The hallways felt like they stretched on forever as Valia raced through them. She wasn’t used to everything being so empty. Even in the dead of night, there would usually be a few guards patrolling the area. But now? There wasn’t a soul to be found. It was deeply unnatural, and only put Valia on a higher alert. 

Leaving Cherisse behind went against every fibre of her instincts. Formally she was a maid, personally attending to the Princess, but it was no secret her duties ran deeper. Valia was a bodyguard, a spy, an aide in all things that would help her liege thrive. It had been her duty since she was young. And while she was never the one to shine in the spotlight, she was responsible for keeping Cherisse safe from any danger. Yet now, when the castle was in more danger than ever, she was abandoning the Princess to find other servants.

Logically she knew it was the right choice. Cherisse was hardly a helpless girl, and none of the royal family had the same connections with the staff. As much as she hated it, Valia knew she had the best chance of rounding up the other servants and guards. Queen Meredith knew it as well, which is why she had been chosen. Meredith or Cherisse would waste their time looking at the guard towers or the servants quarters. Valia knew better than to head for the obvious places. There was only one room in the castle that was guaranteed to have someone in it, any time of the day, regardless of the situation. The room she was currently racing towards. If nobody was there the entire castle was deserted.

Valia rounded the final corner and threw open the door to the kitchen. Her nose was immediately assaulted by the smell of burnt soup, which was rather uncommon from the chefs. The kitchen was never empty. Someone was either preparing food, cleaning up, or trying to steal an extra snack. Usually all three at the same time. But now, instead of the usual bustle, the room was startlingly empty.

A large pot was on the fire, filled with vegetables and spices and lumps she didn’t bother questioning. The water was simmering, but there wasn’t anyone attending to it. Valia carefully scanned the room, making sure she didn’t miss a thing. Someone had been here recently.

Her eyes locked on the corner. There was another person here, crouched down in the corner just out of sight. Valia drew her daggers, advancing slowly on the figure. It was moving in some sort of repetitive motion, but facing the corner, Valia couldn’t tell what exactly. Dagger in hand, she reached out and grabbed their shoulder, spinning them around to face her.

It was a serving girl. She was one of the new hires, so Valia didn’t know her name, but she recognized her face. Only there were a few things off about her. First of all, her eyes were vacant, hardly acknowledging Valia’s presence. Second of all, it was obvious what she had been doing in the corner. Underneath her maids dress her cock was out, and she was stroking it rapidly, letting drops of precum spill onto the floor.

Valia jumped back, yelping in surprise. There wasn’t even a hint of shame on the servant, who was still furiously rubbing herself in full view. “What is wrong with you? Dammit, we have a situation on our hands, and you’re just…” Her voice trailed off as she realised she wasn’t getting a response. Something was wrong with the girl, and her unnatural actions were proof. Valia decided to change her approach. “Why are you here? Where’s everyone else?”

“I’m preparing our meal. The soup needs a different sauce, and I’m nearly ready.” The girl’s voice was monotone, almost automatic. There was no emotion or indication that her words were out of the ordinary. 

It was getting too much for Valia. She was finding it difficult to think, and focusing was becoming difficult. She shook her head. “Don’t bother with that. Why are you adding this ‘sauce’ of yours anyway? Did you come up with that idea on your own?”

The girl shook her head. “It was ordered by Mistress Zenith. I can’t wait to meet her, and when I do everything needs to be perfect.” A chill ran down Valia’s spine. She should’ve known Zenith was behind this. She spun around, feeling the adrenaline rushing through, keeping an eye out for any hidden attacks. But it was only the two of them. 

“Wonderful, you’ve been brainwashed by Mistress Zenith,” Valia muttered. She was about to say something else, but paused when she noticed what she had said. She hadn’t meant to call her Mistress, but the word had slipped out on its own. A dark thought crossed her mind. Whatever had targeted the poor serving girl might still be spreading its influence. “Hey, do you remember when you started following Mistr… Zenith? What went through your mind?”

The serving girl had a lazy smile on her face. “It was slipping on a well fitting glove. I just started thinking about how nice it would be to serve Mistress, and the more I thought about it, the easier it became. Don’t you agree it would be nice to just let everything go and obey?”

The worst part was, Valia felt a part of herself agreeing with her. She knew it was a magical influence, that she was being corrupted as they spoke. But that didn’t make it easier to push back against its power. “Yeah, I guess I can see why…” Valia trailed off as the servant continued stroking herself. Would it really be so bad to join in?

She shook her head. “No, you’re wrong! I just… argh! Focusing on the task at hand was becoming more difficult at a scarily fast pace. She knew that the longer she took to find the source, the harder it would be to break free. Even knowing she needed to take immediate action wasn’t enough to fend off her new desires. All she wanted was to give in, to submit to Mistress Zenith and give up their resistance. Cherisse and the others would surely follow, and then everything would be just like it was in the first place.

The intrusive thoughts were getting harder and harder to ignore. Valia found herself desperately longing to give in. She could hear the call of Zenith, and she could feel it in her bones. The other girl was so happy, as a mindless, obedient slave. It wasn’t even too far-fetched for her. Wasn’t that essentially the same thing she’d been doing for Cherisse for years?

The thought of Cherisse awoke something in her. Her entire life, she’d been a servant, a handmaiden. Always expected to be proper and follow orders. Always expected to hold back her true feelings. Things had been awkward between the two of them recently, but only because Valia was finally honest with herself. But she hadn’t been honest with the Princess. If she fell here to Zenith’s trap, she might never get the chance. Everyone was counting on her, and it was her duty as the head maid to ensure they were all safely reunited.

With every ounce of willpower remaining, Valia focused on her training. The magic spell wasn’t just in the air, it was pulsating from somewhere. In between thoughts of submission and giving in to her lust was the chance to focus on where it came from. She tuned out the world, trying to pinpoint where the connection was.

Valia opened her eyes. She felt the tether. It was somewhere on the counter, hidden in the centre of the room. Valia strode over, knocking aside the pots and pans, trying not to scream as the voices in her head telling her to submit grew louder and louder. But then she saw it. Inside of a pot was a dark purple crystal, glowing with some sort of arcane magic. Without giving herself the chance to second guess anything, Valia drew her dagger and stabbed the crystal with all her might.

It shattered under the force of her strike. The crystal fractured and broke apart, tiny shards flying out across the room. The glowing stopped, and with it, the intrusive thoughts in her mind. Valia had done it. She had won. 

But the crystal wasn’t finished. After it shattered to pieces, something dark and sticky came flying out of the remnants. Valia flinched as it bubbled towards her, almost as if it had a mind of its own. She recognized it as the same substance Zenith had emerged from, and what Bellwyn had been coated in. With growing she figured out the same would likely happen to her. The latex blob flew towards her, and although she tried to avoid it, it honed in on her for a direct hit. There was a loud SPLAT as the black substance connected with her body.

Much like with Bellwyn, it began spreading across her body and her clothes at an alarming pace. Although she tried to scrape it off, anything Valia touched it with became coated as well. This thing wasn’t following the laws of physics either, since it was not only moving around in defiance of gravity, but the sheer mass was constantly increasing as well. 

It didn’t take long until everything below her neck was covered. Valia braced herself to be completely submerged, but much to her surprise, it never rose to her face. Instead, it appeared to be melting in with her clothes. She gasped as the cool material made contact with her skin, her soft undergarments being replaced by the firm latex. Valia had to admit it wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling. 

The rest of her outfit began to shimmer and change as well. Instead of coating her in a singular black bodysuit, it adapted to a form similar to the maid’s outfit she was wearing. To her own dismay, Valia saw the hem of her skirt creeping upwards while her shoes turned into tall heels. The waist cinched in to show off her bust. Before long she was dressed as a bizarre perversion of her normal uniform. It still clearly indicated she was a maid, but it was completely form-fitting and left her far more exposed than usual. Not to mention the reflective material was a clear indicator of Zenith’s handiwork.

“Well this is just great,” she muttered to herself. She tried using her daggers to cut away, but there was no give beneath her blade. Trying to pull the outfit off wasn’t working either. She had destroyed the crystal that threatened to control her mind, but the cost was her own bodily autonomy. 

At least it wasn’t all bad. Now she’d be able to talk to gather the servants and mount a proper defence. Valia turned to the serving girl, who hadn’t moved in quite some time. “Hey, are you alright? I know this is weird, but I need you to focus. The castle is in danger.” When the girl didn’t respond, Valia grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking. “Wake up! Whatever’s going on, you need to snap out of it and listen to me.”

The serving girl looked up at her, but not with the rapt attention of a free mind. Her gaze was just as cloudy and unfocused as before. “There’s no need to get all worked up,” she said in her slow voice. “Mistress Zenith will have plenty of room for everyone, and we can all serve her together. You’re lucky, you’re already dressed for the part.”

Valia wanted to scream. The rage and frustration was boiling inside of her, threatening to spill over the moment anything else went wrong. All that effort and she wasn’t even able to save a single person. If someone lost their mind to Zenith’s hypnotic spells, there was a chance they would never return. 

But there was still work to do. She knew why the rest of the staff were unavailable, and it was likely there were more of the same crystals around the castle. Her next priority would be to warn Cherisse and the Queen about the danger, as well as see if they had any magical countermeasures. If the guards were under Zenith’s spell, it was possible they would be hostile as well. Valia had to be prepared to fend off an army of her former colleagues.

It wasn’t going to be easy by any means, but it was still possible. All she had to do was reframe her own perspective. This was just another one of the Princess’s messes that she had to clean up, nothing more. After taking a deep breath, she sped out of the room as fast as she could on her wobbly heels. She paid no attention to the serving girl, who had resumed jerking off into the cauldron. This was a race against the clock, and although she was the first victim, Valia doubted she would be the last.