The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Elma had spent her entire life on the streets. She’d grown up under the harsh rules of an urchin. For someone such as her in Auspice City, one had to learn quickly. She became the perfect street rat. She was tough, she was quick, and she was crafty.

She was also currently getting fucked senseless.

Golden tentacles bound her by her wrist and ankles and held her aloft in the air while a fifth tendril mercilessly rubbed along her pussy. All the while, the High Priestess Iridana looked up at her with an imperious smirk on her lips. The whole experience was horrible. It was degrading, it was humiliating, it was… kinda hot, admittedly.

“You should be thanking me, you know,” Iridana said. “If it wasn’t for me, the guards would have locked you away for good this time, my little thief.”

“Sh-shut up,” Elma grunted. She suddenly gasped as she felt the tentacle bring her to the precipice of climax… then immediately pull away, keeping her agonizingly on the edge of coming. It waved there, just out of reach for a tortuous length of time, before once again returning to her cunt and so, so painfully slowly began to play with her clit. Just like the past dozen or so times she’d almost reached orgasm.

“Such a weak, slutty girl for your mistress,” Iridana said in a sultry voice, beginning the mantra she said after every time Elma was edged. “It feels so good to be a good girl. You love being a good girl for your mistress.”

“It’s not gonna… gonna work!” Elma said, whimpering as the tentacle flicked at her little clitty.

“Such a silly, stupid slut,” Iridana continued. “You need your mistress. You love your mistress. Only smart girls get to come. Smart girls listen to their mistress.” She repeated the lines a few more times as the tentacle began picking up its pace again.

“You’re not, agh! G-gonna control me,” Elma said, trying to remain confident.

High Priestess Iridana just smiled and chuckled. “Is that so?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Then why don’t you get yourself off? You clearly need it.”

“Because I can’t!”

“Why?”

Because you control me. Only smart girls get to come. I’m just a dumb slut for my mistress. I love my mistress. I need my mistress. My mistress lets me come.

The thoughts came into Elma’s mind without permission. She gritted her teeth. She would not let this smug bitch get the better of her. “Because you have me f-fucking tied up!”

“ ‘Fucking’? I bet you love that image, slut.” She stood up and strutted over to Elma, reaching up and beginning to play with her tits. “The thought of being in bed with a lover as they grab you around the waist and force you down on something biiiiig and hard just drives that subby little mind of yours wild, doesn’t it?”

Elma bit her lip and tried to ignore the sensation as she began approaching the edge again. She’d always been a top. In the bedroom or otherwise, Elma was used to being the one calling the shots. Everything Iridana said was a complete lie. However, the constant stimulation and the hands massaging her tits was just too. much. Elma hated how appealing the image Iridana created was starting to look in her head.

“Well?”

“N-no,” Elma said, whimpering in dismay as the tentacle pulled away just as she was about to orgasm yet again.

“Really? Hm. Color me surprised.” Iridana smiled as she continued to fondle Elma. It was a pretty smile. “You know, I’m proud of you slut. You’ve managed to last longer than any of my previous acolyte initiates. For a dummy such as you, that’s impressive.”

“N-not a—”

“Yes, you’re simply just too smart for me,” Iridana said, cutting Elma off. “If only there was a way to reward you. A good girl like you deserves something special for lasting so long.”

“I—”

“And you are a good girl, right?”

“Uh…” Elma furrowed her brow. The constant pleasure was making her thoughts all buzzy and hard to keep focused, but a plan was starting to come together in her mind. Iridana was offering her a reward. This could be the perfect opportunity to get a chance to come—Escape! She meant escape. She’d just have to play along.

“Y-yes,” Elma said through clenched teeth.

“And good girls are dumb girls, yes?”

“Mhmm…” Elma felt the tentacle grinding against her entrance again, this time with even more fervor than before.

“And dumb girls are slutty girls.”

“S-sure.”

“You’re such a smart girl.” Iridana pinched a nipple.

Elma squeaked. “Yeah!” All the stimulation was making it hard to focus on exactly what Iridana was saying, but that was fine. She just had to keep playing along.

“And smart girls are good girls. Good girls are all dumb and slutty for their mistress. Isn’t that right?”

Elma nodded.

“Good. Now that we have that covered, let’s think about what your reward should be for lasting a full thirty seconds!”

Elma felt her stomach drop. That… that couldn’t be right! There was no way she’d nearly come so many times in only half a minute. That would be like… like… She tried to do the math in her head, but all the pleasure and sexual frustration made it nearly impossible.

“Something wrong, dumb girl?” Iridana said innocently.

“That… That doesn’t sound right,” Elma said quietly.

Iridana sighed. “I know. I’m sorry, I lied. It’s actually only been ten seconds, I just didn’t want you to feel bad.”

Ten seconds?! It had felt like hours since they began! Elma was sure having a hard time keeping track of things. Like the tentacle that was now tickling along her asshole, making her giggle.

“Awww, what an adorable little laugh!” Iridana smiled and fondly squeezed Elma’s titties. “You’re such a cute little thing!”

“N-no I’m not!” Elma said petulantly. She was beginning to feel like a bit of a brat, but that’s what was needed to get out of this situation.

“Yes you are. Do it again!”

Elma opened her mouth to tell Iridana off, but felt another giggle bubble out from her lips as the tendril darted up underneath her arm and began to wiggle.

“There’s a good girl,” Iridana said in a husky voice. Elma felt herself flush and her pussy grew even wetter than it already was. Why… Why had that had such an affect on her? “I love seeing cute girls do as their mistress says.”

“Not… not my mistress!”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Because… because…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Can’t even think of a reason. Such a dumb little thing. A smart girl would immediately know, but that clearly isn’t you.”

“Yuh-huh!” Elma said but whined and thrust her chest forward when Iridana’s wonderful fingers stopped playing with her titties. She hadn’t realized how badly she craved that possessive feeling of someone else getting enjoyment out of fondling them until it was gone.

“No you’re not. Smart girls are always in control, and you can’t even get yourself to come.”

“I…I—!”

“So instead, you’re a good girl, and good girls are all dumb and slutty. They can’t think of what to do at all. That’s why they have to rely on others to tell them what to do. That’s why they always listen to their mistress.”

Elma shivered as one of Iridana’s fingers gently brushed across her nipple in a teasing gesture. “B-but…”

“What about your butt?”

“...Huh?”

Iridana sighed. “See? You’re so stupid that you can’t even remember what you were talking about. You’re lucky that your Mistress knows exactly what you need.” She flicked her wrist and Elma squealed as the tendril suddenly coiled around her ass and began to tenderly massage it.

“S-stop it!” Elma whimpered.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“i-i said stop!” Elma demanded, but her voice suddenly felt so small and unconvincing. How could she ever want something that felt so good to stop?

Mistress Iridana smirked up at her and elma flushed at the expression, she felt so powerless under the priestess’ pretty eyes and beautiful smile. elma wasn’t used to being in such a state, but it felt so… so…

Right.

Mistress Iridana flicked her hand again and one of the tentacles holding elma’s arm vanished. she instinctively began to touch herself with it, continuously bringing herself near orgasm, but never quite over the edge. It felt wrong to give herself release after going so long without it.

“Well?” Mistress Iridana asked expectantly.

“Hm?” elma blushed, not knowing what she was supposed to say.

“Why aren’t you making yourself come?”

“B-because…” elma trailed off, trying to think. The answer came to her in a flash. “Because i’m a good girl!”

Mistress Iridana smiled, which made elma’s blush deepen. “And that makes you…”

The answers came to elma naturally. “Dumb and slutty!”

“Wonderful,” Mistress Iridana said, then snapped her fingers. Suddenly, all of the tentacles vanished and elma dropped to the floor. She rose to her knees, confused, as she continued to touch herself. What was she supposed to do now?

“Go on, then,” Mistress Iridana said. “Escape.”

elma blinked at her vapidly, not understanding.

“Well? What’s the matter?”

“Mistress, i… i’m confused.”

Mistress Iridana tilted her head curiously, but her lips continued to rise into a wide grin. “My, my, are you saying that you’re so dumb that you don’t know how to, slut?”

elma nodded meekly.

“Oh, dear. If only you had someone to look after a stupid little thing like yourself. If only you had someone to tell you what to do!”

elma thought for a moment, feeling both distraught and turned on by her own idiocy until a flash of inspiration came upon her. she’d just had the most wonderful idea!

“Oh, well, maybe You could tell me what to do, Mistress,” elma said.

“That’s a fantastic thought!” Mistress Iridana said. “I always knew you were a smart one, my little acolyte.”

elma giggled at the praise. Phew! She sure was relieved that she’d found her Mistress to listen to. Otherwise, she’d never have escaped that nasty High Priestess Iridana.

“Um, Mistress? May i come now?” elma asked submissively, her voice barely more than a squeak. she’d edged herself nearly six times now and the need in her cunt was becoming unbearable.

Mistress Iridana smiled and leaned down to cup elma’s chin in her hand before uttering a single, terrible, wonderful, deliciously horrific word.

“No.”

Vellen stood off to the side, emotionally resigned as he watched his mistress argue with a fruit vendor in one of Auspice City’s many markets. It had been several weeks since the incident in Downteg and Mya had quickly returned back to her usual brilliant, driven, and horridly self-absorbed self.

“Are you deranged?” Mya spat. “You must be if you think fifteen gold is a reasonable price for one of those bundles!”

“Look, lady,” the merchant said, having quickly stooped to Mya’s level of annoyance once she’d started voicing her frustrations. “I got a family to feed. These bundles feed two people an entire meal a piece! It’s no skin off my dick if you don’t buy one!”

Mya scoffed at the crude analogy and Vellen felt much the same way, but retained a visage of calm serenity as he’d been taught. It was always best to avoid displaying any emotions that could be used against you in certain situations.

Vellen eyed Mya as she continued to argue with the man. So strange… How was it that it seemed she could have a total shift in personality at the most absurd of moments? Perhaps she had some form of mental condition? Vellen had read a few journals that mentioned such things in the monastery’s archives.

Mmm, no. Something about that didn’t seem right to Vellen. Did the brothel owners toy with her mind somehow? No, as she’d had a similar episode before at the…

At the Lavender Coast. When she’d spent the night with that woman. Vellen had found that whole situation rather peculiar. If she was responsible, then she had to have been a sorceress and brainwashed Mya in some way. Unfortunately, backtracking to the coasts was a detour that they couldn’t afford—not that they’d even find the woman again if they did.

Vellen frowned slightly. He’d have to start keeping a closer eye on his mistress to find out the full extent of her… affliction and hopefully reverse it. He certainly didn’t want a repeat of what happened with the brothel. Mya only seemed to remember bits and pieces of that night and Vellen didn’t have the heart to tell her the full extent of what happened, so he just said that he’d found her quite intoxicated… It wasn’t technically a lie, so it didn’t interfere with his tenets as a Monk of Drispel.

His thoughts were interrupted as Mya and the merchant’s debate became heated to the point that other people were beginning to stop and watch the spectacle.

“Miss, perhaps we could simply purchase lunch at the inn, once we find one to stay at for our duration here,” Vellen suggested, calmly resting a hand on his mistress’ shoulder.

Mya huffed, brushing Vellen’s hand aside. “Fine. It’ll probably be better than this grime anyway.”

“Yeah, go suck a faestem, bitch!” the merchant sneered.

Mya pursed her lips before turning away and proceeding to stomp off. Vellen only allowed himself a mental sigh before following after her.

“It would be wise to keep a low profile, miss.” Vellen said. “Auspice City is the country’s main religious center and therefore quite populated and heavily guarded. It would be best to avoid drawing the wrong kind of attention.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, sure,” Mya said dismissively as she documented everything that she saw in the city in her notebook. “Main religious center. Is that what you said? Tell me more about this land’s faith system.”

Vellen blinked. Scholars. He was quickly beginning to suspect that they were even more peculiar than monks. “Ah, I am afraid I never had much time to invest myself in the religious structure of the country, miss. I only know of one of the major pantheons. It’s rather complex, from what I hear, and has several underlying sects.”

Mya hummed in dissatisfaction, then looked up from her journal, squinting at the numerous buildings of worship surrounding them, many of them containing spires that jutted up into the sky, far above most of the other structures. “How many chapels are there in this city?”

“Some say over one hundred, miss.”

“Fascinating.”

As they continued to stroll down the side of the road, Vellen made note of a particularly rotund gilded hillsparrow perched on a nearby roof. He faintly smiled at the bird and made a mental note to record that he saw it in his bird journal later. Those were rare.

“H-hi!” said a timid, yet insistent voice from the side.

Vellen and Mya paused and turned to look to find a petite woman nervously making her way up to them. She was adorned in a golden priestly robe that seemed a bit snug around the waist and chest. The hem was also oddly short in the front, only going to about mid thigh, while the back drooped down near her calves. She had coppery brown hair that was kept short and pinned to her head with several pairs of barrettes.

“Can I help you?” Mya said.

“U-um, yes. Well, i mean, no, b-but i… i would like to tell you about…” She trailed off, looking down at her feet, which shuffled nervously.

Mya raised an eyebrow. “Well? We don’t have all day here.”

“R-right. Sorry, ma’am,” the girl stammered. “i-i’m an acolyte of the… the Church of Two and… and i wanted to ask if you’d been b-blessed by the gods?”

Mya looked at the acolyte, a perplexed expression on her face. “No.”

“W-would you like to? …Please?”

Mya sighed, snapping her notebook closed. “What would that entail?”

“i… i don’t know, i’m sorry! But the Head Priestess can tell you all about it!”

Mya glanced over at Vellen and shrugged. “Could be a good opportunity to gather more information about the culture. It’s certainly better than waiting around and doing nothing while you’re out getting coin for the next leg of this insufferable journey.”

Vellen thought on the idea. He wanted to keep an eye on Mya, but hadn’t thought about what he’d in that regard for when he’d have to work. He looked over the acolyte woman. The passive little thing certainly didn’t look malicious, and leaving Mya at a church would probably be better than an inn. However, looks could be deceiving…

“What is your name, miss?” Vellen asked, giving her a reassuring smile.

“elma…” she said.

Vellen nodded, looking back to his mistress. “If you believe it will do well for your research, miss, then I do not see the harm. Although, I would like to see the place of worship for myself before departing from you.”

“I wouldn’t have to convert to this faith of yours to receive a ‘blessing,’ would I?” Mya asked Elma.

“N-no, ma’am. At least… I don’t think so.”

Mya sighed, then gestured forward. “Fine. Lead the way.”

Elma smiled, as if relieved, and quickly began scampering down the road as Mya and Vellen followed.

“She’s a nice girl,” Vellen commented.

“She’s a charlatan. All priests that go out sponsoring themselves are,” Mya said flatly. “I only intend to lead them along enough to give me plenty of notes on their system of religion.”

Vellen frowned slightly and eyed his mistress. She didn’t seem to notice his subtle disapproval, for better or for worse. He found it quite peculiar how she never seemed to remember the events surrounding her… “personality shifts,” but still insisted upon seeing the worst in everyone she met all the same. That, at the very least, appeared to be an inherent trait from the start.

Elma led them down the road for several minutes until they reached their destination. Multiple times along the way, she turned, as if to attempt to make conversation with Mya, but would immediately blush, grow flustered, and give up on the attempt. Vellen found the display cute, but pitied the acolyte’s choice for company. Eventually, Elma had them stop at a surprisingly small stone building that was round in shape and roofing. Most of the structure was rather simple apart from intricate metalworking on the exterior of the roof made from steel and rose gold beams, many of which were designed in sharp and curvy patterns that almost looked as if they were meant to depict some kind of scene.

“Vile,” Mya muttered to herself and Vellen turned to see her staring at the roof as well before looking down to take a note. Vellen glanced back up at the roof and squinted but still couldn’t make any sense of the shapes.

Elma ushered them inside and they were met with a single, cozy room that looked as if it belonged more at mead hall in the frozen wastes of the east rather than a church. Fur rugs and plush furniture were scattered amongst the room along with pleasing tapestries. There was even a hearth at the far end of the room.

“And, um, here we are!” Elma said with a nervous smile.

Mya raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t seem very… traditional.”

“In other religions maybe,” Elma said. “But the Church of Two prefers to be more i-intimate with its followers. Normally a priest will sit down with those who come in and speak to them about their worries and how they can receive guidance.”

Vellen nodded along in interest as began to move about the room, feigning curiosity while in actuality looking for anything nefarious. “And where is one of these priests now, Acolyte Elma?”

Elma opened her mouth to answer, but then one of the tapestries moved to the side and a woman stepped forward. “Well, right here, good monk,” the woman said. She smiled at Vellen and he quickly inspected her. She seemed nice enough. Tall, slender, amber hair tied up in an intricate bun with an assortment of small, clear gems. She wore a similar robe to Elma, but notably less restrictive and revealing. It also seemed to be embroidered with silver thread in patterns similar to those on the roof of the chapel.

The newcomer turned and looked at Elma expectantly, who immediately squeaked and bowed before gesturing. “i-i present to you, High Priestess Iridana!”

The priestess smiled warmly. “Thank you, dear. Have you brought us two potential souls in search of blessings from the paired goddesses?”

“In exchange for information about this faith of yours,” Mya said.

“Gladly,” Iridana said cheerfully before strolling over to sit in one of the soft cushions. Vellen scanned her for anything in her expression or body language that suggested even a hint of some predatory agenda. He found nothing. Nothing about her seemed to convey an interest in Mya of the… sexual nature, fortunately. “To be able to spread the message of my goddesses and give someone their blessings is nothing but beneficial. Please sit.”

Mya curtly walked to a seat across from Iridana and sat down. Iridana turned and looked at Vellen, head tilted. “Will you not be joining us?”

“I’m afraid not. I must depart soon and tend to our financial matters. I simply came this far out of… curiosity.”

Iridana smiled again. “I see. I take no offense.”

“I will be needing a place to stay for a night,” Mya said. It was almost more of a command than a request.

“But of course,” Iridana said. “It would be horrid of me to send you out onto the streets at night after our meeting is over. I’d be glad to offer you a place for as long as you stay within the city, in fact.”

“Excellent.” Mya turned to look at Vellen and nodded. “I believe everything is accounted for. You may be off now, Vellen. Thank you.”

Vellen only had a moment to be surprised by Mya actually thanking him before his dismissal before Iridana gestured toward her acolyte. “Be a dear and escort our guest out, elma.”

“Of course, M- High Priestess!” Elma squeaked and quickly shuffled her way over to the door, holding it open.

Vellen took one last furtive glance around before finally accepting that, perhaps, they’d finally found a location that would not exploit his mistress. “I’ll return in the morning.” Vellen said before turning to exit out the door. He smiled at Elma in thanks, who blushed and refused to meet his eyes.

She certainly does that a lot, Vellen thought, amused. As he fully passed out into open air again, she bowed to him and went to close the door, but hesitated for a moment.

“Uh… um… Does y-your friend have any family in the city?” she asked.

Vellen tilted his head. “No. She is a foreigner. Why do you ask?”

Elma suddenly winced and began to redden again. “...Just wanted to know if there’d be anyone else willing to receive a blessing.” With that, she fully closed the door and left Vellen alone on the streets of Auspice City.

Mya tried very, very hard to pretend to care about what the High Priestess was saying. She had the unfortunate disadvantage in that it was perhaps the most dull and irrelevant topic that could possibly muster in conversation.

“And this was given to me by the Hermit of Tenten Shrine at the base of Mount Fontenheim,” Iridana said while holding up a rock of all things. She quickly put it back down amongst the other items on her shelf of souvenirs that she acquired on some religious pilgrimage or something.

“Fascinating,” Mya lied. “But let’s discuss the basics of your religion.”

“Of course,” Iridana smiled. She had an annoying habit of that. “Please excuse my ramblings. Here I am talking about myself and I haven’t even gotten your name.”

“Mya. Mya Valenworth, researcher of the Cloven Institute.”

“Ah. I’ve heard only great things. Would you like some tea, Mya?”

Mya hesitated. “I’ll pass.” She’d already blacked out twice these past few weeks from allegedly being intoxicated and was wary of accepting anything from anyone. For all she knew, even the tea in these lands were alcoholic.

“Just for me, then,” she gestured and her little acolyte, Elma, immediately scampered off through the tapestry that led to some other room beyond. Iridana then returned to her seat across from Mya.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Mya said, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice as she flipped to a clean page in her notebook.

“Our faith consists of two goddesses: Herma and Matra. They’re bound in a way that’s similar to what we would call marriage.”

Mya resisted the urge to snort in derision as she scribbled down notes. Of course, even the gods were lesbian here. She’d noticed that sexuality seemed far more varied on this continent, having caught multiple women checking her out in passing—much to Mya’s annoyance. Her homeland didn’t oppose the concept, per se. It was just… more reserved about such topics.

“Each goddess also represents different things,” Iridana continued. “Matra is the goddess of family, service, and all things feminine, while Herma is the goddess of dominance, strength, and all things masculine.”

Mya raised an eyebrow. “Really? A goddess represents masculinity?”

Iridana nodded as if she saw no issue. “Yes. Our texts state that she was the one to even create men… inadvertently.”

“How does that work?”

“Well, in the beginning, Herma and Matra each molded their own version of humans and other races alike. Matra made women like you and I, while Herma forged her creation in her image. Thus, creating women with features you’d normally attribute to men in this day and age. It wasn’t until the populations began to breed that the first ‘man’ was created, but even that has some extenuating circumstances behind it. It’s essentially its own entire tale.”

Mya frowned as she processed the information. “Perhaps you can tell me of it later, as I’m more interested in the topic at hand. Are you saying that, initially, the entire population was female, with half having male genitalia?”

Iridana nodded. “Yes, as well as female. The ‘Mark of Herma’ is what we call it. As the first men came about and began to spread their own genes, the Mark eventually became diluted and is only occasionally seen in modern times naturally. However, there are a few scattered tribes of Testazonians who still contain the true, pure bloodline of Herma.”

Mya blinked. Something… odd tugged at the back of her mind. What Iridana said almost seemed familiar. As if… as if… she’d seen it firsthand somehow. A fuzzy image appeared within her mind’s eye, barely skimming the surface. She saw a woman, straddled over Mya, and she had a… a…

The tapestry suddenly swished to the side as Elma entered the room again with a tea set. She gently placed it on a counter by the doorway and poured a cup before trotting over and gently placing a cup in front of the priestess.

“This seems like a… rather polarizing history of humanity. I imagine it was quite difficult to get people to believe in this faith?”

“You’d be surprised actually,” Iridana said with a smile that almost seemed wistful. “For much of this continent’s history, the Church of Two was the unanimously accepted religion. However, in modern times with the coming of the New Pantheon, Sterling Spirits, and the Fey Queen’s Chosen have caused a bit of an upset, as well as some other faiths. We’re still very popular. Just not as much as we once were.”

Mya nodded, making notes to look into these other faiths as well as the ‘Testazonians’ for further research. “And what of your internal operations? How does your religion actually work?”

“Well, I don’t intend to overwhelm you, dear, so I’ll keep it simple for the time being. Effectively, each new member will choose a lifestyle to adhere to based on one of the goddesses and serve the people through the tenets. For instance, I follow the School of Herma, while elma here follows the School of Matra. Isn’t that right, sweetie?”

Elma blushed then squeaked a response.

“I’m afraid we didn’t hear you, dear.”

“Y-yes,” she repeated, slightly louder.

Iridana turned her attention back to Mya, seeming oddly… amused. “Funnily enough, every recorded High Priestess in the past has actually been of the School of Herma.”

“Are there no men in the faith?”

Iridana paused. “There are… None have ever reached the station of the High Priest, however. Not out of a lack of trying, either. There was a rather gruesome division within the church a few centuries back. It nearly caused a schism and resulted in a few very bloody battles.”

“You almost say that like you were there,” Mya said, attempting a joke.

Iridana raised her eyebrows but then chuckled and settled back into her usual smiling expression. “I suppose I can get quite carried away with the details. This faith… it’s everything to me.”

Mya nodded. It was typically best to say nothing to fanatics in times like this.

“elma, perhaps you should find something to do rather than just stand there?” Iridana offered. The acolyte immediately seemed to begin panicking, as if she couldn’t even begin to come up with an idea of what to do. Iridana watched her struggle for a moment then cleared her throat. “Perhaps you can begin setting up the ritual for the blessing we’ll be giving our guest here.”

Elma flushed then indeed enthusiastically. “Yes, ma’am! Sorry, ma’am!”

“It’s quite alright, dear. I’ve come to expect a bit of scatterbrainedness from you. Run along.”

Without another word, the acolyte fled past the tapestry again. Mya frowned as she watched that scene. That had been… odd.

“And as for these blessings… What exactly do they do?” Mya asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Oh you will in time. I’m afraid I can’t disclose anything before the fact.”

“I see…” Something was beginning to feel wrong here. Initially, Iridana had been pleasant and professional. Now she was starting to seem… different. The way she treated her acolyte certainly felt less than orthodox, for starters. Mya also felt as if she’d caught the priestess staring down her top each time Mya looked up from her notes, though she couldn’t be sure about that one. Regardless, alarm bells were ringing and it was time to make an exit. Until then she had to keep playing along until she found an opportunity to exit and go searching for Vellen. So Mya smiled politely and maintained eye contact with High Priestess Iridana’s golden eyes.

Had… had they always been that color?

“Is something the matter?” Iridana asked, though there was no concern on her face. Her expression had changed completely, in fact. The friendly smile was gone. All that was left was cold resolve.

“Of course, I just think I need to…” Mya jumped out of her seat before finishing her sentence and bolted for the door. Her attempt at escape was immediately stunted as a large, golden tentacle suddenly sprouted into existence and wrapped around Mya, holding her tightly and grappling her arms to her sides. “Let go of me!” she screamed as she kicked and squirmed.

“I thought we’d be able to do this the easy way, Mya.” Iridana said coolly. “Evidently not. I suppose I could always use another acolyte.”

Mya continued to struggle but it was useless as the priestess flicked her wrist and caused Mya to begin floating through the air toward the tapestry that covered the doorway. The room was a spare living quarters that only had a single bed and a mat on the floor. In the corner was an open trapdoor that descended down a flight of spiral stone steps.

Iridana walked behind Mya as the floating tentacle forced her over to the trapdoor. “Hmm. What a delectable figure. Yes, I think you’ll make a very good follower of Matra when I’m done with you.”

“Fuck you!” Mya spat.

“Funny.” Iridana said with a small laugh. “elma said the same thing.”

Mya drifted her way down the steps before emerging into a completely stone room that was primarily empty apart from a desk and cabinet to the side that seemed fully stocked with herbs and other alchemical supplies. In the center of the room, Elma was dutifully drawing out some kind of arcane chalk circle on the floor. She whimpered loudly and appeared to be rubbing her thighs together as she worked, but immediately stopped as she saw the two of them enter.

“F-finished, ma’am!”

“No need for the charade anymore, my little slut. I’m afraid our guest here is too smart for her own good. We’ll be sure to fix that.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Elma bowed her head.

“Don’t even think of touching me!” Mya yelled, once again giving a futile attempt to escape the steel grip of the magic appendage that held her.

Iridana simply rolled her eyes as she strolled over to the workstation and grasped a handful of something from a bowl. “You should feel quite fortunate, Mya,” she said as she walked back over to her captive. “For, tonight, you’ll be receiving two blessings from the goddess of submission.”

Before Mya could say another word, Iridana opened her hand and blew a cloud of pink dust into Mya’s face. She sneezed and coughed as the powder settled itself upon her.

“Relax, precious.” Iridana grinned.

Immediately, Mya began to feel fuzzy, lethargic. Trying to escape suddenly felt like it’d take so much energy. Energy that she didn’t have. Iridana blew another puff of the powder into her and Mya looked down to see her shirt was stained with the stuff. Then she felt… something else begin to happen. It was subtle at first, but quickly began to ramp up in intensity. Mya groaned as she suddenly felt a pressure on—no, in her mind. It was as if something was desperately trying to claw its way out. Trying to take over, trying to be free. Trying to… to…

Trying to, like, have fun!

Candi giggled as she wiggled around in her comfy tentacle hug and smiled at the priest lady. “I, like, love your hair!”

Iridana raised an eyebrow then took a step back to inspect Candi. “This is… unexpected.” Candi sneezed again, throwing up a puff of the pretty pink powder. It was like all over her now, making her skin all pretty and pink too! Candi loved that! “But… not unwanted.” Iridana’s lips curled into a grin. A scary one. Candi suddenly remembered that she really oughta get out of here.

Iridi… Ira… Idi… The priest lady flicked her hand and the tentacle suddenly dropped Candi. She rose to try and run away, but suddenly there were three other ones. Each one quickly grabbed hold of Candi’s wrists and ankles and raised her into the air, spreading her arms and legs apart. Candi licked her lips as she thought about what else those tendrils could do.

Stay focused, Candi! You gotta, like, get away and stuff! Candi giggled.

“elma. Strip our newest slut.”

Candi pouted as the cute little other priest lady came up to her and began tearing her clothes away. She was, like, barely showing off any of her tits and ass. She didn’t look slutty at all! Especially with her hair in this stupid bun. It hurt to have it pinned up like that!

The priest lady tsked as Elma stepped away. “Underwear too, dummy.”

Elma turned back and began doing as she was told. The girl was a total cutie. Candi could imagine all the sweet little noises she’d make if they got it on. Candi was normally a total bottom, but she could definitely make an exception for this one. She giggled at Elma’s expression as Candi jiggled her titties for her while she pulled the bra away.

“You can totally grab my ass if you want while you’re taking off my panties,” Candi whispered. Elma grew a delicious shade of red and quickly moved out of Candi’s sight. A moment later Candi felt the last of her clothing get torn away. There was a pause, then the sensation of a shy hand grabbing hold of Candi’s booty for a moment. She giggled.

Wait. Wasn’t she supposed to be doing something?

“My, oh my,” the priest lady said, looking Candi up and down. “You’re already dripping, pet. Didn’t realize you had it in you.”

Candi looked down to see that, sure enough, a small puddle had begun to form on the floor just beneath her crotch. Candi giggled and felt the heat between her legs grow stronger.

“elma, why don’t you keep our newest initiate distracted while I finish up preparation for the ritual?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Candi tilted her head to the side in confusion when she suddenly felt a positively divine tongue begin to lap between her legs.

“Ooooh!” Candi moaned.

“Like that?” the priest lady said. “She’d had quite a few weeks to practice.”

Candi nodded as the tongue began to dance around her folds and clit while the tip of a finger entered her hole and began to wiggle.

“Well? Answer me, slut.”

“Y—yes!” Candi groaned.

“Good. Then I’m sure you’ll love this ritual and your new life after it. You see, I’m going to be needing your services a lot and it’d be much better to just enchant you to keep doing what I need, rather than find a new candidate every week.”

Candi could barely make sense of the words as Elma pressed her lips against Candi’s clit and began to slurp as her finger began to slowly pump in and out. Candi vaguely remembered that she was supposed to be trying to escape, but she found it silly to think about how she felt so good. As soon as Elma was done eating her out, Candi would totally figure out a way to get out.

“You see, this is actually a ritual that entails two blessings. One for you, and one for that slutty little thing giving you the time of your life,” the priest lady said and she continued mixing things together. “The product of which will continue to prolong my youth so that I can keep leading this church. Remember how we talked about the Mark of Herma earlier?”

Candi’s mind went blank as she felt a second finger enter her and continued to pump away as Elma’s tongue slid across her pussy in a rhythmic pattern. Candi braced herself as she felt her orgasm begin to rise, looking forward to the burst of pleasure. She whimpered as Elma suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, her fingers slowing down to a crawl.

“Well, only those born with the gene can have the true, full blessing of Herma, but I can provide a lesser one for a short period of time for the sake of this ritual. And I’m sure you’ll love Matra’s counterpart.” Iridana finished off what she was making with a flourish. “Come here elma.”

The petite acolyte pulled away from Candi fully, much to her dismay, and scampered up to her Mistress, Candi juice dripping from her chin. Iridana held up a wooden bowl with some kind of paste in it with one hand. With the other she gathered some of the substance on her fingers and reached up underneath Elma’s robe and began to make rubbing motions near her crotch. Elma immediately threw her head back and loudly moaned.

“My, my, still so sensitive? I thought by now that you’d have learned to control yourself, sweetie. I guess I’ll just have to not let you come for the third week in a row as punishment.”

“But… but…” Elma stammered.

“eeelma… Do good girls complain?”

“N-no, Mistress.”

“Then why are you?”

“i-i’m sorry, Mistress. i’m just so dumb and slutty that i forgot.”

The priest lady smiled as she continued to rub for a moment before pulling her arm back. She then began to undress Elma, who stood there with her head bowed submissively. Once she was naked, Candi watched in amazement as she saw Elma’s clit emerge from its hood, but continue to grow and extend, more and more, becoming rigid. All the while, Elma whimpered quietly to herself and fingered her pussy with the feather-light touched. Once the process was over, she’d grown a hard, beautiful, yummy, nine-inch girlcock.

The priest lady saw Candi staring and smirked. “I know, it’s amazing, but the Testazonians are told to have ones no smaller than a foot.” She reached down and grabbed hold of Elma’s new member, giving it slow strokes. Elma closed her eyes and bit her lip. “Now, elma, I know you’re used to being a total pushover sub, but just for tonight I’m going to need you to take control. Think you can do that?” Elma nodded hesitantly. “You’re going to have to fuck her and pump her full of all that wonderful cum of yours. I know that may sound confusing since you’re a good girl and…” she paused expectantly.

“G-good girls don’t come.”

“That’s my pretty girl,” the priest lady said, patting Elma on the head with her free hand. “Like I said, it may be confusing, but that’s just because your dumb little mind doesn’t understand how it works. This isn’t your cock. It’s mine. So when you nut, it’s actually me doing all the work. That means you’re not going to feel a thing. No orgasm, no release. Just even more pleasure building up, making you even more horny and needy and achy. Understand?” Elma nodded again. She received a delicate finger rub along her tip as a reward. “Good. And you know what you’re supposed to do after that. Now go get our new initiate ready.”

Elma let out a cute little squeak of a moan before her mistress pulled away, allowing her to grab a second bowl and make her way up to Candi. Candi stared in awe at the swinging appendage between Elma’s legs. That looked like it hurt. If only Candi could, like, make it feel better. She could totally make that hard girlcock feel so much nicer if they’d just let her wrap her lips around it and start suckling while she looked up at Elma who’d squeak and moan in that adorable little way she does as—

Candi groaned as she suddenly felt hands grasp her tits, smearing something around on them. She panted and whined as fingers brushed her nipples. After a moment she began to feel her chest tingle in a funny way. It felt nice, but was, like… like…

“Mmmmm,” Candi said as Elma kneaded her pillowy flesh for several looooong moments.

“That ought to do it, elma,” the priest lady said. Elma stepped away and Candi looked down to see her tits covered in some kind of oily substance that was quickly vanishing as it almost seemed to be sinking into her skin.

Candi felt herself get lowered to the ground, her hands and knees pressed to the cold stone within the chalk circle. The tentacles were still there, keeping her in place, but Candi wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like she was gonna… gonna…

Ooooh, right! Gotta escape! She thought, giggling at how silly she was.

Something appeared in front of Candi’s eyes. A gemstone. A little golden gemstone held in someone’s hand. They let go of it and the gem continued floating right in front of Candi, forcing her to go cross-eyed just to look at it. It began to spin slowly and catch the light of the room in such a pretty way. Candi felt her mouth go slack and form a nice ‘o’ shape.

“Just watch the pretty, pretty, gemstone, girlie,” the priest lady said. “Don’t think. Just let it do all the thinking for you.”

Candi furrowed her brow. That… seemed bad, right?

Good, a voice in her head suddenly said. It took her a second to realize it was her own. This feels good.

Candi suddenly felt stupid. This felt good.

I’m a good girl.

Candi was a good girl…

I can’t wait to be plowed.

Candi couldn’t wait to be plowed! She wiggled her ass, trying to tempt someone to do it. “Can, like, someone fuck me, please?”

Candi heard a laugh from somewhere. It was hard to focus with the gemstone taking up so much of her vision and thoughts, though. “You heard her, slut. Get to it.”

A pair of hands grabbed Candi’s haunches and in a swift motion she felt something large and warm enter her. Candi let out a long moan of delight as Elma’s big girlcock began to pump away in her with reckless abandon.

I’m getting fucked like a bitch. I’m not in control.

Candi was getting fucked like a bitch. She was totally not in control right now.

I’m not in control, so I should just do what others want.

It made, like, so much sense to what others told her to do. She wasn’t in control, afterall.

Candi screamed in pleasure as she felt the cock worm deeper into her. She was tempted to begin thrusting her hips back into it, but she wasn’t in control so she just did what others told her to do.

“Mmm. This is positively delicious.” the priest lady said. “Enjoying yourself there, Elma?” Before the girl could attempt a reply, a loud thump came from the floor above them. The high priestess sighed in annoyance. “That’s probably a follower seeking guidance from the goddesses. Continue with the ritual, elma. I’ll go tend to them.”

Candi vaguely heard footsteps fade out of the room, but she was too busy getting fucked and staring at her pretty gem to care.

I’m such a silly girl. I love having my holes filled.

Candi giggled, feeling like such a silly girl. She must’ve looked so slutty right now, moaning like a wanton whore while a meek girl used her like a sleeve. That was fine, though, it felt, like, amaaaazing to have her holes filled. All the while, she got to watch the pretty crystal spin and spin and spin and… and… spin…

I’m such a silly girl. I’m such a silly girl. I’m such a silly girl. I’m such a silly girl.

Candi felt herself orgasm for the first time as the words continued to echo in her silly, girly head, becoming louder and overlapping on top of each other until she couldn’t think of anything else. Just silly girl thoughts. She was such a silly girl…

Candi climaxed again as Elma’s dick grinding against her g-spot again and again. The hands gripping Candi dug in and the thrusts became more wild and rapid. Small whimpers and grunts emitted from behind her in the most pitiful, desperate tones that Candi had ever heard.

“I’m ju… just a silly girl,” Candi said. She had meant to say something else, but had already forgotten what it was as the gemstone twinkled in front of her eyes and poured such nice thoughts into her head. A moment later, Elma hilted herself into Candi and let out an ear-piercing squeal of grief as a thick stream of tasty-pasty cum shot up into her hole. Candi’s giggle of delight quickly shifted into a long moan as her tingly titties suddenly began to feel so tight and heavy. It was like they were… they were filling up with an uncomfortable amount of pressure. Candi bit her lip as she tried to look down at them and keep her eyes on the gem at the same time. Were they… bigger?

Candi felt Elma’s girlcock slide out from her, causing Candi to whimper and sway her hips from side to side to try and get her to keep fucking her. That only resulted in Candi’s breast to swing a bit, making her cringe as she felt the awkward sensation of them swaying and pushing against each other. It was almost painful how full they felt. In a weirdly good way.

A moment went by when Candi heard a quiet thunk directly underneath her and she saw Elma sit down in front of Candi with a bucket. She looked soooo pretty with her face all flushed and frustrated. She must really need to come.

“I’m just a silly girl!” Candi beamed, once again meaning to say something else but not remembering.

And even those thoughts evaporated as Candi felt Elma hands grab hold of her breasts and squeeze them firmly. She let out a long, low moan as she felt the most euphoric sense of release in her aching breast. A white substance, tinged gold, shot out from her nipples and splashed inside the pale, slowly filling it up.

Oh. That was… That was…

The gem spun faster.

I’m such a silly cow. I’m such a silly cow. I’m such a silly cow. I’m such a silly cow.

Had… those been the words before? They had to have been because that’s what Candi was. She was a silly cow getting milked. And it felt so fucking goooooood.

Another long moan escaped her lips as she felt hands squeeze her tits again and watched more milk squirt into the bucket. It was so nice that Candi was finding it even harder to think than normal. Her thoughts felt so slow, so simple. Just… just like a cow.

She was a silly cow.

Squeeze. Moan. Squirt. Squeeze. Moan. Squirt. Squeeze. Moan. Squirt. That’s all Candi Cow’s life was at the moment. It was all that existed. Her handler would squeeze her utters, she’d moan her gratitude for having her full chest be relieved, and the product would squirt into the bucket. And she made sure that her moans properly reflected how good the milking made her feel. They were so long and low. It was almost like she was… was…

Squeeze. Moan. Squirt.

Elma let out a small giggle as she looked Candi over. “Do you like that, silly cow?”

The silly cow nodded. She couldn’t think of proper words at the moment, but that was fine. Cows didn’t speak.

“Then why don’t you moo for me like that again?”

M-moo? Candi wasn’t mooing! She was—

Squeeze.

“m-moooooooo!”

Squirt.

“Good cow,” Elma said with a smile. Candi gave a happy little moo in response, feeling proud that she’d made her handler happy with her. Elma’s cock had vanished, but she clearly still looked worked up. Maybe she should try to use that to… to… esca—?

I’m just a silly cow. I’m just a silly cow. I’m just a silly cow. I’m just a silly cow. I’m just a silly cow.

Candi was just a silly cow. Silly cows didn’t think. They just got milked and mooed and looked pretty. It was, like, the best life she could ever ask for!

Squeeze. Moo. Squirt. Squeeze. Moo. Squirt. Squeeze. Moo. Squirt. Squeeze. Moo. Squirt…

“This one looks like it’s about full,” Elma said. “i should… should grab another one to see how much you have left…”

Elma grabbed hold of the book and rose, her glistening pussy directly in front of Candi’s face just behind the pretty, spinny, gemstone.

Candi didn’t think. She acted on instinct alone as she leaned forward and gave Elma’s snatch a quick, kittenish lick.

The girl immediately froze and shivered. Candi mooed happily and licked again, this time getting as much surface area as possible.

“S-stop that…” she said weakly.

Candi looked up at her with big, docile eyes and blinked thoughtlessly. “Moo?” she asked. She then licked once more, swirling her tongue around the clit. Elma gasped and dropped the bucket, spilling golden-white milk all along the floor.

“N-no… Ba… bad cow.”

Candi mooed sadly. Perhaps she wasn’t doing a good enough job? She began to eagerly rub her tongue around in elegant patterns in an attempt to do better.

“That’s not what i… ugh! Y-you can’t!” Elma complained, but then grabbed the back of Candi’s head and pushed her deeper into her treat, pushing the floating gemstone out of the way in the process.

“Mmmph!” Candi said as she began to suckle and lap at Elma’s pussy with all her worth. It tasted delicious!

Meanwhile, Elma just whimpered and shook violently, her eyes screwed tightly shut and her brow furrowed. “F-fuck! N…no! Can’t come, can’t come. Good girls don’t come. i-i’m a good girl. i need to stop! Mistress won’t be happy. G-gotta stay a… a good—aaaaaagh!” Elma screeched and Candi smiled as she practically felt Elma’s juices explode into her mouth. Elma then grabbed onto Candi’s head with both hands and held on for dear life as she continued to moan as the aftershock surged through her several lengthy moments before collapsing to the ground, where she continued to writhe while laying on her side and whimpering to herself. “i’m sorry, Mistress. So, so sorry, Mistress. i came! I was a bad girl. Bad, bad, bad elma. i’m so so so so… so…” She blinked, then looked around as if seeing things clearly for the first time. Then she groaned—a normal groan, not a fun, sexy one to Candi’s displeasure—and thumped her head back against the floor. “Oh brother…”

Candi blinked, tilting her head to the side. Did that mean she did good? “Ummm… you ok?” she asked.

Elma lifted her head and sighed before rising to her feet and rushing over to Candi. “We need to get out of here. Like, right fucking now before that bitch gets back.”

Candi frowned. Why would…? Oh right! “We’re escaping!” she said, proudly.

“Uh, yeah,” Elma said, looking over her bonds. “Shit. Do you know how to dissipate magic?”

Candi blinked at her.

“Didn’t think so. Gods, you’re fuckable.”

Candi giggled then wiggled her ass. “Ya can if ya waaaaant.”

“Tempting, but no. Like I said, we gotta get out.” Elma frowned, bringing her hand up to scratch at her head. She froze when she touched one of the barrettes. “What the fuck did she do to my hair?!”

Candi watched as Elma quickly began pulling all the clips and pins free, casting them off to the side before ruffling and shaking her head. Once she stopped, her hair had transformed into a short, chaotic mess. Candi felt her heart flutter as she took in the new look. Before Elma had been cute, now she looked hot.

“Right, that’s better. Back to the problem at hand,” she turned and inspected the tentacles holding Candi in place. “I think these feed off of arousal. They only exist so long as someone nearby is horny. And I just had the orgasm of the lifetime, so I’m cool. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“You’re welcome!”

“So if they’re still around then… Heh. Maybe I will have to fuck you to get us out of here.”

“Yay!” Candi beamed. “But we’re gonna be here for a whiiiiiile. I’m, like, basically horny all the time.” She giggled.

“Ah. Well, that’s a problem,” Elma said. “Man, what the fuck happened? When I ran into you, you were a stone-cold bitch, but you completely changed when… when…” She glanced down at Candi’s skin, much of which still stained pink from earlier despite all the sweat she’d worked up from the fucking. “Say… have you ever been hypnotized before this?”

“Um, like, maybe?”

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say yes. Wait right there for a second.” Elma turned and ran back over to the workbench, sifting through various things before coming up with a rag and pitcher of water. She then quickly returned to Candi. “Ok, hold still.” Elma proceeded to drench the rag and begin scrubbing at Candi’s skin. Candi giggled as she made her way across Candi’s titties, which were still kinda sensitive.

“You’re not making it easy to stay turned off right now, girly,” Elma grumbled as she finished wiping all the pink from Candi’s skin. “There.”

“Good job!” Candi cheered, although she wasn’t really sure what for.

Elma frowned. “So… how long is this gonna take?”

“How long is what gonna take?”

Elma sighed. “I guess we’ll just have to find out.”

“We could make out a little while we wait,” Candi offered. She realllllly hoped Elma would say yes.

“Again. Kinda defeats the purpose.”

“Oopsie! Sorry!”

Elma rolled her eyes, which caused Candi to giggle. Then she winced as she felt a sharp jab of pain inside of her head.

Ouchie. What was that?

She winced again as she felt another spike within her silly, empty skull and whimpered.

“Uh, you okay?” Elma asked and Candi was too busy reeling with pain to gush at the concern in her voice.

“Ummm, like… yeah? My head just—ow!” Another stab of pain. Candi pouted. It almost felt like something was trying to dig its way free from—

Mya blinked. Then began to swore vehemently as she thrashed about in her bonds. “What the fuck is going on here?!” A moment later, the golden tendrils holding her in place vanished and she quickly rose to her feet.

“Oookay, that definitely worked,” the acolyte woman said across from Mya. She was nude now for some reason… It quickly dawned on Mya that she was as well.

“What’s going on? How did I get down here? Why are we fucking naked?!” Mya demanded. Memories were a blur to her right now. The last thing she remembered was trying to run away from that creepy priestess, but then something happened and now… now she was in some kind of basement?

“Yeah, so, we’ve got a lot to unpack there but no time to do it. Let’s go!” the girl, Elma, said as she ran over to a worktable at one end of the room, grabbed something, then ran back over to Mya and grabbed her hand before pulling her over to a set of stairs in the corner of the room.

“Wait! Our clothes!”

“No time!”

“I’m not going outside naked!” Mya sneered.

“Why not?” Elma asked as they raced up the spiral staircase. “People do it all the time.”

“WHAT?!”

As they reached the top of the staircase and entered the adjoining room, Elma raced to the other end, still dragging Mya behind her. She pushed the tapestry to the side and both girls immediately froze.

In the main room, High Priestess Iridana stood with her back to Mya and Elma and looked up at a figure held aloft in the air, each limb grappled by golden tentacles while a fifth one rubbed at his groin through his thick set of robes.

“Really? You feel nothing at all?” Iridana asked.

“I feel a slight annoyance,” Vellen said, as calm as usual. “And some chafing.” His eyes fell on Mya and Elma behind the high priestess, but he quickly looked away and pretended to not have seen them.

“Fascinating. What exactly do they do to your minds in that monastery to make you so willful?”

“Nothing, technically speaking. It is more of a… physiological alteration,” Vellen responded. His eyes flicked back towards Mya once again and she blinked. Was Vellen a…?

“What are you looking at?” Iridana asked and began to turn around. Mya reacted immediately, turning to see the tea kettle still on the counter next to their doorway. She proceeded to grab it and chuck it directly at the high priestess’ head. It connected with a resounding thunk and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Her tentacles vanished, dropping Vellen to the floor.

Elma whistled. “Nice one. Didn’t realize you had it in you, sweetcheeks.”

Mya gasped as she felt a hand slap itself across her rear. She immediately whirled around and jabbed a finger at Elma, fuming. “Do not touch me like that again! It is disrespectful and gross! Do I make myself clear?”

Elma raised her eyebrows. “...Yeah, I think I’m starting to connect some dots here.”

“What?”

“Nothin’,” she said, then walked over to Vellen as he finished readjusting his robes. “So. I’m guessing you came back to save us?”

“That was indeed the goal. It didn’t seem to pan out how I hoped, though.”

“No biggie, but… how’d you know to come back?” Elma asked.

“Because of you, actually, miss,” Vellen said. “I found your question about Mya having any family in the city more and more suspicious as time went on. Originally I came back just to double-check that my mistress was safe, but when I found the room empty I feared for the worst.” He then inspected Elma with a critical eye. “I take it that you were also ensnared by her at some point?”

Elma shifted uncomfortably. “You could say that.”

Mya reluctantly walked up to the two, gently stepping over the collapsed form of Iridana. “Regardless of success, thank you for coming back Vellen. Your presence alone was enough to help us escape.” Something inside Mya twinged as she said the words. She wasn’t used to voicing her gratitude—being competent should be gratitude enough—but, admittedly, she was beginning to grow fond of her monk companion.

“You are most welcome, miss,” Vellen said, a hint of a smile on his lips.

A small groan came from the floor behind Mya.

“Yeah, so, this is nice and all, but we should probably go before she wakes up,” Elma said.

“Agreed,” Mya and Vellen said in unison.

Mya watched Vellen load up the coach with their luggage as she tugged at her skirt, trying to cover as much of her legs as possible. That only seemed to draw more attention from passersby, one of whom even whistled at her as they passed.

I hate this fucking continent.

Mya sighed in relief as Vellen finished placing the final bag into the compartment and began walking up the coach to climb inside when a voice called out from behind them. “Wait! Hold up!”

Mya turned and saw, with dismay, Elma running out of the tavern. Mya was more than content to part ways with her after leaving the church the previous night, but Vellen, like an oaf, offered for her to share a room with them for the night, to which she accepted.

Grimacing, Mya watched as Elma pulled to a halt in front of their coach. She had since acquired some new clothes, though Mya had no earthly idea where. She wore a tight, black shirt, knotted at the bottom to show off her midriff along with a pair of denim shorts that were frayed at the end and didn’t reach past midthigh… So as skanky as every other woman on the entire continent.

“I’m coming with you!” she said.

“...No you’re not,” Mya said, turning to climb into the coach again.

“Just a moment, miss,” Vellen said, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “This… may not be such a bad idea. I must admit, my knowledge of more… nuanced aspects across the continent is limited. Having someone more streetwise could come in handy.”

Mya paused, glancing over her shoulder at Elma, who stared up at her with large, hopeful eyes. Begrudgingly, the expression paired with Elma’s wild mess of hair that made her look like some kind of feral pomeranian was very, very difficult to say no to.

It’s like looking at a damn puppy, Mya thought, then sighed. “Fine. You can—”

“Thanksyou’rethebestandtotallynotatotalbitch!” Elma said, then quickly shoved her way aboard the coach.

Mya turned to look at Vellen, giving him a flat look. “If she causes any problems, I’m blaming you.”

“Understood, miss,”

With another sigh of exasperation, Mya took Vellen’s offered hand to help her climb into the coach and sat down. Elma seemed to have already made herself at home, having thrown off her shoes and stretched out across the entirety of the cushioned bench. “Sorry, no room. Guess you’ll have to sit on my lap~”

This was going to be an even longer trip than Mya had anticipated.