Corrupting kindness
"So, how was the visit? Have you managed to learn anything new?" Mercedes's smile was sweet and gentle as always, and with the corner of her eye Annette noticed how the woman was messing with the long, honey-colored strands of her hair.
She was always so sweet, so nice to her...A person so close to her and so important in her life. Someone she could trust, someone she could rely on...And this is exactly why Annette chose Mercedes to be the first one to be "converted" like Cornelia did to her before. Not to mention, Mercedes's cakes were something to die for, and after gaining back her consciousness Annette suddenly felt a terrible craving for them.
She knew the spell, and, even without any further practice, she somehow understood how to use it to its best effect on any woman she would deem necessary to join her cause. It seemed almost as if the knowledge came along with the earlier ritual that Cornelia had performed on her. Though of course Annette's memories of her visit were still slightly muddy, and she wasn't certain whether it was part of Cornelia's magic, or some of the words that the woman muttered after drugging her visitor with her tea. Perhaps the words were the key to the spell and they simply imprinted themselves into Annette's mind.
"I did." Annette nodded at her companion with a cheerful smile. "Some of the magic I've learned is...well,let's say it's quite something! I cannot wait to show it to you!"
Mercedes blushed, ever so slightly.
"Oh, Annie, you always treat me so well and entertain me so much...Even when it is me who invited you to have tea today. And it is I who should spoil you."
She chuckled, too, in her usual sweet and shy manner. And Annette knew that she had to reassure her, as usual. Such was the way their conversations would always go, after all. And now, after she experienced all of the effects of Cornelia's spell, it should not change.
"Now, now, Mercie..." she waved her hand in a friendly but dismissive gesture. "You spoil me enough with those cakes of yours! And today they are just as good as ever!"
"I am truly, truly happy that you are enjoying the cakes!" Mercedes nodded in return to her words. "I spent the whole morning trying to make them as sweet as possible! Anything I can do to make you feel welcomed and happy during our tea drinking!"
Annette smirked quietly to herself, as her hand reached for her cup before she took a sip from it once again.
Mercedes, naturally, had absolutely no idea what was about to happen to her. She simply sat there and chatted about pleasant mundane things, trying to make her friend happy to the best of her ability. She looked so innocent, so oblivious to everything that was about to happen...But that somehow made things even more exciting in Annette's mind. Soon enough Mercedes would realize her new, true purpose in life and understand how incredible it will be to be like Annette and Cornelia. With the help of her dearest friend, of course, like it should be.
As these thoughts continued to wander in her mind, she continued to listen to Mercedes's chirping with the very corner of her hearing. For a moment Annette remembered herself right after Cornelia's spell took effect. She felt slightly clueless, struggling to escape the mist that the had spell left in her mind. But soon enough she realized that the spell was the very best thing that could ever happen to her.
She was now devoted to Those Who Slither in the Dark, but she also maintained all of her previous memories. She was Annette. But she also wasn't the old Annette everyone new. She was reborn in a strange mysterious way and she enjoyed every single moment of her new existence.
"So...what do you think?"
Mercedes's voice suddenly pulled Annette out of her thoughts, and she was forced to jerk out of her fantasies for a moment.
"I...I am sorry, I got too distracted with how wonderful your cakes taste, Mercie!" she teased her friend, quickly leaping to an explanation of why she wasn't listening to her before. "Can you please repeat what you were talking about?"
There was some more blush on Mercedes's cheeks, and she quietly chuckled into her own tea cup.
"It is my fault...Forgive me please, I talk so much. I babble all the time, and I probably bore you...Anyway, what was that spell that you wanted to show me earlier, mm?"
Annette shook her head.
"Oh not at all, Mercie! Don't you ever think so or let such thoughts get into your head! I always enjoy every second I spend together with you-- and soon enough I will enjoying it even more. Especially after I show you the spell."
For a brief second Mercedes grew quiet, a brief look of confusion appearing on her face. Annette, of course, knew that her friend had no clue about her hints. But she quickly reasoned that it would be far better to simply show her than tell.
"What do you...mean? I am sorry if I misunderstood you..." Mercedes mean while muttered. And once again Annette hurried to calm her down.
"It is nothing you should worry about. Just...let's say things will get much better very, very soon. For the both of us, and especially for you! Now let me show you the spell, how about it?"
Mercedes nodded.
"I would love to see it, Annie!"
"Alright then, just sit back and relax."
She rose to her feet and began to conjure the very same spell that Cornelia applied to her earlier, weaving magic with precision, as she saw how Mercedes's eyes widened in surprise.
Soon enough Annette's hands were completely covered with a gaudy purple light, the same one that she saw on Cornelia's fingers, before her "transformation." It made her feel powerful, strong, like she could will for any woman to be just like her, and the magic that she was wielding with her own hands, will immediately help her to let it happen.
As she worked the magic, the room grew more and more illuminated with the purple light, much to Mercedes's amazement. It was only now, when Annette was using the spell herself, that she felt and understood just how potent and powerful it was. An ancient magic like no other...Just like she told her friend some minutes ago.
"That looks...incredible, Annie..." she saw how her friend muttered, as she watched her ministrations with quiet awe. "But..."
Annette didn't let Mercedes finish her sentence. Instead she simply raised her hands in the air, just like Cornelia did before her eyes, and headed towards the other woman. She saw how the purple light was reflecting in Mercedes's eyes, as she grew closer and closer. Saw how her expression quickly shifted from amazement to surprise and confusion. And then, eventually to shock, as Annette placed both of her palms right on her head.
She felt how Mercedes slightly shuddered under her ministrations, as she let the purple magical energy pour into her, filling up her mind and concentrating on the effort herself. After all, it was her very first time using this new ability. And, even if she felt confident enough to do it, there was still some mild possibility that the things could end up going awry.
More than anything, Annette didn't want for the woman to get startled and run away, but it seemed that Mercedes's trust got the better of her. And, as she continued to work the spell, she looked deeply into her eyes, filling her head with the same light pleasant dizziness that Annette felt from Cornelia's touch before.
She could have drugged Mercedes, of course, like she was drugged herself before the spell was applied to her. After all, Cornelia did share the recipe with her in case it would be required, and for some time she even considered using it to her advantage.
If anything, putting something into Mercdes's tea, or making a whole new mix right in front of her face would not be a hard thing to do at all. The two of them often drank tea together, it was the activity that they enjoyed. And, on top of that, Mercedes trusted her greatly, so why not take advantage of that trust and offer her a cup that would quickly make her unconscious and more malleable before the effect of the spell?
But Annette still didn't do it. She didn't want it. What she wanted was to pay her friend a genuine visit and to show her the spell. To bring her on the side of Those Who Slither in the Dark and to show her what it was like to follow the path that she was following now. To feel what she felt now, to find a completely new purpose in life.
Annette, after all, still knew that she was brainwashed. But she basked in it and enjoyed every single moment of it. So she was absolutely certain (both due to the fact that the two of them were friends and due to the nature of the spell itself) that Mercedes would end up feeling the same.
So she wanted to be the one who brought it to her, the one who showed her this new world like Cornelia did to her. And she was absolutely certain that she didn't need to use a drugged cup of tea to do that.
"A-Annie..." she heard Mercedes's voice as the purple magical energy continued to penetrate deeper and deeper into her body, now naturally making it limp under her grasp and filling her mind with lightness.
She knew very well that by now Mercedes won't be able to do anything, if she hadn't done it by now. She was relaxed, even if forcibly so, and there was pleasant dizziness descending upon her, as one second after another passed while she was under the effect of the spell.
"Just give me a moment, Mercie...You know I always make things better." She smirked at her friend, not breaking eye contact for even a moment.
Mercedes gasped very quietly, and, to Annette's great surprise, she once again simply succumbed to her trust, letting her friend do whatever she wanted to her. And, most likely even thinking that Annette was meaning well.
And Annette did mean well, after a fashion. Just not in the way Mercedes could ever imagine.
With these thoughts in mind the woman opened her lips and let the incantation begin, as the words were coming to her, one after another. It was as if she knew what to say already, and she immediately felt how the purple magical energy that she was continuing to pour into Mercedes's mind was resonating with the spell.
At that point her friend's eyes were barely open. Mercedes let the spell slowly take over her mind, as it was beginning to be filled with new thoughts and ideas. The ideas that she could never imagine before, not even in her wildest dreams. The thoughts that she wouldn't even dare to think, being who she was. And yet now every single one of them seemed natural, as if they were her own.
They continued to crawl into her head and settle down there, bringing her the pleasant feeling of belonging and comfort. And Annette knew that because Mercedes wasn't under the effects of the tea like she was, she was most likely feeling the process even more sharply. Perhaps, she even knew what was going on, and yet she wasn't able to resist it whatsoever.
Like that, Annette continued to do her work, eventually resorting to closing her eyes and continuing to mutter the spell in a slow, monotonous voice. There was an odd air of mysticism to the whole process. The whole room was now filled with purple light. It was dancing off the reflecting surfaces and windows, as her chanting echoed around the both of them over and over. Until Annette finally felt that the process was done with and Mercedes was one of them.
As this thought appeared in her mind, she felt how the magical energy began to fade. She felt and somehow knew that the process was over with, and so did the magic inside of her that was working its way through her.
So she slowly opened her eyes and stopped the incantation, watching how her hands stopped glowing and returned to their natural state. They were still laying on Mercedes's head, of course, but that was something that Annette could quickly rectify.
With these thoughts in mind she made sure to adjust her friend over the long embroidered couch and once again took a curious look upon her face.
To her surprise she realized that Mercedes wasn't unconscious. She wasn't in a state of trance or slumber like Annette was before. But perhaps, she reasoned, the latter was caused more by Cornelia's tea, rather than the effect of the spell itself.
Instead, her friend blinked at her a couple of times, and took a deep, exhausted breath. As if the two of them just went through some draining physical activity. And they, did, after all. Just not in their usual way.
"Annie...What..." Mercedes muttered slowly, before sitting up and rubbing her head with her hands. "I...It is..."
Annette crossed her arms with a happy smirk.
"It feels different now, doesn't it?" she asked her friend without any further hesitation. "You know everything, right? You know who you truly are and what you are supposed to do. You know where your loyalties lie. And you know that I will always be there, as usual. By your side."
With these words she reached for Mercedes's hand and squeezed it gently, seeing how the other's lips stretched into a smile.
"Oh yes, Annie, I do know...I do remember." Mercedes answered after a short pause with a nod. "And I am glad that you are there for me. That you will always be there for me...that we are on the same side."
"Then everything worked out well." Annette now looked slightly smugged and very satisfied with herself. "Just as I said, remember? Everything will be better after I show you the spell."
She saw how Mercedes paused for a moment once again, as if she struggled to remember the conversation that they had before her "conversion." But the mist in her mind seemed to have cleared out soon enough, and she nodded at her friend again.
"I...I know. I understand now, Annie. And I am very grateful."
The sun was setting down, and it was only now when Annette noticed how late it was. The spell took longer than it seemed to her while she was performing it, but she didn't mind. After all, it won't be the first time she did it, and she had to prepare for that. And now, when Annette was on her side, she knew that there was a long way ahead of them.