“Are you in need of my help?” Princess Ida's smug whisper echoed in Gretel's head as she smiled at him, tilting her head to one side. Her expression was as pure and innocent as pouring sugar. Sugar was also the first thing he thought of when gazing upon her beautiful, shimmering skin. The fey’s form was radiant, dazzling. Even her curly pink hair made him think of fairy floss, and even it sparkled with tiny golden stars. Her low-hanging string-strap black dress formed the night sky to those stars, encouraging him to only look where there was skin bared. And there was... more skin bared than not.

Gretel swallowed and forced his gaze back to the grass. “I... yes. Do you know the way?”

“Hmm.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ida’s finger go to her pale red lips. “You know, one might think it's, like, somewhat rude to not address a lady by her title~”

Gretel's cheeks burned. “Yes. Sorry. Um, Princess Ida.”

“Uh-huh?”

Gretel gritted his teeth and forced himself to look her in the eye. Her eyes were such a pretty hue of turquoise, flickering beneath fluttering lashes. "Princess Ida, could you please tell me where to—would you please tell me how to get back to the main path?"

She tossed her hair back, eyes sparkling like light in the deepest depths of the ocean. “Oh, you wish for my help? That's soo awfully cute. Gosh, I suppooose I might know a way out.” She pouted. “But I didn’t hear the, like, magic word~”

Gretel looked away. Her eyes were... overwhelming. “Please?”

“You don’t wish to look me in the eyes?" She gave a clear, melodic laugh. "Am I sooo beautiful? Are you starstruck, stupid boy?”

“I just—”

“Perhaps you should just avoid looking at my eyes,” she cooed. She bobbed back and forth, her cleavage jiggling with every flick of her hips. “Perhaps that's simply eeeasier, given I'm soooo unbreathably gorgeous~!”

“I don't—” Gretel bit back the words. He didn't want to risk even looking at her hands. Every part of her glittered. He almost wanted to turn his back on her—stuck in the pool as she was, she couldn’t do anything if he kept his distance and didn’t look. But there were pools everywhere, evidently connected under the ground. There was nowhere to avert his gaze to.

Besides, she might think it was rude.

He needed her directions. He needed to her tell him where to go.

Gretel finally relented, allowing himself to focus on Ida’s forehead. Her hair sparkled so beautifully in the twilight.

“That's better.” She giggled. “Not that it could matter. I'm, like, totally gorgeous, am I not? Every inch of me.” Her hands ran over her body, cupping her breasts, caressing her slender waist, groping her wide hips. Gretel's breath caught as he realized his eyes were already following the motions. No. No.. “And a dumb boy like you just can't help himself. You're totally prepared to allow me the advantage.”

“I…” Gretel swallowed. He took a step back. This was a mistake. There was no way to negotiate with her. He turned around, resolving to just get out of the clearing and find his way back on his own.

He heard a splash. A split-second later, something slick and sinuous looped three times around his ankle—and drew taut.

Gretel looked down in shock to see a thick tentacle, pulsating with rosy light. He felt tiny suckers smacking against his skin like wet, indulgent kisses.

Gretel whirled to face her, his eyes widening. The Princess’s whole body glittered as she laughed. The tentacle pulled slightly, forcing him to step closer to Ida once more.

His lips parted, but his voice faltered. “P-Please don't.”

Gretel was in danger. He’d thought—but Ida wasn’t just any siren, she was a cuttlemaid. He'd read something about them once. He couldn’t remember what. This was bad. Very, very bad.

“Oh, now you find your manners for ‘please’.” She pouted, then smirked, tilting her head brattily to the side. Her hand slid down, and Gretel gasped as he felt her fingers brushing his thigh through Limini's tight leggings. She smiled wickedly. “I would hear pretty-please cross those pretty lips~”

He stared at her. His heartrate was beginning to slow in spite of his fear. The sucker-'kisses' on his ankle began to rise up his leg. Her body shimmered with unearthly fae light, and she was just so… pretty. But he couldn't... he needed to…

“P-Pretty…”

Her hand drifted to his lap, and her fingertip drew circles around his tip. He let out a pathetic little gasp.

Her grin widened, and the Princess grabbed him by the hand and yanked him off his feet, pulling him in one brisk motion straight into the pool.

Gretel’s face struck the water, and the trance broke.

Gretel’s mind had been far under. Deeper than he'd realized. But the shock of the cold jolted him to awareness, and panicked adrenaline shot through his body as he plunged into crystalline waters.

He lunged for his symbol and carved seven glyphs of protection into the water around him. An electric thrum passed through him as the glyphs burned into a blazing force field constructed around his body.

With all his focus, still gripping the glyphs with body and mind, Gretel focused his power and forced the field to erupt outward. The field forced the tentacle around his ankle to loosen and fall away, forced her hand on his wrist to lose its grip. The power of magic rang in his ears, and everything else went still.

Gretel hung in a bubble of fresh air within freezing water, suspended within his magic. For the moment, he was safe.

But the Princess was right beneath him.

And now he understood just what he'd allowed to bait him in.

From the waist down, Princess Ida's beautiful body gave way to ten shimmering hot pink tentacles, cotton-candy pink, the same pink as her beautiful hair. And down here… down here, her hair shimmered and twinkled and drifted idly to and fro in the water like time was slowed down just for her. A beautiful halo of bubblegum pink, slowed down to allow everyone else a chance to admire it.

And there were others around to admire it. They swam in the open water down here, a great underground lake with only these sparing pools as windows to the surface, and Gretel could hear them laughing, see them drifting through the crystalline blue depths—cuttlemaids, yes, their whole forms shimmering and sparkling and flashing with too many colors to hold in his head at once, but mostly others, waifish minnowmaids and long, slender eelmaids and others he couldn't name, a host of brightly-colored sirens. All laughing at him.

This was the Princess's court.

Princess Ida, for her part, was pouting. Her new pet was out of her reach, and Gretel was not letting the bubble waver even a second until he was back on land. She looked exceedingly miffed. “No fair,” she whined, giving an irritated flick to two of her longer tentacles. Her voice had a pleasant resonant quality under the water. "You're such a total tease."

“Yes, well.” Gretel folded his arms. “I'm not the one who went and pulled me in, am I?”

“Like you weren’t asking for it.” She gave a sulky sigh. "Just go."

She turned away, and Gretel felt a wave of relief so intense he nearly shivered. Thank the gods.

He put his finger on his mark and worked the spells to lift the bubble back to shore.

A shiver passed through the bubble around him. He froze.

The ringing in his ears spiked into a splitting headache. Brilliant sparks erupted around him. Instinct took over. Gretel lunged out, physically and mentally, grabbing hold on the glyphs just as they were about to shatter. He felt them pulse, tremble, and he tightened his grip.

Gripping the magic was physically exhausting. It was like trying to hold apart two magnets, or maybe pushing two alike magnets together. He dug in his power, grunting, forcing magic through his body and out into the shuddering field.

The bubble stabilized. The headache subsided. He sucked in a deep breath, blinking rapidly. His outstretched arms tingled as they held the field intact round him.

He’d overexerted himself. He didn’t understand it. Of course water control was difficult, and of course the Continuity Paradox made even the slightest spell of self-levitation exhausting, but… but he could usually do much more than this. Surely he’d rested long enough to muster at least a fraction of his full strength.

But he’d been resting, he remembered, in a holstaur’s arms.

Had drinking Marise’s milk… done something? Drained him somehow?

His swimming vision slowly came into focus, and he realized Princess Ida was staring at him in confusion.

The rich bimbo brat blinked.

And the smug grin of glee that spread across her angelic face bared her cute little fangs.

“Why, Gretel,” she cooed, tossing her hair back so it formed a perfect glowing halo behind her head, every inch of her a sparkling prism of light, “you wouldn’t happen to be, like, stuck, would you?”

“I-I’m fine.” Gretel was breathing heavily, stumbling over his words. He just needed a minute to recover. Just a few more seconds. Just had to buy time. “I just…”

“Oh, certainly!” She giggled. The other mermaids around him echoed her laughter. The Princess pouted her luscious lips, eyes sparkling. “You could leave at, like, any time you pleased. You only wish to take a moment longer to…” She swayed her whole body to the left, flashing, strobing pink tentacles trailing behind her. “... stare~”

“I—” Gretel’s breath caught. He knew he needed to close his eyes, but he had to make sure she stayed away from the bubble, had to be alert to any counterspell. Had to keep watch.

Had to look.

Had to…

… had… to…

… stare?

Gretel’s mind thrashed and jerked free of the trance. No. No, that was the last thing he could risk doing right now.

He couldn’t risk even glancing at her flashing, glittering body.

Not at her beautiful shimmering eyes, her strobing tentacles, her sparkling lips.

Not at her breasts as they bounced free of the dress, as the dress melted away like shadows in the sun, and her whole body was on display…

… not at her luscious, curvy hips, even as they swayed back and forth like a pendulum with her every movement…

“No,” he murmured. “No, I, um…”

“Yes?” She tilted her head to the side. She was so adorable, so sweet, so bitchy, so… sparkly…

They were such pretty sparkly pink lights flashing into his eyes.

Gretel snapped back into focus as he realized the bubble was sinking down towards her. His grip on the glyphs had started to go limp.

Gretel strained to pull the bubble back up, but this only exhausted him worse. Panting, he had to abandon the effort. How far had he lost? A foot?

“What is it?” Ida asked sweetly.

“What?”

“Liiike…” She licked her lips. “... you were saying something, were you not?”

She reached down and squeezed her breasts against one another, giving them a playful bounce. It was like watching them in slow-motion as they slowly squished together and then jiggled back into place.

The strobing pink light seemed to slow down. Intensify.

“I… I…”

“Tell us,” sang the melodic voices of the other mermaids, swimming around to encircle him. Their tails were of every hue. Some had glowing eyes, or fin-like ears, or even horns. And they were all so… so pretty. As they laughed at him. Mocked him. Teased him. “Tell us, stupid boy~”

“Boys are so oafish,” chirped a brunette to a friend.

“Indeed! And soooo simple.” A redhead beamed at him, bouncing her own tits. “Easy for any girl to take control of, really~”

“N-Nuh…” Gretel blushed, struggling to take his eyes off of them. But he was trapped. His arms and legs were spread-eagled to manage the spell, putting him on full display. His mark was starting to tingle. The magic was returning. Just a few more seconds.

“Such a dumb, simple boy,” Princess Ida cooed, lifting her tentacles and wafting up towards him as they streamed pink light behind her. She came right up to the bubble, even as he gave an involuntary moan of protest and fear, and smiled at him. Her entire body, with such indulgent curves, was glittering and flashing like a sunset. A blush-pink sunset with light that pulsed in and out, in and out, as clouds streamed past it.

And he was drowning. Drowning in light. The beautiful, vivid, shimmering, strobing bimbo-pink light of the Cuttlemaid Princess.

She looked like an angel. Gretel almost believed she was.

She squeezed her tits together again. The pulsing light seemed to slow down as they squished, drawing to a long, intense blaze… and speeding up to a dazzling flicker as they jiggled free.

Ida giggled.

Gretel realized he’d started unconsciously bucking.

All the mermaids were laughing, cooing, squealing with giggles. The entire court of pretty girls mocking him. His whole body felt hot. He was so horny. His cock was straining against his leggings. She was so pretty. They were all so pretty.

He couldn’t hold on. The magic was flowing back into him, but his arms were sore, and the bubble was getting harder and harder to focus on… harder and harder… harder… harder…

Everything went black.

Pitch black.

Dead black.

Gretel blinked rapidly. For a split-second, he thought he’d passed out.

But he could still feel his energy straining from the spell. He wasn’t unconscious. All sound had become muted, but he swore he could still hear the mermaids.

They weren’t laughing anymore.

Were those… screams?

Something gripped his ass. Groped his ass. A soft hand with long, elegant fingers. Gretel squirmed, but the hand followed him. Long nails raked daintily across sensitive skin, forcing out a gasp. How had it gotten past…

He turned, but all was black. Another hand was suddenly there, trailing up his side with the back of a sharp nail, and terror took over. If that finger touched his sigil now… It was coming closer to his neck, closer, closer…

It stopped at his shoulder. Warm breath tickled his ear, and Gretel heard a voice that reverberated and echoed as if whispered over an open glass bottle.

“Little rabbits shouldn’t talk to foxes.”

A tongue flicked against his earlobe. He trembled. He’d realized that those sounds from the mermaids weren’t screams of fear.

They were squeals of delight.

Melodic moans and breathless cries echoed up to him from the darkness.

“Look for black dahlias.”

The finger touched the white sigil tattooed on his neck. Gretel cried out, bucking in bliss, as unspeakable power suddenly flowed into the very most sensitive part of his body.

The touches vanished. Gretel’s head spun.

A moment later, he recognized what he’d just been given. It was power. She’d gifted him with power.

Gretel rallied all his magic to him and surged for the surface.

The bubble erupted from the water like a tidal wave, popping the second he was in the air. Gretel flew through the air and landed facefirst in the grass.

The darkness was gone. He lay there for a moment, panting for breath. He swore he could hear echoing feminine laughter from below, but this soon faded. He was left alone in the glade.

“Aw, there you are~”

Gretel’s heart sank.

He looked up to see Marise—beautiful, voluptuous Marise, her tits fully out, her smile beatific—holding the figurine out to him.

“Did you forget this?” she cooed down at him.

“N-No,” Gretel whimpered.

The holstaur just smirked. She reached down and took his hand. He was too weak to resist, even as he tried to pull away, to rise to his feet.

With an air of finality akin to an execution, Marise placed the figurine into his open hand.

It was almost a relief when pure, sweet exhaustion took over, and with no more choice in the matter, every muscle in Gretel’s body went perfectly limp. Luckily, Marise was there to catch him and pull him into her warm, soft embrace.

“There’s a good boy,” she cooed, her voice laced with pleasure, as she carried him back towards the campfire… and the cheesecake she’d baked for him. “Now, let’s get you a nice, big breakfast.” She guided his lips to her nipple, and unthinkingly, as if by pure instinct—or training—he began to suckle. He could feel the magic he’d been gifted leaking away from him with every suck, and it felt so wonderful to let a pretty girl win…

“And then,” she said sweetly, stroking his hair, “we can take you to see Her~”

Gretel could only moan in reply. He couldn’t tell if he was objecting or pleading for more.