Labyrinth of Lights

There was too much water.

Snatch understood, intellectually, that he was at the bottom of a vast ocean, sealed within dark, twisting vaults suffused with magic that somehow kept the rest of the ocean at bay, rendering narrowly survivable what had to be the third-worst dungeon crawl he'd ever embarked on since becoming an adventurer.

Still. It was really, really wet.

He glanced down at the device that had allowed him to make it this far—the flawed crystal amulet his source had lent him. It wasn't exactly optimal, especially since the damn thing kept glitching out. Still, it wasn't as though beggars or adventurers could be choosers. The only really "easy" way to get down here was through druid magic, and Snatch didn't exactly know any druids who hired out to sketchy rookie adventurers.

He clutched his notched steel sword in one hand; his teardrop-shaped blue lantern in the other. Another loan from the lady who'd told him about the vaults. The lantern shed a weak and cold light, and every now and then it went off in these annoying clicky flashes (forcing him to turn it off to avoid alerting anything) but at least it let him see where he was going, and was waterproof. The light glistened off the slick cave walls as he made his way forward, feet splashing slightly in puddles despite his best efforts to be stealthy.

Too much water. He paused, trying to regain his bearings. It took him a moment; these "tunnels" wove through the water and ocean floor like tendrils, meaning he rarely even knew for sure whether or not he was underground or just a few feet of basalt away from frigid saltwater.

He'd taken... he'd taken a left, and then a right, and then gone straight twice. He ruffled his short, dark hair, slowly piecing together where that meant he was now. He wished he'd brought some yarn or something.

"Hello?"

The young adventurer practically jumped out of his mail coat. He spun around wildly, light flashing against the glistening walls. The voice had come from up ahead. Around the corner.

A faint golden glimmer turned his blue light green as they made contact. Someone was up there. Someone with a light.

Snatch took a deep breath to steady himself. Easy. Easy. He hesitated, then, after a moment's thought, reached into his pack and drew out one of the few adventuring items he'd thought to purchase before making this trip: A small hand mirror.

He made his way forward, padding as much as he was able, wincing at every little splish. He really needed to learn to sneak better before the next mission.

As he approached the turn, he hesitated, then extended the mirror to peer, through it, around the corner.

A brilliant golden light filled his vision.

Snatch was barely conscious of much in that moment as heat filled his head, striking away any thought that was not golden. He saw a pool. In it was a very pale woman with very long dark hair and very big tea-green eyes. He stared at the mirror, and slowly leaned closer...

Some grain of will sparked through the gilded oblivion, and the mirror slipped from his fingers.

The resultant crash jolted his mind back to alertness. He lurched backwards as he heard a startled, "Oh!" from around the corner.

Snatch leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. What the hell. What the fuck.

The image was burnt into his brain. The woman had been... beautiful. Strange, but beautiful. Her wide mouth had worn the most lovely smile he'd ever seen. Lips a bright bloodred against paper-pale skin, pendulous breasts offsetting a graceful poise. It took Snatch a moment to realize he hadn't even seen her lower half.

Mermaid, he thought, swallowing. Has to be.

"Oh, excuse me?" called the voice from around the corner. "Who's there?"

This could be good or bad. Snatch didn't trust fey as far as he could throw them, but perhaps the creature would know where he had to go next. Snatch nodded to himself, mind racing. That would make this whole dungeon crawl a lot easier.

But then there was that light. And hadn't there been something else with her? It was hard to think about, but he couldn't shake a feeling. The image was still burned into his brain. Tentacles. Had there been a tentacle? He knew better than to trust anything with tentacles.

Snatch took a deep breath to steady himself, then shut his eyes tightly and stepped around the corner. "It's just me," he said, trying not to sound too rude.

Even with his eyes shut, he could tell he was in a very bright area now. He heard sloshing sounds in front of him. "Oh. A human. How interesting!"

"Yeah." Snatch chewed his inner lip, feeling strangely bashful. "I, uh... came in through the... there's a passage to the east." A left, and then a right, and then straight twice.

"Oh! I forgot all about that one. Well, you see something new every day." The voice sounded slightly amused. She had a nice voice, actually. Almost saccharine in its sweetness, but with a weight to it, too, like honey, or molasses. "And who are you, human?"

"Al—Snatch." Snatch rubbed his eyes. Something about keeping them shut was making them strangely sore. He felt an odd tic.

"Snatch?"

"Y-yes." He didn't go by that other name anymore. And only his friends called him Alrek. Not many people called him Alrek.

"I see!" She sounded amused at this. Snatch felt a bit annoyed, but didn't say anything. "But I don't suppose I'll have to use it for long, will I?"

"No," Snatch agreed. "I'm gonna be heading out real quick. I just wanted to ask—"

He was cut off by a musical giggle. "That wasn't what I meant."

Snatch paused, still rubbing his eyes. "I... I dunno if..."

"Confused, pet?"

Snatch's eyelids fluttered, but he carefully kept them closed. He couldn't be too careful. He wasn't sure what was going on here yet.

"If you're confused, why not open your eyes?"

Snatch frowned, keeping his eyes firmly shut. Something about that didn't sound right to him. Calling upon his more esoteric skills, Snatch carefully hardened his will. "I... was wondering if you knew where I could find the old vaults here."

"You were wondering something?" The molasses voice laughed. "No wonder you're so lost, pet. Wondering. Wandering. So confused. Hard to think straight, see straight, wandering around with your eyes closed."

"Wasn't..." Snatch's eyes were really aching. He longed to open them, but something held him back. He was just getting so disoriented. She was speaking nonsense now. "They weren't closed 'til now."

"Why?"

"'Cause..." Snatch wasn't sure if this was something he should tell the fey he was worried about possibly hypnotizing him, but he was having trouble remembering why he was so worried. Then he remembered, or, at least, thought he remembered. "I saw you. In the mirror. And you were... maybe gonna hypnotize me?"

He was surprised at the questioning tone he put at the end there. His eyelids twitched.

"And you came forward to ask me anyway?" The sweet voice giggled. "Seems a mite foolish, if you thought I was planning to hypnotize you. Are you so trusting, pet?"

Snatch's head was starting to pound. Something told him that it was because his eyes were closed—that if only he opened them, he would feel much, much better. But he knew it was important not to do that. Because then he'd see the lights.

"You... might not..." he muttered, feeling embarrassed. Why had he come forward? Reckless of him.

"That's right, pet." Her voice was soothing and easy. "I might not! In fact, I would never do such a thing to you! So you needn't worry."

"Oh." Snatch hesitated. "But... I saw you. And. You were. Hyp. Hypnotizing. Me." It was like picking words out of letters in the clouds. He half-felt like he was making it all up as he went along. By the time he reached the final word, he realized he could no longer remember the first. "Hypnotic," he repeated. That was the one concept that still felt firm. Hypnotic. She was hypnotic. He needed to keep his eyes closed.

"How so?" In contrast to his choppy, confused stuttering, her voice remained smooth and slow and sweet. It wrapped around him like a warm blanket, easing his headache, making him feel weak inside. His eyelids twitched.

"Um..." Some part of Snatch recognized the danger now. But that part of him was drowned out by the headache, by the sweetness in her voice. And it was so hard to think of what to say. He was just so confused. He couldn't see anything. His only lifelines to tell him he wasn't just drifting in an endless void were the coldness of the stone beneath his feet and the words of the mermaid. "I felt... dizzy looking at you."

Yes. It was so much easier to remember now that she had asked, he realized. He almost smiled with simple relief—if he'd forgotten, it would have been a sure sign that he'd been hypnotized, right? "You were so bright. Golden lights shimmered around you from a... from a... a golden orb dangling over your head. A tentacle was holding the orb up. It's flashing. Made me feel weak. Confused."

"Aw. Poor, dear pet." As her words filled his mind, the throbbing in his temple receded and died, just for a moment, like chewed tobacco on a bee sting. "But it sounds like you've got a rather active imagination. I haven't got any tentacle. There isn't any light."

"Y... yes, you do," Snatch muttered, clutching his head. "I saw it with my own eyes! It was... gleaming... filled me head... makes me wanna obey..."

"Well, I wouldn't dream of asking you to believe my words over your own eyes." Snatch couldn't suppress a sigh of relief as her long, sensuously-spoken sentence applied extended relief to his aching temples. "So why not take a look?"

Snatch opened his eyes.

The gorgeous mermaid smiled at him. Oh, she was even prettier seen directly. Slim and tall, at least from the waist up—the tip of her dark fish tail splashed playfully out of the pool behind her. The light flashed and sparkled, absorbing his attention instantly. Looking at it, Snatch instantly felt so, so much better.

"There's my good pet," she said softly, beckoning with one finger. "Why don't you come closer, then?"

"Nn." Snatch hesitated, his toes dragging against the stone as he stepped forward. "Stop."

"Stop what?" the mermaid asked, her voice as sweet as sunrays. The light flashed. "I'm not doing anything, as you can see. It's not my fault if you're feeling a tad... dizzy."

Snatch swayed slightly. His eyelids fluttered, but did not close. They would not close, now that the light had them.

"Are you alright?" the mermaid asked, her supple red lips turning down in a frown. "You look a little tired. Maybe you should lie down."

"Mm." Snatch shook his head. The light felt so good, so perfect, it had to be a trap. Her smile was too beautiful. Had to fight it. Had to resist. "R-resist..."

"Resist what?" the mermaid asked, licking her ruby-red lips. "Come closer, pet, I can scarcely hear you." The light flashed. "And you need a closer look. It's sodark in here."

"Nn..." But Snatch was stumbling closer, and he dragged his feet a little less with every step. "S-stop..."

"Stop what?" The mermaid smiled as he came to the edge of the pool. Oh, how he ached to give in to that smile.

"I..." He stared down at her. The light glimmered and flashed as the mermaid reached up, taking something from his left hand. He barely registered this, and barely noticed as the light around him grew a little less green and a little more gold. His thoughts had been almost totally split between two schools: The need to resist and the desire to submit.

And with every glimmer, a few of those thoughts changed sides. "Stop... f-flashing..."

A pause. A flash.

"Hm." The mermaid raised an eyebrow. "Boy, you're tough for a human. Most of them can't even tell there's a light by now."

"L-light?"

After a moment, the mermaid grinned. She had very sharp teeth. "Okay, sweet pet," she cooed, "I promise to be nice. No more flashing." She winked.

Snatch blinked blearily. He felt a slight twinge of relief, along with a disturbing sense of longing.

"It's not like I could hypnotize you anyways, " the mermaid said, giggling. "Why, you're so strong-willed, I'd wager you aren't even feeling the... Arousal Spell I cast earlier." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, a sly smile sneaking across her bloodred lips.

Snatch stared down at her. "A-arousal?"

"Yes." She tapped his boot with one long fingernail, smiling coyly up at him. "Y'know, the spell I cast to make it so every word I speak makes your dick tingle a little." She started fidgeting between his feet, but her eyes remained on him, big and pale and green. Her eyelashes fluttered. "The spell that turns any lesser human into a whiny little needy plaything. Reduces them to begging for my... tongue." She licked her lips.

She had a very long tongue.

"Ah..." Snatch bit his lip. His cock was starting to harden. "I d-don't feel that spell," he lied, swaying slightly in place. Gods, he was so dizzy and confused. He needed to get out of here.

"Yes," she said softly, "of course you don't. Only really horny, needy humans feel this spell. Why, if this spell had affected you, it'd only be a matter of time before you couldn't even remain standing." The words oozed from her lips like rare delicacies.

As if on cue, Snatch's knees began to quake. He swallowed. "G-guess the spell didn't work." This was bad. He had to go. Had to go. Go. Go.

"Yes," she said, shrugging, "I suppose it didn't! I mean, if it had, you'd be practically drooling over me. And, well..." She ran her hands sensuously over her body. Her hands caressed her neck, trailed down to her breasts, and descended to frame her waist, brushing her wet hair out of the way. "You don't think I'm so sexy, do you?"

"N-nah." Snatch's heart was pounding. She'd done something to him. Cast that spell.

"I didn't think so." She beamed at him. "After all, if you did, it'd mean you were helpless to resist by now."

He was helpless to resist.

"It'd mean you longed to give in to me."

His lips parted.

"You'd be just about ready," the mermaid cooed, "to beg me to suck that big cock of yours."

"Ah..."

The mermaid licked her lips. Her lips were so luscious, so perfect, so easily capable of taking him in and reducing him to... to...

A sudden series of irregular azure flashes tore into his vision, making spots dance before his eyes. Instinctively, he clutched them. The mermaid swore, switching her gaze down towards where she'd thrown the lantern. "What manner of piece of shit gear—"

Clarity returned to Snatch in that moment. Hands still covering his eyes, he whirled around and made to run.

He practically fell flat on his face.

His boot laces had been tied together.

"Oh!" the mermaid exclaimed. He felt hands gripping him by the ankles, tugging him towards the pool. "Oh. Ha. We just... couldn't remain standing, mm? Poor pet."

"Ah!" Snatch struggled, but already he could tell that his mind was turning submissive again, because his protests were weak and minimal. The thought of those lips around his cock intoxicated him. Why not accept just once? Then he could be on his way.

He slowed in his struggles as the thoughts of the sensations flowed into his imagination. Yes. He could... could trade the location of the Vault. In exchange for letting her suck his cock. A tough sacrifice to make, but one he was certain he could bear. Just once.

His legs dipped down towards the pool, and then he felt himself being flipped onto his back. He was unable to resist this. He felt her pulling off his boots, and a momentary surge of indignation allowed him to grasp at his sword, but then she was taking that away from him, too, with a musical giggle.

A moment later, she beamed down at him, her head wreathed in golden light, long, dripping-wet black hair hanging around her cute face like curtains. The light flashed as she reached for his trousers, ready to unbutton them, to let his stiff cock spring loose...

"Wait," he whimpered. He wasn't even fighting anymore, he knew. It was a token effort. A last-ditch attempt at dignity. He was ready now. He was ready to submit. "W-wait."

She stared down at his bulge, extending her tongue and breathing in deeply. She ran her long tongue over the bulge, making him tremble helplessly.

Then she glanced back up at him, bit her lip, and let out a long sigh. "So you're still resisting? Well... I suppose can wait. I will have plenty of time to drink you dry later."

Snatch blinked. She'd thought his begging genuine? She thought he was still able to fight, after all this? It was almost comical. His cock longed for that tongue. He bit his lip to stop from pleading for it.

The mermaid crawled out of the water, and he felt her slide over him, her smooth belly sliding over his bulge. He whined.

As her surprisingly smooth black fish tail flopped over his feet, one of his feet slipped into the cool water. But not even this coldness was enough to shock him out of the stupor.

She stared down at him, an eyebrow raised. Snatch stared up at her, wide-eyed, knowing that all it would take was one more flash, one more whisper, and he would willingly break for her.

But evidently she didn't realize that, because she sighed. "Oh, how my lips long for a mortal's orgasm. Tidae always tells me I'm too paranoid, but... I'll be right back, pet. And I'll be bringing a friend." She leaned in and planted a soft, wet kiss on his cheek. "Don't go anywhere. Unlimited bliss awaits my good pets."

And with one last wink, she turned and flopped back into the pool. The water flashed once, twice, and then...

... darkness. Or all but darkness.

After a moment, Snatch felt a strange sensation on his throat. A tingling, buzzing feel. The amulet?

Oh. Of course. He was quite wet now, and the thing was so easily-activated. He felt the magic taking effect, allowing him to breathe, see, speak and hear underwater. So helpful of it. Despite Snatch's tranquil, obedient state, he felt a prickle of brief annoyance.

And then the amulet glitched.

Snatch let out a groan of irritation as his vision suddenly warped hideously. What little glow came from the pool refracted and spiraled, like the reflection off a flawed crystal, like gazing into a kaleidoscope.

It gave him a splitting headache—not the fake headache caused by lights dancing before his eyelids, but a real, unpleasant throbbing.

Funny enough, the pain helped clear his head a little. Slowly, a single clear thought started to burrow past all the gilded thoughts in his mind, nagging, insistent, infuriated.

What the fuck was he doing here?

Snatch could hear, faintly, the sounds of something swimming down below. Or... somethings. The magic on the gemstone enabled that much. Oh, good. He found himself smiling. The mermaid was returning for her pet. And she was bringing a friend.

Wait, pet? No. He blinked, and the strange fractal landscape blinked along with him, rearranging into new bizarre patterns. He was... he was no creature's pet! Was he?

"... anna make sure," came the distant, garbled voice of his hypnotist. "We got sent a juicy one this time."

"Oh, the strong ones are always my favorite!" sang a second voice from down in the pool.

Snatch's heart started to beat faster as realization slipped in between the cracks. Hypnosis. He'd been hypnotized by these... these angler fish mermaids. He had to move. Had to run.

"I promised I'd suck him off," husked the mermaid he knew. Her voice was getting closer. "But if you want first crack in exchange for helping me finish him off..."

"Ooh, yes. Hell yes. You know how good I am at breaking them quick."