Jenna failed to fight back her yawn as she glanced at her phone again. Break waaaaas… Still not here yet. Her yawn turned into a groan. One would think that her life wouldn’t still be as boring as it was, considering how just yesterday she had been inducted (literally) into an underground world of magic, angels, demons, aliens, secret societies, and likely even more she could barely comprehend, but nope. The existence of all that amazing stuff did not magically (haha) mean she no longer needed to work at this store. Well… Technically she might be able to ask the angels for a crystal coin to pawn off… But that didn’t sit right with her. Felt like cheating, somehow. So she had to continue working here for now, until she could land a job elsewhere. Away from the bland colors, the annoying customers, and the most demanding, critical manager in the world. To be fair, she… wasn't the most stellar employee all the time, but Trish was just awful. Every little mistake, small inefficiency, or minor deviation earned her another condescending complaint. And it was especially fun how Trish yelled at her for not following the employee handbook, but when she was following the handbook she got yelled at for following whatever little rules Trish had decided should be avoided like the plague. As she mulled over the latest annoyance in her head, her phone alarm beeped. Finally, break time!

Luckily, Trish was too distracted talking on the phone to notice Jenna, horror of horrors, taking a break during break time in the break room. Plopping down on a serviceable chair, she took out her own phone and glanced at the battery. 93%, good. She'd understandably become a little paranoid about her phone running out of battery after yesterday, and so she'd bought a portable charger just in case. She was in the process of mindlessly scrolling through a chat room when someone quietly sat next to her. Jenna glanced over and smiled. “Hey Remi, what's up?” Remi shyly showed her phone to Jenna. “...Found a cute video…” She played a video of a puppy loudly begging for treats, and Jenna laughed at the adorable display. “Awww, that's so cute!” Remi shyly smiled. “Thanks… I thought you'd like it…” She began browsing through more animal videos as Jenna returned to her own break. Remi was nice, but painfully shy, so Jenna was glad she could provide a bit of companionship during these breaks. The two of them continued scrolling through their phones, occasionally showing each other a cute video or picture, when Jenna overheard something from Trish that sent a jolt through her body. “...and this one just put their name down as ‘Princess’! Like, who puts something like that on a job application?” Suddenly, the group chats seemed completely irrelevant.

Jenna tried to listen into Trish's conversation as much as she could without being obvious. It was probably just a coincidence… Surely, right…? “...and that's not even the only place they put that! Under current occupation: ‘Princess’! Under work experience: ‘Princess’! And that's not even mentioning the rest of the trainwreck! For the position they were interested in, they just put ‘All of them’! Their greatest strength is apparently ‘Magic’! And listen to this…” Trish casually walked towards her office, and Jenna didn't bother following. She'd heard more than enough to confirm who had sent that application. She sighed. What exactly had possessed Princess to try and get a job? At HER place of work, no less. Maybe she wanted to be closer to Jenna, since she was her new Guardian and all? Or maybe she was just bored. It didn't really matter anyway, considering Trish definitely wasn't going to call her back. As she got up to get a snack, she heard the telltale scuffling of something trying to open the constantly jamming door to the back room, and went over to help. Pushing down the lock, she carefully shoved open the door. “Alright, here you g-” She stopped dead in her tracks as she saw who was there, and placed her head in her hand. “...Seriously?” Princess waved at her, clearly elated. 

Jenna sighed. “Why are you here?” John, the human Princess had hypnotized into becoming her servant, spoke up in a quiet, dazed tone. “She's here for a job interview…” Right. Of course. That would explain their clothes, at least. John was wearing a Professional button-down shirt and black pants, clearly wrinkled from lack of use, though his face displayed a few glittery kisses hastily covered with concealer. Princess, on the other hand… She wore a beautiful dress that almost seemed to be made of butterfly wings, lovely shimmering makeup, an elegant tiara in her colorful, ribbon-filled hair, and the $2.17 rainbow feather boa she had bought yesterday draped around her neck. That was probably quite Professional back where she lived… But massively overdressed for a job interview at a chain store like this. “Right… Uh… Princess, you can’t exactly just walk in and get an interview right after sending them your resume. I doubt Trish will even let you try.” John whispered something to Princess, and she whispered back. John looked at Jenna, his eyes slightly glazed over. “She can handle that…” Jenna sighed. “Right, good point… Wait, how do you understand what she’s saying, John?” John glanced at Princess, and she nodded. “Princess cast a spell on me so we could understand each other…” Jenna nodded, then paused. “...Wait, she could do that the whole time? Why didn’t she do that yesterday?!” John whispered the question to Princess and translated her response. “...She didn't want to…” Jenna groaned. “...Of course… Anyway, you can’t j-” She was interrupted as Trish came out of her office and looked at the trio, annoyed. “Excuse me, who are you and why are you in the EMPLOYEES ONLY section?” John gestured at Princess. “This is Princess… She’s here for a job interview…” Trish snorted. “Oh, you’re ‘Princess’, hm? You know what,” she glanced at her watch, “Fine, I’ve got time for an interview with you! Follow me to my office!” Princess happily skipped after Trish, completely oblivious to her mockery, and John followed, staring dreamily at the waving dress. Jenna stared after them for a while, then shrugged. Not her problem. As far as she knew, her role as ‘Guardian’ didn’t require her to stop Princess from doing stupid things, so she’d just let it play out. She knew exactly who to call to fix it if things got too out of hand, anyway. But it hopefully wouldn't get to that point. 

As Jenna sat down, she was again distracted from her mindless browsing, this time by her own stomach growling. Luckily, she'd thought ahead a few days ago and stored some leftovers in the work fridge for just this purpose. And hopefully nobody stole them this time… The room with the fridge was empty at the moment, and she started glancing around in the fridge. For a second, she was afraid she wouldn't see it, but luckily there it was. A folded paper bag with ‘JENNA'S. HANDS OFF’ emblazoned on the surface. She carefully opened it up, ready to have a nice snack… And saw something terrible. Someone had evidently opened up the bag, pilfered more than half her food, and folded it back up. She fought the urge to cuss loudly, because she really didn't want to get reprimanded for that again, and instead directed her vocalizations to angry gibberish under her breath. Well… Mostly gibberish… As she muttered, a string of syllables formed themselves inside her mind and slipped out, almost as if she was compelled to say it…

Jenna dropped the bag in shock as a vortex of fire appeared in the center of the room. She ran over to grab the fire extinguisher and was about to warn everyone when she noticed the center. It was swirling around and around, far smoother than any regular flames, and amidst them a shadowy, bestial figure rose from the depths below… Great. Jenna started yelling as loudly as she could without alerting anyone outside the room. Which wasn't very loud at all. “No! No! Not right now! Go away! You shouldn't be here!” The Hellhound grinned deviously down at her. “But you invoked my name~” Jenna angrily shook her head, nervously glancing to see if anyone had noticed the sound. “No I did not, I accidentally muttered it! Go away! I do not need your help!” The Hellhound growled seductively. “But you look so stressed, puppy~ I think you need Mommy to help you obey~ Look into my eyes, pupPPPBTHHTBBTTH!” The Hellhound yelped in pain as Jenna sprayed the fire extinguisher directly into her face. She shook the foam off her face and glared down at Jenna, annoyed. Jenna just glared in exasperation and held up the extinguisher. “I will spray you again. Go back to Hell, please.” The Hellhound was about to retort when something by the door caught her eye. Jenna followed her gaze and felt her stomach drop. Remi was standing in the doorway, staring at the Hellhound, absolutely petrified with fear.

The Hellhound grinned and gave a slow step forward, and Remi shivered. She raised a shaking hand and timidly squeaked out, “G-g-g-goodd-d-dogggy-y…!” Jenna rapidly beckoned for her to escape. “Remi, just run, I'll hand this, I-MMMFPH!” The Hellhound's tail slapped across her face, knocking the fire extinguisher out of her hands. Remi continued to stand still in terror as the Hellhound slowly approached, weakly petting the air. “G-g-good doggy-y… N-Nice d-d-doggy…” She probably should have started running, but then again it was pretty clear she couldn't outrun such a large animal, even if it wasn't a demon. So she continued trying to soothe the Hellhound as it stalked closer, grinning widely. However… it seemed to be working… The Hellhound didn't seem angry or hungry… And it wasn't approaching like it was going to pounce… Jenna could see Remi start to relax slightly as it slowly neared her, sniffing at her questioningly. Maybe Remi had a talent for taming wild anim- Wait… Right, the Hellhound was a demon… Yeah it was absolutely doing this on purpose. And sure enough, as the Hellhound reached her, it gently leaned down and put a paw around Remi. Remi jolted in fright, but she continued to stroke the warm, soft fur in front of her. “Good doggy… Nice doggy…” She relaxed into the warm, soft fur, and found herself staring into a pair of powerful, swirling eyes… Jenna watched as she went limp, snuggling up into the Hellhound's embrace while sleepily murmuring “...good doggy… nice doggy…”. The Hellhound purred softly into her ear. “What are you~?” Remi sleepily responded, “...good doggy…”, a gentle smile on her face. The Hellhound grinned and gently petted her with its giant paw. “Yes you are~... Mommy Hellhound's good doggy~...” Jenna sighed and walked past the completely occupied ‘doggies’. This she absolutely needed to fix. Perhaps it was a good thing Princess had shown up after all.

Jenna didn't bother knocking before entering Trish's office, because as she suspected, Trish was quite distracted. Her normally smug, condescending expression was replaced with a tired blankness as she leaned on her desk, an almost completely empty piece of paper before her, as Princess chattered happily. John was translating for the both of them, although Trish didn't seem to have much insight right now. Jenna held up a hand. “Hey, uh, I need to speak with Princess for a second.” Trish glared up at her and spoke in a quiet and dreamy yet still surprisingly nasty tone. “...excuse me, we're conducting an interview right now… get out before I *yaawn* fire you…” Jenna ignored her and spoke to John. “Can you tell her I need the, uh… Heaven Crystal?” John nodded sleepily and whispered to Princess, who took out a shining white crystal from inside a butterfly's closed wings and tossed it to Jenna, barely missing a stride in her chatter. Jenna caught it and gave a thumbs-up. “Thanks! Uh, good luck I guess!” She quickly left the office, and Trish relaxed back into her state of trance.

Surprisingly, nobody else had noticed the giant fiery wolf while Jenna was gone, and she came back in to see the Hellhound licking a sleepy and exuberant Remi. Jenna looked at the crystal in her hand, and then at the Hellhound. Technically, all she needed to do was place it in the air… But this way was more satisfying. “Such a good doggy for MommyyOWWL!” The Hellhound yelped as the crystal hit her on the head, and a bright, soothing light filled the room, which quickly coalesced into a spiraling core. Gleaming white wings flowed forth from the core as golden wheels surrounded it, thousands of eyes gazing around the room. The wings gently yet firmly pulled Remi from the Hellhound's grasp. She whimpered for a bit before being calmed by the swirling light before her as a heavenly voice filled her mind. Remi's eyes fluttered as she was softly placed behind the Ophanim, who began loudly lecturing the Hellhound in a lovely chorus of chimes and singing. 

Jenna loudly cleared her throat, and the angel and demon looked over at her. “ Uh, since you're in a public place, shouldn't you guys disguise yourselves to blend in?” They glanced at each other, a bit embarrassed, and the Ophanim nodded. “You are right, Guardian Jenna. We should EXERCISE DISCRETION in our tasks!” The Hellhound growled in response, but nodded reluctantly. In twin bursts of soothing light and infernal flame, the two shifted into more humanoid forms… Although they still didn't exactly blend in. The Ophanim was dressed like a rich socialite, with a soft white dress and shining golden jewelry, while the Hellhound resembled a punk, with ripped jeans, a red leather jacket, and spikes everywhere. Neither of which remotely resembled an employee, or even anyone who would shop there. Jenna shrugged. “...Alright, I guess that works. Just… Please keep it down while you argue over Remi's immortal soul or whatever.” The Ophanim politely nodded, and almost immediately began lecturing the Hellhound. Jenna pulled out her phone and left the room, heading for the broom closet for privacy. She really needed to make that call now…

Dialing the secret number that had been implanted into her subconscious, Jenna tried to quickly figure out what to report while she waited for the call to pick up. Luckily, she had plenty of time to think it up, because it took 10 minutes and 2 redials to finally get a response. Finally, a clearly hypnotized voice sounded over the phone. “...what must you know…?” Jenna sighed and murmured the passphrase, before asking, “Can I speak to Agent Bliss please? I believe she works in this sector.” The thrall audibly nodded, and soothing hold music almost certainly full of subliminals began playing. Another 5 minutes later, Agent Bliss finally picked up. “Hi, sorry for the delay! We're still dealing with the aftermath of the Mesme-uh, of something big! What do you need me for?” Jenna quickly explained the situation while Agent Bliss listened. The Agent was silent for a bit after she finished, before asking, “...You *accidentally* summoned a demon?” Jenna groaned, embarrassed. “Yeahhh, I need to train myself not to say gibberish like that anymore. So, can you send some people to help, uh… Cover stuff up, I guess?” Agent Bliss hummed for a bit. “I'll… see what I can do! We're a bit spread thin like I said, but… Yeah, I think I can help!” Jenna smiled. “Great! And, uh, sorry about the extra work.” Agent Bliss laughed. “Oh, no worries! You saved the world, it's the least I can- We can do!” She hung up with a soothing click, and Jenna quietly left the closet. Hopefully help arrived faster than it took for them to answer a phone call…

Jenna sat back down on the serviceable chair and continued scrolling, hoping nothing else went terribly wrong in the next 10 minutes. Unfortunately, she heard someone trying to open the awful door again just as she started relaxing, and got up to help. She pushed open the door again, and luckily it was just another employee this time. Not one she really recognized, although their bright blonde ponytail did look familiar. She'd probably seen them around the store before, and she definitely remembered seeing them yesterday when… Wait… “...Agent Bliss, why are you wearing one of our employee uniforms?” Agent Bliss grinned sheepishly. “Welll, like I said we're spread a bit thin, so I couldn't exactly get a full cleanup crew here… But I can handle it, don't worry! I'm… I've got experience with cleanup!” Jenna raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you can handle this all by yourself?” Agent Bliss smiled, averting her gaze slightly. “ I mean, I won't be doing everything by myself technically… There's some stuff you can help do as well!” Jenna chuckled. “Yeah, that's fair, I should help clean up my mess… So, what should we-” They were interrupted by a quiet, muffled voice. “Scuse me please…” They moved out of the way as an employee entered. “Thanks…” Their voice was muffled by the facemask they were wearing, but Jenna did actually recognize this employee. Especially since she only came to work yesterday because said employee called out sick… 

Jenna raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here, Marcy? I thought you were sick.” Marcy nervously cleared her throat. “I… Yeah, I was… But I'm better now!” She coughed wetly. “And I have a mask on anyway… S-So I can work, I promise!” She glanced at Agent Bliss, confused. “...Wait, who are you? Are you a new hire?” Agent Bliss smiled and raised her hand, fluttering her fingers before Marcy's eyes. “I'm Felicity, remember? I've always worked here!” A shimmering light emitted from a black ring on her finger, and Marcy's eyes fluttered sleepily. She responded in a quiet, dazed voice hardly audible from behind her mask. “...right… I remember… of course…” She blinked, coming out of the trance, though her eyes still looked a bit hazy and watery. “Anyway, I needa check in with Trish… Where is she…?” Jenna and Agent Bliss glanced at each other, and Jenna grimaced. “She's… Conducting an interview right now… Definitely shouldn't disturb her…” Marcy nodded morosely. “...okay… I'll go clock in then…” She slowly walked away, failing to hide a cough, and Jenna watched her leave, worried. Agent Bliss awkwardly cleared her throat. “Um, anyway… Uh… I'll need the crystal you used to summon the Ophanim… It'll be easier to make people forget her if I have that frequency…” Jenna patted her pockets for it, then remembered. “...It's probably still on the floor in the room, I'll go get it.” She quickly ran towards the room as Agent Bliss began setting things up. Speaking with Marcy would have to wait…

Luckily, either nobody had entered the room since Jenna was last there, or the magical beings had paused their arguing long enough to handle any intruders. “...and as previously mentioned, you have no claim to this mortal's soul just because you ‘made her your puppy!’ Her soul is still free of sin and Heavenbound!” The Hellhound grinned deviously. “Oh, sure it is for now, but I'm sure I could change that~ Don't you wanna commit sins for your Mommy, good doggy~?” Remi's head limply nodded like she was a ragdoll being played with, and she sleepily squeaked, “mmhhmmm…!” The Hellhound smirked. “See? And there's so many sins I can tempt her to make here~ So many things I can make her steal while she works~” Leaning down to grab the crystal, Jenna dryly commented, “I'm not sure stealing from the checkout lane at a multinational store is exactly a sin worthy of instantly going straight to Hell.” Slightly taken aback by the comment, the Hellhound tried to think of something else while the Ophanim raised an eyebrow at Jenna. “Well… I can certainly convince her to burn the place down~ That's quite sinful~” Jenna glared at her. “Okay yeah that's a bit too far. Need I remind you, I work here, and as the person who helped SAVE THE WORLD, I request you not convince my coworker to commit arson on my place of work… Even if it sucks.” The Hellhound glanced away, miffed, and the Ophanim smirked at her as Jenna stood up. Noticing Jenna pocketing the crystal, however, she glanced at her. “What do you need my crystal for, Guardian Jenna?” Jenna waved over her shoulder. “I called Agent Bliss to help clean up this entire mess and she said she needed the crystal.” The two magical beings paused, then glanced at each other sheepishly. The Ophanim cleared her throat, embarrassed. “Ah. Yes. I suppose this is not the proper place to have this conversation.” The Hellhound nodded awkwardly. “Yeah… I'll go back to Hell then… Though maybe I'll give my good doggy a sneak p-” Jenna picked up the fire extinguisher again and the Hellhound quickly shut up. “Fine. I'll corrupt her later~” Jenna sighed and put it down. “Just don't make her burn down my job…” She left as they began awkwardly cleaning things up. Hopefully she didn't doom Remi to an eternity in Hell, but somehow she doubted the Hellhound was that serious about corrupting her…

Agent Bliss was tapping away on a hi-tech pocketwatch as Jenna returned. “Ah, thanks!” The Agent placed the crystal in the air before her, soft singing emanating from it that meshed with the strange sounds her pocketwatch was making. Jenna glanced around. Nobody seemed to be paying attention, probably because of whatever Agent Bliss was doing. She gave a deep sigh of exhaustion, and Agent Bliss smiled sympathetically at her. “Still a lot to take in, huh?” Jenna nodded. “Yeah… I didn’t even know any of this existed yesterday, and now I’m… A Guardian, whatever that means. I don't even know what my responsibilities are…” Agent Bliss cocked her head. “You don't remember? I thought you recovered your memories.” Jenna chuckled wryly. “The previous Guardian died before she could explain more than ‘Keep the Mesmeract safe and ensure the Princess doesn't find out she isn't on a vacation’. Speaking of… Why exactly does she need to be kept in the dark when she's holding onto a device that could enslave the universe?” Agent Bliss shrugged. “I guess they just don't trust her to handle things well, you've seen how airheaded she is.” Jenna looked over at Trish's office, seeing Princess happily chattering away. “...I guess just feel like they're making that worse by preventing her from knowing what's happening… Maybe she'd be smarter if they let her try…” Agent Bliss grimaced. “Yeah… Dealing with the Faerie courts is always very confusing…” Jenna was debating saying something more when she heard a muffled cough cut through the hypnotic frequencies. She looked over at Marcy, who was currently slumped over in a seat, and decided she really needed to check on her…

Jenna sat down quietly next to Marcy, who did a minor double take at her sudden appearance. “How are you feeling, Marcy?” Marcy sat up straighter. “I-I'm feeling fine! Just great, hah-*cough*” Jenna gently felt her forehead. “Marcy, you're burning up! You need rest!” Marcy shook her head. “No no, I'm fine! I-I can work, I promise! A-And I have the mask, so I'm not- even if I WAS sick I wouldn't be contagious!” Jenna looked at her sympathetically. “Marcy… You're sick… I can tell… You shouldn't be working like this…” Marcy averted her gaze, her voice barely audible. “...I… I have to… I used up all my sick days already, and… I don't wanna lose this job…” Her voice was choked with tears. “P-please… I need this job…” Jenna softly patted her shoulder while she tried not to cry, and glanced around. She could see Agent Bliss fiddling with tech to modify the cameras… She saw a glimpse of the Ophanim helping Remi wake up… She saw Princess and John in Trish's office, her awful manager barely conscious… And she saw the clock, telling her her break was over in 5 minutes. Today was absolutely not a normal day… And she realized that while she might not have any idea of what to do as a Guardian, she could at least help Marcy… 

Jenna softly whispered into Marcy's ear. “You're tired, aren't you?” Marcy instinctively nodded before rapidly shaking her head. “N-No, I'm fin-*cough cough*” Jenna gently caressed her warm, sleepy head. “It's fine to admit it... You're sick, after all… And you need rest when you're sick… So Rest~...” Marcy's body relaxed, but she still tried to protest. “I… Can't fall asleep… I'll get fired… Need this job…” Jenna kindly shushed her through the mask and began fluttering her fingers. “Shhhh… You'll be okay… I'll take care of everything… Just watch my fingers flutter before your eyes… And Rest~”  Marcy stared, her bleary eyes slowly closing. “...whaddyou mean… take care…?” Jenna's fingers began to drift back and forth. “You won't get fired… You won't feel terrible… Everything will be alright… Just Rest~...” Marcy leaned onto her shoulder, her eyes barely open. “...it'll be alright… rest…” Jenna smiled. “Yes… Everything will be alright… All you need to do,” She stopped her fingers right before Marcy's eyes, “Is Rest~” She clicked her fingers, and Marcy fell fast asleep…

Gently raising the hypnotized girl from the chair, Jenna led her over to Agent Bliss. Agent Bliss looked her over. “Thanks for hypnotizing her for me! I could have managed it on my own though, but-” Jenna shook her head. “I hypnotized her because she needed to rest and recover. But I do have a request for you.” Agent Bliss cocked her head. “What is it?” Gently stroking Marcy's sleepy head, Jenna asked, “Can you… Take her home? Modify her and her family's memories so she didn't try to come in today?” Agent Bliss pondered for a bit, then tentatively nodded. “...Sure, yeah, I can probably fit that in… Can't do it yet though, still need to do everything here…” Jenna smiled. “That's fine, I have a few other things I need to do for her.” Agent Bliss nodded, and Jenna began leading Marcy into another room…

Sounds of gentle laughter and cooing emitted from the room as Jenna entered. Remi, awake but still dazed, was showing the magical beings cute animal videos on her phone. The Hellhound chuckled softly at the video Remi had shown Jenna earlier. “Puppies are always so adorable when they want treats and affection~” She gently scritched Remi's head, and they unconsciously leaned into her touch. The Ophanim glared in disapproval, but didn't push the issue. Remi looked up as Jenna approached. “Oh… Hi Jenna… Just showing videos to my new friends… I like them…” She blushed adorably, then noticed Marcy. “Wait, Marcy…? What are you doing here…? I thought you were sick…” Jenna grimaced. “She is. And that's why I'm here, I need to talk with your new friend. They're good at helping people feel better.” She looked at the Ophanim, who returned her gaze in ponderous silence for a bit before nodding. “Yes, I believe I can help her… Though I must ensure, mmm… Remi?” Remi looked up, and the Ophanim placed their gloved hand before Remi's eyes. “Watch my hand, Remi.” She began moving it gently up and down, a relaxing, rhythmic motion. Remi was confused, but her eyes locked onto the gentle movements. The Ophanim began softly chanting in a mystical, musical tone. “Everything is normal… Everything is safe… Everything is normal… Everything is safe…” Remi's eyes glazed over and she smiled softly, relaxing into the Hellhound's warm body next to her. Her eyes glazed over with a soft light as the hand in front of her began to glow hypnotically, slowly morphing into a brilliant white wing. 

Now in her true form, the Ophanim floated over to Marcy and gently embraced them with her soft white wings. “Feel my light purify you, Marcy.” A beautiful light shone down from her thousands of eyes, covering Marcy. Jenna averted her gaze so as not to become entranced herself, and when she looked back she could clearly tell Marcy was well again. Her skin was clear and bright, her eyes, even closed as they were, were noticeably cleaner, and even the few small pimples on her face had vanished. She relaxed into the soft wings around her as the Ophanim spoke in her soothing musical tone. “All is fine… All is well… Let the light of Heaven soothe your body and mind… You need not suffer…” “And you don't need to come in when you're so sick like this, puppy~ You don't owe this place your health and comfort~” The Ophanim glared down at the Hellhound as they interrupted her, but slowly nodded. “Yes… Helping others is a wonderful thing, but take care not to neglect your own body and mind… You must care for yourself as much as others…” Jenna smiled in satisfaction as she watched Marcy snuggle up into the warm wings around her, messages of self-care being massaged into her mind, and as Remi cuddled up to the Hellhound while reciting her mantra, looking happier and more comfortable than Jenna had ever seen her. She felt safe leaving them alone for a bit. She still had one more thing to do…

Jenna opened Trish's door, her hypnotized manager hardly able to muster up to energy to do more than glare balefully at her. “John, did Princess give me control over Trish like she did you?” John translated, and Princess reluctantly nodded. Jenna knelt down to Trish. “Marcy came in today despite being very sick… Did you threaten to fire her if she didn't come in?” Trish nodded. “yeah… I assumed she was exaggerating again…” Jenna sighed. “Marcy was not exaggerating… Marcy still has a very bad fever… Marcy is too sick to work safely…” Trish nodded obediently. “...too sick to work safely…” An idea occurred to Jenna. “In fact, you want to give her the rest of the week off, to let her recover…” Even as hypnotized as she was, Trish shook her head. Jenna sighed, and glanced over at John and Princess. “You know what… As her Guardian, I give Princess permission to use magic to hypnotize Trish deeper.” John translated, and Princess looked up at Jenna, surprised. Jenna nodded, and Princess smiled happily. 

Princess waved her fingers, and her jewelry began to shimmer mystically. Swirling motes of light emitted from the jewels as she waved her hand around, the magic swirling and spinning around her fingers. She started chanting softly, her voice as beautiful as the lights, and Trish's eyes fluttered. The magic snaked its way into Trish, filling her with enchanted bliss and comfort. Her eyes began to shimmer, and Princess smiled proudly, gesturing for Jenna to continue. Jenna knelt down and spoke in her most hypnotic voice. “Marcy has sacrificed so much of her health and comfort for this company… She deserves to be given time to rest… She does not deserve threats of firing… You will give her the rest of the week off, and you will never believe she is exaggerating her illnesses again… Do you understand?” Even Trish couldn't resist now, and she nodded obediently. Jenna smiled. She was tempted to put a few more suggestions in her head, but she didn't want to abuse her power too much. It'd feel like cheating.

A soft song emitted from Jenna's phone, signaling her break was finally over. She started to leave the office, but before she did another thought occurred to her. She leaned down and gave Princess a warm, gentle hug. Princess was surprised, but reciprocated, her arms warm and tingly. Jenna looked over at John, and gently patted him on the cheek. “John… Tell Princess… That I believe in her, okay?” John nodded, and as he told Princess, she hugged Jenna even tighter. A soft, hypnotic stream of magic snaked its way into Jenna's mind, and Princess's voice echoed throughout her head. “...Thank you, my Guardian… That means a lot…” Jenna smiled kindly down at her and gently extricated herself from the hug. Princess blew her a shimmering kiss as she left, and Jenna exited back into the main store. She felt a lot happier now. For the first time in a while, she truly felt like she'd helped somebody as part of this job…

[Back in the break room, Agent Bliss continues to tap away on her pocketwatch while the static returns. She looks up as the spiral forms in the static again and stares into it, first confused then clearly hypnotized...]