[Psionics] You'll stop Chautery's plot, psychic vs. psychic

Your first thought when you saw the garish red garments of the husband and wife duo on stage pointed towards these being charlatans. They looked every bit as flamboyant as the sorts of false magicians that favored spectacle over true spellcraft.

However, as you took the stage alongside your saintesses, another thought occurred to you: in another leap of logic, these two could be the real deal. The only way a trick like the one Chautery had promised you could work was either through the most likely paid-in-advance cooperation of the participant or the use of true magic. He might be planning to use actual psionics, like they taught to a small class at the academy where you trained.

Luckily, you'd been part of that class. Not just part of it– you were the star student, recently hand-picked for the important task of accompanying six saintesses for Missionaire's defense. You wouldn't be outclassed by some out-of-towner when it came to psionics.

The only problem? As you took your seat, attuned yourself mentally to the host seated parallel to you, and waited for some kind of tell that he intended to influence your saintess to fall into submission, you felt nothing. The man was devoid of psionic power, his brain totally untrained in the practice and unfocused with not so much of a tell-tale thrum. You could probably control him, but that probably wasn't the right play. Instead, you needed to figure out what his trick was before-

“Hm hm… Don't they teach you squires to be properly attentive to women in Missionaire's squire program? Why do you neglect the woman right in front of you?”

That taunting voice belonged to the charming Lydia. Whether she knew it or not, she had a point: your goal here was to secure a kiss from Chautery's wife. Doubtless the two expected most participants would try to bribe her– that's probably how they made their killing here. However, with the influence of psionics, you could keep your funds in the service of your mission and, more importantly, win the contest to draw Mympho's attention.

Or, so you figured. The moment you attempted to enter the woman's mind, you were met with a powerful clash of psychic ****, like you'd hit against a barrier. It took only a moment to realize that she was already applying her efforts towards trying to turn your saintess and win the contest. In short, it was the wife who was the true magician– Chautery himself was just a diversion!

While the woman's red-lipped smile stayed constant, her voice echoed inside your head.

“Interesting. They do have some talented ones coming through the squire program, don't they? Let's have a proper challenge, then.”

The scene that next unfolded in front of the assembled audience was hard for any of them to understand. Chautery himself laughed and made grand threats and promises while your saintess sat unaffected in the chair opposite him. In the mean time, you and Lydia were each sat forward in your chairs, locking eyes at close range as invisible sparks of the psychic clash rained down around you. It was rare for two psychics to meet and even in training, you hadn't had many opportunities to directly confront one like this.

Chautery finally seemed to catch that something was amiss when, after about a minute of grand-standing, the saintess was no closer to delivering him a completely unwarranted kiss, marking a pronounced deviation in the natural flow of this scheme. As he continued yammering, he nervously turned his eyes to his wife.

You were sweating now with exertion, but so was she; beads of sweat accumulated in her raven-black, curling bangs and dripped from her sharp chin down to the open cleavage of her red garment. It was a testament to your own skill in this field that you managed to ignore what was in front of your eyes and use your mind's eye instead. The two of you drew closer, now forehead to forehead as she attempted to control your saintess and you attempted to fight her back.

Your face and hers drew even closer in the only way they could, first nose to nose, then lips to lips. Before either of you could quite process what happened, the two of you were engaged in a kiss, all the while watched by the people of the Night Parade, two of your wives, and the lady's husband. The kiss grew increasingly passionate as your minds intertwined in psychic sparks.

"Ahem! Quite enough, you've made your point! A squire and a true psychic artisan, what a feat! How amazing! You really must... let... go!" Chautery growled, wrenching hard on his wife's shoulders to pull the two of you apart. The saintesses joined him almost as eagerly, pulling you free with all appropriate strength.{if Helmid = True}

Helmid did most of the heavy lifting, of course. Once she'd pulled you back into her arms, you noticed her heart was thumping rapidly. "Truly well done. I must admit, ahem... Seeing you kiss another woman, was, well... rather... how should I say it..."

This seemed like a thought to explore at a different time.{endif}{if Belit = True}

"So she's your type, huh? Or are you really going to try and tell me all that spit-swapping was just for the sake of drawing some demon's attention?" Belit grumbled, looking critical.{endif}{if Rosary = True}

Rosary hadn't been able to budge you with her rather limited strength. "Y-You definitely proved the strength of Geod just now! That's all that was, right? You kissing that woman, who wasn't one of your six designated wives, was definitely all part of Geod's plan!" It sounded like she was trying to convince herself, not you.{endif}{if Liens = True}

For being the brainy one of the group, Liens did have quite a grip as well. "Psychic power. Dangerous. When two psychics clash. Entanglement. Watch out. When you're around Bangaal. Could happen. Probably will," she warned you, choosing to focus on the practical side of chastisement.{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

"Bangaal thought you were a bit 'off your horse,' as they say, when you chose to take the task instead of Bangaal, but I see the vision now! Yes, you wished to show off your magic, hm? It was very sexy, yes, very sensual, for Bangaal to watch. Bangaal cannot help but wish that she was on the other side, or between it, perhaps! Entwine brains with Bangaal some time. You must!" the genie begged, pulling your arm harder and harder. It sounded like another psychic showdown was in your future.{else}Later on, when the tale of this game was relayed to Bangaal, she seemed to be listening on the edge of her seat. It clearly put a new idea in her head... this probably wouldn't be the last time you had a psychic showdown with a sultry lady chaos magician.{endif}