Saphira twirled down the wide, luminous corridor, her footsteps echoing on the stone walls and floor. Her dark skin and long, platinum hair stood out beautifully against the white marble. She basked in the serene silence of her majestic home. Saphira had lived in the surreal cathedral alone for millennia, watching over the mortal realm and protecting it. Hers had been a lonely existence, but one Saphira cherished. She took solace in her work protecting the mortals, even if relatively few of them ever knew of her involvement, but that had all changed recently.

Ever since Fractal had breached the Sanctum and stolen the artifacts from her, Saphira had been trying to do things differently. She stopped in the corridor and shivered. The memories of that night still haunted her. Sometimes she would wake in the darkness, dreaming of that faceted, reflective mask of his. She remembered staring into it and losing herself in the endless reflections, her thoughts slowly shimmering away into oblivion. It had felt delicious. She had been helpless to resist him. Her hand delivered a quick slap to her own cheek. The sting broke the reverie.

She continued on towards her personal chambers and reminded herself that things had changed. She had help now, people she trusted with her life. Saphira had already worked with Freya, the Valkyrie out of time. Together, they had assembled a team of promising young heroes. Saphira had hoped they could resist the siren songs of the artifacts themselves as well as Fractal’s control. So far they had lived up to her hopes and more.  

They had started with Twister, real name Maria, an elastic hero with so much heart. Next they had picked up Sam, a troubled young man with psychic powers. He often doubted himself, but Saphira saw great good in him. Allison had come as something of a surprise. After freeing her from Fractal’s control, the demon possessed woman insisted on helping them. She had been so earnest, Saphira just didn’t have the heart to turn her away. Finally they added CS-01, a cyborg who had inadvertently stumbled onto one of the artifacts. She could seem cold sometimes, but Saphira knew there was a warm soul under that metal skin. Saphira felt so grateful for each and every one of them. People like them made protecting the mortals all these years feel so very worthwhile.

Even so, Saphira still appreciated her alone time. She reached the entrance of her chambers and opened the ornate wooden door, not bothering to close it. After all, there was no one here to listen in. Twister, Freya and CS-01 had all taken to staying at their homes, while Sam and Allison were off on a date.

She had finished interrogating The Mind Hacker and sealed him away in the void beyond time. He only knew that Fractal had sent him and Euphoria after Twister and Freya as some kind of retribution. Apparently it had something to do with Sam, but getting to the bottom of that could wait. For a few precious hours, Saphira had the place to herself. That meant she could indulge in one of her guilty pleasures, earth soap operas.

Saphira pulled a bottle of wine from her personal collection. This one had come from the king of France, after she helped him suppress a plague in the 1500s. It had been one of the Louie’s, though Saphira couldn’t recall which. They all blurred together.

The Sanctum’s existence in a pocket dimension allowed Saphira to hold onto things that would have spoiled long ago in the mortal realm. Time flowed differently inside these walls. She had kept the bottle for centuries, but Saphira felt like treating herself tonight. Things had been going so well. Working together, their band had recovered almost all the artifacts. Only Meringjord, the collar, was still unaccounted for. As the artifacts went, Meringjord was one of the less dangerous. It dominated the wearer completely, but could only affect one person at a time.

Saphira curled up in her massive bed, swaddling herself in the white, silk sheets. They had been a token of gratitude from Emperor Wanli after she’d saved Ming China from a rampaging dragon. That was back in the age of dragons, of course. Saphira felt the tension melting from her muscles in the warmth of her bed. She set down the wine and clicked on the TV. A few more clicks and she returned to where she had left off in Specialist Hospital.

*“Charles please speak to me! Your silence stings my very soul,” Elinor whimpered on the screen, holding back tears.

After a moment of tense silence, the man turned to face her, his silver mustache curled in a frown. “But that’s just it Elinor, I’m not Charles. I never was! I’m his twin brother Randal.”

An organ sting pierced the air. “But . . . But . . . That can’t be! Then the night of passion we shared . . .”

“Yes, it was with me. It was me, Randal, all along!”*

Saphira chuckled. “Oh Elinor, she really should have seen that coming. There’s always an evil twin. It’s the oldest twist in the book.” Saphira took a sip of her wine, savoring the bitter sweetness.

She found a strange comfort in these programs. Specialist Hospital had been on the air for sixty five years. Of course, sixty five years was still a blink in the span of Saphira’s life. Nonetheless, she found such a long-running program to be reassuring. It spoke to the continuity of human culture.

*Randal placed his hand on Elinor’s lower back. “Don’t you see, Elinor? Charles never loved you. But I do.”

Elinor threw herself into Randal’s arms. “Oh Randal you’re right. I’ve been a fool. I love you, not Charles.”

“Oh Elinor. At last we can be together.”

“No Randal, our love must be a secret. Charles must never know,” Elinor sobbed.

“Must never know what?” Charles’s voice echoed across the set.

Randal and Elinor turned with shocked gasps as the organ played.

“Specialist Hospital will be back after these messages,” the narrator said.*

Saphira took another sip of wine. What a wonderful episode. Charles and Randal were finally coming head to head. Saphira secretly hoped Elinor would pick Randal. He was the evil one, but he was so much more fun than Charles. What was wrong with having a bad boy every once in a while? Saphira couldn’t help but let her mind wander again.

While Fractal’s break in had been a disgraceful failure, it had also been strangely pleasurable. The memories of his touch on her mind sent tingles down her spine. Guarding the mortal realm was lonely work. While her new compatriots brought her some company, they couldn’t satisfy all her needs, and she did have needs. Being an immortal embodiment of light and virtue didn’t change that.

It had been a moment of weakness, albeit satisfying weakness. He had just been so soothing. It had been so relaxing to let her thoughts and responsibilities melt away. Saphira never thought she would enjoy that sensation so much. But in the moment it had been simply wonderful. She felt a warmth building between her legs as she remembered.

Maybe it was the five hundred year old wine talking, but she could indulge a little bit. Her show was on commercial after all. She muted the TV and then let her hand drift under the sheets. She had no thoughts then, no worries, just a warm drifting pleasure. Her own arousal surprised her. The wetness came on so quickly. Her body began to tremble. It all happened so quickly. The small heat built into a blazing inferno of desire, burning through her restraint, burning away her stress. Her hips shook under the sheets as she came. It felt so good to have a release, a little something for herself. No one needed to know how hot she had found that moment.

“You really miss me, don’t you?” The deep, distorted voice carried in from the hallway. A moment later, an imposing figure strode into the room. He wore a dark trench coat and a curious helmet. A mirrored, faceted visor covered the face and curved up over the top of the head, all wrapped by a silver band.

Saphira sat up with a start. “Fractal? This isn’t real,” she gasped

“I assure you, I’m very real. You made me wait so long, I almost ran out of time. But here we are, just like you wanted,” his distorted voice answered through the helmet.

“Like I wanted?”

“Yes of course. Your subconscious brought me here. You must have wanted to see me again, and badly. Don’t lie to yourself. We both know what you really think.”

The immortal woman trembled. Her fantasies just now must have triggered the hall of mirrors to bring him here. They responded to her will. She had been a fool to indulge. “How do you know what I want?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m inside your head. I have been ever since that night,” Fractal replied coolly, advancing toward the bed.

“W-W-What? No that’s impossible. You got the better of me, but I’ve been free of your influence since then. I’m sure of it,” she stammered.

The masked man’s slow advance continued unbothered. “But don’t you think you’re a little too sure of it?”

Saphira’s face paled. “No that can’t be.”

“Oh you haven’t been fully under my control, I couldn’t maintain that without using the rest of my strength. I’ve just been a voice in the back of your head, whispering sweet fantasies of submission to your deepest self, slowly twisting your desires to suit my whims.”

Suddenly it all clicked for Saphira. All her strange behavior the last few months made perfect sense, the day dreams about this villain, the longing to surrender control, the obsession with sex. “It was you. You’re the reason I’ve been feeling so strange. You’re putting these ideas in my head!” Saphira began to glow as an unnatural light emanated from her dark skin.

“If you throw a few logs on a burning fire, does that make you an arsonist? I’ve been suggesting ideas to your deep self, but you didn’t have to take those suggestions. Your mind chose to accept them, just like it will choose to surrender to me again.”

Saphira spiraled. His words couldn’t be true, could they? Surely the ideas to surrender to him were all Fractal’s work. He was trying to trick her, had to be. He wanted her to see his suggestions as her own ideas. Her own subconscious didn’t truly yearn to be enslaved, right? The glow of her powers faltered. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve been doing to me. I can still stop you here!” Her arm extended, a brilliant ball of light gathering in her palm.

Fractal ignored her hostility. “But if you attack me now, you’ll never learn what I’m really up to. I’m just here to talk. I know you’ve been baffled by my machinations. Can you really afford to let this chance slip away? No you should talk to me. You want to talk to me.”

He was right. If Saphira attacked now she’d never learn anything, and he definitely wouldn’t fuck her, which would be even worse. She noticed it there, his touch on her mind. Everything he said made far too much sense, her desire was building too desperately. “No! I will not be swayed by your manipulations!” she yelled. The light in her palm became as bright as a gleaming sun beam. It erupted towards Fractal in a ray of searing heat.

He tried to jump out of the way, but still the beam grazed his shoulder. His cry of pain became wail of static through his voice distortion. “Greedy. I was . . . too greedy, trying to do this without my full power,” he muttered. Then his helmet began to move. The mirrored visor receded into its frame and then the frame unclasped and clattered to the ground.

Finally Saphira got a look at him. The dark eyes, the square jaw. He looked just like Sam, well almost. The lines of age marked his face, streaks of gray peppered his dark hair, but otherwise he looked just like her young ally. Saphira kicked herself mentally. There was always an evil twin. She should have seen it coming.

“Now say, you’re sorry,” The evil Sam commanded. His voice was clear and confident without the distortion of his helmet. Saphira felt the dampness grow between her legs.

“I’m sorry,” her lips answered before she could even think. Yet she did feel terrible about her outburst. Fractal had come here for a civil conversation and she had attacked him. She had been such a bad girl, she would need to let him punish her. No! Those thoughts weren’t her own. Saphira could feel Fractal’s once subtle influence in her mind building into an overwhelming pressure. Her own shrinking consciousness felt so quiet and small compared to his commanding presence. She had to buy time, had to find a way out. “Please let’s talk,” she whimpered.

“That’s better,” Fractal said, picking himself up. He removed his trench coat and sat beside her on the bed.

Saphira swooned at his closeness. She felt positively giddy to be so near and on her bed no less. Just one little tug and he’d be on top of her. No! He was manipulating her. She shouldn’t be thinking about him sliding so effortlessly inside her, filling her up so completely. She cleared her throat. “So what did you want to talk about?” the immortal asked nervously.

“I came here to ask for your help, Saphira. You do help people, don’t you?” he replied calmly.

Saphira felt a wave of relief. If that was all he desired, this wouldn’t be so bad. “Yes of course!”

“You see Saphira, I don’t have much time left to live. I’m an artificial human, just like Sam. I was engineered to have mental powers and use them to conquer the world for the Foundation, but I escaped too. My real name is Subject Alpha Iota. I guess by Sam’s system that would make my name Sai. I’m an earlier draft than he is. My powers are much more . . . intense, but my body can’t handle them. When I use my true strength, I age rapidly. The helmet slows the process at the expense of dampening my abilities.”

Saphira could see the truth of his words. A few hairs were turning to grey before her very eyes. Suddenly she felt awful for making him use his full power on her. She should have let him talk without making him use so much of his powers on her.

“That’s why I needed the artifacts. That’s why I’ve been relying on useless fools instead of crushing your little band myself, and that’s why I need you Saphira,” he said turning to face her.

Heat flooded her cheeks. “You need me? What do you need me for?” Her head swam with possible answers, each one more perverse than the last. The tiny voice of resistance was drowning under the weight of her fantasies.

“I know we’ve had our differences, but you wouldn’t want me to die from decay would you?” It didn’t sound like a question.

“No I’d never want that!” She gasped.

“So you’ll help me save myself then?” he placed a hand on her leg, and looked at her with a surprising level of tenderness.

“Yes of course!” Saphira answered right away, heartbeat pounding. She would help, however she could. “How do we do that?”

“I need to consume Sam’s consciousness. The device I stole from Barton labs will allow me to connect our minds directly. Then I can break him and transfer my consciousness to his body. His form is better designed to handle the strain of our powers than mine. Once I have it, I’ll be saved. That’s all.”

“Oh, what would happen to young Sam?” Saphira asked, her voice breathy and shaking.

“He’ll cease to exist. He’d become a small part of my greater self. It would have been easier if he came around to my view on our powers. The more aligned our minds are, the easier it would be for me to assimilate him. Unfortunately, you and your friends have been a bad influence on him.”

Saphira’s mind roiled. She wanted to help Sai, so badly. But could she really betray Sam, betray the confidence of all her friends? She lived to help people, so she should help. But was she really helping if it meant hurting someone else? And Sam had come so far. Saphira could feel the pressure to surrender and obey. But the tiny, free part of her rebelled. She placed a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder. “I’m sorry Sai, but I can’t do that,” she said with remorse. “Althouh that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. We can find another way to save you!” She offered as a tinge of her sing-song optimism crept back into her voice.

He scoffed. “There is no other way, Saphira. It’s me or him.”

“No. That’s not true!” The inspiration came to her in a flash. It would be so easy, so simple. “I can imprison you in the void beyond time!” Saphira cried out happily.

“I’m not seeing how that would help,” Sai replied dryly.

“Don’t you understand? Time doesn’t pass there. We could keep you in stasis until we can find a cure. Dr. Ward is brilliant! I’m sure she could come up with a remedy for your condition with enough time. You’d be in a fugue state. For you, it would be like no time had passed at all. You don’t have to hurt anyone, Sai. We can save you!” Saphira could still feel his tug on her thoughts, but she felt like herself again. She could do this! She could save him without hurting anyone! Everyone had good inside them if you could just bring it out. Surely Sai didn’t want to hurt people, he was just scared for his life.

He was quiet, staring off into space for a moment. “I had never considered that,” he whispered.

Saphira wrapped her arms around Sai and pulled him in for a reassuring embrace. “It’s ok. You don’t have to do this alone anymore. You can trust me. I’m sure the others will understand once they learn the truth. We’ll all help you,” she pled.

“You would do that for me? After everything I’ve done to you and your friends?”

“Don’t you see, Sai? You can always choose to be different. Just because you’ve hurt people in the past doesn’t mean you can’t help them in the future. What you’ve done doesn’t define you. Think of all the good you could do with your powers.”

Sai’s breathing grew stilted. It almost seemed like he was holding back tears. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity. Then he finally broke the silence. “Ok. Ok, let’s do it.”

“Oh joyous day! You won’t regret this, I promise,” Saphira squealed.

He raised his head from her shoulder and looked into her golden eyes. “But first, can we just share this moment together?” He leaned in for a kiss and Saphira didn’t pull away. His lips were surprisingly soft and his appetite intense. Saphira tried to remember the last time she had kissed a mortal, but abandoned the effort. That had been long, long ago in another life. She had never been kissed like this. Her mind raced with desire. She knew he was using his powers to augment her arousal, but that only made it all the better.

Sai’s hands found the hem of her dress and began pulling it over her head. Saphira raised her arms and let the soft, white fabric slip away. Her ebony skin already glistened with sweat. The scent of her longing filled the room now. Her fingers quickly removed Sai’s shirt.

“You’re incredible,” Sai whispered in her ear, as he lowered her onto her back.

Saphira blushed and let herself be repositioned. She spread her legs for him. As a being of pure light, she couldn’t get pregnant from a mortal. She knew she had nothing to fear.

“Here, I want you to enjoy this,” Sai coaxed, gently brushing his fingers against her clit.

The force of his powers slammed into her mind. She shuddered as she felt him already inside of her. Saphira knew he had barely touched her. But her body was convinced he was deeper than she had ever felt before. Every inch, every tender nerve blazed to life. Her hips bucked hungrily in the air, trying to pull the phantom cock even further into her.

It was as though he were responding to every desire as soon as it occurred to her. The rhythm, the angle, the pressure were all perfect. The strain of resistance had already worn Saphira’s restraint down to practically nothing. Whether the fantasies were truly her own or simply an illusion, it didn’t change her yearning for them. Still, the real thing far exceeded anything she had imagined. Saphira let her eyes roll back, the pleasure finally overcoming her. The orgasm was the best she’d had in centuries.  

Saphira sighed happily as the unbelievable euphoria faded to a low thrum of heady delight. She had really succeeded. She had saved the day and done it with kindness and empathy. She didn’t have to hurt a mortal soul, and she’d managed to get laid too. Not bad for a day’s work.

Then she heard the click.

Her sleepy eyes drifted open. The first thing she saw was Sai leaning over her, smiling. But there was something else, something on her leg, a dark band. Her vision cleared as the orgasm receded, and she finally recognized Meringjord, the collar, the last artifact wrapped snuggly around her thigh. Her eyes full of hurt and betrayal rose to meet his. “Sai, why?”

“You really are incredible Saphira. No one’s ever offered to help me like that before. But you have to understand, I can’t possibly trust you and I certainly can’t trust your friends. As soon as you had me sealed away, there would be nothing to stop you from leaving me there.”

The hurt swelled inside of her and then popped like a shimmering soap bubble. She struggled to hold onto the feeling of resentment, but it slipped through her grasp, and new feelings came to take its place.

Of course, Saphira did understand now. She could feel the collar bending her will. Everything Sai said was the obvious truth, the only truth that mattered anymore. The arguments against it still looped in her mind, but they seemed irrelevant now. Her ideas were only useful if he wanted them. If her Master didn’t want to be sealed away, then he wouldn’t be. It was that simple. “I understand,” she replied.

“Now we have a lot to do before your little team returns. I trust your qualms about my original plan have resolved themselves,” he prodded.

“Yes, of course, Master.” Saphira felt ridiculous having ever questioned her Master’s perfect plan. She still felt pity for Sam. A part of her wanted to scream, wanted to warn him, wanted to do anything, but that voice had lulled to an almost imperceptible whisper. His sacrifice would be a small price to pay to please her Master.

“But, we should have enough time to finish what we started,” Fractal said, pressing his weight down against her.

“Gladly, Master,” Saphira cooed, ecstatic to offer her body to him. She pulled the sheets around them, blocking out the light of the outside world. Saphira kissed him deeply as the darkness swallowed her.