The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

“YAMETE!”

Time stopped. The pleasure, the longing, the love for her Queen, the Lady of Lust and Apolline...All came to a full halt in an instant, sending Janet’s mind to careen into mindlessness. Her train of thought took a few seconds to catch up, and even then, she felt completely at a loss. She was pretty sure she had been in a luxurious love hotel room, but now she stood in a completely normal office. So normal it made the preceding hours feel even more unreal that they already were.

“Yokatta, nightmare stopped flowing in you.”

“Wha-what happened? Where’s Apolline?”

Janet looked to where the small, high-pitched voice was coming, and saw a little Asian girl. She had white hair, simple blue clothes, and a stern expression that seemed a little at odds with her hugging a teddy bear half her size...Until you noticed the razor sharp blades that were coming out of it.

“I cut Nightmare’s influence.” Replied the small child with a heavy accent. “Near tried before but Oto-san say very dangerous. You near died. It was for Mina but only you can help Nene.”

“Wow...thanks, little girl. I feel so much clearer now.” The black woman looked around her, and saw the brothel room reverted to a simple office. “Damn, no wonder, you cleansed Nightmare again, like in Beverly Hills...”

“Hai. We find Nene onee-chan now.”

“Yeah, we do.”

Unaware of the deadly battle that was being waged for her sake, the secret service agent opened her mind again, taking advantage of the Normalcy bubble to look safely into the surrounding chaos. It was still a goddamn mess of crazed lust and devotion to Nightmare, but it no longer echoed throughout her body. Janet knew that, even with Ryûjin’s kid by her side, this was too good to last. She had to spot the Oni quickly and get to her even faster. Despite pouring all her focus into sending her senses careening through the Nightmare, Janet could already feel the mindscape fighting back. Last ditch efforts could only do so much against the full brunt of Hollywood.

“Come oooon, where are you?! I’m already deep in shit as it is!”

The small hand of the Japanese child grasped one of Janet’s shivering fingers. The agent gasped as her mind was pulled forward. It was stronger than the mind projection she had learned over the course of the day. It was as if her very mind was sucked inside a vertical rift, flattening and sharpening it into a razor’s edge. Her thoughts slowed down, but her perception increased dramatically. It was more than focus. It was utter singularity of purpose. Janet cut through the hundreds of fevered minds without a thought of her own, simply operating on an instinct as indomitable as gravity. Dozens of layers seen in a second, whizzing past the collective resistance of the writhing mass of changelings.

The red-skinned woman finally appeared. Janet’s mind was restored in an instant. Reeling from the shock, she stumbled forward. Her hands flew to stop herself, and landed on two soft mounds.

“What in the blue FUCK was that?!”

After her outburst, Janet realized she wasn’t even in the same room. Instead of the comfortingly familiar office, she, along with Ryûjin’s daughter, was now in a cave, illuminated only by candles but decorated by a wealth of draperies, gold-lined pillows, liquor bottles and...adult toys. The dutiful secret agent’s first reflex is to try and cover up the little girls’ eyes before further assessing the situation.

So she hadn’t merely moved her mind...That kid could do really weird things, couldn’t she? Wait, what was the soft stuff she had landed on? She looked over her shoulder and gasped. Her hands had been resting -however shortly- on huge, scarlet breasts flimsily supported by a tiger fur wrap. She tentatively looked upwards...And saw a colossus of a woman, standing at 2,20 meters tall at the very least, with two straight horns on her forehead, light blue wild hair and golden eyes smile at her. That was the description Lilith gave her all right. The Oni looked a bit confused, but otherwise friendly. Despite the markedly Japanese aspect of her Changeling appearance, the ogress had caucasian facial structure. Yet it was with a heavy accent that she asked, with a surprisingly high-pitched voice for her frame...

“Konnichiwa! Can Nene help you?”

“Wow!” Yelped Janet, staggering backwards. “Is that the oni we’re looking for?”

“Hai.” Came the laconic reply from the silver-haired little girl. “Nene-chan! Why did you leave?!”

The horned ogress turned to the taciturn little girl and gasped.

“Kaede-tan? Nene was looking for you all over, where were you?”

“Home. The aspect took you here. I trusted Hana-san’s senses to find you. We return now.”

“Hey, Kaede-tan! Do you think Ryûjin-sama would let Nene have as much fun as here?”

Janet was worried for a second the little girl would get unduly curious about the kind of find one could have in this place, but clearly this Kaede wasn’t your average kid. Unconcerned by Nene the ogress’ disturbingly childish questions, she took a blade off her plushie, bear handed, and started cutting the air with it.

“I will open a door home.” She explained. “If enemies come, defeat them, yes?”

Janet realized this was most likely a very pertinent suggestion, and readied herself. A quick scan of the environment made clear Kaede’s concerns were founded. The lust and euphoria had made way for a chaos of anger. A bit too intense for their little excursion to be the cause of it, thought the agent. Kimberley must have made one hell of a mess. One thing was for sure—it had loosened the Weave enough for her to try some new tricks, but not enough to conjure them ex nihilo. It would be best to use once again her vegetal body as a basis. This...thing grew more natural and familiar by the hour, even more so now that the Aspect of Lust’s grip had loosened.

“Forgive me for interrupting you, Ma’am Draconia, but you still seem a little pale. Don’t you feel any better at all?”

“...Not really. I still don’t feel quite all there, though I doubt it has anything to do with any fever or anything. Too much visiting my own dreams, maybe.”

“May I suggest you take a break then?”

“Nah, I’m almost done with Lost Angels. So, in that little cave of theirs, Janet and Nene are preparing to meet the Changeling assault to protect the little girl, right...”

Janet was keeping a mind’s eye on the ambient chaos as she drilled seeds into the rocky surface. Most of the Changelings in the Heart of Sin were simply confused, seeking answers and culprits. To why? Hard to say, but in so doing, some of them had taken notice of the small group who didn’t go with the flow. Nene probably didn’t stand up too much, being a ogress type Changeling and all, but Janet and Kaede were making too much waves for simple dreamers. Their mercurial enemies were closing in on their layer, and there was no telling how fierce they would be.

“Hey, Nene! You were obviously pretty cosy by yourself here, have you got a counterm...Huh, something to keep other Changelings away or something?”

“Yeah! Nene’s special saké!”

The gigantess pointed to the back of her cozy little cavern. To the plant-woman’s surprise, shadows seemed to be crawling along the lit surface, reaching inside the rock and pulling objects out of it. First were two earthen jugs of what was probably that famous rice alcohol, and second was a huge club, with a hexagonal, spiked metal shaft about 20 centimeters in width. Nene took all three of those like one would grab beach toys.

“Goddamn, is this cast iron? This thing must weigh half a car!”

“Nene must be strong for Ryûjin-sama!” Enthusiastically explained the ogress.

Okay, it was obvious why Santa Monica’s despot saw this Changeling as valuable. So loyal even a trip in the Heart of Sin didn’t waver her allegiances a bit, dumb and more industrial equipment than human. By all accounts, Nene was a valuable henchman, especially if his daughter saw her as her nanny. A shame a woman would fall so low as to essentially become a cartoon minion but, well, she really doesn’t seem to mind.

But no time to think about the dignity of minion condition. A strong presence was approaching. An ogre to match the size of the one on LAX’s tarmac? No...Too complex. A fusion of wills? It could have been a way for the Changelings to break through the confusion. Nene clearly sensed it, and made a determined pout. Kaede was about halfway through cutting a hole in the Weave. Not enough time.

“Alright, Nene, what about that special saké?”

“First jug makes you feel super good when doing the cummy game! It’s great, it’s great!”

“I’ll, huh...Take your word for it.” Dismissed the black woman, disgusted by the way the ogress phrased that. “The other?”

“Makes you strong like Nene! That’s good, you want that, right?”

Strangely, the red Oni did not seem too convinced, and in fact had the tone of someone seeking validation. Janet eyed the jug, then Nene’s childish expression. Obviously there were practical concerns here, but, what had Ryûjin done to this woman? Was Nene...even an adult?

“No. Thank you, but I’m sure you are strong enough. I’ll help you with my vines. Oh, and, Nene?”

She assumed a heroic pose.

“Winners don’t use drugs.”

I groan.

“Well, scratch that one off her bucket list.”

“I’m rather afraid I do not get it, Ma’am.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t. But here’s to hoping it impressed poor Nene and got her to free herself from one of her shackles.”

“She does not strike me as particularly unfortunate...”

“...Yeah, keep your impressions that way. Anyway, the Changelings attacked, and they took the form of...”

A giant snake, which half appeared as the animal behemoth those terms implied, and half as the conglomerate of human bodies it really was. Unnatural twisted bodies, melding together in a common, barely discriminate aggression. Somehow, Janet knew the Aspect wouldn’t let her flock get this bad. Kim must have rattled the cage something fierce.

“Hey! I like you guys but you won’t touch Kaede-tan!”

The ogress ran her hand over her metal mace, imbuing with some more dancing shadows, then charged at the serpent with a roar. The beast opened its maw, only for it to be crushed down under the spiked metal slab. Ghoulish screams came out of the humanoids hidden under its pulsating skin. Arms sprouted out of it to reach for the ogress, and the composite beast doubled down by pushing its neck flesh forward, filling the entire space with a wall of hands. It was Janet’s cue. She slammed her hands into the rock, and the seeds heeded the call, sprouting bamboo shoots in a circle around the serpent’s neck.

“Time to see if that old myth holds up!”

Given the screams and the hands’ movement clearly growing erratic, the President’s daughter knew she could add another notch to the list of reasons for being a living plant. No wonder, bamboo was a fast grower, but she could literally create a spear-like thrust in the Dreamscape. Nene easily shook off the groping mitts and gave the assailant a couple more furniture-wrecking whacks. Janet kept the bamboo solidly anchored so they wouldn’t flee too easily.

“Kaede-tan needs tender care, so Nene tenderizes!”

Hm. A bit too complex a one-liner for Janet’s taste, but if the Oni was to be her partner in Ryûjin’s team, there could definitely have been worse. Suddenly, Kaede’s voice sounded behind them.

“I open it. Come!”

Nene gave one last whack then ran to her ward. Janet kept safety in mind and made her second salvo of seeds sprout, filling the space above it with a thorn thicket. Once that done, she ran away from the enraged howling behind her and to the little girl’s portal without looking back.

“And that’s it for the Heart of Sin.”

“What about the vampiress, Ma’am?”

“Not sure. It’s like this fling with the sergeant threw her off the radar. I mean, she was in this cloud of Dreamscape high in the sky, she talked to the President, and then...Nothing. She, Christopherson, even the Aspect were gone. I had to rewind a bit and latch onto Janet. Which brings us to now, as she arrives back to the Sekigahara. There wasn’t exactly a victory banquet, but...She had made it.”

Bastian cocks his head to the side.

“You seem concerned.”

“Do I? I...guess there’s something that doesn’t click right somewhere. There isn’t anything significant left in the memory, yet...Somehow I’m not sure about that. I’m kinda drawing a blank.”

“Maybe you’ll remember it by retelling Ryûjin’s reaction to the news.”

“I guess. So they get through the foxhole, right to the crazy jap’s throne room...”

Santa Monica’s brutal ruler was sitting in his chair, somberly awaiting for the results of the operation. It had been twice confirmed that his new recruit and the Aspect’s ex girlfriend had set foot in the Heart of Sin, which was as expected. Less expected were the reports of said girlfriend tearing shit up. Intel was fragmented, but as far as the Japanese despot could gather, her match with a prisoner had resulted in an explosion, apparently a whole new phenomenon in Lost Angels. The Aspect had disappeared and the Changelings were in disarray. Ryûjin had of course ordered his men to fan the flames. It would destabilize Hollywood further and facilitate Nene’s extraction. Now, the only thing left was to wait.

When the air several meters in front of him started shimmering in the form of a disc and turn into a hole, he knew the wait was over. Kaede’s immense bodyguard, the little girl herself and the mixed race agent jumped down to the floor in quick succession. Ryûjin stood up, fist clenched in celebration. The portal closed, confirming the operation had gone as smoothly as it could have.

“Good show, agent! The situation was more explosive than expected but you pulled it off.”

“Yeah, huh...Your daughter did the heavy lifting, really.”

“Of course she did. Kaede is one of the best, although she didn’t really have any choice but to be.”

The little girl hugs her teddy tight and trots to her dad, then speaks to him in Japanese. Yet, Janet understood it perfectly.

“[You were too careless, Chichi-ue. Campbell-san still had too much of the aspect in her. I had to try the mental surgery. I almost slipped and killed her, but it worked out. With me sharpening her senses, she found Nene-chan easily.]”

“[Damn, you managed it? That’s my girl. I was sure I took down her lust to a manageable level though...]”

“[Aspects are our enemies. We shouldn’t expect to have it any easier than in Tokyo Tochou.]”

Nene, having awaited for their conversation to end, prostrates in apology.

“[Master, please punish Nene for allowing herself to be capture and leave oujo-sama alone!]”

“[I made you too stupid to resist being outwitted by an Aspect. You won’t be punished, but you will stay inside the Sekigahara until further notice.]”

“[Yes Master! Thank you Master!]”

Ryûjin then turns to Janet.

“As for you, well, good enough job, considering the circumstances. What was the deal with Lilith’s alter ego fucking up the place, though?”

“I...Wouldn’t know, Sir. She confronted her ex head-on as a distraction. I was too focused on the Oni to check up on her. But whatever she did, it was huge.”

“Fair enough. You know what, take one of the ship’s empty rooms and take a few days to move in to your leisure. You’ve earned my protection.”

“Alright, thank you Sir.”

Janet couldn’t say becoming an agent proper for the despot was too appealing, but it appeared to be the best choice for the time being. She bowed, hoping this wouldn’t constitute a breach of Japanese customs somehow.

“Oh, and by the way, Lilith managed to convince her mother to come live with her native people. They’re in the brothel now, should you fancy...”

A shockwave knocked the words right out of his mouth. Before he or anyone around could react, the throne room started to warp. Ryûjin’s ogre bodyguards faded together with the scenery, only Kaede and Janet staying visible. Kaede rushed to her father’s side, unsheathing her teddy bear’s blades even further, until a length of 30 centimeters. Her father dislodged a dozen of bladed slivers from his arms, orbiting them around her.

Another place then started fading into view, one that very clearly wasn’t anywhere near Santa Monica. It was a circular plaza surrounded by three stories of shops. Sexy lingerie shops, sex shops, one or two outright brothels, and more than a few bars. A short way into the distance, a church tower was standing. Janet recognized the place immediately. This was the Hollywood and Highland Center. The most illustrious part of it was none other than the Dolby Theatre.

“Bastian, what the hell just happened?”

“I...Have no idea, Ma’am. I do not even know what this place is.”

“I do. Just look who’s here with us.”

“The Heart of Sin?!” Yelled the Japanese Lord of Santa Monica, outraged. “What is the meaning of this?!”

“I think it is safe to assume it not either or our doing, invader.”

Janet’s blood curdled upon hearing this voice. Turning around only confirmed her fear. There stood Stephen Griffith, along with the Paragon of Society. In the epicenter of Lost Angels’ Nightmare, the two Anchored placated the Weave enough to feel some measure of normalcy. This comfort was but a detail, however, in the face of the scowl the stern leader of Bunker Hill lay on the secret agent.

“Miss Campbell. Where is my assistant?”

“As far as I can tell, she kicked the Aspect’s ass. It’s probably why we haven’t been dogpiled by Changelings yet.”

“Did she now. In any case, congratulations on brilliantly avoiding falling to Nightmare.”

“She’s a Dreamer, Governor of Bunker Hill, Not a Changeling.” Interjected Ryûjin with uncharacteristic tact, " Now I don’t know what beef you two have and I don’t care. Do you have any idea how the Hell we both got teleported here?”

The governor scratched his beard, observing his Santa Monica counterpart with distinct arrogance. The Paragon, however, motioned him to respond to the despot’s diplomatic tone in kind, and he agreed with a nod.

“The combined power of the Aspects seems like the most likely culprit” Griffith posited, “Though it hardly explains how they could have whisked away powerful Anchors such as us.”

“The inner workings of the Nightmare are still unknown to us” Pointed out the Paragon. “We shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss such a power.”

“Anyway, this is bad.” Concluded Ryûjin. “If I was Pride and wanted to eliminate all the resistance in one fell swoop, that’s how I’d start. Hey, speaking of the loony prick.”

From the South entrance of the Highland Center’s courtyard, the Aspect of Pride himself was indeed walking towards the group. The incarnation of fear to many, walking up to the ones who, for better or for worse, kept the Nightmare at bay. He was not wearing his military exoskeleton, and in fact threw his hands in the air. His non-aggressive gesture did little to stem the tide that was his sheer presence. Even discounting his fearsome reputation, he made perfectly clear who was the boss of the Weave, and one could feel an iron grip on their stomach just by looking at him.

“Oh, don’t shoot, King of the Sekigahara!” Pleaded the insane actor. “I have just come here for the show.”

“What, are you going to deny you, the most powerful entity in Lost Angels, have nothing to do with this? That’s real cute.” Snarled Ryûjin.

“It’s you people who have taken to call me that. Proud as I am, I will never disrespect Her this gravely.”

Stephen Griffith walked up to the Hollywood menace. He was known as indomitable within a community that favored conviction above all else. He would not let himself be intimidated. Pretense more than reality.

“You are talking about that Draconia woman you lunatics constantly invoke.”

“You are very astute for a blind man.”

“Our anchors are tangible. Yours is a construct.”

“Ha. What does a roach in a tuxedo know?” Smirked Wright, as if talking to a fool. “This world, your very existence, is proof of her being. But I get it. It’s easy to wallow in the old world’s evidence and facts. Which is why my Queen was benevolent enough to come here bless us with Her presence and entertain you obscurantist lot.”

“...What?!”

“Ladies and Gentlemen, unbelievers of our great city, might I have the honor to introduce to you...The Slumbering Queen, the Mother of the Dream, our omnipresent Goddess...Her Majesty Draconia Bathory!”

All eyes turned away from the assembled figureheads of Lost Angels, and focused to where Pride was pointing at. A seemingly unremarkable young woman, with the unfortunate contrast of a goth black and white clothes and a tasteless pink bob, hanging in the background.

Me.

“What did you do, Ma’am?!” Asks Bastian, understandably freaked out.

“I know how to manifest myself in any part of my nightmares, but physical teleportation is a first. I get a feeling we don’t have the time to wonder about it, though.”

Indeed, the Aspect of Pride’s flamboyant introduction has perfectly caught the full attention of this story’s characters. And I might have passed as a normal girl falsely accused, as none of them actually know what I look like. Thing is, they don’t need to. I have a pristine, unwarped human body, and I imagine dream-attuned senses must find something deeply wrong about it. Sure enough, Ryûjin, Kaede and Janet are glaring at me. The Anchored deny my nightmares instead of trying to understand it, and turn to the Dreamers.

“What do you see, Nightmare wranglers?”

Griffith’s mind is still an open book for me, even now that I am experiencing this “memory” of mine in real time. He has nothing but contempt for those who would stoop as low as letting nightmare inside them so they could gain a measure of control over it. He is especially disappointed in Janet for going all in with it in a single night.

“Pride might actually not be talking out of his ass.” Answers Ryûjin, his eyebrows twitching. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The idiot in the butler suit isn’t even human, he’s...He’s just a Weave construct in the form of one.”

I look at Bastian. He doesn’t seen fazed whatsoever.

“As for the pink-haired bimbo...I’ll be honest with you, Griffith, I have no idea what I’m seeing.”

“Can she really be that Draconia? The one they say has caused all of this?!”

“Look, all I can tell you is that the Weave completely changes around her. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve seen three Aspects.”

They don’t want to believe Pride. First off, he’s their sworn enemy. Secondly, I look so normal. How can a single unassuming girl, albeit a bit goth, be in the process of corrupting an entire planet? But if she had even the slightest chance to be that enemy, then...

Ryûjin would take the plunge, but he has no idea how he’d Dreamshape what he sees in me. Kaede and Janet are mostly dumbfounded. Griffith and the Paragon read the mood, and each other’s mind. Regardless of Pride’s tricks, eliminating the Queen of Nightmare is worth every risk. Bunker Hill’s governor conjures a spell circle made of his beloved Tenets, out of which a trident comes out. The Paragon imbues it with glowing light. My every instinct tells me to move, but...you know what? I think it’s worth every risk too. The trident is thrust straight at me. Unable to contain my instincts, I cower at the last moment, but it is too late. The conjuration flies true...

But all I feel is a warm wind flowing past me. The deadly attack has completely disintegrated before it could touch me. I this were a real battle, I’d admit this would be completely unfair. But, huh...I kinda just got thrown into the Lion’s den here. Looking at the group, it’s clear the setback has only pissed them off. I have to take the initiative.

“Hey, wait, wait!” I cry, arms raised. “That fucker’s right, my name’s Draconia, but it’s not like I want any of this!!”

I expect the Aspect to butt in and make things worse for me but he looks...strangely disinterested.

“Really?” Caustically asks Ryûjin. “You fucked up the world from Geneva to Tokyo, The Changelings praise your name every time they waste our air talking, and we’re supposed to believe you’re an innocent victim in this?”

“Maybe not innocent, but I sure as hell never wanted the nightmares I had since childhood to become reality, okay? I just wanted to have a vacation, relax with my friends, forget about my condition, and whamo, I never woke up and started destroying the world! So while I totally do understand you’d want to punch me in the tits, at least please don’t believe those Changeling assholes when they claim they work for me.” I turn to Pride to drive my point home. “Hear me, asshat? My name is ominous enough, I don’t need your madness to be associated with it!”

The sane-ish characters of the Lost Angels story are now at a loss of what to make of me. I can hardly blame them...It would hardly be any different to find out the Devil is an awkward dweeb passively-aggressively telling demons to stop ruining everything.

“Huh huh, and I don’t suppose you can call off your invincibility so we can heroically sacrifice your goth ass?” Pragmatically inquires Janet.

“Well you can always try again but I didn’t melt the trident...Not actively at least. Look, I was imprisoned in that castle in the Alps, telling your story to Bastian here. You know, as a memory, not as a play-by-play. I know you’ve just been teleported from the Sekigahara to here, Janet, and believe or not, I’m on the same boat.”

I can read in their minds that the details I just gave made clear I was, indeed, the Slumbering Queen.

“...Alright,” continued the agent, “But who the hell has the power to displace even the creator of this world, then?”

Ryûjin and the Anchored don’t really believe me yet, but they realize Janet just uncovered a much, much worse possibility. Though I don’t see how anyone could possibly stand over m...

“Why, I do.”

...Was that my voice just now? I turn around. There’s another me. The exact same person as I am, except she is surrounded by a shimmering aura, and has a wicked grin on her face. She’s leaning on Bastian, who stands frozen in fear.

“Hi Alpha. I do hope you enjoy being in my world.”

Janet Campbell couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was seeing. On the purely visual sense, there were two copies of that Draconia girl. In the Dreamscape sense, however, it was like staring into the Sun. As Ryûjin had stated, it was wholly alien to everything she had come to know that day. If the Weave was a mist, the Draconias were shining beacons that turned the mist into a sentient, solid entity. They didn’t have quite the same effect either. The first Draconia’s Weave was a passive caress, but the second’s was vicious and corrosive. She could perceive that even standing ten meters away from them. Just looking at it was like being immersed in it. No doubt about it. This was the presence of the Dreamscape’s creator.

But why were there two of them? The Changelings had never said anything about that. The first one, who was apparently Alpha Draconia, seemed as baffled as Janet was.

“Who the hell are you?!” She demanded, pointing an accusatory finger at her clone.

“I am you, obviously. The most important part. Your job was to take care of our shitty earthly body and deal with the worthless material world. Mine was to actually live.”

“You...Are my subconscious? Doctor Valentine was right?”

“About that one thing. Anyway, thanks for your loyal services, but as you can see, I’m taking charge. Soon, our world will be all there is. I can let you run off for a little while, but once I’m done here, you’re back to the Reverie.”

“The Reverie?”

“The Castle. You know, the protection I gave you so you don’t bump into a mob and get shredded.”

The human, well-meaning Draconia’s jaw dropped.

“What the...So you were the one who imprisoned me, bound me to those vines? You...You turned Mindy into a fucking monster!”

“And so fucking what? I don’t care about your friends in the irrelevant world. I have millions of adorers. I thought you’d be glad the ones closest to you became your bodyguards.”

“Not like this, you madness personified! And...Did you just imply you turned my whole gang into insane monsters?!”

“Well, yeah? More the better, right?”

“You...you fucking...”

“Meh. Worthless though you may be, you did made me exist, so you at least deserve to be the useless pampered Princess of the Dream. You bitch now, but being stuck in the Reverie with everything at your disposal will turn you into an airhead eventually. I mean, we have eternity here.”

The second Queen -Janet decided to call her Omega Draconia- walked past her earthly half with a dismissive hand gesture. Alpha was too shocked to take offense. Omega walked to the center of the circular plaza to meet the fallen Hollywood star.

“Pride!”

“Yes, my Queen?” Responded the Aspect with a bow.

“Where’s Lust? That little vampiric mongrel couldn’t have taken her out, could she?”

“I looked for her, but she did vanish at the end of the fight with Christopherson.”

“Hmpf. I guess she wandered into the material world. I did groom her to be a curious little slut. Oh well, she’ll be missing out.”

Then, she looked at Janet with an arrogant tilt of the chin.

“Now then, miss Campbell. Don’t hate me, it’s Alpha over here who randomly chose to tell your story. I figured it was the perfect occasion to make my formal entrance. I suppose it does make everything you did today completely pointless since it was just the opening act. Only one character that matters in this world. Me. But do be thankful you were a relevant parcel of my mind for a while.”

“Parcel of your mind?” Answered the agent defiantly. “Not very observant for the Queen of Nightmare, are you? I’m not a Changeling.”

“Huuh? What does this have to do with anything?” Replied Draconia with a scornful stare. “Oh, riiight. You maggots believe you can resist the Dream. Hmpf, I knew I wanted to go public for a reason. Alright, the Anchored are supposed to be the most resistant, right?”

Griffith flinched when the Queen turned to him, as did the Paragon. They instinctively steeled themselves, focusing on their respective mantras. “Order is fragile. Enforce the Law. You are one of many. Adore your Tribe”. Rarely did the Anchored needed the Weave to completely leave their bodies, but the situation clearly called for it. The rulers of Bunker Hill completely excised themselves from the Dreamscape. It would not last, but not even Lust should be able to shape them. It proved utterly useless.

“Urgh!”

“Ghyaaaargh!”

Pain erupted throughout their right arms, bringing down to their knees almost instantly. And if only it had stopped at that...But the Slumbering Queen was not here to make a half-assed point. The afflicted limbs started contorting, growing, pulsating. Bone cracked and pierced through flesh, skin sizzled and hardened. Not one strand of Weave was in their bodies, yet their arms became twisted abominations while they screamed and she grinned.

“What is this?!” Yelled Griffith in a panicked voice. “No, this cannot be happening! Stop it! STOP IT!”

“No...Urgh...Noooo...” Simply lamented the Paragon of Society, shocked, while tentacles grew out of her arms.

Omega Draconia burst into a hearty, unrestrained guffaw.

“Pfft... Wha ha...WHAAA HA HAA HA! Look at you little worms! Not trying to own my shit anymore, are you? HA HA HA...Haaa...Okay, I’ll stop there.”

The transformation of the Anchored’s arms into monstrosities stopped, but did not reverse.

“You talk resistance just because you can dispel the Weave with boneheadedness? Good for you, but don’t think for an instant it gives you any real power here. The Weave is the physics of the Dream. Its persistent logic. I am a bit beyond that.”

To prove her point, the megalomaniac version of Draconia Bathory snapped her fingers, and disappeared. In the exact same moment, the radiant moonlight was replaced with a crimson glow, flowing and pulsating as if the moon had become the conduit of an artery. Janet, Kaede and Ryûjin looked up, expecting to see a changed moon, but instead saw a gigantic Draconia lying prone in the sky.

Gasps of awe sounded all around them. The Changelings of Hollywood, one by one, came out of the jungle of layers and onto the platforms of the Highland Plaza, then knelt in the next breath. In but a dozen seconds, the venue was packed with adorers. Janet saw Flora, the bee girl Apolline, and even the ogre from the airport. Pleased with the sight, Draconia reached down with her finger and let her faithful children bask in her presence. Then she addressed the unruly ones.

“You are actors of the Dream. But I am the Dreamer. You were persons once, persistent, able to amass great power. But though I let you do a simulacrum of that in here, make no mistake, you are not what you once were. You’re not in a parallel world. You are in my Dream. In my mind. You are now my thoughts. My ideas. I can discard you, change you, control you. Any. Time. I. Want. You understand now? I am not even the God of this world. I am this world. And tonight, I am going to make sure you know it.”

The apparition in the sky blinked out of existence, and Omega Draconia reappeared in her normal body, hovering five meters above the stunned Dreamers and Anchored.

“I know what you’re thinking, Ryûjin.” She mocked. “I have to do something, but it looks like that bitch is as invincible as she claims. Even Kaede can’t take the risk. Let’s hope she wants to keep us alive to tell the tale.”

“Hmpf. That’s right. And so?”

“And so I’m not here to pull any punches, so you’d better start scurrying back to your holes.” Draconia extended her hand, palm open, to the passage to Hollywood Boulevard a dozen Changelings were blocking. “My children! Let them pass. I’ll give them something to flee for.”

The addressed immediately bowed and made way, but all the Changelings reacted. They knelt in awe, grinned in fevered excitement. Even the saner humans did not bolt for the exit immediately. The Queen reached for the skies, outpouring with a tremendous amount of energy, making the air itself shiver. Then, she closed her hand, and the skies caught fire.

This was no trick of the light, no projected image. Flames burst forth from the moon and covered the sky, throwing Lost Angels into a fiery red noon. The Changelings gasped in awe, and all took a blazing aspect into their appearance. Janet knew what she had to do.

“And to think the US boasts about their aerial firepower.”

Silence. Omega Draconia looked down on the mixed race agent. Janet was very well used to that look, but her former boss did not have godlike powers. Oh well.

“Okay, you know what?” Declared the Queen with simmering rage. “Rule number one of the Dream—You don’t make lame one liners in my presence.”

In an instant, the tiles beneath Janet opened, and a rocky pillar burst forth, launching the smart alec meters into the air. Before she could react, the agent saw Draconia flying towards her, ready to punch. With her honed reflexes, she managed to block in time, but to little effect, as the impact sent her careening into a clothing shop at breakneck speeds.

“AAAAaaargh!”

“You’re no fucking Arnold, you little bitch!”

Draconia did not give chase. Rather, she moved her arms as if she was parting a sliding door, and the solid building cracked open, torn apart as if it had been paper. Broken glass and concrete shards flew everywhere at terminal velocity, mowing dozens of Changeling in just a few seconds. The screams filling the air completed the picture of hell painted by the fiery skies. Draconia took no notice at all, and instead looked for Janet. She should have been falling somewhere in the middle of the newly opened rift. Yet she was nowhere to be found.

“Tcht! Disappearing act?!”

The Slumbering Queen immediately hated the idea of having to sift through the layers to find the little shit and briefly considered going nuclear. Fortunately, her train of thought was interrupted when Ryûjin’s voice pierced through the cries of pain.

“Hey, Queen!”

She looked at him, with disinterest at first, but her eyes opened wide when she saw the Japanese tyrant had taken her naïve counterpart hostage. Bladed slivers of his body were tightening around Alpha Draconia’s neck like a serial killer’s idea of a noose.

“Maybe we’re mayflies to you, but I doubt having your body’s head lopped off will do you any good.”

“...Probably not.”

With a scowl, the angry Queen snapped her fingers, and the Princess vanished. Ryûjin swore in his native tongue and backed off, shielding his daughter with his body.

“Looks like she won’t have the front row after all. Shame. But back to our regularly scheduled program, in which our heroine is OVER this shit!”

She throws her hand towards the ruined building, and the destruction she has herself caused is reverted in a blink. Not that she actually cares all that much beyond restoring the mood so her show can go smoothly. Her very next move is cracking the streets of Hollywood and conjuring forth pillars to dwarf the world-famous buildings. On each of them stands an obsidian black statue of herself holding bows thrice their size. Statues which then animate and produce arrows the size of cavalry lances out of thin air as they turn toward the four surviving leaders of the resistance.

Ryûjin finally gives up on putting up any form of resistance and grabs his daughter, ignoring the risk of stabbing himself with her toy’s blades. Griffith and the Paragon are way ahead of him, having already reached Hollywood Boulevard. The first arrows are for them. They miss their puny targets by a good margin, but that obviously doesn’t come as much concern to Draconia and her obsidian clones. The humongous arrows split the concrete with such force it sends cracks throughout the road. The ground shakes. The Changelings cheer. Time slows to a crawl for the hunted as their minds start to process they could get pinned to the ground at any given moment.

A new pillar bursts forth every ten seconds ahead of the hunted, obliterating any building that stands in its way. The arrows don’t get any more accurate, but they pierce through anything in their path, filling the air with deadly shrapnel and dust. Soon, there is no telling how many there are. An arrow might come from any angle and get lucky. The prey can only run and pray. The blazing skies echo with the arrogant laughter of the pink-haired Queen.

“Madam! Madam! Are you alright?”

“Bastian...I...”

What do I even tell him? I can hardly even tell what I’m goddamn thinking. Two of me. One is a complete fucking psychopath and the OG Changeling. She imprisoned me in that castle, turned my friends into monsters with barely an afterthought, and is well in the process of ruining the world. I guess I should be relieved I am innocent but fuck that, she’s just a part of me. How did I let myself get this bad? Did my shitty mother fuck me up this bad?

And Lost Angels...Fuck...

“I couldn’t do anything. I...Didn’t even try anything, just stood there in shock. I’m a blight. She’s destroying what little sense and order is left in Los Angeles. She let me paint the picture just so she could tear it down. Janet and Kim are AWOL, but it’s really the leaders I’m concerned about. If they die, it’s going to be chaos down there.”

“This...Might be because I was her creation, Madam, but somehow, I don’t think she wants to completely destroy the megalopolis. She is very particular about her hatred of death.”

“Hmm...You might be right. Ever since it began I think I only saw Christopherson bite the dust.”

“There will be dire consequences though. I especially fear for the agent, should she ever resurface.”

“Oh, right, where has Janet gone anyway?”

I project myself to California once more, but the hell my counterpart is raising hits me like a truck. Not just the chaos...There’s a chill. A scornful, hostile chill. I think it’s directed at Janet at first, but...No. This isn’t a grudge, this is annoyance.

“Urgh...Bastian, I think she wants me out of her h...”

Strength suddenly leaves me.

“...huuh?”

I collapse on the marble floor like a ragdoll. My connection to the Lost Angels is severed, but the chill is still there. It’s flooding throughout my body, sapping my strength and numbing my mind.

“B-b-bastian, I’m...Cold...help...”

“Madam!”

He Dreamshapes a blanket and covers me, but the cold doesn’t go away. It’s alive. Hell, I know damn well it’s Her. My fading mind goes back to her words.

“Worthless though you may be, you did made me exist, so you at least deserve to be the useless pampered Princess of the Dream. You bitch now, but being stuck in the Reverie with everything at your disposal will turn you into an airhead eventually.”

This was no threat. She despises me. Not only am I powerless compared to her who always lived in the Nightmare, but apparently she won’t even deign ignore me anymore. Alien though she may be, I think I understand her enough to know why. I’m her weakness, and she can’t embrace her role as a Goddess as long as she as one.

“I don’t want to...Fade away...I won’t...Crazy fuck...ing...”

“Madam! Draconia! Look at me! Stay with me!”

Bastian’s words are but an echo. My senses are shrinking to a single, freezing point in the core of my mind. All the rest’s turning to black ice.

I’m...Such a failure. I just...wanted to...tell a story...Clear my mind a bit...To go back to...The real...w...