New Rival Chapter 3
Ashley stretched her arms out as she woke up. She looked over to see Lily and Zoe already up. Zoe would be staying with them for the time being. She was sleeping on the couch, as their room was the only place they could be sure was safe. Lily looks over at Ashley’s movement. “Morning, sleepy head. How’re you feeling?”
Ashley smiles slightly as she sits up. “Much better now, thanks.” She turns to Zoe. “I don’t think I ever mentioned how well you did against me yesterday. For your first proper hypnosis duel, you did extremely well. I remember thinking I’d have you under in no time.”
Zoe blushes slightly at the praise. “Thanks. I’ve been studying kind of a lot, so I’m glad it wasn’t all a waste.”
“I’ll say it wasn’t. I’m not sure I could’ve taken both of them.” Lily says, putting an arm around Zoe. “Ashley really knows how to get to me, so I would’ve had a rough time against her.” Lily grins. “But enough of that, we’ve gotta figure out the next level in whatever hierarchy is going on in this plot. Michelle said a teacher got her, but I don’t remember who.”
Ashley nods. “It was Ms. Kayla. We know she’s not the mastermind. Michelle said she was brought to another mistress after she was first enslaved. But we have to get Ms. Kayla to find out who the mastermind is. Hopefully, she’s the last one before them.”
“Yeah, but we don’t know how big this thing is,” Lily says in a worried tone.
“It probably isn’t too big at this point, or they wouldn’t be bothering with hiding it.” Zoe assures her. “At some point, enough of the school will be enslaved that they can just brute force everyone else.”
“That’s true. But we still need to hurry.” Ashley says. Lily and Zoe makes sounds of agreement. “Lily, do you have any classes with Ms. Kayla. I have no idea where she’d be right now.”
Lily shrugs. “I don’t either. I guess we can go out and ask. Eventually we’ll find someone who knows.” Not having a better plan in mind, the three of them exit their room and head towards the library.
When they get there, they see some students around the library. Some studying on their own, some in groups, and some practicing trance on each other. Deciding it’s best to stick together, the three of them approach one of the students studying on their own.
“Hey, we’re looking for Ms. Kayla, but none of us know where to find her. Think you can help us out?” Ashley says with a smile.
The fox girl looks up with a kind smile. “Oh sure, I think I might now. What do you need her for, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Ah, well there’s a project we’re working on. And none of us have Ms. Kayla as a teacher, so we’re looking for another perspective on our work.” Ashley replies.
“Ah, I see. I’m sure she’d love to help you out.” The fox girl gives Ashley Ms. Kayla’s classroom and office numbers. “What’s your project about?”
Ashley realizes she should have seen a question like that coming, and it’s too late to backtrack on it without seeming suspicious. “We’re looking at how one’s knowledge about hypnosis affects their susceptibility to it.”
The fox girl seems to perk up at this. “Ah, I see. That sounds fun. I hope you can get some help on that. It was nice meeting you. I’m Sophia, by the way.” She holds out her hand still smiling.
Ashley takes it and gives it a shake. “I’m Ashley. Maybe we’ll see each other around at some point.” The two of them part, Sophia going back to her studying and Ashley heading off to find Ms. Kayla with her friends.
“She seems nice,” Lily comments after they’ve left the library.
“Yeah, it would’ve been nice to get her help, but we don’t have a way to ensure she’s not enslaved.” Ashley agrees.
Soon, the three of them arrive outside of Ms. Kayla’s classroom. Muffled voices can be heard from inside, but none of them can make out what’s being said. “Well, it sounds like something is going on,” Zoe says after listening for a moment.
“Well, it could always be a class,” Ashley says with a slight grin. “Hold on, I think I have what I need for a scrying spell.” She checks her pockets, and then in her bag. She pulls out a small mirror. “Got it.” Ashley concentrates for a few moments and then starts muttering under her breath. A small glow forms around the mirror. Then the image of Ashley’s face is replaced with an image of a classroom. Lily and Zoe crowd around Ashley to get a good look at the mirror.
“Looks more like a private lesson to me.” Lily giggles. In the mirror they can see Ms. Kayla sitting across from a student, swinging a pendant back and forth. A rather cute student at that. She did look especially nice in that trance.
“True, but it could still be something innocent.” Ashley concentrates again and soon, a soft voice can be heard from the mirror.
“… dropping deeper and deeper for me and for our Mistress. Such a good girl. So ready, so eager to obey…” This continues for a few more moments before Ashley cuts off the sound.
“Yeah, that’s probably all the confirmation we’ll get.” Ashley cuts off the spell and leaves the mirror in her pocket.
“When did you learn magic like that?” Zoe asks.
Ashley shrugs. “Lily taught me. Succubi have a knack for it. She could teach you too, if you want.”
Lily nods encouragingly. Zoe responds. “Yeah, that could be nice. Another time, though. We have something bigger to deal with right now.” Ashley and Lily both nod at this statement. A teacher would be harder than a student, but they seemed to have the advantage in numbers.
“Right. I’ll take the student if you two want to take the teacher.” Ashley states.
Zoe gets a nervous look again. “I’ve never hypnotized someone with a partner.”
“You can set the tone and pace. I’ll follow you.” Lily reassures her.
“Okay, that sounds good,” Zoe says with a bit more confidence.
Ashley nods to them. “Okay, I think we’re good to go.” With that said, Ashley opens the door. Ms. Kayla is still sitting across from the hypnotized student, but the necklace has been put down.
“Ah, perfect timing.” Ms. Kayla glances at the group as they enter. She speaks to the student again. “Now Nathalie, be a dear and help me hypnotize these students for our Mistress.”
Nathalie blinks as she returns to consciousness, and then her gaze settles on the three of them. “Of course, Mistress.” She stands up and begins walking over to the group. She seems much more coherent than Ashley was while hypnotized by Michelle. It would clearly be more difficult to take her down. Fortunately, Ashley liked the challenge.
Lily and Zoe each spared Ashley a nervous glance, but then focused on their target, Ms. Kayla.
As Lily and Zoe approached Ms. Kayla, Ashley let Nathalie come to her. She pulls the mirror she used for the scrying spell out of her pocket, and starts fiddling with it in her hand, always making sure the light it bounces will appear to flicker in Nathalie’s eyes. In a nice, distracting way. “You seem so sure of yourself. So assured, so confident that you can hypnotize me for your Mistress. I’m sure there’s nothing that could stop you. Nothing that could slow your mind down. Dragging you down into a nice trance.”
Nathalie flinched slightly when the light in the mirror first caught her eye, but she quickly grew used to it. And the words Ashley was saying were right. Nothing would get in the way of her devotion to Mistress. “I’m so glad you realize that, girl. So you must know that there’s nothing to prevent you from falling.” Nathalie’s eyes shimmer slightly as she focuses her aura into them. “You can see it. You can feel it. How strong my hypnosis is. You can’t fight it. You can’t stop it. So be a good girl and let it happen.”
“That’s right, you can’t stop hypnosis. Once it starts, it just keeps building. And building. And building. But you wouldn’t let that affect you. You’re too focused for it to work. Focused on hypnosis.” Ashley keeps the mirror moving. Nothing too distracting, but enough to keep the light flashing in Nathalie’s eyes. Nathalie’s eyes… Ashley hadn’t gotten a good look at them before. But there was something about them. It just felt nice to look at them. Ashley continued speaking but still focused on her eyes. “So focused on hypnosis. On hypnotizing me. And that means you need to listen to me. Because you can tell when someone is falling into hypnosis. You can hear it in their voice.”
Nathalie would occasionally glance at the mirror in Ashley’s hands. The light bothered her at first, but she was getting used to it. It was kind of pretty in its own way. But she didn’t have time to linger on it. “I’m so glad you understand. I’m so focused on hypnosis. On hypnotizing you. Too focused to fall. But you don’t need to worry about that. You just need to listen. To watch my eyes.To obey…” Nathalie’s gaze keeps being drawn back to the mirror, and her voice seems to trail off a bit.
Ashley knew exactly how much Nathalie was watching the mirror. She knew because she was watching her eyes. They were such pretty eyes. They were so captivating. So alluring. It felt good to watch them. “You’re so focused on me. You need to know exactly when I get hypnotized. You know it can’t be stopped. So you need to focus…” Ashley began to feel a bit pulled into Nathalie’s eyes now. “Focus… Focus on me. You need to listen to me. Follow my words. You don’t need to worry about it. You’re too focused to be hypnotized. You need to keep focusing on me. That’s all you need… Noting else matters… You just need to hypnotize someone.”
Of course Nathalie was focused on Ashley. Nathalie needed to hypnotize her. She needed to listen to her… To focus on hypnotizing her. Focus on hypnosis. That’s all that mattered. She needed to… focus… to listen… for hypnosis. The mirror was so distracting. It made it hard to fully focus on Ashley. Fully focus on hypnosis. On hypnotizing… who again? “I’m focused… on hypnosis. Listen… Follow… Obey… That’s all that matters… Hypnotizing… hypnosis… is all that matters.” Her eyes were fixed on the mirror now.
Now that Nathalie’s eyes weren’t focused on Ashley, their effect on her had lessened. She was still a bit spacey, but she could still focus on what she needed to do. “That’s right. I’m sure you’ll remember who you need to hypnotize soon enough. Just listen. Just focus. Just watch. Don’t think, just obey. Just watching the mirror now. And soon enough, the mirror will show you who you need to hypnotize. Isn’t that right?” Lost in the light from the mirror and Ashley’s words, Nathalie absently gives a nod. “Good girl.” Ashley slowly turns the mirror so it faces Nathalie, reflecting her own face back at her.
Nathalie’s eyes widen as she sees her own hypnotic eyes staring back at her. Of course! She needed to hypnotize herself. Nathalie pours more energy into her eyes. Ashley begins to speak, but Nathalie isn’t paying attention. The words slip so easily into her mind. Words of submission and pleasure. Words of obedience and devotion as Nathalie drives herself deeper and deeper.
“That’s right, such a good girl. My programming settling in your mind. Driving yourself deeper into trance for me. Feeling so good, so right as you listen and obey.” Ashley looks over to Lily and Zoe and sees that they aren’t having such an easy time with Ms. Kayla. “Hold this mirror, good girl. Keep sending yourself deeper into trance for me, letting your programming echo through your mind.” Nathalie gives a sleepy nod as she takes the mirror in her hand.
Meanwhile, Ms. Kayla had started her induction before Zoe and Lily. “Ah, students in need of assistance. Well, what is a teacher for if not to help students in need?” She pulls a screen out of her pocket that quickly flares to life with a spiral. “Now students, all the answers you need are right here. You just need the spiral, and me to guide you to all the answers you need.”
Mainly due to a lack of experience, Zoe is caught off guard by this and ends up staring at the spiral before she can process anything. Fortunately, Lily is there to nudge her a bit to snap her out of it. Zoe spares her a grateful glance before looking back at Ms. Kayla and pulling out a pendant. The spiral still pulled her gaze, but she was ready for it now. “And the best way you can help us is by watching this pendant. Just watch as it swings. As it sways. Back and forth, back and forth. I’m still quite new at this, you see. I’m sure you could give me some tips on how to improve. So to help me, you need to watch and listen.”
Lily focuses some magic into the pendant, causing it to glow slightly. “We know you’re such a good teacher. And good teachers love to help their students.”
Ms. Kayla smiles as the pendant starts glowing. She’d seen a swinging pendant so many times before, of course she could help improve it. When these two belonged to their rightful Mistress. “And all the help you need is right here in the spiral. Just stare. Let yourselves be pulled into it. It’s so easy. So simple. To just watch the spiral. You don’t need to worry. Just let yourself be pulled into it.” She watched as Zoe and Lily both struggled to keep their eyes off her spiral. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to watch the pendant. These two would need to improve to bring in more slaves for Mistress. And she’d have to watch to help them improve.
The spiral kept pulling their gaze. It was nice to watch. It made it so hard for Zoe and Lily to focus on their goal. They needed to hypnotize Ms. Kayla. To stop her mistress. “Just watch the pendant. We need your help to improve. And you can help by watching. How the pendant glows. How it swings and sways. Look how the light catches it. You can help us so much. Just by watching and listening” Zoe continues leading Ms. Kayla down into trance. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to watch the spiral for a bit.
Lily kept reinforcing and building on Zoe’s induction. “Watching the pendant is how to help us. Listening is how to help us. That’s all you need to do.” She noticed again how Zoe was being drawn in by the spiral. Lily tries to shake her awake but is herself distracted by the spiral. That pretty spiral. She’s still able to maintain enough focus to continue speaking and keeping the pendant glowing, but her gaze is focused on the spiral.
Ms. Kayla could see Lily and Zoe watching the spiral now, but it’s not what she was focused on. She was watching the pendant. With that soft glow. It was very nice. These two would be great slaves for Mistress. “That’s right, watching the spiral. It has all the help you need. All the answers. The answer is obedience… The answer is submission… Submission to me… and Mistress…” Ms. Kayla’s voice became spacey as she continued to focus on the pendant and listen to their words.
Zoe kept the pendant swinging and kept speaking, but she wasn’t thinking about it anymore. She was on automatic now. She felt something as Lily shook her slightly, but it wasn’t enough to pull her up at all. “Just watching… the pretty pendant… letting it pull you down…” Zoe felt so submissive as she kept watching the spiral. So blank… for Ms. Kayla… for her Mistress. Wait… no… she needed to… to… to submit… and obey…
Lily was doing slightly better, but not by much. Her eyes were fixed on the spiral… such a pretty spiral. “You’re helping us… by letting yourself fall… fall for us… for the pendant…” It’s all Lily can do to keep the pendant glowing. And even that begins to flicker as Lily is drawn more into the spiral. As it pulls her deeper into trance… into submission… into obedience…
Ms. Kayla grinned as the glow on the pendant flickered. This was good. They were falling. Falling for her Mistress. Falling for the spiral. She was still a bit blank and spacey, but that didn’t matter. These two were well on their way to being good little slaves now. “That’s right, such good slaves for Mistress. I’m teaching you all about it. You came for my help. For me to teach you. I’m teaching you obedience. I’m teaching you submission. I’m teaching—” “And sleep!” Ms. Kayla is caught totally off guard by Ashley snapping her fingers right by her ear. The surprise of this, combined with her already being in a slight trance from Zoe and Lily’s induction makes this drop her easily. Her head slumps forward and her arms fall to her sides. “That’s right, such a good teacher. You’ve demonstrated exactly how to fall into trance so well. Now drive yourself deeper and deeper for me. Feeling so empty, so blank, so obedient. Such a good teacher.” Ashley turns to Zoe and Lily, who are still in trance. “Rising up now, girls. Following my words as I pull you up. Coming up for me, coming back to yourselves. Feeling so refreshed and relaxed. Letting your minds return to you now.” Ashley snaps her fingers again.
Zoe and Lily blink a few times as Ashley pulls them up. “Ah, thanks for the save, Ashley. Didn’t think she’d be that good.” Lily says, embarrassed.
Zoe nods. “Yeah, I really wasn’t ready for that. I thought I would be.”
Ashley shrugs, hiding the nervousness she was feeling at the close call. “It all worked out. She had you two, but you took her down enough that I could finish it. I’m sure I couldn’t have taken her alone if she had time to recover. So great job you guys. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
Some confidence returns to Zoe and Lily at this praise, and they both hug Ashley. Ashley returns it gratefully.
“So what now?” Zoe asks, looking at the two entranced subjects.
“Well, first we have to see if they know who the mastermind is,” Ashley says, turning back to Ms. Kayla. “If either of them knows, it’s gonna be her.” She walks in front of her slumped form and softly holds her face. “Now Ms. Kayla, standing up straight, staying deeply hypnotized.” Ms. Kayla sleepily pulls herself up as Ashley smiles at her. “Such a good girl. Now tell me, who was your mistress before I hypnotized you?”
“My mistress was the therapist, Dr. Rosa…” Ms. Kayla drones in a sleepy monotone.
Ashley nearly groans. It was so obvious. Of course, the therapist would be the mastermind. Even in a school about hypnosis people were still pretty weary about who they let trance them. Dr. Rosa was the only person in the school whom everyone felt comfortable going into trance for. Someone should have seen this coming. Still, it was a problem Dr. Rosa was probably the strongest hypnotist in the school. Taking her down would be a challenge.
“Very good girl. You don’t serve Dr. Rosa anymore. You serve me, your rightful Mistress. Deep down, a part of your mind will always know this. You’re such a good girl for me.” Before getting into programming her more, Ashley walks over to Nathalie, who is still staring at her reflection in the mirror. Ashley takes the mirror from her hand and uses it to lead her next to Ms. Kayla. “Now my good girls. Feeling so good. So blank. So empty. So obedient. Ready to obey your Mistress. You’ll always know, deep down who your true Mistress is. And any time you hear any of the three of us here say ‘Remember your Mistress’, you will fall into this deep, wonderful trance again, ready to serve and obey. But when you wake up, you won’t remember us being here. You won’t remember being hypnotized and falling into this trance. Your minds will be as they were before we ever got here. Believing you still serve your old mistress. But deep down, you know who you truly serve. Isn’t that right, good girls?”
Ms. Kayla and Nathalie both give sleepy nods with a soft “yes mistress…”
“Very good girls. Waking up as we leave this room now, forgetting any of this every happened.” Ashley turns to Zoe and Lily. “Looks like we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us. We better head back to our room and prepare.” The two of them nod and head out of the room. Ashley makes to follow them, and she sees the pendant Ms. Kayla was using to hypnotize Nathalie before. She feels like there’s something about it that makes it more than just a simple pendant. Ashley picks it up and follows her friends out.