Leaving Karand, Part 2
The rest of the journey to Port Nautitus was uneventful, a continuous game of cat and mouse between them and Leona Barclay's Information Network as they easily evaded confrontation with them. As they walked the docks, Tanya and Sirene discussed what type of ship they should take.
"What about them?" Sirene asked, gesturing at a large sailing ship taking on passengers.
"Too public. We always had spies embedded in the large ships." Tanya whispered, shaking her head.
Sirene nodded and they continued walking. As they reached the last dock, Tanya suddenly stopped Sirene and motion for her to get close.
"I recognise the man at the last ship. He's one of mine. The Baroness's messengers definitely already visited him, but she doesn't know who's mine and who's hers, the distinction didn't mean anything before." Tanya whispered.
"Will he recognise you?" Sirene asked.
"No, but I also can't take a form he'll recognise in public in fuckin Port Nautitus." Tanya answered.
"Oh is that all? Let's take care of that. Hang on tight." Sirene said with a grin. "Tok!"
In an instant, both Sirene and Tanya were in front of the man at the end of the dock. Tanya looked around and noticed everything around them was almost frozen still, but not quite. Looking back at Sirene, Sirene nodded.
"What-" The man began to ask, but Sirene put a finger on his lips.
"Shhhh." She said. "Mistress, if you would?"
Tanya snapped her fingers, taking on her default appearance of a short blonde elf girl. She looked up at the man and cleared her throat.
"Jason, report."
"Miss Torvaris!" Jason responded, startled. "What's going on? I've gotten messengers from mother telling me to kill you on sight."
"There's been a bit of schism." Tanya replied, squinting. "Leona Barclay is now eliminate on sight. Dispose of any further messengers from her. Frankly I'd prefer to just release you, but they'd recognise you're not under the control of Enrapture anymore. So we'll do something else. Your ship occupied right now?"
"No, should we head inside?" Jason asked.
Tanya nodded and snapped her fingers, returning to her original form. "Sirene, if you would?"
Sirene, Tanya, and Jason headed inside the small sailing ship. While it was definitely an ocean crosser, it was smaller than most of the ships in port at the moment, and evaded notice. Nobody even noticed the three of them head inside of the ship. Once inside, Tanya motioned for Jason to sit on a chair, and for Sirene to tie him up.
"Now then Jason. Dispel!" Tanya shouted, snapping the fingers on both of her hands.
Jason shouted in pain for a moment, before falling silent. He started to pant heavily, and groaned. Tanya shot Sirene a glance, and Sirene went to check on him.
"Jason, how do you feel?" Sirene asked.
"I'm... free?" Jason asked, looking up again, staring Tanya in the eyes. Tanya could see the tears starting to form in his eyes.
"I'm sorry to say but this is only temporary." Tanya said, a sad look in her eyes. "But I'll return for you, I promise."
"What? No! Please!" He said, tears running down his cheeks.
"I'll discuss the particulars with a calmer you." Tanya said, shaking her head.
"Mistress Tanya needs to disrupt Leona's plans." Sirene said, standing up again and assisting Tanya with the drawing of the targeting circle.
"Ah shit." Jason said as he struggled a bit. "She's yours isn't she?"
"Bingo. I really am sorry about this, you know." Tanya said, stopping to look Jason in the eyes. She placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed again. "But I promise, this time it's for a good cause."
"You know Tanya," Jason began to say, before stopping to shake his head. "Yeah, your eyes look a lot more lifelike than they used to."
"Mistress, the circle is ready." Sirene interrupted.
"Gotcha. Hold that thought, Jason. Please don't resist." Tanya said, stepping away along with Sirene.
"What would be the point?" He asked.
Tanya nodded, and snapped her fingers. Jason's breathing slowed, and his head dropped. After a few moments, he looked up again, and Tanya saw what he was getting at. His eyes looked a bit vacant. "Jason? You ready?"
"Yes Miss Tanya. Command me." Jason said.
"Good. Through a sheer coincidence, I've been freed from Leona Barclay's control. We're going to kill her. Well, me and Sirene are. Only when dealing with her agents are you to refer to her as mother, and only to throw them off. Got it?" Tanya said, getting right down to business.
"Understood Miss Tanya. What's my role?" Jason asked, nodding.
"You're taking us to Tel Hazan on your ship. Afterward, go back to your regular work but change your base of operations to Port Sulala."
"What about my wife?" Jason asked.
"She one of Leona's?" Tanya asked.
"No, and she's not aware of the information network."
"Keep it that way. Tell her anything you want, she married a mariner so she should know the risks. Sirene, you can untie him now."
"Of course Mistress." Sirene said, cutting the knot off with ease.
"Hmmm. Back to what I was saying before, Miss Tanya." Jason said, standing up and stretching. He crouched down to look Tanya in the eyes, and rubbed his chin. "Take a good look at my eyes. Bet they look a bit glassy, or like I'm staring into the middle distance, don't they?"
"H-how the hell did you figure that out?" Tanya said, looking a bit shaken. "But yeah, they do."
"Enrapture doesn't prevent me from thinking, as long as the thoughts aren't stupid ones like escaping or resisting. I can still notice things, ya know?" Jason said with a smile. "Look over at Sirene. Her eyes are practically made of glass."
Tanya gestured for Sirene to come down to her eye level. Sirene nodded, and crouched a bit. Even in the lower light of the ship, Tanya could see it plainly. Lifeless eyes, like that of a corpse. Sirene blushed a bit as Tanya stared intensely into her eyes.
"Well, now that you mention it, I see what you mean. How come you never said anything before?" Tanya asked, looking back at Jason.
"Not like you were in a position to care, Miss Tanya." Jason said with a shrug. "Besides, you never asked."
Tanya barked a laugh. "Fair enough. Prepare your ship. We'll wait here."
"It'll take some time to gather my meagre crew, you know." Jason cautioned.
"That's fine, we can entertain ourselves." Tanya said.
Jason smiled knowingly, before climbing the ladder to the main deck of the ship, leaving Sirene and Tanya alone for the moment. Tanya noticed Sirene seemed to be in deep thought about something, and correctly assumed it was about the appearance of her eyes.
"Mistress." Sirene eventually said after a few minutes. "Enrapture is a form of creation magic, yes?"
"Yes, what are you getting at?" Tanya asked. This could be intriguing.
"Standard illusion spells are part of creation as well, you know." Sirene continued.
"Meaning?"
"You could disguise my glassy eyes." Sirene finished.
Tanya grinned. Sirene was right, throwing people off the trail that Sirene was already controlled would not only be beneficial against Leona's spies, it would do wonders if they encountered another far too nosy and smart mage like Natsuki. An illusion spell on the eyes alone wasn't unheard of, but it was typically for more vain purposes. Fortunately, simple illusion magic was something she knew, and she held Sirene's head in her hands for a moment.
"How do I look?" Sirene asked.
"Your eyes are practically sparkling. Sirene you're a genius!" Tanya exclaimed, laughing.
Sirene squealed in delight at Tanya giving her such praise and couldn't resist in kissing Tanya on the lips briefly.
"Thank you Mistress!" She exclaimed, her smile beaming across her face.
Tanya nodded, but internally she shuddered. It was downright creepy to see how eager Sirene was to please her thanks to the effects of the spell on her mind. It reminded her far too much of how she acted for decades under the control of Baroness Leona. How did Leona see this behaviour from hundreds of people and not feel even a little bit bad about it? Did she have no moral compass?
"Mistress..." Sirene said seductively, tugging at Tanya's shirt. "Do you want to play while we wait?"
Wanting some time to think and dodge Sirene's far too grabby hands, Tanya ordered Sirene to sit quietly until she needed her. She was slightly exasperated, how could one person be so horny? She seemed to be constantly ready to go, and was practically a succubus once she got going.
"Mistress, you seem displeased." Sirene whispered, her eyes downcast.
"Quit being so damn horny!" Tanya shouted. "If I had known the Hero of Karand was such a sex fiend I might have picked someone else." Tanya noticed Sirene wasn't trying to answer, and looked sheepish. "Sorry Sirene, you may answer."
"Mistress, you said you wanted us to be lovers." Sirene said sadly, looking upset. "Are you upset with me?"
Tanya was at a loss of words for a change. She did say that yes, but that was a rash spur of the moment idea. She just simply had lost herself in her own wants and desires, just like... no. She wasn't like her.
"Dammit I'm just as bad as Leona!" Tanya shouted in frustration. "Am I really cut out to be a villain?"
"Mistress, may I?" Sirene asked.
Tanya decided to see where this was going, and nodded. To her surprise, Sirene stood, walked over to Tanya and simply hugged her. She held Tanya tightly in her arms for several minutes, and Tanya hugged her back. Neither of them said anything, but Tanya did her best to hold back tears. Eventually the ship departed, taking Tanya away from Karand for what would be many years.