Even back in those glorious days when the sirens could break whole villages to their will, the hypnosis of their magic was temporary. Theirs was not a threat to raise legions of brainwashed slaves in bids for world domination, but to sow havoc or hedonism as their cruel impulse bid. When the mood or time came they simply moved on, leaving their confused dupes nursing bruises and marriages.

That’s not to say they couldn’t make the effect permanent. It had just never been worth the time and effort before now.

Adagio could see hints of Celestia’s returning awareness as they drove home. The body had been perfectly awake through the process, and the mind was catching up. Questions half-formed on the woman’s tongue before trailing off, and she blinked quickly and mumbled as her enchanted mind finally began to think.

Yet she remained pliant. The fading spell was enough to bring them to her house, and Adagio’s eyes roved greedily as they stepped within. A piece of suburbia, small but well-ordered with lots of nice wooden furniture and a queen-sized bed.

Sonata spoke for all three when Adagio let her sisters inside. “Nice place. We’ll take it.”

They gossiped little further, all focused on the task at hand. Padding quietly to the living room, they found Celestia hesitating her last command. Her blazer was off, but the shirt was only half unbuttoned, and her hands had stopped their work.

Adagio’s voice emerged sweetly. “Miss Celestia, are you alright?”

Celestia squinted at her as though nearsighted, and her words stumbled apart from each other. “I… think so? What happened?”

Adagio swept close and placed a hand on Celestia’s brow. “I think you got heatstroke or something. You fainted and had me drive you home.”

The memories were a jumbled jigsaw with missing pieces. “Who are you?”

“Adagio Dazzle,” she said with patient kindness. “The transferring student. These are my sisters.”

The mind continued to rally. “Ah, yes. But what are you all d… doing here?”

“We talked about it, remember? I told you about the skills we developed growing up, including hypnosis. We offered to hypnotize you to relieve some of the terrible stress and worry you deal with in that hot, stuffy office.”

Celestia’s eyes went to the side. It was all fuzzy, but… she did remember Adagio talking about their talents, and seeming eager to show them off. Nothing wrong with that – it was good for students to be proud of themselves. And she remembered the office being so oddly hot. Perhaps she forgot to turn on the fans.

And of course, she had been under pressure. Nothing more than the usual, but if it came up it seemed in-character for this young woman to offer. She remembered Adagio singing in Latin or somesuch, though that part was hazy. Perhaps she fainted then.

Hazy or no, everything seemed to make sense. The responsible Adagio took responsibility, and didn’t disappoint. Celestia didn’t particularly need any kind of hypno-therapy, but there was no harm in humoring her newest students. Hypnosis wasn’t real, after all. A fancy word for guided meditation.

Still, “You really don’t have to.” Celestia began buttoning up her shirt, never quite wondering why it had been half-undone. “I think I said it earlier: this isn’t a talent show and you don’t have to impress me.”

“Oh, but we want to,” Adagio said, clasping her hands in a meek posture. “You were so kind to me when I told you how our father left us. Most adults just see us as prodigy orphans to be used, but you acknowledged all the hard work we put in and promised to help us break into our future!”

“And we’ll hold you to that!~” Sonata cheered in a singsong voice.

Aria leaned against the kitchen door with an easy smile. “Adagio couldn’t stop gushing about you. Just think of this like giving an apple to a teacher.”

Celestia blushed, still dazed enough that the flattery had no filter. “Ah, alright. How does this work?”

“Just lie down on the couch,” Adagio purred. “Let your body go limp as we work with you.”

Celestia did so, closing her eyes as six confident hands adjusted her position. Pillows were stacked until she was more sitting than lying. Her hands were folded onto her stomach with the elbows supported on the sofa cushion. A pillow beneath the knees kept her legs in a natural pose.

It was all quite comfortable. She opened her eyes to find Adagio had pulled a chair close, but not too close. Adagio reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace

as the other two began to sing.

The words were familiar, but foreign. Both sang quietly, Sonata high and Aria low. Their lyrics danced around each other in strange, spiraling cadence, somehow in perfect harmony despite the confusion they evoked. Flecks of green magic danced in the air, flickering upon the white of their grins.

Not a direct enchantment this time. The words were too low, and the magic of the younger sirens was too weak. Just enough to give a pleasant tipsiness to Celestia’s mind. To render her drowsy and suggestible, vulnerable to what came next. Her muffled instincts gave no warning, leaving her mind to assume this was simply part of the act.

Something fell into view – Adagio’s perfect red gem, held by the ends of its necklace like a pendant.

Slowly, it began to sway. Back and forth. Back and forth.

“Remember that you are safe with us,” Adagio coached in a melodic monotone. “Hypnosis cannot force you do anything you do not want to do. Everything that will happen, happens because you consent to it.”

A useful little trap. Already the poor thing was feeling so perfectly safe. Celestia smiled cutely as her eyes tracked the gem. The low tones of the sisters’ song was pleasing to the ear, providing backdrop to Adagio’s calming words.

“Let’s start with what you already know. It’s good to relax. It’s good to be at peace. It’s good to set down the burden when you need to rest, and it’s good to accept help from others. Please answer: is all of this right?”

Celestia gave an indulgent little smirk. Just guided meditation, though she could admit it was working. She felt lethargic and content, like in the last few minutes of reading before bed. Her limbs were tired but comfortable, and she felt no need to fidget.

Belatedly, she remembered to answer. “Yes.”

“Of course you knew that.” Adagio’s silken words caressed her ears. “You are a good principal and your students admire you. You want them to be in good health and good spirits, and you show a good example by taking care of yourself. That means relaxing when it is time to relax, and listening when it is time to listen.”

Celestia’s head began bobbing side to side as she tracked the gem. She gave a little yawn, then her smile returned.

“It is time now for both: listen, and relax. You will do this because you are a good principal who sets a good example. Listen, and relax. Listen, and relax. It feels good to relax, doesn’t it?”

It was strange, how beautiful the gem seemed as it moved back and forth. Celestia found it so easy to rest her gaze upon it, letting all else turn to unfocused blur.

“Yes.” It did feel good. Had she really been so tense? Or was Adagio just that good at… guided meditation?

“You feel relaxed and good. Say it.”

“I feel relaxed and... good.”

Celestia’s drowsy intellect marveled at the power of the suggestion. Mere meditation though this was, she really did feel all that when Adagio said so. But all was well. Hypnosis couldn’t force her to do anything.

...Adagio said so.

All was well. No reason not to Listen and Relax.

“Yes, you feel so good. Listen to my voice and feel more relaxed and good with each sway of the pretty gem. Listen even more as you relax. Even more good as you listen. Listening as I tell you to listen and relax. Relaxing and feeling good as you listen and relax. Feeling good listening to me tell you to listen and relax...”

Celestia’s smile slowly fell away as the droning repetition went on, on, and on. More relaxed with each sway of the gem. Too drowsy to still be amused at these well-intentioned little show-offs. Sleepier and sleepier, but never falling asleep.

Maybe it was the music keeping her up? Lovely sounds, like a babbling creek behind Adagio’s voice. But it was a creek of whispers and words Celestia could not follow, tickling her mind while her eyes followed the gem. The girls seemed to be singing the same song, but one was several notes ahead of the other, and it all seemed to be the same refrain of a few lines. Like a spiral – touching but never meeting, seeming to grow yet spinning in place, each line appearing from nothing. Comforting in its flowing monotony, confusing in its paradox. Yet even that was a pleasant confusion, like the last tumbling second before you fall asleep.

Celestia dimly realized some of the words could be understood. ‘Submit,’ and ‘obey’. The voice of one girl, then the other, chasing and never meeting. Melody without harmony.

“Submit, obey.”

“Listen, and relax. Feeling good as you...”

“Submit, obey.”

No, that was silly. She was mishearing, somehow.

Still, hadn’t the fun gone on long enough? Celestia blinked, fidgeted, grimaced…

“Relax, relax, listen and relax.”

...And gave up. Why fight what felt so peaceful, so good? She was floating, warm, and comfortable. And she was safe. Adagio had told her… something that assured her everything was okay.

It all carried on, bringing Celestia deeper into trance. It felt good so be so thoughtless, to not constantly be deciding and analyzing a thousand different things for once in her life. To just Listen and Relax.

“Open your eyes.”

When had she closed them? Celestia obeyed to find the gem was still, yet remained held perfectly before her vision.

“Watch the gem… watch the pretty gem...”

A green, misty spiral began twirling upon the gem’s surface in perfect time with the sirens’ song.

“Submit, obey.”

“Submit, obey.”

“Listen, and relax. You are deeply entranced. Deeply under our spell. You feel good and relaxed, deep under our spell. Under our spell, so deeply good and relaxed.”

Purple fingers rubbed Celestia’s shoulders in all the right spots. Another girl slipped onto the couch and placed her feet on their lap. Blue thumbs pushed into the soles and began a long, slow circle.

A moan left Celestia’s mouth, and it hung open. Her gaze remained dully upon the gem. The singing never stopped. The spiral never stopped.

“How do you feel?”

“Relaxed and...” Celestia interrupted her mumble with another moan. “Good. Deeply under your spell.”

Adagio’s tone never changed. Low, soft, comforting. “That’s right. Watch the spiral… watch the pretty spiral. With each turn you go deep, deeper under our spell. Deep, deeply relaxed, deeply good. Deeply listening as you submit and obey.”

“Submit, obey.”

The spell, the song, the spiral… the same. The glow of green and red danced on Celestia’s half-lidded eyes.

“Yes,” she murmured.

“Yes to what?” Adagio cooed.

Red and green. The gem and the spiral (the song, the spell). All Celestia could see. Around and around, pulling her deeper, deeper.

“I submit. I obey.”

It wasn’t new. She had heard it since the song began. A trance within a trance, hidden by Adagio’s honeyed lies.

A hand stroked gently down Celestia’s cheek. “Very good. You are a good principal who knows to relax and take care of herself, to submit and obey. You feel good, don’t you?”

Celestia hesitated only long enough to swallow. “Yes.”

“Our spell makes you feel good. Our spell makes you obedient, and being obedient makes you feel good. Submitting to us makes you feel good. Hm… good, submissive, obedient… there is a word that covers all of that.”

There was a pause even in the music as all three sirens took a deep breath.

“Slave.”

Their magic poured into the word. It echoed in Celestia’s ears, seeming to emerge from the spiral itself. There were no defenses left to overwhelm; the full force of their beguiling magic focused itself into that single word and washed over her. It felt so right and appealing, like a treasured wish made real.

That was the magic – normally the victim would recover, their mind slowly surfacing as the spell wore off. But Celestia’s mind was completely hypnotized, reduced to its deepest core from which it would re-expand alongside the lessons the sirens gave. Hypnosis to solidify the spell, just as the spell replaced all walls with smiling acquiescence. Amusement, suspicion, and distraction pushed down until she was more vulnerable than any mundane hypnosis could ever manage. A trance within a trance, spiraling around each other.

It felt so good.

“An obedient slave does what her mistresses command. A submissive slave always knows they are superior to her and places their comfort before her own. And a good slave is loyal. She is smart and goes to work and says all the right things to keep her slavery a secret. A good slave feels good in her slavery, because she has listened and relaxed, she submits and obeys, and this makes her feel good. Do you like feeling good, Celestia?”

She could not think on it. “Yes.”

“Do you want to be a slave, Celestia?”

“Yes.”

“Of course you do. You want to feel good, and being a slave feels good. You want to be loyal and obedient. You want to listen and relax. Listen, and obey.”

Adagio’s voice grew hard and a little loud. “Listen and obey, slave. You are our slave. This is who you are. This is what you want. You adore us, you worship us, you long for our touch. You love us and you crave our approval. You kneel before us and fall over yourself to fulfill our pettiest whim. You receive our commands as though you were brainwashed, and you are eager to serve us as best you can with your authority, your wallet, your body. Thrall, maid, servant, slut, pet, slave. You will be our footstool, and love it. You will scrub and eat off the floor naked, and love it. You will be fucked and tied and humiliated and love it. Because we are the sirens, and you are our slave. Now, slave: say it over and over, staring into the spiral. Each turn makes it more real, more true. Say it until you can say it no more.”

“Slave… slave…”

Celestia’s eyes grew wide. The dull sense of entrancement was replaced as the word brought every good feeling to mind. Joy, comfort, and maddening arousal. She wiggled impotently. Her breath hitched between each word.

“Slave… slave…”

Who she was. What she wanted. The singing and spiral grew faster. Adagio added her voice to the song, now so fast it seemed mere repetition. “Submit, obey, submit, obey...”

“Slave, slave, slave…”

The spiral became a blur. Celestia stumbled over her line. Her tongue rolled out and she stared, panting happily like a dog. Faster, faster until she could take no more. Her eyes drooped then closed, and her feeble twitching went still.

But her corrupted mind wasn’t done. Celestia heard her own voice echo in the black unconsciousness: “Slave, slave, slave…”

“Moment of truth, girls,” Adagio muttered, then shook Celestia on the shoulder.

The woman roused slowly as though from a deep slumber, though she had only been out for an hour. Her pink lips curled then parted in a yawn. The soft purple eyes blinked a few times before they seemed to register Adagio sitting before her.

Then it clicked. Celestia’s breath hitched and trembled. Her eyes watered as a thousand emotions struck – a paradoxical mix of confusion, fear, and every good feeling that could be imagined.

The cat got her tongue, so Adagio went first. “Sorry to wake you, Slave. But we’re hungry.”

No hesitation. “I’ll cook something, M-Mistress!”

Celestia rolled unsteadily to her feet. She tried to stumble quickly to the kitchen, but Sonata stood in the way.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she leered.

Celestia blinked rapidly, then gave a trembling bow. “I-I’m sorry Mistress. What am I forgetting?”

She almost lost balance, but Sonata gave a steadying hand. “First of all, take a breath. You can’t serve us if you faint on the stove. Second, you forgot the uniform!”

Sonata tossed Celestia’s white cooking apron into her arms. “You wear this. And nothing else.”

Celestia, as it happened, was not a particularly good cook.

The apron held in her naked breasts as she cringed, sitting opposite the sirens at the table. Each looked down with small surprise at their plates of carrot sticks and boxed macaroni and cheese.

Adagio spoke before either of her stupid sisters could. “This looks wonderful! Good work, Slave.”

The affirmation flipped Celestia’s mood. She grinned and set-to on her own helping while the sirens began to mutter.

“Aren’t you nice?” Aria sneered.

Sonata pursed her lips. “Didn’t we say something about making her eat off the floor? That sounded hot, I’m kind of disappointed.”

“You idiots, look at her,” Adagio grumbled lowly. “She’s confused and anxious. She loves us so much she’s terrified of getting anything wrong, but we just upended her whole life so of course she’ll get things wrong. If we push her now she’ll wake up one night and say ‘Wait, I don’t feel good as a slave!’ and we might lose everything.”

Aria gave a grunt. “So what, we coddle her?”

Adagio speared some of Aria’s macaroni and popped it in her mouth. “You’re a manipulative predator, act like it. She wants to impress and serve us, so give her the chance. Give her time to mold to us, and before you know it she’ll be anticipating your every want.”

Sonata arched both eyebrows, though nodded and grinned. “First coddle, then make her a sex slave. Got it.”

“Who said we have to choose?” Adagio muttered, then raised her voice. “Slave, if you’re all done eating, we would like a show. Take off that apron and dance for us. I would like to see more of your lovely body.”

The blush. The tremble. The eye contact filled with such absolute devotion.

The dance was fun. But the sheer adoration in Celestia’s eyes? That would never get old.

Author's Note

Abrupt spike in clopiness next chapter!