Nevidi, Goddess of the sea, Ruler of Foam, Artist of Waves, the Depth and the Coast was not what one would call a coward, by any stretch of the imagination. Many could (to some level of justice) call her temperamental, fickle and uncaring (what does the sea care for a few humans, after all?), some gods demons or heroes might even go so far as to use the term 'suggestible', but fear was not an emotion would associate with her demeanor, both graceful and terrible.

Yet, in her undersea palace, Nevidi felt... something.

She couldn't quite place the feeling that wafted about her seemingly as pristine as usual halls, her slimes ever as lively, her walls as respendescent... She'd wished for something to break the monotony, but that wasn't what she had in mind.

It was her home, her domain. But something felt off. Worse still, that distracting sensation of oddity was putting her off her work of drawing the currents and storms. She had to find the source of that issue and take care of it, she knew.

Getting up from her great throne, she dispatched her attending angels while sh conducted her own investigation. She felt watched, and she'd teach whoever dared scry on her that there were consequences for messing with godly power like hers... Already her hair was getting stormy, her steps carrying waves that would make a grizzled fisher faint.

First she looked through the Pit of Primordial Sludge... But there was nothing odd there.

She then looked through the Algae Arboreum... But life was ever the same.

Finally, she looked into her own bedroom, and froze in her steps. Right there on her bed, a letter, purple, sealed with a simple white, face-like wax seal. Nevidi looked about the room, her stormy eyes scanning the room quickly.

"If you are hiding, you'd do well to reveal yourself, it'll make your punishment perhaps less severe than what I am beginning to consider is appropriate."

But no one answered. Worse still, she couldn't *feel* anyone, even if she knew she was being watched...

Picking up the letter, Nevidi's feling of unease only grew as her delicate fingers touched the paper. It felt off, it felt... different, though she couldn't explain it. Even just being in contact made her have second thoughts, but something drove her on as she unsealed it, opening it and-

The world tore itself around her. There was no other way to explain it, as though the velvety fabric of the reality she knew had collapsed it on itself, had let her fall through...

To a room almost just like her own. But not her own, it didn't take a goddess to notice. It felt like the hues slowly changed to being more purple when she stopped paying attention to it, the architecture changing degree by degree...

And more obvious still, the dark sun that hung in the purple sky outside.

Nevidi knew this place. Or knew of it. Some in the pantheon had talked of that Intruder before, a trespasser from beyond reality...

Nevidi's fear sublimated into anger, letting out her roiling waves into the room, her etheral essence causing the world to shake around her, breaking some of the more fragile components of the room as she exclaimed "Think not that I'll be so easy, Purple One, I am wise to your tricks!"

But there was no answer. Nevidi frowned. She had to get out, she knew, to find the exit...

Though it did strike her in that moment, as her temper cooled and she looked about, that the room had no door. Where there should have been one only a wall remained, a mirror standing in front of it.

Her expression still an annoyed scowl, Nevidi leaned towards the glassy surface, confused. Was it some illusory trick? A door hidden-

Nevidi was a second too slow. A devious purple smile having formed behind her reflection, shimmering purple lights-

And she was chained. Or well, she herself wasn't, but her reflection was. And it was enough for her to be as well, her arms held behind her back as she struggled against them, her godly strength did allow her to feel them creaking, her anger causing her very aura to storm at her feet, maybe she could shatter the mirror's surface...

But the very room where she stood wouldn't allow it, her aura unable to expand out. This place was not Her Domain, and there was a limit to the hospitality she was shown.

Of course, she did not have much time to mull over it, as hands formed in the mirror, reaching for her reflection's temples, pushing in...

Her vision went purple as she gasped, sensations pushed into her head, images of great halls, a velvet feeling wrapping her mind...

Hands on her chest brought her back to reality as the Mirror's presence knead her chest, the Goddess resuming her struggling against the chains, just a bit more and they'd cra-

Another wave of Purple, further this time, deeper, she could feel her thoughts deform, like reflected in a funhouse mirror (how did she know what a funhouse was?), difficult to get a grasp of them as her chest was still kneaded, and another burst of Purple entered her head through her temples, phasing over her essence, taking ahold of it...

Nevidi had forgotten her anger now, her aura a placid sea, her mouth just a bit agape, drooling, her struggling now more cursory than anything, as wave after wave entered her mind, like dye dropped in a glass of water, her skin paling, turning ivory, her hair gaining a slight purple tint as her own eyes and lips changed to fit the Manor's color scheme...

She didn't know how long she'd stood there, her mind away on vacation, chest knead as she stared, stared at her own dumb reflection, her mind changed, reframed, modified... But finally an outside voice spoke.

"My apologies for the time I took, Honored Guest. It appears as though-"

The voice spoke, out of her sight, only ribbons at the edge of the reflection indicating the presence's existence.

"Ah, of course, I suppose considering the Desire you held, it was only natural the Mirror would get to you first, although you do not appear displeased."

Nevidi offered no answer, still staring at herself, as more Purple filled her mind. The voice continued nonetheless.

"If my libraries serve right, yours was a Desire for a Change. I suppose that such has already taken place, although you are not yet ready to return. The Manor has Provided to you, Change has come, it is only natural that you return the favor, no?"

Nevidi's mouth remained slightly open, the Manor... the Purple... all of it had invaded her now, she felt as though she was, always had been a part of it, it was hard, impossible to imagine otherwise as her lips moved of their own accord.

"...The Manor Provides..."

The presence was pleased, she knew it deep in her heart, through the connection she felt...

"Good. Then let us get you in uniform."

Befor Nevidi could think to wonder, a fine, graceful mask was applied to her face, its etheral ribbons sinking into her mind, binding her in the state of Purple Bliss she had been brought to, the Mirror finally releasing its chains as the Goddess was wreathed and cocooned in a thick silken mass of ribbons...

And in an instant it was gone. Where the Goddess had stood, now there was a Maid, tall, graceful, properly uniformed with a knee-length skirt and apron, in white and purple, mask covering the upper part of her face, her long, flowing hair turning misty at the halfway point of her back, causing a slight fog to ever linger at her feet.

The Host spoke with a clear voice, but it was more of a formality. Nevidi could feel every Desire and Whim going through her head, without a word spoken.

"The Manor Provides, Maid. Now, off to the poolside with you, I am certain your expertise may be used there, it'd be a shame if we had another Guest lost to the Deep Self... It is always ever so bothersome to have to remove the brainwashing."

Nevidi nodded, curtsying as she spoke with an equal, eager voice "The Manor Provides!"

With that, she left to attend her tasks, to Please Guests and Provide to Desires...

Left alone near the Mirror, the Host, Kay, turned to it. "I expect more courtesy to our Guests, you always are ever too much in a hurry."

Their reflection stared, then shrugged. "...It was going to happen either way, and it's not like either of us disliked it."

The Manor's Host sighed "I suppose such is true, but there are reasons I am certain that planebound ones go through niceties."

The Mirror snickered "Well, still, no harm in having fun once in a while, Me!"

With that, the reflection walked away.

Idly, Kay took a moment to think, before nodding "I suppose that there is no harm in enjoying my own maids. A swim sounds pleasant, right about now."

The Goddess would be returned, in time. To those outside the Manor, it'd barely be a minute before she returned.

To her, it'd be a pleasant dream, one she might just wander back to, when the stars were right...

A dream of Purple, a dream of Servitude.