Ivy rolled her eyes as she followed the tour guide deeper into the woods. She couldn't believe her best friend signed her up for this stupid birdwatching trip. Ivy didn't even get to go with her best friend -- instead, she was stuck with preppy, happy-go-lucky Castel. Castel loved birds more than anything, and it immediately got on Ivy's nerves. The shorter, more pessimistic girl began to tune out the non-binary themme's incoherent ramblings and count the hours until it was all over. She hated how Castel felt the need to whisper too. Who cares about the birds getting scared off? They were birds, for crying out loud! Not to mention, Ivy had no idea she had to wear *hiking* gear. That was beneath her, so she was stuck hiking in her heels and thousand-dollar clothes.
    Castel's ramblings trailed off as they pulled out their map. Ivy crossed her arms and looked behind her. She slowly realized the orange markings noting the trail had long disappeared. "Uh, Castel?" Ivy asked, not caring to whisper. "Where... are we?"
    "I..." Castel narrowed their eyes, scrunching their map up in their hands. "I'm not sure, actually. We must have wandered off trail."
    "What?!" Ivy exclaimed. She heard the sound of wings flapping as the birds around them flew away. "What do you mean, off trail? You're the one with the map, genius!"
    Castel nervously laughed. "Come on, all we have to do is walk back where we came. Our footsteps should lead us--"
    "Honestly, I can't believe I agreed to this! Who cares about these idiotic birds anyways? And you're the most annoying tour guide ever!" Ivy couldn't stop her own ranting towards this poor tour guide, who probably wasn't getting paid enough. Perhaps she was even further stressed out by the way the sun began to set behind the trees. The last thing she needed was to be stranded in the woods with stupid dumb Castel, away from her phone and house and private pool. At the very least, the shade under the leaves broke the summer's sun.
    Castel took a deep inhale. "Alright, fine. I can't say you've been an exact joy to travel with as well. Why don't we take a seat, just to catch our breath?"
    Ivy pouted. Then she sat on the nearest rock, crossing her arms tightly.
    "There you go. Just feel your tension sink into the rock," Castel smiled as they sat on the rock opposite from her. "Everything will be okay. All you need to do is relax. Relaxing feels good, after all -- you can't say yelling at me and panicking feels much better than relaxing, can you?"
    Ivy nodded, and immediately realized something was going on. "W-what are you doing?"
    "I'm hypnotizing you," Castel stated like it was common knowledge. Like it was obvious. "Just to turn things down a notch. I got my certification last month. I've found that many of my subjects start out unwilling... but eventually find service to me to be much better."
    "Service... to you?" Ivy tried to protest, but found her voice disintegrating into the trance.
    "Oops, did I say that? Clearly I meant relaxation. But you may find that serving me in this dumb, dim, tranced out state of yours may be fun too. Maybe it'll get you to shut up enough so we can both enjoy some peace and quiet on the walk back," Castel giggled.
    "Fuck... you," Ivy sighed. Her fight was slowly leaving her. There was something in Castel's eyes that made her... want to obey. Want to relax. Were their eyes just that powerful? No, it was more their voice. Ivy felt her eyelids begin to close.
    "That's it," Castel cooed. "Slide effortlessly into trance. And when you're in this trance state, you won't be able to talk at all. All you'll be able to do is follow me, do what I tell you to, and be my pet. You can feel the earth taking you back, can’t you? Your warmth mixing with the rock, the vines and roots of the earth tethering you to it… it feels great. You know it feels great.”
    Ivy tried to shake her head to no avail. Resistance was futile. Why was she trying to resist? She felt so much better sinking into the earth, becoming... mindless.
    "On the count of five, you're going to drop seamlessly into a nice trance state. You won't be able to talk. All you'll be able to do is obey my commands. Then, we can get out of here just fine."
    Ivy struggled to open her eyes. But it was no use -- the more Castel began counting down, the more her willpower began to fade. The rich, spoiled girl began to feel more and more dim. More obedient. She didn't want it. No. She did. If she didn't want it... she'd have walked off long ago.
    "One, and zero." With those words, Ivy was gone. She tried to open her mouth but couldn't speak. She was... relaxed. A smile crossed her face, realizing just what this meant for her.
    "There we go," Castel cooed. "Let's get out of here now. And when we do, when we’re away from the birds? I think I'll be taking you back to my house for some more conditioning."