---Entry 26/Divination 6/Esmeraude's Ethereal Example---

Dear Gretel,

The sleeping bag and the fire I slept near overnight was a warmth I coveted especially with the cool, damp air of the cave surrounding me. My naked body shivered a bit, searching for Connie's body heat and gropable parts, but I could feel her absence, only able to grasp at the fun we had before sleeping. The vampire in me ran the tip of my tongue over my incisors, hoping wherever Connie was, she still bore the marks of a fantasy fulfilled that sent hot tingles below both our waists. I'm not much for vampires, but that fantasy I definitely intend to keep in-mind for exclusive sessions of brainwashing and intimacy with Connie. 

From a deep, roaring yawn reflecting how good I felt, the kind where your whole body can stretch from arms reaching out to some unseen ceiling, to toes curling and flexing from a workout. All of that pointed to signs that I'd caught up on some rest, relaxed muscles not aching as much from the last few days. But how good I felt made me think of how long I'd slept, or possibly overslept; from within a deep, dark cave, it can be hard to tell. Lights above the cave system not obscured by the bonfire light suggested mid-day, and I giggled to myself a little how I might have been keeping Esmeraude waiting a certain amount of time by sleeping in. I wondered what kind of demerit or punishment would be in-order if that was true.

"Naughty girls do enjoy a good spanking every now and again," I mused in my own thoughts, finally getting up to move on to the final day. As I gathered what remained of any evidence of human activity in that cave, I noticed my clothes were missing. I looked around to find them in the sleeping back, around the fire, everywhere I could before considering the fact that Connie had took them on her way out.

"You biddy bitch," I sneered, then half-smiled. "The bite I take out of you will be substantial when we get back," I whispered, hoping she was still in hiding somewhere close to hear me. Literally all I had to take out was the sleeping bag, and quelling the fire with Pyrokinesis was easy. As I stood naked and in the dark, I realized there was no clear path out of the cave. The hole I'd fallen through the day before was conveniently gone, none of the others above indicating daylight were big enough for me to fit through, and a 360 turn in every direction was just varying shades of darkness that could've led somewhere outside, or let to an even deeper pit that could've been the death of me. 

Transmutation as a means of escape seemed like a good idea at first, before thinking about how it would be best to know in which direction I should be going, and without knowing how much energy I would need to reserve for whatever was coming.

"Not me, not lately," I chided myself, standing in the dark, waiting for a brilliant solution to present itself. "Man, the orgasm I have once I'm finished is probably going to be nuclear, I may have to finish myself off away from everyone," tried to brighten my mood with darkness all around me. Pulling one of the pieces of wood from the kindling, I lit the end of it with Pyrokinesis, trying to find my own way out, but outside of the completely-enclosed cave I used for yesterday's test, it was all open space with just a few holes in the distance to try for; searching for a way out like any random normal could take me hours if I was lucky, or more than a day if I wasn't. A naked one at that could die from hypothermia, but the witch in me burned to finish this strong and for good.

It occurred to me to figure out how Connie would've gotten out of this cave system by herself. It could've just have been that she investigated and studied it before bringing me here; my whole trio could've mapped out the entire Angeles National Forest in preparation for this. But then again, that wouldn't explain how they expected me to escape alone, without any of that information. Going down the list of Wonders they would expect me to use to get there, none of them seemed ideal for escape, except Divination, which most of the time meant coming into contact with a specific item or something that would connect a witch to vivid visions and premonitions. But in the broad sense, there was a way to use the power to divine one's way toward what they were fated to do, or where they were fated to go (obligatory "fuck fate" inserted here). Closing my eyes and reaching into the edge of what was a little beyond my consciousness, probably my soul, I channeled Divination into my feet, using to detect the steps I was going to take. Honing in on the fated steps like magnetic forces raised against the skin, I walked across puddles and avoided piles of batshit, thankful I didn't have to rely on the torch to see where I was supposed to go. 

It was definitely confusing at first, as following fated feet told me how many directions I'd crossed over in an attempt to find my way out, which told me how much I may have panicked in aimless escape. But to the credit of the vague use of Divination, one fun trick Aunt Maggie explained that stuck with me about the Wonder is that someone with a strong enough spirit connected to magic could probably detect trails other Divination invokers could, their past and their future steps. Being the talent she expected me to be, I found one trail seemed stronger than most, raising the tiny hairs on the top of my foot as I followed them into a specific direction, one that led to a smaller cavernous opening I wouldn't have guessed was there even if I was ten feet away from it. I had to crouch my way into the small opening, but it led to something wider for sure. A good shot of hope flooded into my system as the end of the small opening widened with daylight at the end of it. I got the end of the path where I could stand tall again, and looked up to a path ready to take me outside.

"Okay Esmeraude, let's see what else you have for me today," I whispered, ready to climb the rocky way out, only to be pulled back in someone's grip. They held one arm around my waist, and the other around my neck, whispering something in my ear that seized my whole body to stillness. If it wasn't the sound of the whisper, it was the scent that gave the last witch away; I could smell Esmeraude, something about how her skin gave off some pleasant scent when aroused; if I had the wherewithal to, how I would've taken advantage of her disposition. Instead, mine was to listen to her talking that shot past me and kept me listening. Whatever she was saying rapidly, it put life into my lips, as the repeated result spilled out past them.

"Spiritu duce, in me est. Deduc me in tenebris vita ad extremum, ut salutaret inferi. Descensum!"

Before I knew it, that seized sensation went away, along with everything else. A moment later, there was only the floating sensation of seeing my naked body collapse to the ground, it's fall broken by the sleeping back laid out by my redhead, moments before both of us fell. My projected soul realized at that moment that Esmeraude used Concilium in a sneak attack to get me to perform the incantation for Descensum, which kicked in as I traveled past the plane of existence I knew at scary speeds I thought would rip my soul apart mid-flight. The little things the media got about this spell wrong is both numerous and wrong past the point of insulting. First, it certainly isn't as painless as a Star Trek beam up; maybe with experience, it'll feel like a rollercoaster ride instead of flying at airplane speed sans the airplane. Second, and most importantly, no witch has ever been able to prove the claim that the astral plane, the afterlife we end up in is actually hell. Taken all the reports I've heard of, the experience of visiting the afterlife varies from witch to witch. Some find paradise, which makes it hard to leave, and so they never leave. Some find what feels like life gone wrong every way it can, giving great incentive to leave. Others can find just an empty void, which could be a purgatory.

When I finally landed somewhere, it seemed like I'd landed in door number 3, looking out at a wide expanse of a large forest, probably devoid of any wildlife. I stood amongst the wide oak trees of the afterlife, feeling...a little more of myself than my usual self, if that makes any sense; it's weird how on this plane, there's a subtle sense of exaggeration in things, in almost everything. The trees reach up in the sky like skyscrapers, but even that does deter from the brightness of the sky above, a perpetual illuminating twilight with stars collectively shining on the ground like rays of sunlight; wherever I landed was probably closer to the twinkling stars from other galaxies than earthly-plane Cherish was. And astral-plane Cherish felt like...I guess a very distilled version of me. There wasn't any physical change I noted on my naked body, only how my soul felt just standing there. They say there's something to being a witch in the afterlife that grants even stronger powers, like becoming part of the force in the Star Wars movies; I wouldn't doubt that being true, standing around, feeling the magnetic pull of everything I could potentially alter and bend to my will. 

I stood around the forest before realizing why it looked so familiar, and I laughed as I'd just ended up in essentially in Angeles National Park, after-life edition. I could've gone on laughing at that were it not for the fact that I hated that Descensum was a lesson I had to learn. Only the "wisest" witches ever have the balls to chant that incantation, expecting to gleam vague wisdom out of it, or just for the sake of posturing of saying 'I survived the a visit to the fucked-up afterlife.' The dumbest ones would try to reach out to loved ones with it; the reason I never tried it, no matter how much I would kill for a reunion with Ma or Aunt Maggie, was that I knew at its core, Descensum was nothing more than a means of transportation to the afterlife.

But my firmest belief with Descensum is that the afterlife itself chooses what it wants to show to you, not the other way around.

Walking through the ethereal forest with literally nothing but my wits, I felt some message imprinted on my mind - "come and find me;" knowing it was from Esmeraude who was no doubt expecting me to find her in a certain amount of time was the smallest comfort I had here. Everything else kept me on edge though as I kept watch of everything around me, merely hoping there wasn't any surprises in the form of unexpected predators waiting to pounce on me. Hell, as the rules of nature varied there, I could've been lucky to not be attacked by trees. Honestly, I was surrounded by a rather serene aura being there, something that put me at ease, something I didn't outright trust. I could tell it wanted to lull me into a sense of security, as it kept increasing every time with every step forward I took; every time I took a few steps back, it lessened, and the serene feeling called out to me, tugging at the small hair follicles on my arms. For whatever reason, whatever it was, it wanted me without telling me why. 

I didn't figure the serene feeling for Esmeraude, not challenging enough. And once I got close enough to see a light in the distance, what was probably a fire, instead of walking straight ahead, I began creeping around the light in a quiet circle, testing the edges of the compelling pull. As it turns out, my tactic was the smartest play, as I got to get a better view of that light - it was a bonfire, a witch's bonfire, with several hooded figures making preparations around it, including a figure tied up on some post near the fire. It didn't take a lot more circling before I got a glimpse at the captive figure - Esmeraude herself, looking quite out of it, almost forming a smile on her face despite being readied for a sacrifice. 

"Shit," I knew I muttered. Whatever plans Esmeraude originally had, I think she got caught up in the same trap ahead of me, and now it was my job to rescue her. I seriously doubted this is what she had in-mind in terms of the Descensum trial, and perhaps all of my mind-bending with her made her way more susceptible to this trap, or maybe she even thought it was me doing it. Either way, marvelous manipulator that I am, fought it off well enough as I got closer. As far as how to free her, I felt fortunate to feel my essence intact enough to perform the same spells here, how much I didn't know though. And there wasn't enough time to test it either; there's a dangerous limit to having your soul projected to the afterlife, leave it there too long, and you just disappear from the earth realm, something media actually got right. And Esmeraude had to be my ticket out, as she knew the entrance incantation like I did, and had to know the exit too, something I had to persuade both of us to utter if she was under someone else's spell.

About twenty feet away from the bonfire and figures present, I employed an old tactic of grabbing a handful of dirt in one hand and stroking my dirty, needy pussy in the other. Increasing my spell with G-magic, I created another disorientating dirt storm that disorientated the hell out of everyone, the hooded figures waving their hands erratically as I Transmuted it to get at Esmeraude and burn her rope bindings away with Pyrokinesis. Just before I Transmuted us away, one figure waved her hand and the dust just blew away out of the area. The shrouded figure looked in my direction as I desperately took hold of my redhead and teleported several times away from the site, hopefully miles away. Catching my breath, I held her in my arms as she laid across the ground, head in my lap. Using a little energy to employ Concilium in her, I made her perform the exiting incantation. 

"Hic nos reperi. Nunc!" left her mouth before I had a chance to cover it, and seconds later the hooded figures Transmuted themselves to us, as if waiting to be told. Before I could do anything, my own body was pinned to the ground with Telekinesis, and something long and heavy like a tree long placed on top of me, limbs wrapped around so the could be tied behind my back. Raised to an upright position, I fought the bindings despite the chaffing and scarring across my wrists and ankles. The figure that waved my dirt storm away with a single gesture walked up to me. I had no idea who it would be under the hood; my heart prepared to sink if it was Ma or Aunt Maggie; pulling it back, the woman was unrecognizable to me, but a very sexy older woman, like Hedy-Lamarr-in-her-prime starlet sexy, with salt and pepper styled hair, and a face possibly perpetually made up in professionally-done, eternally maintained makeup, certainly the kind of MILF that I'd love to own and sit on their face if they were still alive.

"Welcome, young one. I've been expecting you," she greeted with a smile and smooth, rich tone as all the other hoods started making where we stood a new ritual site, quickly establishing another bonfire. And when I say her tone was "rich," I mean rich like affluent.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"No one of any importance to you, yet. But I am honored to make your acquaintance."

"Honored?" I asked, obviously unconvinced. "Honored to try to serve us up as barbeque?"

"Along the stream of destiny we all become a part of, the honor lies in your future to come."

That statement gave me pause, her words indicating what I was afraid to hear, that I might be getting exactly what I want. How daunting a feat it was aside, for the first time I was actually fearful of what that meant.

"Your 'honor' still doesn't explain why you're trying to kill us now."

The unhooded beauty leaned in close to me, as if ready to kiss me; I caught myself from leaning in before I was willing to kiss back.

"Just because fate is written doesn't mean a witch will never try to shape it into their own; you should know that as a fact by now, nor should you blame me for seeking my own. Who knows if there isn't one fate among many that we can steer everything towards."

As the bonfire grew and produced heat that made me instantly perspire, the worry over my features was as naked as the rest of me.

"What the hell do you gain from burning me alive? There isn't a spell I'm aware of that will take you back to the living in my place," I spoke with confidence, keenly aware within that I didn't know every spell in existence to refute my words.

"Call it...securing one's own legacy."

She leaned in again, and this time wasted no time in kissing me, long and hard. The hedonist in me gave as good as I got, dueling my tongue against hers. Despite the danger I was in, I wasn't one to dampen a hot moment.

"How I wish you'd been alive and of age to practice my spells on; despite your lesser race, what a perfect, attractive vassal you would've made in my prime," she whispered, catching her breath from our long kiss. Of course the casual racist tone caught me off-guard, though in the context of her time on earth, of course it would've been causal. But it surprised me a bit what wasn't meant to be communicated, how her afterlife body seemingly functioned almost exactly like ours, requiring oxygen as if their "lives" depended on it; I kept that keenly in-mind as I began to speak.

"You truly believe you would have been the one casting the spells, pretty," I volleyed back sensually. "Take a good, long look at the redhead over to your left. You must've known how easy she was to entrance with little more than a moment's exposure to Concilium, but did you ever wonder or contemplate how her will became so malleable, so shapable. For all that you think you know about me, about us, look right back her into my eyes and tell me if fate has ever prepared you for this."

I leaned forward and widened my gaze to let her take in the inviting, sensual brown color that I hoped would shallow the pretty ghost up. The way she stayed close and looked with a lingering interest gave me hope.

"And now you know, pretty. Just one glimpse into my eyes has shown you impressive power, as if Concilium manifested itself into a gaze, that drew you in and had no interest in letting you go, that takes you despite what you might think, because Concilium cares not for what you think, just what you will do for it, without reserve or resistance. You simply obey, pretty, that is all you are allowed within Concilium's gaze."

I made sure my breath was hot, giving her extra incentive to stay close and continue to feel our connection sensually as I continued.

"Under Concilium's gaze, you are witness to power, pretty. You know exactly what power looks like, and how it affects fate. And perhaps, the stream of fate you lie helplessly across and travel upon has simply brought you to Concilium's gaze; every act you've taken, seeking power, seeking control, has put you under the control of Concilium, under it's watchful, powerful, hypnotic eyes that give you an beautiful eternity to stare into while my words become the scripted fate you are bound to. You can feel it across your heated skin, your lungs breathing longer, breathing hotter. You can feel it down to your bones ready to move upon and according to Concilium's orders."

If you're curious Gretel, I actually started with a manual hypnosis induction, and slipped a little bit of normal Concilium into the induction to prove the point of my words, readying her to move based on what she thought was Concilium to begin with. When I mentioned how things were exaggerated there, even manual hypnosis and imposing my own sense of will on to her was profound, so much so that I don't think Concilium was necessary. I enjoyed using it anyway, but I definitely lingered on the manual as there were magnetic forces between me and the ghost starlet, an attraction she seemed helpless to ignore; I bet I don't have to explain how it got my juices flowing, maybe with an exaggerated leaky faucet between my legs.

"Concilium order's you to kiss me, like you want me, and then immediately return to Concilium's gaze that gets you just as hot, pretty."

We kissed long and hard again, with me leading rather than dueling this time, making her follow the arch of my lips, sucking on her tongue a little, enough to make her want more, and pushing against her lips enough to make her slip forward and put submissive arms around my bound form. I wondered if that was a tactical mistake, but the way she fell back to my eyes as I opened them wide after ending the kiss, I grinned lewdly at how that didn't seem to be an issue. And it was then that it finally occurred to me how none of her posse bothered to silence me or interrupt what was happening; silence surrounding us except for the cackling fire told me they were as rapt as the pretty in-front of me, or simply waiting to see how their alpha would respond to the challenge in "leadership."

"It must feel so satisfying to feel power, the power you have over your followers, the power I have over you. Surrounded by power, bound to the will of power, bounding to staring into it, deeper, and deeper. The deeper you go, the more profound you feel it, beneath your robes where your naked bodies lie. The gaze of Concilium sees it beyond your meager wares, flowing down your quivering legs like it flows down my powerful one. And control over the pleasure I give you should be shared, such pleasure should extend and grow to as many people as possible."

I made my gaze even wider. "Do you control the pleasure of your followers?"

It was there that pretty showed the first sign of any recognition or disagreement with my words; waiting for that moment, I kept more Concilium on-reserve, waiting flood it into her essence.

"Answer," I growled in a sexual tone.

"No, they follow me as I am the most powerful."

Her words meant my next move would have to be lightning quick. I hesitated to trust her taking control over the other eight robes watching us, so I went with another option.

"Suck my clit slave, now!" I barked at her, while employing a little Pyrokinesis. Thankfully it was just enough to burn my bindings before pretty's tongue hit my slit, otherwise I might've burned my hands away. Arms freed just as everyone was moving, I filled the whole camp with G-Concilium, drowning them in unseen waves of my patented power.

"That's better, better for everyone. All of you, disrobe and stroke yourselves now!"

Everyone discarded as ordered and showed how they possessed similar aged attractiveness to their leader, stroking themselves as their instant mindless expression already faltered at their sexes ramping up with how mine was.

"You," I pointed at the closest one to me. "Stop stroking yourself. Remove my bindings, and then my redhead's bindings, and then resume stroking yourself."

I let myself feel more of the tongue that knew her away around a pussy, landing on my feet then pushing down my pretty so I could sit on her face. Everyone else was focused on their own pleasure, including Esmeraude who stroked herself under my indirect command. 

I was so close to cumming, and wondered if coming on the astral plane counted as cheating. Close as I was to taking that exception, I did fear how many minutes or even seconds we had left before being stuck there. Much as I loved the idea of taking this afterlife coven, according to pretty's words, I had more in-store for me back home. So I removed myself from her face, and gave her a deep, long kiss, tasting my own juices mixed with her saliva. 

"Remember me, and my control, pretty. When the time comes, I'll make you mine for eternity," I promised, giving her another big dose of G-Concilium before holding Esmeraude tight and using what energy I had left to make her utter the correct incantation.

"Due spiritus, est in me. Duc me in reditum ad principium, ut salutaret domum. Descensum!"

I blew a kiss to the group stroking themselves to a beautiful, collective orgasm before the transportive rush brought us back to Earth.