The Alatravaasa

The bustling streets of downtown were flooded mid-day, with hundreds streaming down the sidewalks and nearly as many cars flowing with heavy traffic, full of the lunch crowd and even more hurried business men. All of them seemed to know to make way in-front of one of the city's tallest high-rises, which came under the generous acquisition of construction mogul Arnold Paxton. Head of Paxton Cranes, he had a steady monopoly on most of the high-rise construction materials and vehicles in the city, and gained another subsidiary meant to keep his hold where it was. As he left the building that would soon bear his name and corporate logo, he was all smiles, the building's security creating a wedge outside the building for its newest owner, every guard hoping they would not be on whatever potential chopping block Paxton could lay out if he wished.

Lead by a lone, capable personal guard, Arnold was making his way to his car, when quick footsteps caught both his and especially his guard's attention. Arnold was about to be insistently-spirited into the open door of his limo before a closer look was given towards the approacher.

"Mr. Paxton! Mr. Paxton! Kali Basch, Metro Times! Can I have a word on your latest successful acquisition?"

Often a confidant of his employer, "hot" was whispered towards Arnold. "Number" Arnold asked quickly without turning. "A surprising 8," the guard had to admit. Arnold turned to see the young junior reporter standing ten feet away, looking on the verge of disheveled, but still well put together with a high-buttoned white blouse under a black jacket and skirt, and the most comfortable high-heeled ankle boots someone of Kali's salary could afford. Everything about her, even the eager look behind nerdy glasses screamed "sexy nerd;" Arnold immediately concurred with the numbered assessment, and gave her a smile.

"Well, young lady, construction has always been as competitive as it is cooperative. As proven today, success comes when both are involved in the negotiations, and the best outcome happens for everyone," he grinned at her. She grinned back, trying to hide her disdain for the terrible soundbite.

"That's a great quote, Mr. Paxton, thank you so much!" the junior reporter sounded so grateful, which appealed even more to Arnold. "She must've been waiting outside the building to get at the news everyone already had," the mogul guessed. "She may have a lot to learn, some of which I could teach..."

"Now that Paxton Cranes has an agreement with one of the largest forklift makes in this part of the country, any hint on what's next? Rumor has it there's a...um, dazzling project on the horizon."

One of the words made Arnold stop from turning around, giving a weird smile reflecting the confusion in his mind.

"A what?" he sounded unsure.

"So says the compelling source," Kali hinted. "Though I can't say whether it's a man...or a Lady."

Arnold kept still, not allowing any reactive body language to give anything away. Instead of waiting for an answer, Kali simply handed Arnold's guard her business card.

"On the chance that someone would like to get in-touch for a future interview," the reporter gave a half-smile to the guard and Arnold before walking away. Arnold took the card, to which it had Kali's Metro Times information on the front, and "natural history museum, neanderthal exhibit, 5pm" written on the back of it.

***

5:15 was on her wristwatch that Kali kept checking a five-minute intervals, waiting for whom she'd hoped to speak to next. It was surprisingly busy at the relatively boring museums, with at least two school tours and many passerbys. Kali kept by the entrance for as long as she could, waiting for signs of her person of interest. Sighing against the wall, checking her phone and trying not to look like she was frustrated and bored for a specific reason, she seriously wanted to give it another fifteen minutes before declaring her invitation officially rejected. It was another five before the most interesting thing happened with a tall man almost bumping into her; she nearly gave the suited man a disapproving look when she realized it was Arnold Paxton's guard from earlier.

With a quick glance, he acknowledged her and calmly left the area. Kali wanted to keep her subject there to speak, expecting neanderthal displays to be more on the deserted side, but she felt like she was following one who lead her somewhere else. Junior journalist skills quickly invoked junior detective skills in trailing the man, looking without looking for people tailing her, suspicious eyes with leering glances, people from different levels as she followed him onto the third floor of the museum. She knew she was being led into something that could've easily been a trap, but curious minds like hers couldn't help but gleam as much information as she could, and hoped she'd have the smarts and luck to not spring the trap.

Furtive steps led Kali all the way to the goddess exhibit which seemed luckily, though unfortunately sparsely occupied. It seemed like just a few people were walking around, paying attention to each exhibit, and someone's phone ringing got a few people to leave at the same time. Kali figured they were all together as she watched them leave, past the guard who stood at the entrance to the exhibit in a stoic pose belying the the open-mouthed, approaching slack-jawed look of awe on his face.

"I usually don't favor gawkers," a voice said from behind Kali, having her look at the lone woman still in the space with them. A brunette with a stunning figure sat on one of the benches, turning her head to show a face just as stunning, smiling at Kali specifically. "But for you, I might make an exception," Dazzling smiled at the reporter before turning her head, patting the seat next to her as an invitation Kali couldn't refuse, despite all the warning signs she felt with every step leading to sitting next to the hypnotist.

"So, Kali M. Basch, assistant reporter to the Metro Times, I hear you're looking for a Lady described as Dazzling...."

"I, ugh...wish I could say I knew as much about you as you know about me," cautious curiosity laced her lips while eyes darted back and forth between the woman's appearance and which display case featuring mythical, celebrated Venuses she was staring at.

"Is that a wish you would like to come true?" Kali couldn't tell which balance was tipped more between seduction or a sense of danger in Dazzling's voice.

"I didn't take you for a genie," Kali's tone suggested she wasn't interested in either.

"What do you take me for?"

"A hypnotist."

The two women on the bench glanced at one another, one expression with slightly-widening eyes communicated "you're mine whenever I want you," while the other acknowledged her vulnerability, but kept her concentration on business.

"You seem to think I have a connection with Mr. Paxton; what would give you that impression?"

"Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Maybe you're just have a way with private security agents," Kali verbally gestured at the man making sure the meeting remained private.

"If you believe I'm a hypnotist, then you may believe I have a way with everyone. Literally anyone of my choosing."

"Anyone?" The reporter couldn't help but utter the repetitive question, knowingly-allowing the other woman to boast in any way she saw fit.

"Those young women that left as you entered, do you know which goddess I found them admiring?"

Looking over the dozen or so large display cases for the likes of Hera, Astarte Izanami Yemoja, etc., vaguely knowing the story of some but curious about the rest, Kali rested her eyes on what seemed like the obvious choice.

"Aphrodite?"

Dazzling smirked. "A cliched, but fair guess, because the average woman would typically know of Aphrodite out of the dozen here, or the dozens spread across multiple mythologies. And why wouldn't she be the most well-known, having dominion over the powerful emotion of love; because who doesn't love 'love?' People spend their waking hours in pursuit of it, directly and indirectly, sacrifice and subjugate themselves for it; of course they might know of a being, a woman who could dispense it like a running tap if she chose. And if Aphrodite herself chose to visit an exhibit featuring herself, watching a few semi-interested women check her and others out, would they love hearing about love from the Goddess of love? Would they love the sound of her voice as she spoke about it? Would they love how the speaker resembled the spirit of the goddess the more she spoke? Would they fall in-love with how they felt listening to love distilled talking about love distilled, dispensing love distilled with every syllable from her lovely lips? Wouldn't they just fall in-love with standing there and listening to this extraordinary woman talk and tell them exactly what they would love to do, for her, because of her..."

Somewhere along the dazzlingly-descriptive sequence of events, Kali seemed to lose herself in watching what was happening to the women that left, probably acting on Dazzling's orders, internally-swooning over every suggestion they followed to the letter, loving the choice they must've believed was their own. Identifying with their position came too easily to the reporter as she nearly slipped into the grouping of one of the women Dazzling mentioned, so close to fading into the words were it not for a blink and corrective jolt of her own senses to not let Dazzling completely dominate things. A light shaking of her own head helped to catch the Cheshire grin the hypnotist gave before looking at Kali.

"So...Aphrodite..."

A momentary blank stare led to a small bout of chuckling between them.

"To be fair, I could've used the Hindu Goddess Kali if I really wanted you under..."

"Ugh, that's only relatable by how many times I've heard that comparison. I'm glad most today aren't even aware of that goddess," Kali gently recoiled.

"But you're here about some unsung, secretive goddesses, I assume?" Dazzling let the conversation finally turn to the matter at hand.

"Honestly, I'm here about the organization that would court such goddesses as it were, this Kalatravaasa."

"You seem intriguingly-well informed."

"A good reporter vaguely should be."

"Writing a puff piece, or an expose?"

"At the rate I'm going, we'll see if I'll be writing anything," Kali admitted, making Dazzling pause for a second. The reporter chuckled a little before continuing. "I have no illusions about this kind of investigation. Gathering sources and details about a secretive club with a member list full of hypnotists good enough to blur the line between hypnosis and mind control as far as public perception goes, any reporter worth their salt should know how easy it would be for their work to be derailed, made to believe it's headed in the exact direction it should be, out of the light."

"You seem to have little to no illusions about what I'm capable of either," Dazzling commented, admiring Kali's go-for-broke mentality. "And yet here you are, placing your mind, perceptions, and career path in my hands. What's making you admit all of this to me?" She couldn't remember the last time someone was so forthcoming with her who wasn't persuaded to be so, or a fellow hypnotist; the conversation managed to become refreshing for the mercenary hypnotist.

"I won't lie and say that a club of hypnotists is more interesting to me than the feats of its members, especially one that holds the minds of Arnold Paxton and Susanne Nelson in her capable grasp. With what you just pulled off with me thanks to Aphrodite over there, I'm beyond doubting the how, and am just admiring it. And between us, I'm willing to bet that you had something to do with Paxton's held-back crusade of crushing the competition today, and Nelson's recent acts of mercy in Wall Street as of late; I've got friends who got reamed by that hedge fund shark at times, and appreciate a shark tamer, or hypnotic goddess, getting indirect retribution for us peons. If I'm going to be mind zapped or warped by anyone, I'd rather it be by someone I respected."

Dazzling couldn't help but look at the smaller, bold woman with her own feelings of admiration welling up inside her.

"And as much as I'd like to believe all the Kalatravaasa hypnotists operate just like you, somehow I doubt that's the case with all of them. All the hidden takeovers, personal, private, or professional, all the in-fighting and vying for control sounds wild and dangerous." Dazzling's eyes shifted, thinking about the hypnotists she's met in recent days since she began learning about the club, especially Alexis and Hannah. Hypnotists on her level, performing acts as evil as her occasional act could be, gave her pause. "There's obviously something worth investigating there at least, if you deem it so," Kali finished, letting her words be considered by the recipient.

"As you'll trust me, Kali M. Basch, I will trust you with some of what I have heard of with the Kalatravaasa. Of course the anonymity of a protected, unnamed source applies in this."

"Of course, Miss Dazzling, that goes without saying."

"Dazzling is fine, dear, though before you start taking some of these facts down, it's a little concerning to me that of all the facts you could've gotten wrong so far, that you think what we do amounts to 'mind-zapping or warping'. If you're going to potentially frighten the public with our abilities, I would rather not sound like some cheesy, nefarious comic villain."

"I apologize Dazzling, I certainly didn't mean to offend, phrasing it like that."

"Putting it that way creates false sense of how we might take over the world," she gave another Cheshire grin to prove she was half-serious. "Like if there was a new case in this exhibit to fill with the model and details of a new hypnotic goddess, you should be inclined to get every aspect of her correctly for the sake of history and posterity, because she deserves it, because if the real woman was here to tell you give you all the details to make her legend a reality, you would pay the closest attention possible, and never let a belief that her power could be as instantaneous as her telling you SLEEP!"

During most of the conversation since mentioning Aphrodite, Dazzling's gentle hand had been in-contact with some part of Kali. First a light touch as theirs connected on the bench surface, then lightly traveling along her arm as the reporter spoke, building a physical repore that continued to open her up since the "love induction," which created a waking trance for Kali to occupy to loosen her lips and anxiety. It never occurred to Kali how open she was being with a subject, when it was her job to bring an interviewee to that state. During the corrective monologue, Dazzling's hand snaked its way across her back, to her opposite shoulder, just in time for Dazzling to yang Kali's body towards hers so the younger woman could be caught and closely programmed without looking too overtly-strange in a public setting.

"Good girl, you've revealed so much about yourself, and you know how good that makes you feel. It will feel so much better the more you do that for me now, Kali. And we can continue that with telling me if you're recording this conversation right now."

"Yess Dazzling...recording now..."

"Thank you for telling me," Dazzling pulled Kali's cellphone out of her purse, noting the recording app was active and on. "This will need to be sanitized, but you'll still get a wealth of information out of me about the Kalatravaasa. And I'm sure you'll be a wealth of information for me, especially with what you know about other hypnotists; you won't hold any of that back, will you?"

"No, Dazzling. I'll...tell you everything."

"Excellent," she patted Kali on the shoulder. Part of her began imagining and mentally-preparing for hearing some more negative news about two fellow hypnotists she dared to call friends or confidants since meeting them. It scared her a little how quickly she might've been willing to go to war, but her competitive side enjoyed envisioning the victory of a conflict that had yet to start. Looking over at a space where another glass case could be made up, she imagined Goddess Hannah in that space, left in the public eye as a myth to be remembered, with defeated by a Dazzling Lady bolded in the text of her description tablet.

***

It was early afternoon as the staff of the 7ty Seven was setting things for a reserved Kalatravaasa audience. Most of the staff didn't necessarily need to be programmed as how the club was arranged prior wasn't that dissimilar from normal business nights; but an incentivized moment of deep focus and relaxation for each employee let to a happier disposition than normal, as well as a mind absent enough from asking questions or exploring curiosities about who was buying out a whole club for a whole evening, a few times a month at that.

The staff was drone-like enough that no one questioned the presence of someone who looked like they were supposed to be there, as Mistress Ursula dressed in working slacks and a white buttoned shirt quietly made her way towards the office. She noticed Cris, one of Mistress Alexis' harem girls working as well, overseeing the setup. She remembered Cris the first time Dazzling Lady and Mistress Alexis had met after a show, the powerful women laughing and becoming friendly as their feelings seeped into Ursula and Cris, increasing their relaxation. While Ursula herself was too relaxed to try to steal glances in Dazzling's direction, seeing Cris' listless, content expression indirectly mirrored and deepened her overall trance. Watching Cris carefully from a distance, she imagined Cris experienced the same feelings that night, and Ursula forced her gaze away before the sight of her and the memory created another blissfully-indirect experience. And if she ran into Cris, she'd have to be a little more domineering than usual as a hypnotic mistress, convincing herself to stay awake and powerfully-alert in the process.

Quietly making her way to the upstairs office, things seemed more than halfway finished with her self-appointed mission of gathering intel for Dazzling about the Kalatravaasa, or at least some clues leading to some. "It'd make more sense to be doing this during a Kalatravaasa event, honestly," a logical part of her reminded herself, almost in a chastising way compared to the act she was performing now. Ursula shushed that part of her, finding the door to the office unlocked, looking around the room to gauge where to start her time-sensitive search first, sure that this was a much better way of handling things. "At least this way, you won't run into any assholes who won't leave you alone like-"

"Looks like someone got turned around back to their old ways..."

Ursula's thoughts and movement went stark still for a second before quickly turning around. Ursula found a familiar figure leaning against the wall near the door, a knowing smile leaning towards devilish bearing the last voice she wanted to hear, one she'd spent a lot of time excising from her mind, hating how some of immediately responded to his voice.

"Harry," came out in a reactive reply instead of a defensive threat.

"Come now my slave, you know better than that. It's Master Harry."

"It's masturbation for all I care, jerk-off," Ursula set her voice to a preferably-indignant and bellicose tone.

"Aww, you've been out of the loop for so long now, it simply won't do...." Ursula began to rub her fingertips together, a small technique she was developing for getting herself ready to dispense a hypnotic assault; it helped more than she realized it could to keep from subverting most of her body towards conditioning that had been mildly established as his ownership went unchallenged, but still bore an effect. The way he looked at her, the way her mind was already imagining what he'd say and how he'd say it, primed her for a very distracting blow, exactly what he was hoping for.