Gentle, quiet voices roused Xara from sleep, but it took her a while to piece together what they were saying. She heard both her moms' voices, oddly soothing to just listen to, and now and then she heard Amanda interject. She squirmed, feeling her head resting against someone's chest as she struggled to open her eyes.

"Shh, girls, you'll wake her," Ann's voice whispered. With a slight moan Xara forced her eyes open and found her mother smiling down at her, love shining in her eyes. "Ah, she's awake now anyway..." Ann cooed and rocked Xara gently.

Xara blushed and tried to sit up. What did you do, she wanted to ask Somna, but all she said was "Ahh… ah." Her cheeks grew warmer and she furrowed her brow in confusion as Ann and Amanda squealed. Xara caught Somna grinning from the chair across the room and shot her a dark glare.

"Did you sleep well, Xari? Are you hungry," Ann cooed again, kissing Xara on the forehead. Xara tried to squirm out of her mother's gentle but firm grip, finding her muscles wouldn't allow her enough strength. Amanda stood next to the sofa and bent over, stroking a fingertip down Xara's cheek with an enamoured expression Xara had never seen on her before.

"She's so adorable, Miss Nocturne. She looks just like Miss Somna!" Amanda took Xara's hand in her own and lifted it delicately, and try as she might Xara couldn't pull her wrist free. As Amanda spoke in an insultingly high-pitched tone that just made Xara want to punish her, Xara saw Somna over the arc of Amanda's back, eyes glued on her girlfriend's ass as she bent over. A unique mix of humiliation at the situation and jealously of her mom's position welled up in Xara and she jerked a little.

"Nnngh...Ah!"

Her face flushed deeper red as her fury only got Ann and Amanda acting even sappier. Ooh, Somna was gonna pay.

"Do you want to hold her, Amanda?" Ann asked. Xara's eyes shot across to her sub's, whose face glowed like she had been given a sacred task.

"I'd love to!" The women carefully swapped places, treating Xara with the care and attention of a fragile vase.

I saved the city, you know!

Ann disappeared out of the room, pausing briefly to kiss Somna as she passed, and Amanda smiled down at Xara from above, an unusual position for her.

You're supposed to be on your knees, damn it... "Nnnngh."

Amanda started bouncing gently in response, as if trying to soothe her. Xara furiously searched her expression for any sign of teasing, but all she found was a genuine devotion and tenderness. Whatever had happened during her trance, it seemed like Somna had reprogrammed all three of them for this little display. That was worrying.

A few minutes later Ann came back in with her hands behind her back. "Happy birthday, Xari~" she sang, pulling something out from behind her back. Xara's cheeks burned as she recognised an old toy from her childhood, kept by her sentimental mother in a box all these years.

Ann held the pink catgirl plushy just above Xara's face and shook it gently. "This is Nyna, sweetie. She's the bestest friend you could have, and she'll look after you your whole life." Ann smiled, and Xara was sure she almost heard a sniffle in her mom's voice at the end. Across the room, Somna crossed her legs and leaned forward, chuckling softly. "She'll keep you out of trouble, she'll let us know when you need us, and she'll even join you in your dreams. Isn't that sweet?"

Ann placed the plushy on Xara's chest and helped Xara wrap her arms around it. Fuuuuck! Xara wanted to scream. "Nnn!"

"Nyna, that's right," Ann spoke in a tone so condescending to Xara's adult brain she could almost feel her switch physically click. Ann looked over to Amanda, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Mesmerascens."

The words died on Ann's lips as she and Amanda relaxed, smiles slipping into neutral expressions as they stared into each other's eyes. Somna's boots clacked on the floorboards as she stood, approached, walked around to the side of the sofa behind Xara and leaned over, upside-down over Xara's face.

"Enjoying yourself, sweet daughter of ours?" She grinned, stroking a finger along Xara's cheek.

"I'll enjoy it a lot more when you -" Xara bit the words off. "I get to talk now, do I?"

"Well, would you rather I have allowed you to talk and just made these two interpret it as goos and gaa?" Somna flicked Amanda and Ann in the ear simultaneously, and while both women's heads rocked away as one they returned to their starting position without even a blink.

"Somehow I don't think I would. Why didn't you tell me this was your plan?" She complained.

"I know you, Xari," Somna teased. "I am your mother, after all. You wouldn't have agreed to this if you knew you needed to be humiliated. And, as a loving, caring mother, I know you wanted to get over your little hurdle for your own benefit. And, as a loving, caring mother, I knew I had to help." Somna leaned closer, until her nose was touching Xara's. She smiled. "As a loving, caring mother, I'm happy to help, and debase, and utterly humiliate my naughty little daughter."

Xara gasped and felt her hips buck involuntarily, biting back a retort.

"Do you feel submissive, Xara?" Somna's hand cupped her daughter's cheek and squeezed gently.

"I'm not a sub!"

"No, you're a switch, and you're all confused about it. But ara ara, Xara Xara, if that scene didn't get you feeling embarrassed enough to force your genes on, I could set a couple more up."

Xara gulped and opened her mouth, but Somna placed a fingertip over her lips and an overwhelming urge to stay silent settled in over Xara's mind, no matter how she struggled to speak.

"Mommy's talking, baby. Now, I could make them think you're a little older, so you could play dolls in the nursery together."

Xara's eyes widened a little.

"I could make them your dollies," Somna mused, as if to herself. "But that might make you feel too dominant. Perhaps I could have them take you to the Ageplay Centre to play with the other girls? I hear they're putting a talent show on tomorrow."

Xara tried to shake her head, unable to even whimper.

"Perhaps a little older... Try on some of mommy's clothes? Not mine, of course. Good girls shouldn't wear leather like mine." Somna chuckled, reaching across to stroke Xara's own leather pants. "Teach you make up, perhaps how to flirt?"

Xara felt her thighs rub together as her breathing started to shift.

"Perhaps advance you up enough to befriend some of the Udders waitresses, make you want to become one? Amanda can go with you, she's certainly got a breeder's hips." Somna removed her finger from Xara's lips, crossed her hands over Xara's neck and leaned in closer, eyes starting directly into hers as her voice dropped to a whisper. "So you tell me, baby girl, are you a good girl, or are you a bad girl?"

Xara had spent years enjoying her goth aesthetic, even before moving into Ananke or the Genecorp learning institutions. She had always known she was the Heiress, and she had always known she was more important than most of her peers. Wealth and power were always her birthright, so she had always acted out, getting on her non-cursed teachers' nerves and teasing her classmates, then outright topping them the moment she was in the right college. Most weeks she just skipped class a day at a time and hung out with other bad girls.

She bit her lip, tried to build up her old defiance of authority. Somna might be her mother, but she, Xara, was the Heiress. Within a few years she stood to take over the secret capital of the word and tens of thousands of subservient slaves and officers. She could literally change the world like Ashe had only dreamed of doing. She was Xara, and she outranked every woman, man and AI pet in this entire city.

"I'm a good girl, mommy," she whimpered. Fuck.

"Good girl indeed." Somna laughed, leaning down further. "They grow up so fast."

Somna planted her lips on Xara's and her world faded again.