Two pairs of green eyes stared down several barrels aimed at them. One pair belonging to Dazzling Lady was having trouble staying awake, feeling some narcoleptic substance coursing through her veins. The other pair stayed wide open, cautiously taking in every detail of the intruding men, aware of how she seemed to be the only alert woman in the room capable of fully addressing them, let alone doing anything about them.

"How...how are y-you...?" Dazzling struggled to utter angrily.

Gerald Brandt, the apparent true power behind both the Avery empire, and the armed "interns" stationed around the hotel hunting for hypnotists, smirked at the mercenary mesmerist who seemed to have trouble staying upright.

"How strong willed you seem to be. A dazzling effort...for a rather sleepy-looking lady," his arrogant voice made Dazzling rage momentarily, and his assertion prompted an unconscious yawn she couldn't stop. She glared at him in horror, trying to shake off the sensation to do it again.

"How stupid of you to think you had me so easily. But then again, hard to blame your assumption for not being in on cutting-edge chemistry," Gerald vaguely began answering the earlier question, pulling a small vial out of his suit jacket pocket. The contents of the vial resembled the color of lemonade. "A small, brilliant little concoction with a long, boring pharmaceutical name in dire need of a cool name. Being a key investor in this little wonder drug, I'm thinking of calling it 'Insomniac.'" He placed it carefully back in his pocket as he took a step forward, with every guard taking one in tow, making Dazzling stumble back until her ass landed on marble flooring. She winced upon impact, still dealing with growing drowsiness.

"You didn't...give me that," Dazzling forced out.

"Of course not; Insomniac is for those who need some wake-up juice from any nasty trances leaving them with consequences worse than hangovers. The lab rats smart enough to make Insomniac found a way to make a counterpart drug. The rats want to call it 'Somnotic,' but looking at you, I'm really inching towards 'Bad Hypnotist.' And don't bother trying to get up either; better to stay right where you are."

Gerald's suggestion prompted her to try to get back up in-spite the drowsiness, but to her horror, she stopped even trying after a few minutes, left wondering why she should even try.

Hannah stayed relatively still, watching everything unfold, hiding the depths of her concern seeing the executive reach nearly the same amount of influence hypnotists with years of experimentation and experience, and apparently a way to escape their deep-seeded trances.

"And you, Miss Hannah, I can assure you that you have nothing to fear."

"Why's that?" Hannah's tone was even and curious.

"Everything you've arranged here has been so helpful for today's turn of events, as any good employee should be."

The words struck Dazzling even more than Hannah. "You little..." anger flared from a sense of betrayal, as her torso bent forward to reach for Hannah's legs. Easily stepping out of reach, she looked at the still-waning Dazzling, and then back a Gerald. Eyes focusing on him a little longer, concentration extended outward, tapping into her lesser-known ability to read minds. Her target never noticed the mental intrusion as she quietly probed, trying to connect him to her memories. It didn't take long before a revelation flash in her mind.

"Ah hah, the man who came to me and requested a private show for Danielle, he works for you," a small, whimsical smile grew on Hannah's face. She turned her head to look down on the tranced Danielle.

***

Nearly a year ago, Hannah had done a magic show at a local club in the U.K.; it was a wonderful show, an effortless one for Hannah as usual. She often had one or two people come to her after the show, asking her to make an encore presentation or an appearance elsewhere, but one man who sought her out afterwards in the club's parking lot was unusually, expensively-dressed, piquing her curiosity. He called himself Ed, and was eager to chat her up.

"Wonderful show," he praised almost condescendingly as he gave it with a small smile and detached tone. "The air of magic in your show seemed palpable compared to others I've been to."

Hannah resisted the urge to raise a single, doubting eyebrow, unwilling to believe he attended many magic shows besides hers. Dressed like a tourist, he carried himself like a bouncer, or something more serious; a terrible attempt at looking incognito prompted a laugh she kept to herself.

"Thank you, I'm glad you felt something special in my performance."

"I feel there's almost more to it; you've got something most other shows don't."

Hannah smiled at Ed, and a wider smile to herself from wondering if he realized what he was eluding to.

"Oh?"

"I believe it, which is why I'd like to proposition you for a private show, for a rather private audience. A surprise for someone high-profile, who may really appreciate your talents."

"Sounds vague...and intriguing..." Honest words gauged the cagey information given.

"But I am curious...I know good magicians never reveal their secrets...but for this audience, I'm inclined to ask if these are just legitimate tricks or actually magic."

"Well," Hannah began "I can't speak to other shows, but the philosophy of mine as you must have heard is that 'magic is a matter of focus...'"

She uttered the trigger that made the man's polite facade slip past the disbeliever beneath the surface, and back to the sleepy subject Ed hadn't realized he'd become in the show. Taken aback by the change welling up from inside, he wanted to stare at her questioningly, but her deep green eyes had answers to questions he didn't or couldn't ask.

Hannah used genuine magic in her show, but often enough permeated with hypnosis; having equal talents for both, she liked to combine them often for her pleasure, and the audience's as well. As Ed's expression turned lost, her smile grew.

"And if you truly believe that 'magic is a matter of focus,' Ed, then all you need to do is focus, and let the magic happen. And if you look deep into my eyes, focusing is no longer a choice..."

The man felt the weight of choice totally removed from his body, floating in Hannah's gaze as she moved them into the nearby limo waiting for him. She comfortably got him into the vehicle to wait for her while she introduced herself to the driver, who was also quickly enchanted by her eyes. With the parties sufficiently suggestible, Hannah gratefully cut through all the details he was hiding and could assess the real offer. As a security head of the Avery hotel in London, on behalf of his executive boss in America Gerald Brandt, Ed Stevenson would request Hannah to give a private show to Danielle Avery, the hotel heiress who was scheduled to visit the U.K. soon. Both the rep and his boss knew Hannah was capable performer, and an impressive dominant, but weren't aware of how or why. The rep didn't know the why, just to have Hannah take Danielle thoroughly, but quietly for a while, keeping her out of the tabloids for weeks if possible.

It wasn't the first time Hannah had been propositioned business opportunities in this way, but never before had it been a world-renowned celebrity. It was hard to judge all the risks as the excitement of enthralling such a beauty, a literal princess of her own corporate kingdom; Hannah agreed in her own head before she was done with the representative's, eventually bringing him out of trance, letting him be convinced only of being a magical mistress that could do the job.

Taking the job, Ed then knew that he was to be of service to Hannah however he could be, including providing a luxury suite and personally waiting hand-and-foot on the magician until Danielle could take his place.

***

It was almost a week later in an exclusive club in the U.K., Danielle sat with her old entourage. It was the second-to-last night before they were scheduled to return to the U.S., and their wildest night there. Several of them habitual cocaine users, several lines were done amongst the group, with Danielle slowly giving in to the peer-pressure to partake. She'd been on-and-off with several drugs, and tried to stay away from heavier substances (partly to appease family edicts of appearance, and partly because she'd seen enough coke fiends to be deterred from becoming as ugly as them). The more her friends took, the more they were insistent that she do one line, which would become several more; deep down, Danielle knew she would bend to pressure eventually.

Goddess Hannah appeared in the VIP section, in-front of them as if by magic. Standing in-front of the table of their large booth section, everyone suddenly stopped to look at the looming beauty, dressed in a sexy, silky black party gown that shinned in the dim club lighting, almost as much as her green eyes looking over the surprised entourage.

"Who might you be?" Another friend of Danielle's who partook more in champagne than cocaine asked, knowing she wasn't a waitress, and looking too confident to be some star-struck fan of Danielle Avery.

"Just a part-time magician passing by. Though lately I've been called a party-time magician for the shows I do around here."

"Magician?" someone laughed. "For what, kids parties?"

"No, I only work with adults, even the immature ones," she took their dirty looks in knowing stride. As all eyes were on her, the magician only gave passing glances to everyone but Danielle, who wondered she was wearing some kind of glowing contacts or if her eyes were just that green.

"If you're really a magician, why not do the fuck-off trick?" someone asked, eliciting laughter from the group.

"Because I know of a better one," Hannah smiled, lightly gesturing to the decorative disco ball on the table that instantly came to life, shining lights at them from inside the ball. It shocked everyone as they were aware enough to notice no other tables had disco balls with that effect. They all looked up to a beguiling smile, waiting for an explanation the magician was happy to supply.

"But the interesting is, this is technically not a trick. A real magician like myself doesn't need tricks when she has magic. And magic like this so enlightens you to that distinction, doesn't it?"

The surface of the ball seemed mirrored, but also allowed light to stream through it, shining lights in fascinated eyes. No entourage member went more than five second without a new beam of soft, white light holding their attention as Hannah addressed them.

"Because it doesn't matter what your drug of choice is; my light will shine through it. It doesn't matter what toxin you ingest; my light will cure you, filling you with something stronger. Every flash enlightens you, every flash takes away the potency of what you've swallowed or inhaled, every flash only increases the potency of what you gaze upon."

Danielle being among the most sober of the group that night barely had anything in her system to replace the feeling those lights and Hannah's voice gave her. She didn't realize how her head was leaning forward to take in more light, just like her friends. Danielle only managed to get so far before hands held her face to turn it to deep, glowing green eyes.

"That's right, gaze upon the light, feel enlightened, encompassed, until enlightenment feels like the most addictive drug you've ever taken."

Danielle gasped momentarily, wondering how the magician somehow slipped between her friends to sit next to her in the booth, and wondering how a pair of eyes could look so magical. Everyone still heard Hannah clearly, but on Danielle was enlightened by a mystical green that grew deeper with every word.

"Gorgeous," Hannah whispered silently to Danielle.

"Gorgeous," Danielle mouthed inaudibly.

"Alluring."

"Alluring...."

"Zealous."

"Zealous...."

"Ensorcelling."

"Ensorcelling...."

Hannah giggled as she pressed their foreheads together. "GAZE into My eyes, Danielle..."

Needless to say, the plans for their festivities has been severely altered. All of Danielle's friends returned home without her, while Danielle stayed for some personal time. Needless to say, that was the last hurrah of the hotel heiress' old entourage, as Danielle found the crowd too immature, seeking more sophisticated company like Goddess Hannah, who only grew in sophistication with every glance, spoken suggestion, or act of obedience she was allowed. And she finally found worthy peers in other hypnotized slaves Hannah collected, until they were all a happy, helpless stable.

What Danielle never knew is the path her company cleared for Hannah to meet and invariably claim her; knowing Dalton's eldest would eventually slip into habits bad enough that would eventually spill onto the headlines and damage the business's bottom line, he took it upon himself to direct the part-time magician her way. Talk of hypnotism in his circles gave him the idea; Hannah seemed the best choice considering already being in Danielle's proximity, and among the measured and quieter dominants he'd looked into. Truthfully, he couldn't have done worse than the friends Danielle chose on her own, but Hannah kept her behaved and quiet considerably longer than Gerald expected.

Under Hannah's dominance, rumors abound in tabloids and social media of possible missing persons, rehab, or some other reason for her seemingly dropping off the face of the social stratosphere; outside of every other Avery business meeting, hotel advertising, or the errant club appearance, Danielle nearly became recluse to those who expected her to be in the limelight 24/7. Almost as happy about it other than Hannah and Danielle (thanks to Hannah) was Gerald, whom in his circles was quietly credited for bringing the face of the company back into a respectable light.

And while Danielle and Hannah were globe-trotting and mostly having private fun, Gerald heard more and more rumors about hypnotists gaining more influence, being hired and interacting with others, until he himself got scared of the implications.

***

Coming out of his mind and her memories, Hannah took a subtle breath to right herself back to the present.

"Indeed, it was my offer that gifted you an insufferable party-girl figurehead in desperate need of better direction," Gerald leaned over to look past Hannah in the suite to the mindless Danielle, shaking his head in disgust.

"No argument there," the standing hypnotist agreed. "But I wonder if that's where our agreements end, or begin," she said thoughtfully, waiting for his response.

"I think they're just beginning, young lady," He looked back at Hannah with a pleased tone in his voice, as he nodded to guards to provide he and his confidant with chairs to sit in. She graciously took the given seat opposite Gerald, near where Dazzling was still slowly fading. The seated pair regarded each other with open smiles as Hannah went back to reading his thoughts.

***

Caution and fear permeated Gerald's existence after feeding Danielle to Hannah, but not because of Hannah; even if she turned out to be worse than she actually was for corralling the heiress, he had contingency plans in place to put blame on either subject or hypnotist in a way that would net him more executive control than he already had. What began to scare Gerald was increasing talk about hypnotists in his world. Executives of other industries were getting the same ideas he had, which all knew would usher in a complicated wave of corporate espionage that could turn competing and/or friendly industries in an arms race, meaning whoever was smart enough to hire a Dazzling Lady or Goddess Hannah as a contract hypnotist would have potentially immense business advantages coming. If that wasn't bad enough, such contract hypnotist could get the idea that it would be to their benefit to be serve their own interests and ambitions instead of serving a contract, as Dazzling had proven so well with her stable. But scariest of all was the rumor of consolidated efforts by a group of hypnotists secretly seizing control worldwide; little was known about this group except a name - "Kalatravaasa."

Having seen what one expert hypnotist could do, Gerald proactively sought out protective, even defensive measures to fight back, or somehow stand a chance of fighting back. Connections with several medical research labs and pharmaceutical companies led him to form a laboratory dedicated to counter hypnotic effects, something designed and tailored to be effective with minimal side effects. Insomniac was the result. And in all the research done to counteract deep hypnosis or forms of brainwashing, they narrowed down the components needed to also design Somnotic, the anti-Insomniac that Gerald kept hidden as a classified resource, even using it to ensure it stayed classified. Against this Kalatravaasa, there was certainly money to be made among a super-elite clientele, but not before ensuring they would be ready for attacks from the Kalatravaasa. Enough of his research told him Dazzling had some ties, but thankfully Hannah had none, which he believed could be good leverage for negotiating a new contract, or alliance.

***

Hannah pulled her awareness out of Gerald's mind to come fully back to the situation, taking a deep breath from all the information presented. Things were starting to make much more sense, with why Dazzling Lady and her apprentice were jumpy before, and how the magician seemingly avoided all this opposition around her. She honestly thought she was getting away with having a very high-powered slave in Danielle for gallivanting from place to place, and a much better time than drug parties; just like the guns in the room ready to be trained on her at a moment's notice, it was humbling to know that this mastermind allowed her to have the power she had.

"What else do you think we are going to agree with?" Hannah asked Gerald, staring in the general direction of the security force as if deep in-thought.

"I think both of us would find it agreeable that big things are happening around us, and that as big as the world seems to be, the world we occupy grows smaller by the day. The smaller it gets, the more the likes of you, Dazzling down there, myself, or others in less than two degrees of separation will run into each other, or perhaps collide into one another. Things will get messy."

"And you're going to propose some kind of alliance to help safeguard one another?" Crossing her legs and bending forward to run her fingers over the skin of her ankle, Hannah gave her apparently-aching joint a light massage. Red fingernails ran lightly over the skin before she pulled them back, and began rotating her foot by the ankle slowly. Staring directly at Gerald to speak, she made a mental note of everyone watching her foot with peripheral vision. The slow rotation from clockwise, to counter-clock wise, and the even slower sway of her legs from left to right, eventually, everyone conscious took note of it; the aware hypnotist was happy to note more than half indeed lost themselves for a few seconds, including Gerald.

"As we have a common enemy in this Kalatravaasa, an alliance would be paramount."

"I don't have enemies Mr. Brandt, just acquaintances I have yet to meet."

"I doubt members of this organization will see it the same way; is it true that they approached you about membership and you turned them down?"

Hannah's pointed glance said enough, but she spoke anyway. "Turning down an offer isn't slighting anyone."

"That's one way we disagree, Miss Hannah. I can only assume you turned them down before you had the likes of Danielle Avery under your thumb, a key piece of a puzzle their trying to put together showcasing the power they hold spanning companies and cities. Now they'd be desperate to have you join them, or ensure you won't turn against them if you don't."

"Desperate times calling for desperate measures?"

"Exactly. I know I'm not the kind of person you would normally trust, but they're efforts are leaving you no choice. Dazzling was probably sent on behalf of the Kalatravaasa, whether she's aware of it or not."

Hannah looked down next to her seat, surprised the other green-eyed brunette hadn't fully collapsed on the floor or been a drooling mess. "Dazzling, massage my foot why don't you?" Bringing her crossed over leg towards her, Hannah watched as soft hands removed the heel and began massaging the rotating foot. With satisfaction, she could confirm that she knew enough about foot massages to do it right, and that the effect of Somnotic left a victim susceptible to any command given from anyone; a powerful but reckless aspect to a game-changing element on the ever-growing chess board they all occupied.

"Do you imagine their next sales pitch would be anything like yours?"

"Not at all; they'd be selling you power, when it's obvious you already possess a measure of it, otherwise you would've truly used and abused Danielle by now."

"As opposed to selling me protection fro what you perceive to be a threat."

"Better to assume there is a threat that's coming, whether you want to believe it or not."

"And no matter what the sales pitch, will you take 'no' for an answer as badly as they do?"

"Please Miss Hannah," Gerald smiled, gesturing at his armed security without moving an inch. "What's the value of saying 'no' to this offer?"

"Well, let's agree that the one thing you and this Kalatravaasa can agree on one thing...whatever you want, you're desperate to get it. The only desperation I like is the kind found after I have what I already want, like the lovely woman at my feet that desperately wants to worship my feet, but will simply place my heel back onto my foot."

A disappointed Gerald frowned at a smiling Hannah watching the play of emotions wash over Dazzling's face, indeed wanting to pleasure Hannah's feet, but obediently placed the expensive black heel back on her feet.

"I have to say Miss Hannah, I'm sorry it's come to this."

"You're certainly not sorry," Hannah read his thoughts again. "We both know this is what it would come to."

"Well then, in the spirit of inevitability," raising a hand, Gerald signaled one of this guards to shoot a tranq at Hannah; none of the aware men in the room could understand how the dart ricocheted off nothing in-front of Hannah, and hit the floor. Hannah simply smiled an expected smile at them.

"See what desperation gets you? Embarrassment," she laughingly-chided.

Every armed guard amend and fired at Hannah again, every dart bouncing off of some invisible shielding protecting Hannah, unceremoniously hitting the floor near Hannah's heels.

"And now you'll understand what desperation really gets you - a stark lesson to learn."

"What lesson?" Gerald asked with slight panic in his voice, backing up along with his security as the hypnotist stood up. Raising her hands, she clapped her hands a few times, triggering the doors of the suite to shut and lock themselves, the lights to dim and all the blinks to close, blocking daylight until the room was almost bathed in total darkness.

"That the name's not 'Miss Hannah.' My name is Goddess Hannah."

As the lights grew dimmer, one of the soldiers shot again at Hannah, only for his darts to hit the back of her chair; she'd vanished into thin air before the room was pitch black.

"And in the spirit of inevitability..."

From out of nowhere, a huge disco ball hanging over the harem's lounge area lit up the room with the only source of light to see anything. Flashes of soft white light filled the room, shining into everyone's eyes. Some where already under and happy to crane their heads up to go deeper, and others were struggling to not look up at the magically-lit ball, as a soft voice and gentle audio track played throughout the room.

"You may think you've prepared for the likes of me, Gerry," the words haunted the lost executive. Watching the lights for a moment made him feel nearly as out of it as Dazzling's words back in his office, before being woken by a dose of Insomniac. Looking away before being taken , he stumbled around with eyes closed for a way out of the suite, crawling on the floor.

"You never expected that I would have prepared for the likes of you..."

The soldier closes to the door found it and was about to kick it open before feeling a prick in his thigh, and a crooning whisper in his ear louder than the sounds of disorientation.

"Shhh, no need to panic, pain and tension are only momentary. Listen to my voice and let pleasure and relaxation begin to wash over you. Let me enlighten you to the depths of pleasure and relaxation your body seeks, would travel long distances for. But all you have to do, is turn..." Helping hands shifted the man's body, Somnotic quickly coursing through his veins, making him doubly pliable alongside Hannah's magic. "Turn yourself over to the pleasure. Stare at the light. Only the light. Enlightened to endless pleasure. You can hear a voice telling you "enlightenment is pleasure" with every flash of light in your eyes. Enlightenment is pleasure. Enlightenment is pleasure. Enlightenment is pleasure..." Words repeated from his lips outside of his awareness wore him down, rooting him toward the glittering disco ball until he felt a sudden desperation to take in every flash of light in his eyes.

"You brought your soldiers into this situation, uninformed, unprepared, helpless to resist what happens..."

One soldier who looked away from the disco ball and found the sound system spreading music went over to break the console, hoping it would stop something or everything going on. A closer, brighter light source inserted herself between the man and his target almost out of nowhere; he swore he thought it was Hannah holding it, but it was hard to tell as the light kept shifting in every direction, dragging confused eyes up and down, left and right, in strange shapes. It wasn't easy to follow the lit path in the dimmed darkness, nor the words that trailed behind them alongside his vision; deciphering the shapes became easy as they repetitiously formed something like E-Y-O-B-E-Y-O-B-E-Y-O-B-E-Y-O-B-E-Y. How each letter hung in the air was eerie and drawing. All of it gave way to something easier, turning to stare at slowly moving lights allowing him to say "enlightenment is pleasure" over and over, breaking only his wayward will in the process.

"You think you know the outcome, just like every subject who believes hypnosis is beyond them, never realizing their mistake..."

Seeing two soldiers across the room stark still and numbly staring at the light, quietly echoing "enlightenment is pleasure," panic set in on Gerald and the remaining soldiers left awake, firing indiscriminately hoping to hit the elusive Hannah they couldn't see. Someone bumped into Gerald, and he nearly fell to the floor, shooting his tranq at one of the soldiers. The soldier aimed to shoot at him, but suddenly weakened as the narcoleptic drug quickly took his will to act decisively, taking in the light as all the stimulation he needed, and the echoing voice throughout.

"Your mistake was simple - you don't think. You can't think when my voice is speaking to you, thinking for you..."

Scared and crazed, Gerald used the energy and adrenaline he had left to run to the exit and bust his way through the suite's entrance. Daylight came upon him, as he made it to the stairwell. Knowing the elevators could be stopped, he let the gravity of descension and anger carry him all the way to the floor of the security office, hoping to find more of the security force he hired. It was six or seven flights of stairs down before he stopped to catch his breath. Reaching into his pocket, he sent a text to security forces on floors below the suite to meet him in the first room he could escape to. Trying to keep from wheezing, he made his was two more stories down, and used a master key card to get in room thankfully vacant, texting him the room he hid in until reinforcements arrived.

It was less than a few minutes before guards he knew weren't compromised back at the suite arrived, he opened the door to let them in, and was forcibly pushed back in by two suited guards, Breslin and Chesterton, followed in by the suited, awakened Dazzling Lady. He was pushed all the way into the main bedroom, cutoff from any escape as the men stood at the entrance, only letting in Dazzling and not letting anyone else out without her authorization. Gerald's eyes went wide, confounded by how she was awake again. Knowing what was coming again from the mercenary, he reached into his pocket again to inject himself with Insomniac to make it almost impossible for her to successfully hypnotize him again; he found his pocket empty. He desperately checked every pocket for it on the bed, only finding it in the hands of the woman smiling at him, seeing the contents were empty.

"Compliments of Goddess Hannah," she answered his unspoken question with glee, trying to tone down the chemical excitement in her from being given Insomniac before Gerald escaped the suite.

"You idiots work for me," he screamed. The other men's faces remained stoic, staring down at the exec as if he were a mortal enemy.

"Your idiocy is showing, Gerald," she laughed, patting her employees lightly on the chest. "They know who they answer to, and it's certainly not you, the man who is actually looking to harm Dalton Avery and his family."

"How the hell do you figure that?"

"You're the one who hired us all along, probably expecting us to sell everyone on the need for your drugs once they saw the havoc we'd wreak. You just never expected hypnotists to have a better sense of control of the situation you caused. Internal corporate strife sounds so juicy, if the media ever get wind of it."

"Why would they believe you?"

"Why won't they believe our version of you," Dazzling countered, letting his mind fill with the endlessly-embarrassing possibilities.

"Quite the invention you have here. Small amount of adrenaline for a nice pick-me-up. Any Benzedrine in it?" she fought tremors in her steady hands.

"Among other things," he answered, assessing the room now, confirming again how trapped he was.

"Must be what's making my teeth chatter. Feeling really frisky now; not a good thing for you."

"...you should really go to a hospital now. Taking Insomniac right after Somnotic is detrimental to your health," he tried bluffing.

"Medical advice from the person injecting me with the latter? I'll need a second opinion, and not from any doctor or chemist you'd recommend," a spring in her step made her fearlessly step up to Gerald who fell down on the bed. A snap of her fingers later, Breslin and Chesterton, moved to either side of the bed to hold his limbs down so he could barely move, stuff a rag in his mouth to keep him from screaming for help.

"But assuming you're not lying about it, I'll end you quick. Enjoy your last independent thoughts for the foreseeable future..."

Holding his face in her hands so he couldn't make any sudden moves like headbutting her, she forced his gaze to hers.

"Look into my eyes," she commanded sharply, beautiful green, wide open eyes immediately caught his attention. Even if they didn't glow like Hannah's, their depth was enough to keep him enthralled.

"Go deeper. Go deeper. Go deeper. Go deeper. Go deeper," she repeated over and over, trying to calm the fervor in her voice to balance the amount of intensity the induction held. All he saw were her deep green eyes, all he could do was explore how green and deep they were. Less subtle than the last trance before it, she eventually removed the gag from his mouth as he was beyond the point of no return, forcing him into deep sleep until she slapped him awake and commanded "look into my eyes" again, followed by another long stream of "go deeper" again. Over and over the process repeated, as the side of his face got redder from slapping, and his vision nearly took on a green tint for how deep he went. A drooling mess by the time she was done with him, Dazzling stared down at the blankest canvas she'd made in a long time, staring at nothing even though her eyes still fixed on his staring off into space.

"Whatever I choose to do with you; I assure you, the old you will consider it hell," she smiled before commanding everyone up to accompany her back upstairs.

***

Dazzling and her obedient men eventually returned to the suite, filled with daylight again as the blinds opened and the disco ball hanging above powered down. She strode in like a conquering heroine, seeing the good work the other conquering heroine had already done, all the security forces were stripped, gagged, and unconscious. They muttered something about Goddess Hannah and obedience, making the other hypnotist smile. She looked up to see the huge disco ball hanging above the harem that no one probably noticed until Hannah activated it. Ursula was awake and fully aware, walking up to her mentor to give her a full hug.

"Thanks for the rescue," Ursula told Dazzling.

"Thank Goddess Hannah if you haven't already; we both owe her thanks."

The both looked over to the magical harem owner standing near her stable. Kendra and her girlfriend Sabrina were kissing, happy both were okay, having missed all the danger. Hannah stroked the couple's heads gently as they kissed, both slipping into a light trance from her touch, and the strength of the kiss growing for the mutual love of each other and Goddess Hannah's care and control. Hannah finally looked up and smiled at Dazzling and Ursula. Ursula smirked in Kendra's direction as the dancer looked over, eyes narrowing with a small smile, mouthing the words "rematch." Ursula mouthed back "anytime" to Kendra before Sabrina got her attention back for another kiss.

"What a day, huh?" The English magician laughed.

"You're not kidding," Dazzling agreed. "I could definitely use some R&R soon," she said absently, noticing a peculiar smile from Hannah from her choice of words.

"You're more than welcome to get it here; R&R was my original intent, but now I have an even better excuse. You're more than welcome to invite all your captives up here," the offer seemingly extended to the use of the whole suite.

"Tempting, but I'm a bit more interested in exchanging information, if you're willing."

"Of course," Hannah called one of the male bellhops already present, calling for champagne and glasses for the group.

"I'd better not," Dazzling admitted. "I'm not sure if these drugs mix well with alcohol. Hell, I'm almost afraid to drink orange juice at this point," she joked.

"How are you feeling?"

"Nerves are a bit jumpy still," Dazzling sat on a nearby couch, assessing herself internally. "Mostly still nervous that these weren't designed to be used back-to-back. What did Brandt call them?"

"Insomniac and Somnotic," Hannah informed.

"Never thought I'd see the day when rich assholes tried their own hand at controlling hypnosis like this, let alone maybe succeeding," Ursula admitted, and everyone else agreed. "You think you need to go to the hospital?"

"I think I'm okay, but even if I did, hard to tell them exactly what got into me, and can't know what does or doesn't go well after injection with either. Going to have to have a long, long conversation with Gerald's science contacts."

"Sounds like everyone could use that information," Kendra chimed in. "They're that afraid of us?"

"I mean...." Ursula began "Look how far just a few of us got. We've exceeded his expectations like they've exceeded ours." The four hypnotists nodded their heads pridefully at first, then slowed as they felt slightly humbled too.

"They mentioned the Kalatravaasa. Why?" Hannah questioned.

"Not sure if you know, but the organization is pretty big, and pretty organized," Dazzling informed. "I thought they were just a small-time group, but the more I look into it, the bigger they are."

"Big ambitions too," Ursula added. "They used me in a ploy to get to Dazzling; thankfully Dazzling got the best of me and my 'master' at the time."

"Why were they going after you?" Kendra asked.

"Simple answer, it's a mostly male-dominated group, and some just can't stand a more powerful female on the rise."

"And the complicated answer?" Hannah asked.

"No proof of anything yet, but they're probably looking to expand, consolidate power, and take some major league subs in the form of cooperating hypnotists, and big businesses. That would explain why someone like an Avery exec was so scared of hypnotists in-general and knows the Kalatravaasa by name."

"In a sense...it's hard to blame him," Kendra noted. "Don't you and Mistress Dazzling both own all the big players of Avery hotel now?"

Taking stock of the day's events, Dazzling made a note of who she'd taken for the job, and who Hannah already had.

"I believe so. Danielle, Deidre, and daddy Avery are currently under someone's control. Even the real power in Gerald is now powerless."

"Quite the collection," Hannah noted the ones she didn't have in that list with a raised eyebrow, impressed. From her seat, Dazzling gave a small bow.

"You have the numbers, but I have the prettiest of them in Danielle," Hannah spoke her slave-girl's name loud enough to summon her, watching the tranced beauty crawl to worship her feet.

"While we're having R&R, I'd so love to duel you for control of the whole empire for a few days. But probably wouldn't' be fair in your current condition," Hannah joked, wondering if the sly bait she laid out would be taken.

Dazzling's smile indicated she was aware of the bait placement. "It really wouldn't, since I'm coming off a drug keeping me too aware to succumb to any trance."

"Don't be so sure; I took a roomful that might've drugged themselves before getting up here to ambush us."

"You did, and very nice trap you set by the way," Dazzling complimented, a little jealous that hers was an even more impressive version of what she used for her wealthy stable. "I doubt that they'd need to, but I concede the point."

"Cede control of the Averys to me, and I'll accept."

The two green-eyed dominants stared each other down for long minutes, until one of them snickered, and most of the awake group erupted in light laughter.

"Though I do admit," Hannah stated, "I would be curious to know how much this Insomniac drug can really fight off one of our trances. It might be worth testing."

"Giving my mind over to a magical hypnotist I just met?"

"The magical hypnotist who gave you back your mind, mind you, after someone else with more than dubious intentions tried to permanently wreck you. I am asking for your consent, and trust."

Green stares scanned one another, exchanging genuine expressions.

"I doubt you'll pull it off, but if you get me under in under five minutes, you can play with the toys I've acquired today. If," Dazzling playfully grinned in disbelief. Hannah smiled back, moving to take a seat opposite of Dazzling.

"Nice to know you have such faith in me," she said, crossing one leg over the other. "About as nice as what you stared at earlier." Their gazes locked, Dazzling waited for Hannah to emphasize hers in some way; the twinkle in Hannah's remained smiling like the rest of her expression.

"Would you like a hint as to what that was? It's a dark color, so my bright green eyes may not qualify. The feeling inside you from being drugged is colorless, so that certainly doesn't count; it isn't worth thinking about as the feeling fades away, like everything else fades the more you focus on what else is dark and dazzling," Hannah crooned, slowly rotating her foot by the ankle again. Dazzling's peripheral vision was teased by the circles it was making, but she was making an effort to not look down.

"You're probably wondering if it was my sexy black lace dress; I wouldn't blame you for thinking so, all that silky material against a lovely body, making you stare because why else would I wear something like it if the intention wasn't for you to stare." Shiny red nails trailed down Hannah's body, drawing a line down the cleft of her breasts before reaching the black material. Caressing her ample breasts and taut curves beneath, she gave Dazzling enough incentive to continuously draw her eyes downwards, while the drugged effects were on its way to being completely out of her system, letting her eye lids flutter as her nerves calmed. The longer she stared, the more it took mere will power to keep them open.

Off to the side, Ursula used her watch to keep officially count of the five minutes on her wrist watch, only noticing Kendra next to her by the time she already sat next to her.

"Nice watch," she whispered to the Scottish hypnotist.

"Thanks," Ursula whispered back.

"Trust me though, I know where Goddess is going with this. Don't lose track of time by following her; she'll hypnotize you to like she might to me. Just stare at the watch, that way you can't lose track of time."

Watching Hannah successfully start to affect her Mistress with assets that she found equally attractive, she heeded her friendly rival's words, staring only at the face of her expensive watch.

"I've always wanted a fancy watch like that, with diamonds encrusted on the edges, almost one for every second to count, like every second is precious, precious like every second is worth counting, counting down to the limit, limiting your focus to just the watch you watch. Watch the watch you watch now. Now you know why it's so important. Important to not look at Hannah. Hannah may have Dazzling, but not you. You need to watch the watch. Watch the watch," Kendra slowly, slyly continued her conversational induction with linked words she'd been practicing, while Hannah used her hand to caress the creamy skin of her leg, all the way down to where her black heel dangled off of her toes.

"I know you want to keep your eyes upwards, Dazzling. But it's so hard to stay up, it's much easier to fall. If you let your eyes fall, no one would blame you. But if you would like some help, I can certainly help you achieve what you want. If you want to keep your eyes up, let your body fall..." Hannah purred, watching Dazzling slowly come to understand exactly what she meant, her body judging the effort it would take to slip off the couch with a small motion. "That's right, Dazzling. If you slip off the couch, you can keep your eyes up. Just let gravity gently help you down, down into the pit of pillows. My voice flows over you like liquid, and you can flow down slowly like liquid to a lower point that makes it so very easy to stare up. Very good, slowly sinking down, in my care, eyes lids rising while you're sinking. And the further down you get, the more you know why."

Dazzling practically melted into the mass of cushions on the floor, resting on her hands and knees as her eyes opened wide as promised, staring at the black heel dangling off Hannah's feet. The younger hypnotist letting it hover close to her face connected old memories of the look and scent of her gorgeous feet.

"Mhmmm, and now you're awake enough to see what has made you so sleepy. It's like you're awake, but dreaming, dreaming of my feet. You remember the dream, what it felt like to massage them, but the dream ended before you could really worship them. I promise you, Dazzling, this one won't. Worship my feet now, let them let you dream and fall deeper for Goddess Hannah."

As Dazzling pressed her lips to Hannah's arch, traveling every inch, the dream came true as she indulged in all of it offered, the black of her shoe forgotten as she sucked on Hannah's toes. The contest seemed forgotten about, almost by Ursula as well as she rested against Kendra's pillowy breasts who kept her counting, rocking her back and forth, until she brought the cool watch face to press on Ursula's forehead, holding her as sleep took the apprentice as much as the nearby mentor.

"Any time, huh? That would be right now," Kendra whispered to a sleepy Ursula, her vengeance satiated.

"Nicely done," Hannah complimented to her slave and unoffical apprentice.

"Thank you Goddess Hannah," Kendra beamed.

Hannah pulled her foot back from Dazzling's mouth to rotate it in circles the foot slave weakly followed, wordlessly convincing her to follow it and allow her trance to deepen.

"The more you follow my foot, Dazzling, the more you realize that this job you took was more than a handful. You realize that you completed the job you were given, and that fills you with pride. But you also know that keeping such high-profile slaves like these might be more trouble than they're worth. You manage enough as is, and you are more than happy to leave custody of them to me. I already possess Danielle, so it makes sense to give me the rest, let today's pawns become part of my collection. You love this idea, it makes so much sense. You love it like you love sucking on my pretty toes."

"Yes Goddess Hannah," Dazzling tried saying as toes reinserted themselves into her mouth to carry the logic forward in her mind.

"Nicely done," Kendra whispered back with a wink.

"Thank you slave," Hannah whispered and winked back.

***

Several hours later, across the Atlantic Ocean, an investigative reporter was stepping out of a meeting with her boss, going over the itinerary of what she would be covering in the upcoming weeks. It was only nominally-exciting to her, slated to be interviewing the "next big" music sensations or reality stars, people that would most likely be on the back-burner of the public's short-term thinking in a few months time, after a glowing fluff piece from them. She constantly missed going after real stories and hot scoops, following her own nose instead of where her glorified "PR firm" of an employer sent her.

It was a brisk evening as exited her building and got in her car, ready to drive out of the parking structure to check on another boring lead, when her cellphone rang.

"Tricia Trilby, UK Herald," she answered.

"And whom does Patricia Trilby belong to?" another English voice across the pond purred on the other end.

"Goddess Hannah," the investigative slave gasped in orgasmic bliss, triggered by the sound of her Goddess's voice and greeting.

"Good girl." In the privacy of her own car, Tricia made a mewling full body shiver designed to be an answer. As programmed, none of this would be happening in public, and she would've raced to privacy to immediately call her owner back.

"I've missed you, Goddess!" Tricia uttered reverently.

"As I have missed you, my sweet. And I feel it's time to reward your patience; I'm going to need your boss's number."

"Yes Goddess," she said automatically, before the naturally-inquisitive Tricia could ask "why?"

"I'm going to need to negotiate a special project for you to investigate across the pond; it involves your favorite hotel empire family, and secretly the Goddess who owns them all."

"Oh God, that's hot," Tricia's back arched in her driver's seat, always loving news of Hannah's hypnotic conquests. Hannah smiled on her end as she had yet to know the half of what would make Tricia intolerably hot.

"Goddess," Hannah corrected her with a giggle.

"Of course, Goddess is hot," Tricia also clarified with her own giggle.

"Still cheeky; that might earn your cheeks a little spanking."

"I'll be on the first flight to receive my punishment."

"You'll be on a plane soon, I promise, for a few intimate interviews, plus some real investigative work."

That intrigued even the lightly-tranced Tricia. "Something amiss?" she asked, looking to aid her owner however she could.

"Yes, I just don't how much yet. The sooner you can get here and start, the sooner we'll know."

"I'm ready to serve and obey you, Goddess Hannah," Tricia said proudly.

"Then give yourself a taste of coming attractions..."

Hannah listened as Tricia stuck a hand deep into her unzipped pants, pretending it was Hannah's hand, aroused knowing that it was Hannah's order to experience lewd, private pleasure. From the balcony of the Avery hotel, she looked down at the city as the sun gradually began to set. Inside the suite, everyone was sleep after a wonderful hypno orgy. After Dazzling and Ursula woke up, everyone was pretty horny and decided to seek pleasure from one another. Most of the male slaves present were either forced to edge naked, or serve as seats with mouths as the superior women played. Hannah fully intended to amicably part ways with Dazzling, remaining a contact for one another, especially if more news of the Kalatravaasa came to.

Dazzling already had her connections, but Hannah wondered if she should keep ignoring them as watch from afar, or become more proactive. Gerald Brandt's fears no longer seemed totally-unfounded, and looking to see what could stand-up against the paranoid wealthy sounded more and more like a necessary idea. She was much better equipped for it now than she expected to be, but she wondered what the opposition would look like going forward. So lost in thought, she'd finally heard Tricia come onto her second hand-delivered orgasm.

"That's a good girl. But enough for now, get yourself home, get a good night's sleep. And then start packing."

Hearing the elation in Tricia's voice warmed Hannah's heart and loins. The strategy was sound, but she often lamented having a stable so spread out in the world with Tricia still left in the U.K.; she wondered if it was time to keep her permanently in the fold once she arrived, meaning Christmas would come early for the once annoying reporter. Ending the call to let Tricia get home mindfully, Hannah stepped back into the suite, wondering which hunger she should feet first between her stomach, and a more southbound stimulation.

On the first floor, the number of slaves increased to everyone Dazzling and Hannah had hypnotized in the last day, including Deidre and Dalton as part of the harem gathering. Knowing how many slaves there were to cater to, it would take time to prepare what would amount to a banquet. Calling to make a large catering order from several restaurants in the city, Hannah made her decision.

"Might as well build-up to a hunger big enough for the feast to come," she thought as she pointed to the disco ball hanging over the sleeping crowd, and the trance ambiance from before began waking everyone so they could sleep deep in another trance, watching the lights and hearing heels descend the stairs again. The powerful presence of Goddess Hannah prepared their minds to be used again.

Goddess Hannah and Dazzling Lady will return in "The Kalatravaasa."