Reilava stared blankly ahead, her body relaxed and comfy. Not a thought was going through her mind, just a sense of satisfied happiness and a soft, pleasant tune. A large, goofy smile was plastered on her face, and she looked practically mindless. She wasn't, of course. Her mind was working just as well as always. Her best friend Terenna handed her a piece of paper. "Alright, this is what we need from the market. Meet us by the clocktower once you've got it all." Reilava smiled blissfully down at her. "Okay!" She set off towards the market, humming happily and now possessed of a thought in her head. 

Reilava loved going to markets. She loved looking at all the cool stuff, talking to all the people, seeing all the pretty designs on the stalls... And luckily for her, she was the best member of the party to send on shopping trips! Terenna was nice and pretty, but the enchantress robes and headdress she wore might make people think she was mean like all the other enchantresses except Reilava. Draugkal was very friendly once you got to know him, but he was nervous with new people, and also the armor of the Dark Mistress he couldn't remove might make people scared of him, even though Terenna broke her spell over him! Feih was good at talking to people, but they might be afraid she'd steal stuff from them while they weren't looking, because she was a rogue and also because she liked stealing stuff from people while they weren't looking. And Ssertsi... She could disguise herself as a human, but also she would definitely just hypnotize people into giving her the stuff for free, and that was bad. But Reilava was cute and friendly, and the pretty armor she wore made her look like a traveling knight, so townspeople trusted her a lot more than her friends. So everything was perfect!

Reilava happily walked through the marketplace, buying each and every thing on the list. Sometimes she didn't know where to find them, but all she needed to do was ask the merchants, and they were happy to tell her. Her magic bag fit all of it very easily, and soon she had almost everything on the list! As she headed to purchase the 111 candles, however, she noticed a woman standing still in front of a dark alleyway. Reilava walked up to her and waved her hand in front of their eyes. "Hellloooooo, are you hypnotized?" The woman didn't respond, and Reilava looked around. Someone standing blankly like this probably meant they were hypnotized from her experience, and their Mistress or Master was probably nearb- A blast of freezing cold magic covered her, rendering her immobile. A man walked out of the darkness, laughing sinisterly. "I knew my trap would catch someone eventually... Slaves, bring her to the circle... She'll be joining you soon enough, ahahahahaaa..." Several hypnotized women grabbed Reilava's immobile body and began carrying her away. One thought rang out in her mind, loud and clear: This would definitely delay getting the candles!

The hypnotized women brought Reilava down to a dark basement, lit by eerie glowing runes. "Put her down, slaves." The man looked over her immobile body greedily. "Mmm, what a lovely specimen. Strong, too. It'll be very useful, having a traveling knight as my bodyguard." Reilava looked down at him as he talked. He was small and sly, kinda like a weasel. He wore enchantresses robes that were a bit too large for him, and carried several scrolls on his belt. Definitely not anyone she knew from back home, which was probably good. Means he didn't have training. Although Terenna said that untrained people using magic could be even more dangerous... somehow, Reilava was never sure how that worked. The man raised a wand and began chanting, spiraling pulses of magic coalescing into a mesmerizing orb. With a flick of his wrist, the orb shot into Reilava's body, filling her with a pleasant, unthinking blankness. Not unlike how she usually felt, really. Just a little weaker.

The man snapped his fingers, turning off the freeze spell, but Reilava continued to stare blankly ahead. "Perfect! Now, look into my eyes!" Reilava looked down at him, her eyes wide and bright. He stared intensely up at her. "You are my slave, and I am your Master! Every order I give you, you shall obey! You shall never have a thought in your head save for serving ME and only ME! And you shall never, uh, never even THINK of disobeying me! I am your Master, wait, already said that, uh, and you shall obey me!" He seemed to be growing a bit scattered as he looked up at Reilava's eyes. Her bright, innocent, adorable, shiny eyes. Her eyes that made people feel so happy and silly, just like her. Her eyes that relaxed people and made them trust her. Her eyes that quieted people's thoughts and made them feel a bit airheaded, just like her. Especially when they stared into them so intently. The man looked to be getting very spacey as he stared into the pretty, shiny eyes. "I am your master, and I, you will obey, and, it feels great, feels so great to obey, obey me, feels great to obey..." His eyes were growing blank. He looked very tired now. 

Reilava leaned down and picked him up, giving him a nice, warm, hypnotizing snuggle. "You can fall asleep, it's okay! Just eepy sleepy omfy comfy snuggle snuggle snuggle!" He relaxed into her soft, shiny robes, feeling the true comfortable plush under the glamour. Reilava babbled hypnotically into his ear, lulling him deeper and deeper. She looked around for a bed, and saw a pile of removed clothes. She gently lay him down, soothingly rubbing his head, and tucked him in with his own robes. "Nini time! Mwah!" She blew a goodnight kiss and smiled, watching him fall fast asleep. Even villains deserved to be tucked in sometimes!

Reilava looked around at all of the hypnotized women, still mindlessly standing there. Unlike her, they probably never received mental training back home, so they probably weren't used to the feeling. She wasn't sure what to do about them. Maybe Terenna would know. Oh, right, the shopping list! She quickly grabbed the list and ran to the door. "Don't worry, I'll be back in a few minutes with my best friend! She can help you!" The mindless women did not respond. Reilava ran back into the marketplace. She just needed to buy those candles...

About half an hour later, the party arrived in the basement. Terenna grimaced, seeing all the mindless women. "Eesh, that's a lot of thralls... Hopefully the spell he found isn't too powerful. Do you remember what the magic looked like, Reilava?" Reilava blinked. "Uhhhh, it was a bunch of spirals, kinda pulsing out, then they turned into a pretty orb, and he threw it at my chest... Does that help?" Terenna nodded. "That... Narrows it down, somewhat. Hmmm..." She took out her silver watch and began swinging it before the eyes of one of the women, softly murmuring to them. The woman’s eyes began to follow the rhythm, and the longer she followed it the more relaxed her body became. Terenna motioned for Reilava to come over and give the woman a hug while she worked her magic. The woman leaned into Reilava's soft, comfortable snuggling, and her eyes began losing their mindless, glassy look, instead becoming the pale, swirling green of Terenna's watch... 

Terenna softly clicked her fingers, and the woman woke up. "...Where am I...? What happened...?" Terenna smiled gently. "You're safe now, don't worry. What do you remember?" The woman tried to think. "I... I was in the market... I saw a woman standing in the alleyway... She looked worried... But when I went up to her... I... I can't remember anything past that..." Terenna nodded. "Alright, thank you. We'll catch you up later, but for now... You deserve a rest." She gently fluttered her fingers before the woman’s eyes, and her body relaxed into Reilava's, suddenly filled with blissful sleepiness. Reilava snuggled her tighter before laying her down on the magical bed Terenna conjured up before her. She happily tucked them in and gave them a goodnight kiss, sending them off to dreamland...

Terenna looked around the room. "Hmm... You know, once we finish breaking the spell on all these women... This might be a great place for the ritual. It's already got plenty of runes we need, and I can scrape off the ones we don't... Yeah, this'll work nicely. We just need to deprogram... 25 more women..." She grimaced again. "I may need to wake him up and ask him exactly what spell he used... That'd speed things up." Draugkal looked over. "Oh, so... We aren't killing him?" Terenna shook her head. "I'd rather not, at least not yet... We need information, and I might be able to help him... Change his ways, hopefully. Or at least render him harmless." Draugkal lowered the giant sword he was preparing to smash the man's head with. "Oh. Okay... Sure..." Feih walked up to Terenna and tossed her some notes. "Here! These might have the spell he used!" Terenna smiled. "Thanks! Where did you find them?" Feih grinned. "His pockets!" Terenna raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Ah. Of course." She began looking through them, inwardly cringing at the various massive mistakes he'd made while figuring out the spell. He was lucky he hadn't fried these poor women's brains!

Reilava adjusted all the women into more comfortable seating positions while Terenna read. She didn't really know how to fix them, but she could at least make them comfy! As she finished making sure the last one stayed upright, she noticed one of the other ones wasn't in the position she left them. They were kneeling in front of Ssertsi, their eyes swirling and a reverent smile on their face. Reilava looked over at Ssertsi, seeing the fae creature standing imperiously over the woman, her third eye pulsing a deep royal purple. "Hey, I don't think you should be doing that, Ssertsi!" Ssertsi glanced smugly over at her. Her telepathic voice filled Reilava's mind. <I am merely granting her a far better life as our servant~ I am sure Terenna would agree that obedience to us would be much preferable to mindless servitude to such a filthy man~> Terenna called over, hardly looking up from the notes. "Reilava, tell Ssertsi she isn't allowed to brainwash any of the women." Ssertsi's large ears drooped in annoyance, and she telepathically huffed. <Fine~ I do still insist our expedition would fare better with a servant or seven, but I shall acquiesce this time.> Her third eye pulsed a soft blue, and the woman's eyes fluttered. "Huh...? Where am I...? What are you...?" She sluggishly stood up and sleepily reached out to feel Ssertsi's ears. Her hand stopped halfway and fell to her side, a dazed expression flashing across her face as the existence of Ssertsi's giant fluffy ears was erased from her mind and perception. Reilava gave her a biiig hug, bringing her over to the bed. "Come on, you must be sleepy! Nini time! Mwah!" The woman fell into a blissful sleep the second Reilava's lips touched her forehead, and she was left to sleep off all the mental manipulation she just received. 

An hour later, all the women were cured of the mindlessness, and the would-be master was sitting at Ssertsi's feet croaking like a frog, Terenna having allowed the fae to play with him while she set up the ritual. Reilava watched her set up all the candles, runes, reagents, and other stuff, completely uncomprehending. Reilava had never understood this stuff, but that was okay because Terenna did, and so she got to stand there staring blankly while her bestie set everything up. They definitely both preferred it this way. She did notice one of the old runes sparking a bit... But it was probably supposed to do that, and if it wasn't Terenna would fix it!

The smoke from the candles and incense filled the room, and the five stood in the center of the pentacle drawn on the ground in pale green light. The would-be master lay in the corner of the room, tied up with unbreakable psychic ropes for the next day courtesy of Ssertsi. Terenna chanted the ritualistic hymn, and the smoke grew larger and brighter, covering everyone within the circle. Their bodies grew lighter as the smoke seeped into them, ready to transport them to another plane. Reilava noticed the rune sparking again, but it was definitely supposed to do that if it was still doing it now. Terenna shouted her command to the fabric of space before her. "Transport our Party to the City of Paradise!" And with a flash, they were gone.