Erza Scarlet

"Ah! Miss Scarlet! Come on in!" Ignazio said jovially. Erza gave him a cool, small smile.

"Iggy. Just because you've been gone a while doesn't mean you get to go formal on me." she said calmly "We are still brothers and sisters of Fairy Tail. So just Erza is fine."

She sat down opposite him in her bulky armor. Ignazio nodded.

"I see. Well, I guess I can do that. Sorry about the formality. It's just... been a while." he sighed.

The two sat in silence a moment before Erza spoke up.

"So how have you been? Really."

He smiled up at her.

"I think I'm the one who should be asking you that. It's why I'm here, right?" he joked.

"I suppose so. But the wellness of my fellow guild members is my top priority. That includes you."

Ignazio started to contemplate. This woman was so beautiful. Many of the girls here were. But... Erza was just so uptight. It was kind of annoying. But he had a cure for that.

"I'm being too stiff. I should relax a little" Erza heard in her own head, in her voice.

Ignazio's particular brand of magic focused on Telepathy. However, much like a ventriloquist, he had learned how to mimic the voices of others using his telepathic link. It wasn't a typical use of the power, but he had realized that, provided he doesn't say anything too bizarre, he could use it to convince people of minor things, tricking them into feeling that his thoughts were their own. And thankfully, this revelation was new. So members of the guild would have no idea he could do it.

He hoped it would work on Erza... and just like that, she slumped a bit in the chair, abandoning her stiff posture for one that was more natural. She still didn't sit like Cana did - pretty much not caring at all about her posture. But she was slightly more relaxed.

"I apologize. I'm being too uptight." she said. Ignazio stifled a laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked, getting slightly annoyed.

"No no it's--" he began, giggling a little "Erza you haven't changed at all. You apologize for being stern by saying 'I apologize. I'm being too uptight'"

Erza gave him a confused look.

"I'm not certain I follow."

"Erza. That was the most uptight way you could have said that."

"I suppose he's right" Erza heard in her head, adopting the idea as her own thought.

"So. How should I go about saying something like this in the future?"

He shook his head with a smile.

"Try 'Sorry. I should relax'"

Erza cleared her throat

"Sorry. I should relax" she said, sounding almost like she was struggling to say it. It really was outside of her vocabulary. "Anyway... That is actually what I had hoped to discuss with you. I've noticed recently that some of the others are frightened of me. As a pillar of the Guild, I need their respect. But fear is different. I wish for them to see me as a normal person, as opposed to some kind of unfeeling warrior." she said.

Ignazio stroked his beard.

"I see. I can help with that." he said. Erza appeared a bit skeptical.

"How?" she inquired.

"Well, I assume Mira didn't mention it -- but during my time off I had been studying hypnosis."

"Like Charm magic? You know that's illegal" Erza said, firmly.

"No no. No magic involved. Simply this watch" he began, pulling out a pocket watch "and my voice."

Erza looked off in thought.

"I understand if it makes you a little uncomfortable. I'll explain if you'd like."

"Please do."

He nodded, leaning over the desk and giving her a serious, but welcoming look.

"Well, hypnosis is a state of **** relaxation and concentration. Very much like being in a dream, but it's guided by the hypnotist, and can have external effects."

Erza looked at him quizzically

"I'm not sure I quite follow"

"Hm... think of it like this. You're having a very enticing dream, and your alarm begins going off. But you sleep through it. Why? Because you're hyper focused on the dream, and your body is too relaxed to react to the alarm. However, let's say someone in the dream attacked you, and you attacked back. Your real body outside the dream may react. Think of hypnosis like that. You don't come up with the dream, I do. But because it's so vivid and powerful, it leaves an imprint on you, causing minor changes in short term, and major changes over multiple sessions. If you want to be a better warrior, I could use it to have you stand and train, and guide the reflexes into you. If you are a heavy drinker like Cana, I can slowly talk you out of the desire to drink. Or, in your case, increase your ability to relax." he finished.

"But... can you make me do things I don't wish to?"

Normally, he wouldn't. However, he had come to a discovery. With his telepathy, he could, while in a trance, more easily convince his subject that his thoughts were theirs. Of course, he couldn't do it all at once. It just sped up the process and increased the intensity of his sessions. He couldn't, for example, make a woman run through the streets naked... unless she was already close to a desire to do so. But he could, over a few sessions, move her towards that goal. But Erza didn't need to know that.

"Not really. I suppose there is a little wiggle room. Using Cana as an example again, I somehow doubt she WANTS to stop drinking. But over a few sessions I could make her more amenable to the idea. But the odds of me being able to make her want to destroy **** is almost comically low considering her love for it. In your case, you want to relax. I can help by making you, say, crave a cup of tea and a nice book. I couldn't make you act like that pink-haired boy out there." he said. Erza let out a small laugh.

"Natsu isn't so bad. But it's true I would rather not act like him." She said.

He laughed along with her, before speaking again.

"So. Have I convinced you?" he said, before focusing on her mind.

"I suppose there's no harm in trying" she heard, and then...

"I suppose there's no harm in trying." she said aloud with a rather sweet smile - something he wasn't used to seeing from her.

He clapped his hands together and stood

"Perfect!" he said, as he dangled the watch before her. "Then shall we begin?"