The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“Baby... can we... take a break... for a bit... please?” Parker Albinn pleaded, huffing and puffing dramatically, clutching a huge handful of bags, stuffed animals, dolls, and other prizes. “Daddy needs to take a rest.” Lucy laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Gee, Daddy... you’re really out of shape,” the child remarked, oblivious to her dad’s blush of embarrassment. “But okay... we can go sit down over there,” she said, pointing to an empty bench, “and wait for mommy to catch up with us.” Veronica, a few booths away getting some bottle water, waved back at them.

“You know, Princess,” Parker said in exasperation, “you have a lot of stuff here. And I mean a LOT of stuff. Even Aunt Lacie would have a hard time lugging around all this!”

Lucy merely giggled. “Daddy, you’re silly. Aunt Lacie can pick up a whole house! You don’t have more than a whole house.”

Parker grinned. “Okay maybe not THAT much... but it IS a lot of stuff.”

Roni chuckled. “Well, I’m back, so I’ll help you carry the load,” she stated, tossing him a bottle of ice cold water. “So, Lucy, where would you like to go next?”

Lucy paused, considering. “Hmmm... we could go do ‘It’s A Small World’ again—”

“NOOO!!” Both Parker and Roni yelled at the same time, causing their daughter to jump in surprise. “Um, no, sweetie,” Veronica said in a softer voice, blushing as several other parents glanced in their direction. “Sorry. But going on ‘It’s A Small World’ ride once is about all we can handle for one day.”

“Huh... you and me both, sister,” a tall willowy blonde woman remarked, walking by with a pair of young children of her own. Parker chuckled.

Lucy nodded, frowning slightly. “Oh, okay. Then... can we go do Alice in Wonderland? Please?”

Glancing at each other, the parents nodded. “Sure thing, sweetie,” Roni replied. “We can do that.” Happy once again, Lucy trotted off with her mother, with Parker following behind, still lugging her prizes.

Hehe... nothing quite as nice as being with both my girls, he mused to himself, even if I am forced to play the role of pack mule. Still, its not every day that we get to come here. Lucy’s been wanting to come here ever since she first watched Peter Pan and saw the Disney Castle that Tink flies over in an arc. He sighed softly to himself. Lucy really was his little princess. And despite being just a tiny bit spoiled, she was really a good and sweet girl.

Probably because all she eats are sweets, he mused, reaching for the phone buzzing in his pocket. Which is why she’s so hyper walking around this huge ass amusement park. Maybe I should amp up my own sugar intake a bit to keep up with her, he thought with amusement. He sighed in contentment, as he answered his phone. Yes, what a beautiful day this has turned out to be.

And yet, tragically, his lovely perfect day ended abruptly, in the blink of an eye, with two simple words.

“Hello, Parker.”

Parker went still, the blood in his veins going as cold as ice. That voice... he’d know it anywhere. He still heard it, now and again, in his deepest darkest nightmares. Still, he stared in disbelief at the face on his video phone, a face he’d not seen for more than twenty years, yet she looked as if she hadn’t aged a day.

“S... s... s... Satore...” he breathed, hand suddenly slick with sweat.

“Ah, so, you remember me, then,” Venus purred. “I’m so flattered.”

“How? It... it can’t be...” he sputtered, trying to comprehend what was happening. “Y... you were... broken...”

“Yes,” Satore replied sharply, “I was. But I got better.” Her smirk returned. “As you seem to have gotten better since the last time we met. You seem remarkably well for a man with half his head blown off.”

Parker shuddered despite himself, a hand moving instinctively to the ceramic plate in the side of his head. “Where are you? And how did you find me?”

“I told her how to find you,” a voice spoke out as a new face appeared. Parker frowned for a moment, trying to figure out who this was. The voice was familiar, but the face... “Don’t you recognize me Parker? It’s Ghost Girl,” she said with a smirk. “My Goddess gave me a nice makeover. So... like what you see?”

“Yes, Parker, do you like what you see?” Venus replied, taunting him. “You can thank your replacement for helping me find you, as well as escaping from the hospital. My new High Priestess is a very resourceful girl. She even provided me with this cell phone and made sure it couldn’t be traced. And she’s much better at pleasing me than you ever were.” She chuckled darkly. “Yes, Parker dear, she’s definitely a keeper.”

Ghost Girl... fuck! Great. Just great. She’s already sank her teeth into some other unsuspecting victim... and the first thing she does is come after me... He sighed inwardly. “Okay... fine. So what is this all about, then? What do you want with me? Revenge?”

Satore laughed, a gentle tinkling sound. “Revenge? Oh, my dear Parker... why ever would you think that? Do you think I hate you?”

Parker blinked, caught off guard. “Wait... you mean... you don’t hate me?”

“No, of course not,” Satore replied calmly, sounding peaceful and serene, “I don’t hate you.” She took a deep breath. “I ABSOLUTELY FUCKINIG LOATHE YOU TO THE VERY DEPTHS OF MY SOUL!” she screamed, causing Parker, and several others passing by to wince. “Twenty two years,” she growled. “Twenty two FUCKING years! You robbed me of twenty two years of my life! Time lost that can never be replaced! And do you have any idea how much I suffered because of what you did to me?!?”

“Hey! It’s not my fault! You were trying to take over the city! You tried to KILL me!” Parker protested.

“And you think I CARE?” Satore replied haughtily. “You’re nothing buy a lowly mortal. I am a Goddess! My will is all that matters... and you will PAY for defying me!” Her face twisted into an evil smirk. “Oh yes, Parker Albinn... I intend to make you suffer as I have suffered. And not just you... your entire family as well!” Parker’s expression darkened. “My new Priestess mentioned that you have a wife and a daughter now—”

“YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!” Parker roared, again, getting strange looks from the nearby crowds. Walking away to a less crowded section, he hissed in a low voice, “Listen here, Venus. I swear, if you EVER come near family, I’ll—”

“You’ll drop to your knees and BEG me to spare them,” Satore responded harshly. “You know what I am capable of. And I know what you are capable of as well. I will make you suffer for the indignity you dealt to me. The only question for you is when I will make my presence known... and how long I will make your torment last before I finally end it once and for all.” She laughed wickedly. “So Parker... enjoy your time... while it lasts!”

Parker held the video phone in his hands long after the call ended. He stared at it, as if expecting the impossible, for time to somehow rewind, or for it all to have somehow been a dream, or something, anything, to undo the past five minutes. His worst nightmare had just come true. It was all he could do to hold it together, to keep from rolling up into the fetal position and sobbing like a child.

“Parker?” Veronica’s voice pulled him back to the here and now. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Did you get lost?”

“Huh?” he asked, shaking his head for a moment, staring up at the faces of his wife and daughter, waiting expectantly. “Oh... yeah, sorry,” he said forcing a smile. “I got an... unexpected phone call,” he said, giving Roni a look. “Everything is okay, baby... c’mon, let’s go on to the Alice and Wonderland now. Afterwards, let’s head back to the hotel. I feel like going for a dip in the pool with all this heat. Deal?”

“Okay, Daddy!” Lucy replied grinning. “That sounds like fun! And it is awful hot out here today. And... can we go out for ice cream after?” she asked hopefully.

“Sure thing, baby,” Parker nodded. Yipping in joy, the spunky seven year old headed off again. Glancing at his wife, locking eyes with her, establishing mental contact, he told her psychically, «Baby, we need to talk. There’s trouble... with a capital ‘T’...»

“Well, that was enjoyable,” Satore replied with a sigh, reclining back in her car’s seat. “Not to mention very cathartic. Just seeing the look on his face again at my call... mmmmm... delicious!”

“I’m very glad you’re feeling happy,” Rosella said carefully, “but I am a bit... concerned. We might be tipping our hand a bit too early. By calling Parker and confronting him that way so directly, he’ll be on guard and ready for anyone that tries to get to him and his family. It will make actually getting to him a lot harder.”

“Harder? Nonsense,” Satore replied easily. “I know Parker Albinn better than he knows himself. Right now, he’s probably so panicked he can barely think straight. Yes, he’ll try and prepare himself, try and keep a watch eye on everyone that he interacts with from now on, but that will only play further into my plans.”

Rosella blinked in confusion. “Forgive me for asking but... how does having him on guard and prepared for you play into your plans?”

“Because it creates tension,” Venus stated with a sharp toothed grin. “And as an ‘operative’ yourself, you know that tension can only be maintained for so long. By alerting Parker to our presence now, we set the stage for his demise much further down the line. He knows only too well that I can strike out at him through any of my converted followers, and that I can convert others through them, even his own wife and daughter, and he wouldn’t even know until they revealed themselves.” She laughed wickedly. “Imagine being on edge that way, not knowing who to trust, for days, weeks, possibly even months, never knowing when the sword dangling over his head is about to fall. By the time we actually move against him, he’ll be such a paranoid basket case, he’ll have no defense whatsoever.”

Rosella shuddered slightly, nodding. Goddess Aphrodite is wonderful, she truly is... but she’s also diabolically evil! I’m just glad that I’m not on the receiving end of her wrath.

They drove on for several more minutes in silence, before Venus spoke again. “So... what should we expect when we reach the city?” she asked, almost idly, as if her mind was already on other matters. Rosella sighed softly.

“I’m...not really sure. I would imagine that M... Eugene, has anticipated that we’d go there eventually and try to retrieve Chloe from the hospital. I can only guess that he has people at the hospital waiting for us. It helps that we didn’t come here directly, that it’s been a few weeks now since your... ah, liberation,” she said tactfully. “He doesn’t know when we’ll be arriving, and after so long, any guards he has watching the place will have started to relax a bit. That will give us a slight edge, at least.”

Venus glanced over at her priestess. “You don’t sound overly confident,” she noted. “You faced similar conditions when you snuck into Bellevue to, ahem... liberate me, did you not? And yet, you still managed to break me out of there, with an entire squad of security hot on your heels, with only a delirious drug addict as your only assistance. This time... you have me on your side.”

Venus’ words filled Rosella with a feeling of gratitude and confidence. She’s right. I did already achieve the impossible already in breaking her own. And with my Goddess at my side, no one can stand against me. I... I can do this. Eugene Frasier is no match for Goddess Aphrodite. Nothing in his technological arsenal can detect me, let alone stop me. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, she smiled again. Hang on Chloe. We’re on the way to free you... in every sense of the word.

Eugene Frasier glanced up as his satellite phone began to ring. Recognizing the phone number, he let out a small sigh, and nodded to Eva. “It’s yer nephew,” he said grimly, switching the connection to his computer system, allowing them to video chat from his current monitor. “Ye havenae had the chance to warn him yet, have ye?”

“No, not yet,” the blonde psychic replied, glancing down her list. “I started by calling all the heroes and heroines back in River City that had run ins with her before. I put him on the bottom of the list, seeing as how he and Roni are both out of town.”

“Well, I’d be willing to bet this phone call isn’t to check up on us or to tell us how his vacation is going,” Gene replied, accepting the call. Indeed, the figure staring back at them looked angry and frightened, two words that rarely described the normally happy-go-lucky Parker Albinn. Before Eugene could even speak, he blurted in.

“She’s back. The bitch... that... that... demon! She’s back. She’s back, and she says she’s coming after me and my wife and daughter—”

“Easy, lad, easy,” Eugene said calmly, cursing inwardly. “Just take a breath. I take it you mean its Venus Satore that’s threatening you?” Parker’s expression showed momentary surprise, before hardening again. “Aye... we knew, lad. I received a call from the hospital when she escaped—”

“No, Gene, not escaped,” Parker retorted, anger and scorn dripping from every syllable. “You mean when she was freed... let loose into the world like the walking talking plague that she is by Ghost Girl—your dear Rose Contreras! Old man... what the FUCK is going on over there? Did you know she was planning this? Did you SEND HER there?”

“Of course not!” Eva said with indignity, moving into view. “Parker, we all know what kind of threat to the world that woman represents! Eugene had no idea what Rose was planning. Yes, she’d been acting strangely the past few weeks, and Gene had a couple of his people watching her, tracking her movements... but, well, she’s Ghost Girl. She knows how to hide her tracks better than anyone.”

“Aye,” Gene replied, nodding. “If I’d had the slightest inkling that she was going to do something as reckless as that...” He sighed, shaking his head. “Well, as my Lacie Ann would say, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. I’ve been blaming myself ever since I heard the news, and have been burning the midnight oil trying to find a way to track her and her new Mistress down...”

“Wait... wait a second,” Parker’s expression went even darker. “You’ve been working on this for HOW long? You’ve known she was out for DAYS... and you didn’t think to LET ME KNOW?!?”

The elderly Scotsman and the blond psychic both winced. “Ach, well... aye,” he admitted with regret. “We meant to call you, truly we did. Eva has a list of people we’re notifying, other people that she’s enslaved before. But, with you out of the area, in California...”

“You considered me a low priority,” Parker finished, letting out a deep sigh. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he nodded. “Okay. Fine. I OBVIOUSLY don’t agree with your reasoning, but I do understand it. Fine. Moving on... you said you haven’t been able to find her?”

“That’s true,” Eva answered. “Her powers that make her such a good operative make it hard to track her down. Gene’s newly modified DNA scanner still can’t pick her up. Worse she took one of Gene’s electronic cloaking bracelets with her for Satore, so we’re unable to track HER signal either.” She sighed softly, placing a hand gently on her Master’s shoulder. “Both he and Nigel have been working day and night for the past week to try and find a work around, a way to modify his scanners to detect the one woman on the planet that can’t be scanned.”

Parker sighed deeply. “Well, that’s just great. Just freaking perfect. A maniac with mind control powers is roaming around unguarded, going wherever she likes, doing whatever she pleases, and we have no way of figuring out where she is. And that same maniac just called me to tell me directly, face to face, that she’s coming after me and my family, that she plans to make me suffer horribly for what I did to her—which was nothing she didn’t serve, I might add!” He groaned softly. “Eugene... fix this. I don’t care what it takes, or what you have to do... I need you to fix this. I don’t care what happens to me.., if she wants my head on a pike, fine. She can have it. But you can NOT let her get her damn claws in Lucy or Roni!”

“Don’t worry, lad,” Eugene assured him. “I’ll find a way to stop them. Just keep doing what you’re doing for now—keep Veronica and wee Lucy safe. I’ll keep you up to date with my progress. And if you hear from her again...” he said, pausing, as a thought occurred to him. “Parker, lad, I think we might have a chance at finding her after all. I cannae track Satore or Rose... but I can track her technology!” He began typing rapidly on his keyboard. “I’m sending you a special tracking code. As soon as we’re done talking, input this code into your video phone. Satore loves to taunt her victims, so it’s a sure bet she’ll call you again. When she does, conference her in to my phone number. My system will be able to bypass any trace blocking software she might have and find her through her cell phone!”

Parker nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Well, you’re right, she is the kind of woman to kick you when you’re down. I’m sure she’ll call again to gloat. But are you sure this will work? What if Rose figures out what you’re doing and cuts the call short before you can find them?”

“If you can keep her on the line for at least thirty seconds, it’ll be long enough,” Gene replied. “And I can’t imagine her expressing her utter contempt for you and everything you stand for that quickly.”

Parker rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks, gramps. I’m not sure if that is supposed to be encouraging or insulting. But... yeah. If she calls again, I’ll be sure and connect you. Just make sure you’re ready!”

“Aye, lad,” Gene replied with a resolute nod. “Believe me. I’m more than ready.”

A loud slap of leather against bare flesh rang out yet again, accompanied by a loud scream of tortured pain and agony. The young dark haired woman collapsed, unable to bear the pain a moment longer, curling up into a ball of pain and loneliness and sorry. A moment later she retched, emptying her stomach, too tired and sore to even avoid the backwash. Unperturbed, her torturer stepped forward, the click click click of her high heels on the cold stone floor echoing loudly in the dungeon, before she stopped a few steps away from the sobbing girl. Using the bullwhip’s handle, she prodded the sobbing young girl, rolling her over onto her side, forcing her face upwards to stare up into the face of her Mistress.

Into the face of Venus Satore.

“What’s wrong, Patty dear?” she asked, taunting, her tone cold and emotionless, belaying the barely restrained fury simmering just below the surface. “Aren’t you having ‘fun’? Oh, but of COURSE you are! You’re serving your Mistress, after all.” Her expression twisted, the anger and hate showing through once more. “But, no... that wasn’t good enough for you, was it? You ALSO had to serve that no-good traitorous bastard that dared to turn his back on me! Your dear beloved Parker!”

Patty, eyes streaming tears, swallowed painfully. “G... goddess... please,” she managed to beg, only to cry out again as Satore’s whip lashed out again, cutting a swath through the side of her left cheek.

“SILENCE!” Venus roared! “Shut up! Don’t say a goddamn word, you little bird winged bitch! Don’t even TRY to deny it! It’s all YOUR fault that Parker left! Your so-called purity and innocence... an obsession for him. Well, don’t delude yourself into believing that he actually LOVED YOU, you little bitch! I know Parker Albinn better than he knows himself! His interest in you was merely confined to two things—those huge bulbous breasts of yours, and those soft pillowy lips of yours.” She chuckled evilly, a sound with no humor whatsoever. “Isn’t that right, ‘Blowjob Patty’? That what everyone calls you after all... the blowjob queen of the commune.”

Patty said nothing, merely curling up into an even tighter ball. Her Tearbearers status ensured that there would be no permanent damage, and her wounds were already healing, leaving her lovely soft skin perfect and unblemished once more. The psychological and emotional damage, however, would remain far longer than the physical. Despite everything she was enduring, she held on to the one tiny fragile hope that her hero would return... that he would come back for her. It was ridiculous, yes... one man against an entire army, a horde of other Supers fanatically devoted to their Mistress... but she wished for it, prayed for it, for her beloved to come back for her.

“Oh! Ohohohohohoho! Is that rich?” Venus laughed, picking up in her thrall’s thoughts, her lingering hope, determined to crush it once and for all. “You truly believe that he’ll return for you? Stupid little cow... he LEFT you! He left ME! He left us all... ran away like the fucking coward he is!” She knelt down to stare at her helpless victim face to face. “Do you think for a single solitary second that he REALLY cares about you? He would have had to know what I’d do to you if he simply left. He KNEW who the blame would fall on. If he actually loved you... don’t you think he would have taken his beloved Patty with him?”

And there it was. The thing she’d wanted to see. Doubt. Just a kernel, a seed, but it was enough. With each additional torture, she’d reinforce that seed, nurturing it, making it grow, until it finally sprouted into a gorgeous bloom of complete and total hatred. The girl still believed in Parker, for now, but Venus was bound and determined to make her pay for that belief... to beat and torture and torment her until she cursed Parker Albinn’s name, until she hated him with every fiber of her being...

Just as Venus herself did...

“Goddess? Are you okay?”

Venus opened her eyes, sitting up to glance around. It took her a moment or two to remember where she was... still driving across the country towards Crescent City. Frowning, she shook her head to clear it. “What is it? Where are we?” she mumbled, sleepily.

“We’re still on the interstate,” Rosella said quietly. “I was considering pulling off to stay at a motel for the night.” She glanced sidelong at her Owner. “Are you okay, Goddess? You were... you were crying... in your sleep again.” Surprised, Venus raised a hand to her cheeks, feeling the wetness. “Was it... was it another nightmare? About your parents?” Rosella asked.

“No,” Venus replied softly, turning to stare out of the window. “Not about my Parents, anyway.” She sat silently for several more miles, thinking about her dream... and how it had made her feel. Yes, she’d been angry, furious, so filled with fury that she couldn’t help but vent it all out on that young teenaged girl, Patty Sellars. Even as she beat her, whipped her, tortured her to within an inch of her life, she knew, deep down, that it was all an act. Her anger was merely masking a deeper emotion: pain. She felt betrayed by Parker Albinn breaking free of her control... of him leaving her and choosing to stand against her.

Worse... it had only reinforced two beliefs she’d had since she was a child: that she couldn’t trust anyone but herself, and that end the end, everyone important to her would eventually leave her. Which is why she only trusted her thralls, people she had converted, people that would love her no matter what. Which was why she trusted Rosella... because she knew the girl’s devotion to her, and that she’d die to protect her.

And, though she’d never let herself believe it, or even think it, the notion occurred to her more than once that perhaps the reason being scarred by Parker Albinn had regressed her to her childhood... was because deep down inside that was what she truly was—a scared crying little girl looking for someone to love her.

“Enough of these melancholy thoughts,” Venus growled suddenly, turning on the radio. “Perhaps a little music will lighten my mood.” She flipped through the station, frowning a bit, wrinkling her nose up at some of the interesting new ‘artists’—if you could call them that—that she heard singing. She paused, stiffening, as a familiar song started playing, the theme from a recent movie. Almost without realizing it, she began humming along to the tune, before shaking her head in disgust. Dammit... all those years sitting around watching cartoon has left more of a mark that I realized. Just glad I didn’t break out into song—that would have been completely embarrassing. Finally, however, she found something more akin to her tastes and leaned back, satisfied.

“Hmmm, nice,” Rosella replied with a grin. “Billy Joel, hmm? I always liked it. I used to listen to him on the Oldies Station all the time when I was younger.”

Venus’ eye twitched. “‘Oldies Station’ huh?” she said, sighing deeply. “Well, of course it would be.” ‘Uptown Girl’ finished playing, and a new song rang out, ‘Do You Believe In Love’ by Huey Lewis and the News. Despite herself, Venus began to smile as the lyrics rang out. After a moment, she let out a contented sigh. “Well, old or not, I like this station. And frankly, after the past few years, I’m just happy to hear songs NOT from the Disney song list.”

Rosella nodded. The improvement in Satore’s mood had brightened her own. She was starting to understand her Goddess a bit more the longer she spent with her. Like herself, Venus Satore had a complicated and somewhat tragic past. She could sense it, feel it... a raw gaping wound in the center of her heart, a deep emotional wound that had never had the chance to heal. Being granted the immense honor of being allowed to serve Her, and to be her lowly thrall had filled the ache in her own heart, but she wondered idly if there anything she could do to give her Goddess the peace she herself had found.

“Um... my Goddess,” she said idly, not sure how best to broach the subject, “do... er, did you... have any friends growing up?”

Venus turned to face her, staring at her strangely. “Um... never mind,” she said, coloring lightly. “Just trying to make conversation. Forgive my intruding in on your past—”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Venus said after a moment. “I did have a friend of sorts. After my mothers... death,” she said with only a slight hesitation, “I was shipped off to an orphanage, and put into the system. Most of the other children I was placed with were... less than friendly. I was picked on and bullied a lot. One day a trio of older girls were picking on me behind the tool shed next to the playground, back where the adults wouldn’t see.” She shook her head. “I forget what it was about... probably scuffed one of their shoes, or looked at them the wrong way... not that it mattered. They were all angry and looking for any excuse to take out that anger on someone smaller that couldn’t fight back.”

Rosella nodded grimly. She was all too familiar with bully, especially at that age. “What happened? Did they pick a fight with you?”

“You could say that yes,” Venus replied dryly. “I wouldn’t call it much of a fight though. They surrounded me... they all started taunting me, one of them shoved me, I pushed back, and all three jumped me. Not that three-on-one was a fair fight, but even one on one, they each had five inches and thirty pounds on me.” She shrugged, but Rosella could tell the memory still irked her. “Anyway, they had me down on the ground, beating me... as usual. And... for whatever reason, I don’t know, when they turned to walk away, I picked up a rock and threw it at one of them. It hit the leader, Reba, in the shoulder, and she whirled around, pissed. I knew then that it was a mistake, that I should have just taken the beating and moved on... but by fighting back, I’d given her carte blanche to totally fuck me over.”

Rosella grunted, gripping the steering wheel hard. The idea of someone bullying her Goddess, of trying to physically hurt her, made her see red. Even knowing it was a story from her past, she found herself hoping fervently that the fucking slut bitches that DARED harm her Mistress suffered, and suffered horribly for their misdeeds. Sensing her thrall’s feelings, Venus placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

“I was very lucky. The trio started beating on me again, punching and kicking, all acting like vicious animals, wanting nothing more than to beat me into a bloody smear on the ground. They would have probably beaten me half to death is another person hadn’t stepped in.” She smiled softly. “A scrawny little boy with shaggy russet hair, brown eyes hidden behind big round glasses, and freckles. He heard me getting beat up on, and unlike everyone else at that home, he actually stepped in to do something about it. He yelled at the girls to leave me alone.” She sighed. “Well... you can guess how that went. By the time they were done, there were two badly beaten people lying on the ground in a heap behind the toolshed. Still, I appreciated the gesture. It was the first time anyone besides my mom had ever stood up for me.”

“Wow. Amazing. So this kid, this boy—”

“King. Jeremiah King,” Venus said softly, staring off into space.

“Jeremiah... he was your first friend?” Rosella asked, curious. “What ever happened to him? Is he still around?”

“As a matter of fact, no, he isn’t,” her Goddess said stiffly. “He no longer exists. Another way of looking at it is that he never even existed at all.” She growled, closing her eyes, rubbing at her temples. “It’s... confusing to say the least,” she admitted. “I know for a fact that it happened. I remember interacting with him, talking, laughing, sharing time with him... being sad when we were both finally adopted... even keeping in touch with each other over the years. At the same time, I remember a life spent without him in it, of being pummeled helplessly, having the girls stop only when one of the adult monitors noticed us missing and came to investigate.” She shook her head, and opened her eyes, glancing at Rosella. “Two complete lives lived simultaneously, and have full knowledge of both of them. Tell me, little flower... have you ever heard anyone else make such a claim.”

“As a matter of fact, my Goddess,” Rosella said slowly, thinking back, “I have. M... Eugene Frasier... he once told me that his wife had made a similar claim, that she had lived in two separate timelines, and that in one she had fought against and defeated a powerful entity that had nearly destroyed all of reality...”

Satore nodded blankly. “Ah. I thought as much. Jeremiah always did have a bit of an obsession with Omega Girl.” She shook her head. “He was always saying that the only way to change the world was with overwhelming power... that the only way to not be bullied was to be stronger and more powerful than the bullies themselves. Well, it sounds like he finally got his wish... only it didn’t turn out the way he’d planned.” She sighed softly as they crossed border, passing the sign welcoming them to Crescent City. “Let’s just hope that we fare better than he did...”