As she was working on that ball of light, Minoko was happily in the kitchen cooking up some lunch. Strangely, the fox girl had been having urges to make healthy home cooked meals, and much to Cloud’s delight she discovered Minoko had a real knack for cooking. Cloud figured it was just part of how her mind works. Minoko had always been good with her hands, but normally she used her skills and scientific mind to craft various devices. Since Cloud started living with her, Minoko has found herself more focused on her studies, no longer eating out, and enjoying doing menial tasks like cooking and cleaning. “Lunch will be ready soon, babe.”

Hearing that Cloud let go of her concentration on the ball of light and fell to lay on her back. “Fuuuuuck.” She was breathing heavily from the arduous task. “I’ll take a quick shower, foxy-pet.”

The comment caused Minoko’s tail to wag softly. She didn’t reply, but Cloud could feel her blush. As Cloud stripped out of her workout clothes and hopped into the shower she mused over the recent events in her life. First, was a chance encounter with some scumbag hypnotist who was acting on the hypnotic conditioning of one of the directors of her university. He was going to enslave Minoko and most likely sell her off to do god knows what.

It was a good thing she had stepped in, hypnotized that bastard and took Minoko away to safety. Unexpectedly, Minoko seemed to be in a good place financially. When Cloud had asked her about it, Minoko mentioned coming from a well off family who lived in Minerva. They ran a textiles business and Minoko had written a program that they used for their sales and accounting. Seems whatever they used previously was a mess, and as a reward they give Minoko a monthly salary and the freedom to do what she wanted.

Shortly after, Minoko moved to Luaset and got accepted into Hephaestus university. She was having some struggles before, but now, thanks to Cloud’s positive influence, Minoko had said her studies have improved.

Cloud grinned as she washed her hair. She’d spent part of one of her first days with Minoko adjusting her level of focus, installing a mental dial that she could twist up and down as she pleased. When set to “10” Minoko was quite focused a tad beyond her normal self, which was why it was a delight to keep her at a “7”. It was interesting to see what she could influence, and by now Minoko was completely devoted to her. All Cloud needed to do was make a suggestion, and most any command would be obeyed. Most. That will have to be fixed.

Cloud rinsed off the last of the soapy suds, making sure to clean the ends of her elfin ears as she mused on the impact she’d been having on Minoko further. All of these changes were still early in the process of things and she’d have to see how well they kept, but this also meant that these results are still in the testing phase. After just a couple of months it was still too early to make any definitive conclusions.

Slipping into a pair of jogging shorts and a loose tank top Cloud walked to the kitchen. “Hey baaaaabe…” Minoko started to greet her, but the floof’s voice trailed off when Cloud raised her finger, her eyes locking onto it automatically. As her finger slowly moved closer and closer she spoke, “That’s right. So focused, so conditioned, you know what’s happening. There is nothing you can do about it. My power is too strong, and you’re far too weak now.”

In the softest of tones Minoko sighed, “Weak.” Her eyes were still on that finger as it got closer. So close her eyes crossed, and when it finally tapped her forehead, her body stiffened to attention. Cloud slowly drew her finger down. “Mind turning off. Empty and blank.”

“Ready for programming.” Minoko’s eyes wide and glossy at this point, her voice robotic.

“Now my dear pet, did you find my finger to be more hypnotic than it was before?”

“Yes Mistress.”

“Is this because of your conditioning? Or my training?”

“It would be a combination of both Mistress, as when you hypnotize me you always enforce a sense of helplessness and desire to be hypnotized. As such I have no way of resisting your attempts to entrance me.” Cloud loved how calculating Minoko’s inner mind was. “However, as I can analyze how hypnotic and enthralling you are compared to when we first met I can determine that you are indeed more compelling. I theorize it is because of the more precise control of your mana. As such, I can conclude that your focus point is at least 76% stronger and more irresistible than it was a month ago.”

“Good pet.” She was pleased to hear that she was making progress. While it felt like slow gains, if she was being honest with herself, she was making large strides. Cloud had to concede that some of her supposed slower progress on her offensive talents was offset by the gains she had made in her defensive countermeasures, confident that her newly woven mental shields she’d been practicing to create were damned solid.

The thought of mental defenses sparked a sudden small worry in Cloud. Looking at Minoko’s hypnotized form, Cloud wondered if her adorable pet might be too easy to hypnotize. “Minoko, do you believe you could learn to control your mana in a similar way as I can?”

Minoko started to blink, trying to think about the question. Cloud held out her hand and made a turning motion with her fingers, wanting to try and get an answer from Minoko’s deep subconscious, “turning down your awareness levels as you think. Less aware. Down. Down. Awareness all the way to one.”

Minoko stopped blinking and looked much more empty again. “I can’t say Mistress, I do not know how to start.”

It was an expected answer, but still, Cloud made another turning motion with her finger. “Turning up your spiritual awareness now, bit by bit. It was turned off before, but now with a click.” She snapped her fingers. “It switches on, turning it up to one. Up to two. And we’ll leave it there.” In her first day of experimenting she discovered that trying to do too much just wouldn’t work, or even worse it left Minoko in a flustered, or even negative headspace. She sighed, brainwashing really was a slow process. “How does that feel my pet?”

Minoko swayed a little in place. “I think I can feel something?” Her brows furrowed and her ears flickered slightly.

Cloud figured that would be good enough. “Perfect. You’re such a good pet. Always happy to please. Pleasing me is paramount in your desires after all, isn’t that right?”

“Oh yes Mistress.” Minoko said, her tail giving a pair of soft wags. Cloud murmured a few more choice phrases into the fox girl’s ear, making sure to properly reinforce the girl’s desire to obey and please her. She didn’t want to tie Minoko’s submission completely towards pleasure. That could lead to distractions, need, addiction. It would be better to focus those feelings in other ways. Devotion. Love. Adoration. She needed Minoko to love her, not just the ways she made her feel. Cloud grinned. “Perfect, that’s my good pet. Now, I’m going to wake you up. All your dials will return to their default state. But the one for spiritual awareness will stay right there for now. That’s the new default. Understand?”

Another nod from Minoko and Cloud pulled her back to awareness. “What’s for lunch?”

Shaking her head to clear it, Minoko looked back to the kitchen. “Oh yes!” She bounced, clearly pleased with herself. “I found a recipe for a spicy shrimp with roasted garlic mashed cauliflower. It said it’s pretty high in protein, and I know you’ve been working hard lately.” Feeling like a devoted housewife, the brainwashed Kitsune grabbed the bowls and set them on the table before sitting down. “I’m so glad you convinced me to start cooking more. It’s been really satisfying.”

Cloud enjoyed the results of this suggestion as much as Minoko, her pet often poured herself into what she was doing. “I have some online material for you to look through. It’s all about mana control. I think it would be nice if you could learn to control yours a bit more.”

Mmm, and Cloud was delighted at the taste of it all. She enjoyed most seafood dishes, and adding some spice was a nice change of pace, though one she was admittedly still getting used to. Minoko seemed to already have quite the spice inclined palette, her go to condiments adding fiery kicks to her food that would sometimes make Cloud’s eyes water. While Minoko enjoyed the extra heat, Cloud’s palette couldn’t handle too much. But she was pleased to see that the current seafood before her was spiced just right, and equally happy to see that Minoko was able to add an extra kick to her own bowl as she added some drops from one of her preferred bottles of hot sauce

Minoko wiggled in her seat, looking down shyly even as she finished a bite of her own food before speaking, “If you think I should, but it’s not really my thing, plus I have a few things I need to study and work on.”

While it was a slight pushback, Cloud was confident she could get Minoko to obey if she pressed the issue. However, it wasn’t urgent, and it’s not something she needed to stress her pet over. She wanted her to be functional and useful, not a broken wreck. “I’ll send you some links, and you can look it over when you have the time.”

“Speaking of studies and things to work on, what are you going to do about your own studies? And your dorm?” Minoko asked between bites of shrimp.

“I need to get my plants back at the very least. Plus I can think of an outfit or two you might enjoy seeing me in.” She gave Minoko a teasingly seductive look. “Sharing a bed with you has been fun, I think we should look into living together. You have a lot of space here after all.”

Nodding in agreement, Minoko finished her bowl, “I thought you might say that. I worry about us moving too fast, but things have been really good.”

Finishing her bowl, Cloud reached across the table and pet Minoko’s hair and fox ears, “I agree. We might need more closet space, and a place for my plants, but otherwise I don’t think I need anything as far as moving in goes.”

As Minoko was doing the dishes, and Cloud was sitting in the loveseat, going over some notes, there was a knock on the door. Both girl’s eyes darted towards the door. The last time Cloud had an unexpected guest… Well… She took a breath and fortified her defenses, she decided it was best not to avoid things. Cloud opened the door, but found the wolf girl Mumei was on the other end. “You?”

“Were you expecting someone else?” Mumei slid past Cloud and entered the apartment. “Making yourself at home?

“Trying to, more so I’ve been trying to get a handle on the stuff from that notebook you gave me. Maybe you could give me some tips?” Cloud knew that Mumei worked for Kuusho, which means she probably had to be some sort of amazing hypnotist as well.

Mumei’s ears twitched at the question. “The boss wrote those notes. I don’t have much talent for hypnosis myself, I am more of a personal assistant. Make sure things run smoothly and on time.”

Cloud’s brow furrowed at the reply, Mumei had to be lying, but why? “I don’t buy that, you’ve at least gotta have some defenses against others. I mean. You’re so close to Miss Kuusho, what if someone hypnotized you to make you spill the beans on whatever her plans are?”

Mumei closed the distance between herself and Cloud with lightning quickness, before Cloud knew it the wolf girl was up close. “If someone tries, I’ll just shut them up or distract them. Worst case, I notice the attempt and run off.”

Seeing the pair so close, their bodies almost touching, Minoko’s first thought was to picture Cloud and Mumei making out. Her second was to think about how hot it would be to see Mumei all glassy eyed and obedient, kneeling down with her and- ohmygod pull yourself together girl. Her third thought was to diffuse the situation. “I don’t think we need a demonstration, Miss Wolf. Could you tell us why you’re here?”

Mumei smirked, but backed down for now. “I was asked to check up on one Miss Cloud, see if there was anything that she needed.”

Cloud also backed down, looking more annoyed than anything else. Her thoughts started to race with ideas on how she could catch Mumei off guard and pull her into trance. Little floof wouldn’t be so high and mighty after a session or two. “What I could really use is some experience. I think I’ve built up some resistance, but right now it’s all just theory. Unlike you, I can’t really run.” Cloud started forming a plan to entrance Mumei right here and now, but in the end thought better of it. She can’t just hypnotize away all her problems. Or at least not yet.

Mumei looked into Cloud’s eyes, she could tell the elf was scheming up something. “Nothing wrong with running, after all, if memory serves, you ran off just the other day. And from a drone no less.” Her tail swayed teasingly behind her. “However, if you want some experience, I can arrange that. I know someone with close ties to the police force. I’ll call her over.”

Once again Minoko intervened, this time speaking up before Cloud could reply. “Perfect! Now that all of that is settled. Can I offer you anything? A drink perhaps?”

Cloud sighed softly, the tension in the room suddenly deflating at Minoko’s earnest and chipper tone, letting things go for now. “Yea, make yourself comfortable.”

Mumei shook her head, “I’ll make a couple of calls and set things up. The person I’m thinking of works at a bar, but that place is usually dead, so I’m sure I can get her over by tonight.”

A real test tonight. Cloud was excited. Sure, training is one thing. But using it, and seeing results. Now that’s what it was all about. She thanked Mumei and told them she was going to rest for a bit.

Mumei and Minoko made light small talk over additional bowls of the garlic shrimp, which was more than enough for Mumei to guess that Cloud had really worked the kitsune over. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, all hypnotists were either control freaks, or secretly wanted to be submissive bimbos in the end. These relationships always crashed and burned hard in her mind, a lesson she figured Cloud would learn soon enough.

Saying a farewell to Minoko, Mumei then went about making her calls. First was to Kuusho. “Hey Boss, yea she seems to be doing well. You were right about her being ambitious.”

“I was going to send Kylie her way. Those two should be working together often, so now’s a good time to get them acquainted. Hmm? Yea, that fox seems connected, they’ll be a great package deal unless you want to get the family involved.” She laughed, “Yea, whichever profits the most I suppose.

Mumei did have one big question on her mind. “I wonder though, why did you want me to antagonize her?” The answer Kuusho gave was interesting. She told Mumei how elves are prideful beings. There’s no exception to that rule. So she simply pulled on that thread with Cloud, wondering just how she might react to being pushed. If she had tried to hypnotize Mumei then and there… Well. They couldn’t have a person like that working for them. Pride is all well and good, but it can make a person act stupid, and the last thing they needed was a arrogant idiot fucking up any jobs she gave her.

“Got it Boss, I’ll keep an eye on things as usual.” With that call over, she scrolled down her contact like to give Kylie a call. “Hey, I’ve got something for you to do…”

A few hours later, knocks could be heard upon Minoko’s door. Kylie had arrived, and it appeared she had come straight from her work. She was a human with long black hair that went down to her waist. Kylie was dressed in a three piece suit that hugged tightly against her curves. It was black with a blood red shirt and tie and she had an additional companion with her that stood out from the rest of her ensemble, an emerald green snake of at least four feet in length draped along her shoulders. The appearance of the snake caused Minoko to jump back a few feet and hide behind Cloud. “What’s that! No pets allowed!”

Kylie took the chance to walk into the apartment. “I take it you weren’t told about my partner. This is Hugo.” She said scritching under the snake’s chin. “He’s my partner. And I’m Kylie Nagamori. I was told by Mumei that I was to help Cloud with her training.” Pulling out her phone Kylie then looked them both over before eying Cloud, “and that must be you. Resistance training, right?”

Cloud took to softly brushing her fingers along Minoko’s tail. “Ssssh, you’re fine.” She said soothingly. Minoko’s eyes hazed over slightly and her features calmed down. “My partner can be a little jumpy, but she’ll be fine now. Won’t you, pet?”

In response Minoko gave a soft nod, her body pressing more against Cloud’s, “I feel like I’ve been making a little progress with my training.” Cloud said, leading the others into the living area. “Some actual practical experience would be great, so thanks for stopping over.”

Kylie stood across from Cloud, “happy to help, and to get paid. Plus if it’s Kuusho that’s scouted you, we might be seeing more of each other.”

“What exactly do you do for her?” Cloud asked, looking closer at Kylie. The girl was still young in human terms, no older than 28. A smoker and a drinker, judging from her scent. There was also a hardness about her eyes. Whatever work Kylie had done for Kuusho or others, she’d clearly seen some shit.

It caused Cloud to consider her life choices for the second time that day. She knew that most people in this business earned a healthy amount of funds, the successful ones had wealth, power, sex… Her gaze moved to Minoko. Just how many people were under someone’s control without realizing it? What sort of world was it behind the curtain? She was too curious to ignore the question. And there was a part of her that was too ambitious to turn away from the risks.

“The best term given to me and my line of work would be that of an information broker. I work at a place called Genova’s. It’s a high roller bar that not everyone remembers visiting.” Kylie’s answer was simple and cold. “It also works as a front for some well off fixers, so I imagine you’ll find your way back to me.”

Cloud mulled over that info, slotting it into the knowledge she already had. Fixers, people like Kuusho perhaps. They just find the work and give it to people. All for a cut of the profits of course. It made sense, gave people anonymity and lowered the chances of retaliation. “So, how are we doing this?”

Kylie fixed her gaze on Minoko for a moment. “Is she involved?”

“She’s fine to watch, you can look, but don’t touch.”

Kylie could tell that Cloud was protective. No wonder, the fox girl looked delicious. “Fine. Miss Fox, if you would stand over there.” She said as she pointed off to the side of the room.

Minoko blinked, coming out of her daze. “O-Of course!” She was worried for some reason. This hypnosis stuff. There might be something to it. And if Cloud was in danger… Maybe she should buy a taser the next time she goes out.

Kylie turned her attention fully back to Cloud. “Now then Miss Minoru, I will hypnotize you, you will try to resist for as long as you can, and then after a set amount of time I will either wake you, or you will have resisted. However, do not expect to resist me. I am rated equal to a B class hypnotist.”

Cloud smiled confidently, “We’ll see about that. I do feel like I have a nice grasp…” she was cut off as Hugo raised himself to eye level. “Of things…” It seemed the snake was able to grow, his size clearly now larger than the previous four feet.

While surprised, Cloud quickly adapted, focusing her energy to form a sort of barrier. She could feel the hypnotic influence of Hugo the snake, but it was weaker, she could resist this.

“I’m sure you do.” Kylie said, her voice sounding much more melodic, did she always sound this way? “My partner is the perfect channel for me though. So keep holding out. You have five minutes.”

Five minutes was a bit of time, but Cloud wasn’t worried she reached her arm out, why was it so hard to move? It felt like her arm was under water. Fighting the current she tried to push Hugo aside, but the snake easily curled around that arm and moved closer. His eyes were pulsing colors, from yellow to blue to green to red and back again. Cloud wanted to look away, but even that effort to push the snake to the side took so much out of her.

“Three more minutes, you’re doing so good. Just keep staring, it’s getting so hard to move. Your mind will be empty soon.”

That sing-song voice didn’t help Cloud. Plus, she could hear a soft humming now. That arm she had extended outward had fallen to her side. She couldn’t look away. But she hasn’t lost yet. She could still feel her resistance. Her energy holding, and more than that. She could sense where and how Kylie’s hypnotic aura flowed down and through Hugo. It was easier to pinpoint and focus her resistance.

“So close now Miss Minoru. Just 90 seconds. But I can feel you’re getting so weak now. You’re starting to sway. Your thoughts are so empty.

The scales wrapping around her felt so good. It was getting harder to think. Those eyes. Her mind. “Empty.” She heard herself say. She needed to resist this. But. Her body couldn’t move. It was like she was frozen in place. Her eyes became wide and empty. Reflecting the colors. “Empty.” She said again. While she might have been able to pinpoint where and how to resist, it was too late. Nothing was in her head anymore as her defenses crumbled away.

“Good girl. Empty. Just 30 seconds left too. You did well.” Kylie watched as Hugo went about coiling around Cloud’s body. Minoko looked stunned, “Holy shit she’s hypnotized.”

That drew a soft chuckle from Kylie. “Indeed she is Miss Craft. Though I’m amazed she lasted as long as she did.”

“Does that mean she’ll do what we tell her?” Minoko moved in close to look at Cloud. Fuck she looked so hot like that. Leaning in close, Minoko whispered into Cloud’s ear, “You’re so hot right now.” A whisper that brought forth a weak whimper of pleasure from Cloud, and a raised eyebrow from Kylie. “As much fun as it would be to tease her more. I should wake her up.”

Hugo the snake shared in Minoko’s disappointment, but he uncurled himself from around Cloud and shrunk in size. Minoko pouted at Kylie, her tail wagging behind her.

“Fine, fine. One suggestion, nothing crazy.”

Minoko bounced happily. “Okay Cloud. Be a good girl and bark for me!”

Cloud obeyed, letting out a soft “Woof” that wasn’t quite as satisfying as Minoko was hoping it would be.

Kylie stepped in, “You really have to push the mindset. Like this.” She reached out and caressed Cloud’s cheek. “You’re feeling so playful, so free, your mind is slipping down to that of a cute dog girl. So obedient. So dumb. So eager to please. Kneel down puppy.”

Cloud’s empty eyes lit up some with awareness. She was a dumb dog, she licked her lips, her tongue lulled out and she slid down to her knees, looking up at Kylie, who commanded. “Now, speak!” Cloud happily let out a bark! Much to Minoko’s enjoyment. “Ah! So cute!”

Kylie gave Cloud a gentle pet on the head. “Now, I’m going to count up to three. At three you’ll wake up, feeling great, not remembering our little bit of fun. With. One… Two… Three… Awake!”

At the command Cloud woke up and got to her feet. “Well shit, I guess you got me.”

“I was supposed to get you. But you resisted well. Did you learn something?”

“Yea, a couple things. More targeted defense being the main thing. The other. It’s hard to move when someone is hypnotizing you.”

Kylie crossed her arms, nodding in agreement. “As a hypnotist, your goal is to get a person focused on you enough so they’re caught in your hypnotic aura. As you get better, that becomes easier.”

Cloud started to pace in thought. “And I suppose if you are caught, there’s not much you can do unless someone can pull you away?”

“That or just hypnotize them before they can you. The better your resistance, the easier it is to win a duel.”

Cloud got that first hand now. That will have to be the next thing to practice. “I have a lot to think about and work on it seems. Thanks again.”

“Of course, until next time.” Kylie shook Cloud’s hand and left the apartment.

Cloud also had to deal with another unusual thought. She felt strangely, submissive and pet like, both feelings she didn’t care for. Leaning against Minoko she let out a sigh. “Let’s get some sleep.”