Hero & Witch Pt. 04: Mind and Magic

"Follow, Psiana. It's so easy to do at this point. Trust me, I'm an Hexpert in these matters."

The slight tingle Psiana defended against earlier surged through her, a peaceful emptiness went down her spine, and settled in her knees.

"And you're so Hexceptional at following; it's like second-nature for you."

Another intense surging and Psiana finally succumbed to gravity and Scryer's spell. Psiana rested on her knees, arms limply at her sides and eyes half-open, floating in the limbo of sleep. Scryer towered over the kneeling heroine, as she did her hero.

"Now, repeat after me slave. Magic is powerful."

"'Magic is powerful,'" the heroine muttered.

"The mind is vulnerable."

"'The mind is vulnerable.'"

"Magic is irresistible."

"'Magic is irresistible.'"

"The mind is helpless to magic."

"'The mind is helpless to magic.'"

"Mind over matter, but magic above all."

"Mind over matter, but...but..."

Scryer waved her red nails, drawing her deeper into obedient thrall.

"Mind over matter, but magic above all, slave."

"'Mind over matter, but magic above all.'"

"Magic enslaves the mind."

"'Magic enslaves the mind.'"

"Stop repeating. Now take deep breaths now. Breathe in the words you repeated, hear them over and over in your mind. Believe them, and never doubt them."

Psiana closed her eyes as she took air into her lungs slowly as if savoring them. What she did savor was not only the breaths, but the commands given, enough to bear a sleepy smile in the process.

"Such a good super-slave."

Scryer looked down at her new captive, wondering what should be done with her. It didn't take long for her to realize that humbling the blond had been satisfaction enough for one night.

"Psiana, listen very carefully. Concentrate on these important words I have for you. Soon you will wake from this trance, aware of everything that has taken place tonight, yet so very drowsy. You only have the strength to carry yourself to bed and drift into a much-needed rest. You'll know very well that you have been humbled, that I have shown you how powerful magic is. But once you sleep, you won't let it weigh on your mind. You'll let yourself accept this, and then sink into sleep a wonderful, dreamless sleep. Do you understand me?"

She only nodded gently as Scryer brought her hand to her face.

*Snap*

Psiana sank to the floor, unable to hear her guest depart and tell her "Thanks for playing."

A few hours later, Psiana woke up feeling wiped out, like she'd just ran a marathon. As the details of before ran through the night, she whispered "you...bitch..." But as she was told, she crawled into bed and let drowsiness wash away the day, even the eventful evening.

* * *

On Jesse's street, outside her apartment building, Sabrina hailed a cab to take her back to Jon's place. Had she driven her own car there, she would've been screaming in joy for how well her game with "Psiana" went. Instead, she sat quietly, unable to stop smiling as she went over all the details of that night.

It'd taken weeks of prep time and mental conditioning to get Jesse to becoming and acting out her role perfectly. Choosing her was born out of opportunity. She'd been conditioned so thoroughly by Sabrina already, it became feasible for her to take her in a more fun direction. Like with Jon, "Psiana" was more or less an extension of who Jesse really was, just with the added trait of psychic powers, and a pink and purple jogging suit that Jesse truly believed was an elaborate, form-fitting lycra outfit of the same colors. She thought about giving her telepathic and telekinetic powers, but she wasn't sure that would go well this time. Taking her down like she did was almost even more fun than how she took Striker down. Almost.

Sabrina wondered if there was some kind of business potential there. "Hypnotic roleplay - turn your beau's ex into a nemesis guaranteed to lose to you." A sound idea, and probably very, very profitable, but still needed some tweaking to perfect things. Instead of sticking to an iron-clad scripting, Sabrina had given Jesse's character many options to concede and yield earlier in the game. It couldn't be as vast and as detailed as "choose your own adventure," but it did keep the game fresh and the players on their toes. Jesse, programmed to act on her own prowess, took the game to the fullest extent, and though Scryer intentionally displayed it, Sabrina had trouble keeping up. It was much easier with Jon, but Sabrina wondered had an audience been present, would her performance seem artificial. The material she gave herself to work with was cheesy, but deliberate, as if reaching back to playing out Saturday morning cartoons with friends. She couldn't help but live it up the way her heart wanted.

The cab pulled up in front of Jon's building, and she paid the driver and smiled at him generously. He smiled back but finally noticed the witch's hat she had; it would've went well with her dark dress, but that was hidden beneath her trench coat.

"A prop for a play. I was practicing at a friend's house."

The driver shook his head in understanding.

Sabrina walked away laughing, knowing that she'd told the truth more or less about dressing as a witch for fun, and it made sense.

Using her key to Jon's apartment, she entered and discarded her coat at the door, wanting to emerge like the triumphant enchantress of the night. She was looking forward to celebrate with her hero in various ways, only to the couch she'd left him on vacant.

The question of where he was came as soon as she asked it.

With the speed of a vicious snake, Sabrina was taken from behind. Her arms were tied behind her back, an arm wrapped around her waist to hold her steady, and her mouth was covered with a tough fabric of some sort. Momentary panic set in that left her frozen, but began to dissipate as she realized who her assailant probably was. Nothing was said between them, but the way he held her firmly, recognizing what bound her hands was long piece of velvet, and the way he just held her, but didn't speak, as if he had no idea what to do with her once she was caught, spoke volumes.

"Awake early, and unsure of what to do with me now that I'm the one who's caught, I presume."

She said it casually instead of seductively, letting her genuine annoyance flow freely.

His breath paused at the correct claim, and she got her breathing under control.

Both of them were left thinking, "what now," but Scryer was the first to come up with an answer. Knowing exactly where they were in the apartment, she used her body to turn them toward a mirror near the entrance, with Striker reluctantly turning with her. Light from inside the apartment revealed to Scryer that it was her hero that held her captive, and it gave an opportunity to see her.

Scryer took a step closer to the mirror, pulling Striker with her, uncaring as to whether he wanted to follow or not. She took another step, looking intently at him. In the mirror, he looked at her, and found that the only thing his hand didn't cover gripped him, the pull of the suggestion she'd left him with clearly at work.

She took another step, and he was all but willing to follow, to get closer to what he was looking at. A voice echoed softly in his mind.

"...and when you wake, drown in my eyes and be all mine."

He'd only woken up about a half hour before she returned to him. Aware of what she'd done, tired of being toyed with yet again. All he knew is that he'd wanted to act this time, and acted while hoping a good plan of what to do came to him as he went. When she arrived, no plan had formulated for him yet. The best he could do is maybe interrogate her under duress, despite the fear of what she would do in return when he unbound her, or she unbound herself.

None of that seemed to matter as they moved closer and closer to the mirror, so he could gaze into the her almost lazuline depths, and remember what she bid of him. They stepped directly in front of the mirror, and Striker's grip loosened greatly, despite his surfacing desire to hold her close. She turned into his arms to give him the full effect of her eyes. She stared powerfully, stunning him, pressing their foreheads together. She moved her hands to see if she could slip out of the velvet binding herself, but he'd sufficiently trapped them.

"Untie me," she spoke with authority.

His hands reached behind her, still staring into her eyes, loosening the bonds in seconds.

"Naughty little hero, up past his bedtime, and trying to harm your Mistress. Tsk, tsk. It seems I still have much to teach you, like who is in charge."

She opened her eyes wide and used the velvet binding to caress his cheek, plunging into her eyes and pure pleasure. The remainder of the evening was spent with Scryer using that velvet and her powers to bind him, trapping his erroneous spots, binding him from reaching a climax, while he got her off more times than she could count. Somewhere deep into the night though, she took mercy and let him release loudly, and they fell asleep wrapped in the covers and themselves.

It was hard to judge which night was better between their first, or the night she just had. It would be harder if she could find a way to escalate things.