep wobble about like exceptionally loose jello.

“Julie.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Julie.”

“Yeah. You too- but uh…. I guess I better be going.”

“Well you have a nice day.”

“Thanks. Oh- uh, you too.”

“Thanks.”

Awkward ending to an awkward meeting aside, it had provided Julie with an ample amount of ammunition for another daydream as she walked away.

Julie loved the idea of Vivian Blake going from slim and sexy smokeshow to an absolute fat lady, a hambest of epic proportions with an insatiable appetite that far exceeded her own impressive one. She practically purred at the idea of Vivian begging for food, begging to be fed, with her large double belly rumbling with hunger desperate for greasy, salty, fattening food. She wanted to watch the piggy princess gobble up goodies in a grotesque display of gluttony.

She pictured shoving handful after handful of decadent cake into Vivian’s waiting mouth and watching her jowly cheeks and triple chins jiggle about as she chewed and snorted the air like a pig. Julie wanted to feel the weight of Vivian’s massive fat rolls in her hands as she wobbled them up and down and told Vivian all about what a good piggy she had become.

She wanted to control Vivian, to be able to call her every name she could think of: Fatso, Lard Ass, Piggy, Cow, Whale, anything. She wanted to stuff a fat and bloated Vivian Blake silly and subject her to every kind of insult she had ever had forced upon her.

Julie’s breath caught in her throat as she imagined herself patting and pinching Vivian’s ginormous thighs, listening to Vivian beg for mercy and then not giving it to her.

Yes. She wanted more than anything to somehow not just win her challenge but to ensure that Vivian Blake was a blob of a woman always looked down upon, powerless in every way and stuck outside of every door with a body so wide that she would be lucky to even fit through the frames.

Her daydream was interrupted by her own stomach rumbling once again with hunger, and Julie decided that a trip to the food court was indeed a good idea.